Yahoo Finance Waghorn hits spot as draw keeps Derby up but relegates Sheffield Wednesday
Who would be a manager, eh? Wayne Rooney stewed powerless in the technical area as his Derby County side crumbled before his eyes in an absurd, see-sawing second half but then came a moment that transformed their fortunes.
The Derby substitute Kamil Jozwiak was speeding away towards the Sheffield Wednesday goal when he was fouled by Chey Dunkley, gifting Derby the chance to equalise from the penalty spot and earn a whiff of salvation. Seconds earlier and 150 miles away in south Wales, Cardiff pulled level with Rotherham as Marlon Pack cancelled out Lewis Wing’s opener. It was a minute that had enormous ramifications.
Wycombe went down fighting with a 3-0 win at Middlesbrough not enough to prevent an immediate return to League One. Gareth Ainsworth's side were all but down at kick-off, needing a 10-goal margin of victory and for other results to go their way. Goals from Fred Onyedima, Garath McCleary and Jason McCarthy ensured they at least moved above Rotherham and Sheffield Wednesday in the final table.
Swansea slipped to a 2-0 defeat at promoted Watford, Andre Gray and Isaac Success striking in the second half for the hosts. Steve Cooper's side held onto fourth spot as Bournemouth lost at home to mid-table Stoke by the same scoreline, Will Forrester and Tommy Smith getting the goals. Barnsley finish fifth after a 2-2 draw at home to champions Norwich and will face the Swans in the play-off semi-finals; Bournemouth will play third-placed Brentford, who cruised to a 3-1 victory at Bristol City, Ivan Toney getting his 31st goal of the season.
Reading end the campaign in seventh after a 2-2 home draw with Huddersfield. Rarmani Edmonds-Green's injury-time equaliser earned a point for the Terriers. Adam Armstrong took his season tally to 28 with a hat-trick as Blackburn thrashed Birmingham 5-2, while Coventry ended their two-year stay at St Andrew's with a 6-1 rout of Millwall. Charlie Austin kickstarted QPR's 3-1 win over Luton and Preston fought back from a goal down to win 2-1 at Nottingham Forest.
Niall McVeigh
Martyn Waghorn blasted in the subsequent penalty with 12 minutes to play and this time Derby, who had surrendered the lead in three of their four previous matches before succumbing to defeat managed to hold on, surviving six painstaking minutes of second-half stoppage time. Rooney turned apoplectic as Patrick Roberts failed to seal victory with eight minutes to play after getting through one on one with the Wednesday goalkeeper Keiren Westwood as Barry Bannan and Julian Börner chased in vain.
For Wednesday’s manager Darren Moore, the former Derby defender back in the dugout for the first time in almost a month after suffering from pneumonia, his side were ultimately the ones who pressed self-destruct. Wednesday’s players sank to the turf after being relegated to League One and Derby’s players also dropped to the floor, exhausted from the mental and physical exertion of a fraught contest. At full-time, there were tears of joy for Waghorn. Wednesday had twice wrestled the lead but this point left them bottom of the pile.
It had looked as though Derby had found another agonising way to implode but they held on to saviour a point that felt like a victory, the most important of their season. Rooney was a picture of calm as Patrick Roberts slid on to his knees in celebration, skidding towards the corner flag with every outfield player in hot pursuit. Roberts’ wondrous left-footed strike flew into the top corner to give Derby a precious lead three minutes after Waghorn nodded a header beyond Westwood from Tom Lawrence’s delicious cross.
Derby twice thought they had taken the lead in a first half of few chances but plenty of attrition. At one point, Wycombe making up the 12-goal deficit required to avoid relegation in the event of results elsewhere going their way seemed more feasible than a moment of quality. As Mike Dean blew the whistle, Rooney rushed down the tunnel to prepare the biggest team talk of his four-month old managerial career, Sam Hutchinson’s strike just before the interval giving Wednesday a whiff of hope. Whatever Rooney said, it worked and, despite proving to be their own worst enemy once more, they survived.
Pos | Team | P | GD | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Norwich | 46 | 39 | 97 |
2 | Watford | 46 | 33 | 91 |
3 | Brentford | 46 | 37 | 87 |
4 | Swansea | 46 | 17 | 80 |
5 | Barnsley | 46 | 8 | 78 |
6 | AFC Bournemouth | 46 | 27 | 77 |
7 | Reading | 46 | 8 | 70 |
8 | Cardiff | 46 | 17 | 68 |
9 | QPR | 46 | 2 | 68 |
10 | Middlesbrough | 46 | 2 | 64 |
11 | Millwall | 46 | -5 | 62 |
12 | Luton | 46 | -11 | 62 |
13 | Preston North End | 46 | -7 | 61 |
14 | Stoke | 46 | -2 | 60 |
15 | Blackburn | 46 | 11 | 57 |
16 | Coventry | 46 | -12 | 55 |
17 | Nottm Forest | 46 | -8 | 52 |
18 | Birmingham | 46 | -24 | 52 |
19 | Bristol City | 46 | -22 | 51 |
20 | Huddersfield | 46 | -21 | 49 |
21 | Derby | 46 | -22 | 44 |
22 | Wycombe | 46 | -30 | 43 |
23 | Rotherham | 46 | -16 | 42 |
24 | Sheff Wed | 46 | -21 | 41 |
