We've now got one more point than at this time last year and one point more than we did from the corresponding fixture last season, so things are looking bright for 2005/2006.

With four new faces in the team we looked well organised, difficult to break down and had the occasional chance to snatch the game. Jason Dodd showed all of his premiership quality and didn't put a foot wrong or waste the ball at any time. Paul McShane started a little nervously but grew in confidence throughout the game and looked very comfortable by the end. Colin Kazim-Richards had a little trouble shining against the Derby defence and won little in the air but he showed a lot of tenacity, put himself about a bit and looked a good prospect.

The only concern was in the goalkeeping department where Wayne Henderson was playing with Teflon gloves on, because nothing stuck to him at all with two or three relatively simple stops being spilled back in front of him but luckily no Derby forwards were there to poach a goal. The one time he did hold on to the ball was in the dying seconds where he came for a vital cross and to the great thanks of the 1,700 or so visiting supporters he actually managed to hold on to it. He had ho chance with their goal which came after Dean Hammond had headed us into an early lead from a free kick.

Their goal came after Guy Butters headed a long throw straight out to Peschisolido on the edge of the box who controlled it on his chest and thumped it into the top corner. He was their best player by far and we were pleased to see him substituted in the second half.

Derby reckoned they should have had a penalty in each half, one for a foul, the other for hand ball but I didn't see either offence so they couldn't have been as clear cut as they made out.

The referee had his moments of abuse from both sets of supporters and he ended up subbing himself in the second half after he appeared to pull a muscle. His replacement did no better and bottled a possible sending off when CK-R muscled his way through their defence but was pulled back. The ref didn't even give the offence until it was brought to his attention by the linesman and then when he appeared to be reaching for a card he couldn't seem to tell the difference between their centre backs, one coloured and the other white and blonde, so he didn't do anything! The resultant free kick was bent around the wall by Leon Knight but hit the base of the post and rebounded to safety.

Derby complained after the game that Leon had nullified Idiakez by man marking him throughout the game, a job that was well done as he showed little and they didn't look a patch on the team that hammered us at Pride Park last year. All in all a draw was a fair result and an encouraging start to the season.