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Archived News from September 2002

REPORTS FROM NATIONAL PAPERS
11th September 2002 6:42


Reports from Daily Telegraph & The Independent

Daily Telegraph
Derby make extra man tell
By Peter Gardner
Mansfield Town (1) 1 Derby County (1) 3
Lee Williamson, the Mansfield captain, was dismissed after just 82 seconds against his hometown club Derby at Field Mill last night.
The remarkable first round tie then continued in equally spectacular fashion as the depleted home side, third from bottom of the Second Division, surprised their more illustrious First Division visitors by taking a seventh-minute lead.
However, local jubilation was short-lived, Derby equalising three minutes later and then, in the second half, they made the advantage of having the extra man pay by comprehensively wrapping up the game.
The eventful opening saw Williamson shown the red card for an over-the-top incident involving Derby's Adam Bolder and although little more than a minute had elapsed, it was not the quickest sending off in the competition. That involved Arsenal's Jason Crowe who received his marching orders after 33 seconds of a third-round tie against Birmingham City in October 1997.
Undeterred by their handicap, Mansfield surprisingly took a seventh minute lead when, following a cross by Wayne Corden, Iyseden Christie played the ball back from the far post for Neil Moore to hook in a drive off the underside of the crossbar.
Derby, clearly stung, responded in the 10th minute. Malcolm Christie pulled the ball back in from the left and Lee Morris finished clinically.
Derby took the lead in the 71st minute, Paul Boertien crossing low from the left enabling Malcolm Christie to turn the ball in at the near post. Georgi Kinkladze arrived as a substitute to spark further pressure for the visitors and he linked with Boertien who again provided the ammunition from the left for Ian Evatt to head through the hands of the Mansfield goalkeeper Kevin Pilkington.
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The Independent

Worthington Cup: Gregory's First Division Rams struggle against 10-man Mansfield
Christie spares Derby's blushes
Mansfield Town 1 Derby County 3
By Phil Shaw
Until four months ago Derby were in the Premiership and Mansfield in the Third Division, yet only in the final 20 minutes of a combustible first round Worthington Cup derby at Field Mill did any disparity between the East Midlands rivals became apparent last night.
Mansfield, having played with 10 men following the second-minute dismissal of Lee Williamson, actually took an early lead through Neil Moore's first goal for the club. Lee Morris levelled almost immediately, although disturbingly for Derby, they seldom looked like adding to Britain's worst defensive record until Malcolm Christie and Ian Evatt each converted a Paul Boertien cross after 71 and 78 minutes respectively.
When the teams met in July in a pre-season warm-up, a goalless game had to be abandoned because of a torrential downpour. This time the action was anything but friendly and a goal apiece in the opening 10 minutes threatened a deluge which never quite materialised.
With 80 seconds played, the Derby-born Williamson, Mansfield's captain, went over the top in a two-footed lunge on Adam Bolder. Above the ensuing fracas involving a scrum of players, Mr Danson's red card signalled a shame-faced exit.
Mansfield had conceded 22 goals in seven League fixtures but the 10 men shocked Derby with one of their own – their first in 372 minutes' play - after seven minutes. Wayne Corden's cross was turned back across goal by Iyseden Christie, enabling Moore to hook a close-range shot past Mart Poom.
Another Christie, the £5m-rated Malcolm, paved the way for Derby's equaliser three minutes later. His low ball in from the left gave Morris the chance to sidefoot a neat near-post goal.
Mansfield massed behind the ball when they lost possession, putting the onus on Derby to find greater width. Bolder headed wastefully high from Morris' 38th-minute cross, while Evatt, on for the injured Strupar, could not make the necessary contact with Malcolm Christie's centre as it flashed across goal early in the second half.
The large, restless Derby following vented their frustration by chanting against the chairman, Lionel Pickering. Jeers finally turned to cheers when Giorgi Kinkladze came on and their passing became crisper.
The Georgian's ball set up Boertien to cross for Malcolm Christie to fire home, and an Evatt header put the issue beyond doubt. On this evidence, however, John Gregory has his work cut out to shape Derby into a team capable of mounting a push for promotion.
Mansfield Town (4-5-1): Pilkington; Clarke, Reddington (A White, 72), Moore, Clark; Lawrence, Williamson, MacKenzie, Disley, Corden (Hurst, 89); I Christie (Bacon, 85). Substitutes not used: Holyoak, J White (gk).
Derby County (4-4-2): Poom; Barton (Hunt, 85), Riggott, Higginbotham, Boertien; O'Neil, Lee, Bolder (Kinkladze, 57), Morris; Strupar (Evatt, 26), M Christie. Substitutes not used: Twigg, Grant (gk).
Referee: P Danson (Leicester).
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