This was my first trip into deepest, darkest Lancashire to visit Turf Moor. A trip, it is fair to say, that I will not remember with any fondness whatsoever after yet another big game was ruined by an inept refereeing performance.

A performance which thwarted a game which was just beginning to come to the boil and one that may just have much larger repercussions in the fight for promotion.

The day itself began promisingly. A clear run up the M1 and onto the first pre-match tipple on the glorious Snake Pass, where we joined plenty of other Rams-fans (or were they just Rams?).

My own cautious mood wasn’t shared by my comrades, who were decidedly optimistic. All bogey teams are beaten eventually, so I was told. Why not today? With the sun shining over the countryside and with the scene littered with woolly allies akin to those on my scarf, why not indeed?

For those who have been to Burnley, you will know that the drag into the ground is enough to turn anyone’s mood decidedly sour. The same could probably be said of our players on the team-coach, which was sat in the same traffic jam as us.

Some readers, I know, enjoy the feel of an old-school style away ground but for me, away fans from places such as this, must feel like they are in heaven when visiting the iPro.

Having finally parked up, the team-news filtered through to me whilst I was ‘enjoying’ another beverage, sheltering from the rain under a hastily erected gazebo in Burnley Cricket Club’s car-park. The news of Bamford being replaced by Dawkins came as little surprise given the latters performance last week. What was of more concern was that Bryson was only fit enough for a spot on the bench.

That said, the Scot did well not to come and sit with the fans, as we too were subjected to the luxury of wooden seats, which, in fairness, I didn’t use and seemed pretty wide. With the sun peeking back through and a decent meat and potato pie scoffed, maybe nearly three-thousand Rams fans would indeed roar us into second spot?

The early going did nothing to suggest otherwise. With the fans once again in good-voice, Derby began confidently and looked content to take the game to their rivals.

Within the first five though, it became apparent that the man in black would have a part to play, immediately calling Martin over for a word, despite the big striker being no-where near a foul that took place. One can only speculate that this was to curb any early-chirping, but the stall was immediately set-out.

An early opportunity fell the way of the dangerous Ings, picking up a loose ball before driving at the heart of the Rams defence but shooting wide. As the early exchanges carried on in the style of two boxers sizing up their opponent, it was apparent that both sides were keen to play football.

Russell was once again seeing a lot of the ball, but was twice foiled by Mee when trying to overplay. Martin was also penalised twice for nothing ‘fouls’, ones that ex-Ram Shackell did his best to flower-up. Shots were few and far between, with the game going in fits and starts.

Progressively though, Burnley started to assert themselves. Flanked well by Arfield and Kightly, the Clarets were keen to switch play out wide. Derby though looked resolute, however Forsyth again looked to be the weak link in possession, hurriedly presenting the ball back to Burnley on a couple of occasions.

Following a corner then, the first contentious moment occurred, where Martin, who in my book, showed good skill and strength to bring a high-ball down and hold off his man. Sadly though, Mr Madley saw it through tinted spectacles and somehow conspired to a.) Give a foul and b.) Book the striker. A cumulative number of offensives the reason, however arguably none of these so called felonies warranted even a whistle.

Soon then, a Claret tide was coming towards us sat behind the goal as the good work of Keogh and Buxton was being undone with no midfielders picking up the second ball.

Eustace was guilty of letting too-many men breeze past him without a convincing tackle, leading to us defend deeper. Buxton did superbly to clear an inviting centre but it was to be in vein soon after. Having cleared the corner, the ball was eventually played to Kightly, who tried to skin Wisdom, but tumbled.

With the less-than-vociferous home fans looking for a free-kick, Wisdom then lost his footing, not once but twice, something which would have looked hilarious if he wasn’t wearing black and white. Kightly then retrieved his footing and the ball and found Ings. Hughes was guilty of getting sucked into the ball instead of marking Jones who Ings found with a clever flick on the edge of the box. Still with plenty to do, the ex-Ram took a touch to cushion before executing a looping volley over Grant, off the underside of the bar, and in.

Suddenly, the home-fans found their voices and an all-to-familiar behind to Burnley feeling hit me. We needed to respond though and that we did, keeping possession well for the next five and suffering no alarms. The trouble was, we didn’t look a potent attacking threat. Dawkins showed glimpses but one sensed that Bryson’s forward runs were needed to free up room for Hughes to weave his magic. With five minutes to go in the first period though, it was the referee’s magic wand which left an infuriating spell on the game.

