Skipper Tom Lawrence was the matchwinner as Derby County battled back to beat AFC Bournemouth 3-2 at Pride Park Stadium on a dramatic Sunday afternoon in the East Midlands.
The Rams’ captain scored a delightful effort just after the hour mark as he curled home from inside the box, whilst his second of the afternoon came from the penalty spot soon afterwards.
Graeme Shinnie was fouled inside the penalty area and Lawrence kept his nerve, firing down the middle to turn the game on its head after the Rams trailed 2-1 at the break.
Jason Knight had given Derby the lead before two goals from Jaidon Anthony and Dominic Solanke gave Bournemouth the advantage at half time, but Lawrence’s brace secured all three points for Derby as they moved out of negative points and on to zero.
Lawrence, who won Sky Sports man of the match award for his impressive display, was understandably pleased at full time.
“It was a massive win,” he told RamsTV. “After the week that we’ve had, everyone in that changing room deserves it, and especially these fans.
“At half time, the manager just said to go and give it a go. We’ve got nothing to lose and I thought the lads were tremendous in the second half. They battled for everything.
“Young Liam Thompson on his first appearance was amazing today so all credit to him. He’s a great lad but the technical aspect of his game is amazing and he helped us massively today.”
Lawrence scored his first just after the hour mark and asked about his recollections of the goal, he replied: “I need to watch it back first!
“It seems like a lifetime ago that I scored that after the last 10 minutes as we had to hang on but it was amazing to see all these fans happy in the stadium.”
The Rams now sit on zero points having been dealt the blow of losing another nine points during the international break after admitting to breaches of the League’s Profitability and Sustainability (P&S) rules, on top of the 12 for going into administration in September.
There is huge character in the dressing room and the togetherness amongst the squad is evident to see, and Lawrence knows the Rams need to take each game as they come.
“We’ve just got to take it one game at a time,” he said. “Not every game is going to be a result like this because the Championship is a tough league.
“We will keep battling and keep giving 100% every game and see where we get to at the end of the season.”