10-man Derby County fell to a narrow 2-1 defeat away at Bolton Wanderers on Saturday afternoon.
Conor Hourihane had given the Rams the lead with a first-half penalty before the hosts levelled it up through a spot-kick of their own.
Goalkeeper Joe Wildsmith was handed a straight red card in the first minute of the second-half before Josh Dacres-Cogley's deflected effort handed the visitors all three points.
Bolton started incredibly brightly and forced Joe Wildsmith into a smart save within the opening five minutes. George Thomason striking from range and stinging the palms of the Rams number one.
Kyle Dempsey tried to sneak an effort in at the near post following a Bolton corner but Wildsmith was once again equal to it to keep the scores level.
Martyn Waghorn was inches away from connecting with Derby's first forage forward. Conor Hourihane whipped a free-kick in from the right and Waghorn stuck a toe out but couldn't quite get there to steer past Nathan Baxter.
The hosts looked dangerous when they drove forward and Josh Dacres-Cogley was the next to go close, hitting the woodwork from just inside the area.
There were huge shouts for a Rams penalty when Curtis Nelson's header towards goal looked to be blocked by a Bolton arm but the referee waved away appeals despite big protests from the players on field.
The corner that followed however did bring a penalty. Callum Elder was adjudged to have been held in the box and the referee pointed straight to the spot.
Captain Hourihane stepped up and made no mistake from 12-yards, sending the keeper the wrong way with an excellently taken spot-kick to give the Rams the lead.
Derby were on top following the goal but the advantage didn't last long after the hosts were awarded a penalty of their own. Korey Smith was penalised for bringing his man down and up stepped Dion Charles to send Wildsmith the wrong way and ensure the teams went into the break level.
The second-half started in hellish fashion for the Rams with Wildsmith being shown a straight red card for handling the ball outside of the area.
Josh Vickers came in to make his league debut for the club with Conor Washington having to be sacrificed with the Rams now a man down.
Derby stood strong up until the 65th minute when the hosts took the lead in unusual fashion.
Josh Dacres-Cogley's floated cross deflected off of Tyrese Fornah and looped over the head of Vickers giving the Rams a huge mountain to climb in the final 30 minutes.
Despite the man advantage, Bolton didn't put Derby under too much pressure after taking the lead and with just a goal in it there as always a glimmer of hope.
Eight minutes of additional time were signalled at the end of the 90 and the Rams gave it their all but couldn't find that much-needed cutting-edge to test Baxter in the home goal.
Bolton Wanderers: Baxter (GK), Jones, Thomason (79' Maghoma), Santos (C), Sheehan (87' Morley), Charles (87' Nlundulu), Cogley (76' Mendes-Gomes), Adeboyejo (79' Jerome), Toal, Dempsey, Williams.
Substitutes not used: Forrester, Bodvarsson.
Derby County: Wildsmith (GK), Forsyth, Hourihane (C), Waghorn (75' Collins), Mendez-Laing, Smith (75' Cashin), Washington (50' Vickers), Elder (75' John-Jules), Fornah, Rooney (14' Bradley), Nelson.
Substitutes not used: Barkhuizen, Radcliffe.
The Rams have a two week rest before the next match due to the international break. Our next fixture will be a Sky Bet League One clash against Portsmouth at Pride Park on September 16th (3pm kick-off.