Hughes found Dawkins in space thirty-yards out in the inside-left channel. Driving towards the area, he fed Martin in the box. Having gained a touch, the striker then went down under the challenge of Trippier. At first viewing, from my seat at the other end of the pitch mind, my initial view was that it was debatable. Contact yes but enough to send the striker down? Debatable.

With Mad Robert, as he is now known, taking forever to come to a decision, the ball broke to Hendrick, who stroked home into the far corner. No pen then, but a goal nonetheless? Or was Mad Robert going to bring play back for a pen, something that his performance so far suggested he would do?

To my astonishment, and with a red-card shaped hole burning in his pocket, he took great pleasure in brandishing a second-yellow, followed by giving Martin his marching orders. A decision, still on first viewing, that looked disgusting and clearly wrong.

At the very least, play should have continued and we would have had an equalizer so close to half-time. With the wooden seat in front bearing the weight of my frustration and a few choice words spilling into the Lancashire afternoon, the half came to an end, where three-thousand Rams very loudly voiced their opinion towards Mad Robert as he disappeared for his half-time preen in the mirror.

A couple of texts during the interval suggested that Martin had slipped, making my mood change from seething to Lancashire Hot (pot.) That said, there is nothing more enjoyable than rooting for the underdog, especially one that isn’t playing on an even keel. With nothing to lose, you sensed that the second half wouldn’t be as one-sided as it should have been. With Sammon on for Russell, my three-thousand mates agreed, with a great volume trying to help the lads snatch the unlikely.

From his first header, Sammon looked like he was ready to lead from the front and he almost gave us a dream-start to climbing the mountain. After seeing his cross blocked, the Irishman let go a ferocious strike which nicked off Shackell and hit Heaton in goal, before agonizingly coming to a halt on the wrong side of the line.

I must confess, I was already celebrating, with the spin on the ball, I thought, definitely going to take the ball in. Positive signs though, enhanced further with Dawkins firing straight at Heaton. The Rams, the model of McClaren, were certainly not going to die wondering.

Bamford was soon introduced in place of Dawkins, with McClaren obviously telling the youngster to shoot on sight. The numbers disadvantage was looking like it was in Derby’s favour rather than Burnley’s, with our midfield in particular playing some wonderful, short, sharp stuff.

Hendrick finally was getting into the game, roaming from the right and combining well with Wisdom, while Forsyth probed forwards on the other side. Another good interchange saw Bamford drive into the box before firing just over from a tight angle.

The gaffer was as animated as I have seen him during his reign, jabbing fingers, putting his hands behind his head when we went close and acting as cheerleader to the away-faithful. A lot can be judged from body-language and this was certainly that of a manager who knew that his side had been hard done-by. Mad Robert though, seemed to be lapping up the attention like a cat with a fresh bowl of milk.

Having dominated the first twenty of the second half, you knew a sucker punch was in the offing and sure enough, the killer second game in predictably scruffy fashion. A corner routine bamboozled our back line. Jones’ low ball to the edge of the box found Ings, whose shot was blocked right into the path of Marney who couldn’t miss from two-yards. I’m sure I saw Madley join in the celebration….

What would have been a very harsh third nearly followed, with Ings heading just wide from a good centre. Sammon then drove low across the box, to nobody, which would have probably found Bryson had he been on the pitch, who finally entered the fray in place of Eustace shortly after.

The Rams refused to put their heads down, battling on manfully and creating spaces for crosses, alongside forcing corners. Just though, when you felt you couldn’t get any more annoyed at the man in black, he proved that yes, indeed you could.

Bamford faced up Shackell one-on-one in the box. Tricking past him, the youngster went to ground and looked for a penalty. Mad Robert looked at his linesman before…. giving a goal-kick. No booking for simulation. Just a goal-kick. Unbelievable!

The last knockings carried on in a similar pattern-Derby pressing but being ultimately frustrated. As the man of the match award was given to Dean Marney, the Rams fans made it clear who they thought should have been presented with the award.

No bother though, I’m sure a bottle of bubbly was consumed by Mad Rob, probably with Sean Dyche.

