3/1 To Win
Derby County returned to winning ways with a 2-0 victory over Forest Green Rovers on Friday afternoon.
A penalty from James Collins and a late goal from David McGoldrick ensured the Rams claimed all three points and got the Easter weekend off to the perfect start.
Major Moments
A quite incredible start saw the Rams awarded the opportunity to take the lead within 30 seconds when Oliver Casey was adjudged to have handled the ball in the area following a cross from Nathaniel Mendez-Laing.
Collins was the man that stepped up to take the spot kick and he took a deep breath before firing low and hard into the bottom corner beyond Ross Doohan to give Paul Warne's side the perfect start.
The hosts managed to settle themselves down after Collins' early penalty and were unlucky not to have equalised through Kyle McAllister.
A long ball over the top wasn't dealt with by the Rams defence and McAllister latched onto it before lobbing the ball over the onrushing Wildsmith. Fortunately for Derby, however, it dropped just wide.
Mendez-Laing was getting plenty of freedom down the right and teed up Jason Knight whose header was well saved by Doohan.
Collins then ought to have doubled his and the Rams' tally before the break. Strike partner David McGoldrick played him through on goal with a quite wonderful pass but goalkeeper Doohan stood tall and kept out Collins' strike.
Derby started the second-half just like they did the first and the home side had Doohan to thank for not being 2-0 down within a couple of minutes of the restart. Haydon Roberts did brilliantly down the left and whipped a ball in that found McGoldrick whose snapshot was saved not once but twice by the Rovers keeper before heading out for a corner.
Away from that fast start, the second period had incredibly little in terms of chances for both sides.
That was up until the 82nd minute when McGoldrick made sure of the result with his 20th goal of the campaign. It wasn't the prettiest but it all came from the forward closing down a pass from the defender and it deflected beautifully into the back of the net.
The Teams
Forest Green Rovers: Doohan (GK), McGeough (C), Casey, Garrick, Robson, McAllister, Godwin-Malife, Cooper, Peart-Harris (71' O'Keeffe), Bunker, Savage (82' Omotoye)
Substitutes not used: Thomas (GK), Bernard, Moore-Taylor, O'Brien, Bakayoko
Derby County: Wildsmith (GK), Hourihane, Chester (75' Forsyth), Cashin, Collins (83' Bird), McGoldrick (C), Mendez-Laing (83' Dobbin), Smith, Roberts (83' Davies), Sibley (69' Barkhuizen), Knight
Substitutes not used: Loach (GK), White
What's Next Up?
It's a quick turnaround for the Rams who return to action on Easter Monday (10th April) when they welcome MK Dons to Pride Park (3pm kick-off).
