Paulo Wanchope put on a sparkling show as Derby overwhelmed Sheffield
Wednesday to warm the Pride Park faithful on a bitterly cold afternoon.
A brace from Wanchope, within the opening four minutes of each half, and a
fine low drive from Gary Rowett added to the Derby's push for a place in
Europe.
Costa Rican striker Wanchope took his goals with real aplomb, his first in the
third minute a low cross shot while his second, in the 49th minute, was a neat
lob.
And Rowett's 66th minute effort, powerfully driven into the bottom corner from
15 yards, was no more than Jim Smith's men deserved for an at times exhilarating
display.
However, if Wanchope's scoring exploits will take the headlines it was the
brilliant Deon Burton who really turned the screw with a sparkling display of
both guile and pace.
The odds were always stacked against Ron Atkinson's men, even history was very
much against the Owls - they have won only once in the last 17 visits to
County.
The Rams have only two games scheduled in the whole of March so Jim Smith had
left his men in no doubt how important the three points were, especially after
only one Premiership win in February.
The battle between four Italians, two on either side, was always likely to
help decide the outcome. Derby's Francesco Baiano having previously hit the
target 11 times in the League while Wednesday's Paolo Di Canio and Benito
Carbone had shared 18 Premiership goals this season.
And within three minutes the home side went ahead with a superb five-man move
which went the length of the pitch before Wanchope fired across Kevin Pressman
into the far corner.
Christian Dailly transferred the ball via Baiano and Igor Stimac to Gary who
found the lanky striker at inside right.
He took a couple of steps before steadying himself before striking a crisp
cross-shot from what seemed like an acute angle.
The excitement was non-stop with the Rams hitting the visitors woodwork on
three occasions in the opening 16 minutes.
Baiano and Burton, twice, were the unfortunate home stars as they gave the
Wednesday an early run-around.
Without Dean Sturridge, recovering at home after a car accident on Friday
evening which saw his Jaguar written off in a three car pile-up, Smith's men
were irresistible as they looked capable of adding to their early goal with
every attack.
However, after Dailly had pulled down Di Canio eight minutes before the break
the moody Italian got up to force a brilliant save from Mart Poom, the home
keeper.
Wanchope made it two after four minutes of the second half with a crafty lob
and Rowett made it three, in the 66th minute, with a fine low drive.
The home side then took their foot off the pedal and allowed Wednesday to come
more into the game.
Teams
Teams
Derby: Poom, Rowett, D. Powell, Stimac, Wanchope, Laursen,
Carsley, Eranio (Hunt 80), Dailly, Burton (Delap 85), Baiano.
Subs Not Used: C. Powell, Willems, Knight.
Booked: Dailly, Stimac.
Goals: Wanchope 3, 49, Rowett 67.
Sheff Wed: Pressman, Atherton, Pembridge (Magilton 69), Newsome,
Walker, Carbone, Di Canio (Mayrleb 69), Hyde (Booth 54), Rudi,
Hinchcliffe, Barrett.
Subs Not Used: Clarke, Oakes.
Booked: Atherton.
Att: 30,203
Ref: A B Wilkie (Chester-le-Street).
E-mail Article 
Print-Friendly
Subscribe to RSS Feed 
Post to del.icio.us
Facebook