A late trip on Bamford bought a booking, met with scenes of sarcastic jubilation. Even our good banter though could not even lead to a consolation, with Madley putting down his Whiskers in order to bring proceedings to a halt.

Having roundly booed him for the umpteenth time, I slumped out of the congested concourse feeling a sense of injustice and what might have been. How often do big games fall foul of a scandalous refereeing call?

Of course, the outcome may well have been the same with a full complement of players, with Burnley good value for their lead. Their lead that would have been wiped out, if the game was in the hands of a competent official.

The setback though, may well do Chris Martin some good. On many an occasion, he has been too quick to go to ground, so a silver-lining may well come out of this very bleak Lancashire cloud.

Overall though, the lads can certainly be very proud of their second half display, one that still fills me with confidence about the remaining thirteen games.

P.S: Having now had a chance to see replays the incident, can someone show me where slipping is a bookable offence in the F.A Rule Book?

We Said / They Said:

We said - Derby Head Coach Steve McClaren:

”I've looked at it over and over and it's a penalty. There's slight contact and Chris Martin has slipped because of the contact. His leg has been taken away, it wasn't a dive”.

“That’s the main thing - we wanted the result today but we know there’s plenty of positives for the rest of the season.”

They Said — Burnley Manager Sean Dyche:

"I thought in the first half we were very good again. There was a real quality feel about us as a side. We shifted the ball well and created chances”.

"You don't always get what you deserve but I felt we deserved at half-time to be up in the game. I think it is fair to say that you'd be (disappointed with the sending off) but the boy Martin has been involved in five or six incidents before then and the ref has had to book him. He could have been booked before that."

Weston’s Player Ratings:

Lee Grant - 6: chance with any of the goals. Didn’t get much stick!

Craig Forsyth - 6: Looked ok defensively but gets found out in the big games with ball at his feet.

Andre Wisdom - 6: At fault for first goal but looked dependable apart from that.

Jake Buxton - 7: Very good again, coped well with the threat of Burnely’s front too.

Richard Keogh — 7: Again looked soild, made couple of key blocks.

Jeff Hendrick - 6: Played in fits and starts. Grew into the game as it progressed. Much better in the second half and ‘goal’ should have stood!!

John Eustace - 5: Too many missed tackles from Big John.

Will Hughes - 7: - Looked to dictate play and played some good passes. Not helped by those around him in the first half.

Simon Dawkins - 6: Quieter by his standards but still showed a couple of glimpses. Will be hoping he isn’t used as an impact sub next week.

Johnny Russell - 7: Once again guilty of trying to be over-clever but always tries to make things happen. Subbed for Sammon at HT.

Chris Martin - 5: Where do I start?! Let’s just say, the victim of an over-zealous referee. Rest may do him good next week!!

Subs:

Conor Sammon - 8:45 minutes. Won more headers than I’ve ever seen, linked play and constantly looked a threat. Hopefully carries this into next week where he will start.

Patrick Bamford - 7: Another one who looked lively off the bench. Couple of close efforts and would have hoped to have pushed himself back into starting line-up.

Craig Bryson - 6: Very much missed in the middle of the park. Hopefully back starting next week.

No star man this week as I think we all know who that was - or at the very least he thought so!!!!

Match Stats: Clarets / Rams

Possession: 45% / 55%

Corners: 5 / 3

Shots (On Target): 13 (3) / 15 (3)

Fouls: 9 / 6

Match Info:

Referee: Robert ‘Game Wrecker’ Madley

Attendance: 17,285 (inc. more than 2500 Travelling Rams)

Derby County: Grant, Wisdom, Keogh, Buxton, Forsyth, Eustace (Bryson 72’), Hendrick, Hughes, Dawkins (Bamford 61’), Martin, Russell (Sammon 45’)

Unused Substitutes: Ward, Legzdins, Whitbread, Thorne

Burnley: Heaton, Trippier, Duff, Shackell, Mee, Arfield (Stanislas, 87), Marney, Jones, Kightly (Wallace, 64), Vokes, Ings (Barnes, 80).

Unused Substitutes:Cisak (gk), Edgar, Long, Treacy.

Match Highlights - Video:

Match Reaction - Head Coach:

Match Reaction — Derby Captain:

Next Time:

Derby County vs. Millwall

iPro Stadium

3pm — 8th of March 2014

Photo: Action Images

Derby County Polls