Two opponents. One far superior to the other. The first showing superb attack. The other showing very little defence.

Probing. Striking. The knockout blow. No, not Antony Joshua’s demolition job but rather the Rams’ own battering of sorry Bolton.

With marked similarities between the events at the iPro and at the O2 arena, the Wanderers were left wishing for the referee to wave off the contest from the early going.

Buoyed by the superb display against Hull, the Rams would have beaten far better teams than the beleaguered Lancastrians. Still, you can only beat what is in front of you and we did so, albeit without Bradley Johnson, injured in the midweek success. This was a shame given that he had only just got rid of that guy who had been impersonating him for the past few months…

Still no matter, with Butterfield a more than adequate replacement. In fact, even Nick Blackman could have done a job, given the sorry state of the league’s bottom side. Plus there was also some fella named William Hughes back on our bench.

We should have gone ahead after just four minutes. Martin, who was carrying a sack in anticipation of filling it come 90 minutes, cleverly reversed to Ince, who found himself one-on-one. Having faded to take it round Amos, the Bolton stopper did well to claw behind for a corner.

Showing similar tempo and intent as in the week, we soon went close again. A good cross from Russell saw Olsson smash into the North Stand, before Bryson teed up Martin to curl an effort just wide following a corner.

As I was just sorting out a sweepstake on how many times Scott Carson would touch the ball in the contest, we were in front. And how.

Thorne’s pass was deflected into the path of Russell, who turned, took aim and fired an unstoppable rocket into the left-hand corner of the net. Suddenly, people were reaching for calculators as we had Bolton firmly on the ropes.

In almost identical fashion, first Christie then Bryson fired drives just wide from the right of the penalty area, the latter after more good hold up play from Martin. Next, a corner was only partially cleared to Keogh, who despite calls to channel his inner Paul Scholes instead passed to Russell, who cut inside to crash just over.

At this point, I contemplated going to sit in the North Stand, with the majority of action taking place up the far end. With Amos the coconut in the shy, Martin was next to take aim, curling a free-kick wide from just inside the D.

Finally, the ball made its way towards the South Stand and to the delight of the visiting fans, Bolton forced a corner. The smiles were almost wiped off faces as Wheater found a free header that was blocked.

This served as the wake-up call we needed and within minutes we were 2-0 up. A flowing move saw Butterfield chest down and find Russell on the right. Control and cross bang on, Johnny picked out Ince at the far stick to volley home, albeit with Amos seemingly having wrists of chocolate!

With the sweepstake changed to ‘how many would we score,’ Johnny did his best to add to the total before the break. First, a flicked header from a Christie cross saw Amos fly to save to his left, before a weaving run from Ince ended in a firm shot that was well saved.

Half time. 2-0. It could have been anything.

After a very strange tai chi exhibition (surprisingly Jake Buxton wasn’t involved), it was back to business, that is if you class business as a training game with the Rams’ dominance continuing.

Probably the best thing from a visitor’s point of few was that Heskey was introduced at the interval. And that is saying something.

Soon after the break, Russell was the beneficiary of some woeful defending, again only to see his curled effort hit the roof of the net. Chris Martin, shall we say, let him know that he had been on and wouldn’t mind a goal too!

Next to roll up (roll up) was Bryson, with a speculative effort from range that fizzed over. Ince went considerably closer soon after, albeit with the ball taking a huge deflection off Holding to drop just wide.

Bolton were poor, yes, but the Rams were efficient and sharp. One thinks of similar games against so called relegation fodder where we came unstuck (MK Dons, anyone?).

Inevitably, a third goal came, although in slightly fortuitous circumstances. Having got bored of finding passes and being clattered by Pratley, who I am still scratching my head to have didn’t receive a booking all afternoon, Butterfield tried his luck from distance. I think Wheater got the memo about Jacob not scoring tap-ins, the ball whistling off his considerable forehead and arrowing past Amos for number three.

And then, the blot in the copy book. Somewhat predictably, having looked as threatening as a sleeping kitten all afternoon, Wanderers halted our run of clean sheets. The goal came from the spot, as substitute Davies took a tumble over the outstretched leg of Thorne. Rumours that the referee felt sorry for them remain unconfirmed but nevertheless Clough, Zach not Nigel, duly converted for 1-3.

Any fears of a ‘Rotherham’ moments were quickly snuffed out as we finally added some gloss to the scoreline.

More great play from Ince down the left saw him pull back for Russell. Having expertly shanked his initial effort straight into his path, Johnny coolly rounded Amos and deposited into the corner. A thoroughly deserved second in what was possibly Johnny’s best game of the season.

To their credit, Bolton plugged away and could have had a second, with Carson pulling off a smart stop from the impressive Davies.

Finally, after teasing us for 85 minutes, Wassall introduced young William back from the bench. It is hard to believe he has missed the entire season and the reception he received will stay with him and us for a long time I’m sure, even if it did look like he wouldn’t touch the ball at one point!

Touch it he did though, with the accompanying cheer heard across the county. There was time for a vintage Hughes pass to Martin, before the house nearly came down as Will himself found space in the box before being snuffed out. This came to the relief of the stewards as, ‘if Hughesy scores, we’re on the pitch!’

And that was that. What is known as an efficient day at the office.

It is however never nice to see a club relegated and as the beleaguered visitors finally found themselves with an ‘R’ next to their name. It was difficult to watch them applaud the 500 or so hearty souls who had made the trip from the north.

There is no little time for sentiment. We have reached the business end.

If the playoffs were next week, I’d fancy us.

We couldn’t…. with Wassall?

Could we?

Weston’s Player Rating:

Scott Carson - 7: One save of note, made with cigar in hand!

Cyrus Christie — 7: Looks a lot better playing with Russell.

Derby County Polls