A defensive mix-up cost Derby dear as Millwall's Mark McCammon pounced to
guarantee the Lions all three points at Pride Park Stadium.
Victory would have given the Rams their first three-game winning sequence in
the league since September 1998.
But an early strike from Neil Harris ahead of McCammon's second-half goal were
enough to outweigh a superlative effort from Giorgi Kinkladze.
The visitors took the lead in the sixth minute after Matt Lawrence launched a
free-kick from the halfway line, Derby keeper Andy Oakes advancing but failing
to punch clear under pressure from McCammon.
And as chaos reigned around him, Harris fired the loose ball goalwards with
defender Paul Ritchie, stationed on the line, only able to head the ball home
off the crossbar.
But the Rams were on terms just two minutes later as Kinkladze exchanged
passes with Adam Bolder on the edge of the Millwall box before producing a
delicious left-footed drive which beat Tony Warner low to his right.
At the other end, McCammon was fortunate to escape disciplinary action after
pole-axing Oakes who, after extensive treatment, proved helpless as Harris broke
from midfield but slotted clear when one-on-one in the 26th minute.
Then, as the interval loomed, the Rams' Richard Jackson fed inside from the
right-wing with Kinkladze taking his cue to carry possession forward.
Ravanelli, lurking 18 yards out, received the ball with his back to goal
before executing a canny turn and unleashing a left-foot effort which beat
Warner but not the post.
And Derby went close again in first-half injury time though Paul Boertien's
dangerous volley into a populated penalty area was eventually hacked clear by
Paul Ifill.
Another Derby chance to turn the screw went begging shortly after the hour
when Bolder relieved a spell of Millwall pressure by racing along the right
flank and supplying Ravanelli but Kinkladze proved unable to find a telling
finish when presented with the pullback.
And how the Rams were made to pay for their profligacy.
For Millwall reasserted themselves in the 64th minute as indecision gripped
substitute keeper Lee Grant when under pressure from McCammon, chasing Ritchie's
defensive header towards goal.
And with Grant rooted, McCammon seized his chance to divert the ball over the
keeper and then slot into an unguarded net.
The strike galvanised the hosts who took every opportunity to pour forward in
numbers but Bolder was frustrated when his powerful effort was saved one-handed
by Warner.
And then Craig Burley, whose quick feet had danced around the grounded
Millwall keeper in a crowded box, saw a short-range dab rebound off the post.
Teams
Derby: Oakes (Grant 45), Barton (Mills 50), Mooney, Ritchie,
Jackson, Bolder, Burley, Valakari, Boertien, Ravanelli,
Kinkladze.
Subs Not Used: Lee, Murray, McLeod.
Booked: Ritchie.
Goals: Kinkladze 8.
Millwall: Warner, Lawrence, Nethercott, Ward, Ryan, Ifill,
Wise, Roberts, Livermore, Harris (Ashikodi 90),
McCammon (Claridge 89).
Subs Not Used: Gueret, Elliott, Craig.
Booked: Ifill.
Goals: Harris 6, McCammon 63.
Att: 21,014
Ref: R Pearson (Co Durham).
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