DavesaRam

Most important thing tonight, is not to pick up any injuries. ?

i was there mate , the support was first class all game

So that’s amusing. One poster posts ‘attack, attack, attack’ under pictures of hurricanes and spitfires in action and someone else responds :
“err you do realise they made the engines in Derby ... “

OH WHAT A NIGHT! 
I got up at 3.15 yesterday morning for work, and arrived home at 12.30 am this morning. Cream crackered but the best spend of energy ever! And Vale's idea of away fans catering meant that I didn't eat till 11.30 pm, a food gap of 10 hours! I got some ale in, though! And no, I wasn't driving for this match!
Th match itself was frenetic for most of the time, partly because we tend to high-press more than we used to, and Port Vale were up for it, almost as though it was a cup final! There have been loads of comments about how poorly we played, but bottom line is that we had to adapt to playing on a cabbage patch - hence the propensity for the long ball game. Someone spoke about the degrading pitch, but whether that was because it was degrading to play on, or steadily getting worse as the match wore on they didn't say. It was both! So some of the poor finishing, and poor passing was because of the terra firma being so bobbly. And some was because we didn't have a good night.
But the match I was watching Vale were quick and having a go, but didn't create that many  chances until they had scored. By contrast Derby looked threatening, and early on were the ones creating the opportunities. In the end Warne thought our tactics were the best way to go, and he has done well on that score, particularly recently. And having 18 (?) shots with 5 on target in an away match is pretty darned good, don't you think?
Davis was excellent in the first half, and NML is consistently playing well. But stand out to me was Barkhuisen. Like NML on Saturday he had his full back on toast - several times the full back simply whacked the ball into touch when there was no-one near him, he was so rattled. So when Dobbin came on, it was Open Sesame! The full back was not only either useless or knackered, he was a beaten man. Quite rightly Dobbin was given man of the match, because he ended up with 3 shots on goal, and created 3 chances, in only a very short space of time.
It did seem as though it was going to be one of those nights where no matter what we did, the ball simply wasn't going to go in. But the persistence was amazing, and paid of - testament yet again to Paul Warne's fitness regime - we kept motoring on despite having had a draining match on Saturday while Vale had their feet up. And as ever the ref played his part. He booked a Vale player very early on, but that was it. We got 5 minutes of good ref, then it was back to normal. Yet again, all Vale had to do was gently sit down and it was a free kick, while being free to simply run at a Derby player with both arms forwards and push the Ram out of the way without censure. Smith went down holding his face in our area when there was no-one within 2 or 3 yards of him - thankfully the ref let Vale down on that one. And after we went a goal down, Barkhuisen was all-in-wrestled away from a through the ball , and when Didsy went to pick the loose ball up he was hacked down right on the edge of the box, but nothing was given for either. Terrible refereeing, and we only ended up winning because Vale obviously didn't pay the ref as much as they did for the match at Pride Park, allegedly.
The away end was deafening all night, apart from when we were "Sssssshhhhhh"ing at the Vale librarians! And to see the whole team celbrating at our end for the second goal was brilliant. IT was very, very special.
Unlike the burger van outside, although it did serve some very tasty looking items - none of this "Do you want onions or cheese on it? There you go", but properly assembled pieces of art. But like many Rams, we baled out in order to get to out seats for kick off, nipping out at half time instead, only to get to the front of the queue to find that he had run out of food! Massive starvation feelings, but perhaps he had planned it well to run out with only a dozen or so left in the queue. H no doubt made a killing, especially at £7 a go, but surely he would have know that it was an away-end sell out. If he had more than just himself serving, and brought more food to begin with he could have made 30 - 50% more sales. What a missed opportunity. We walked past the chippy in a side street near the ground on the way in because of the queue, and it was closed when we came out. A chippy closed before 10 pm? Good grief!
So we finally got home at 12.30pm, still absolutely buzzing, still floating on air, and for the second match in a row I was leaping around like a madman for the goals! I haven't done that for years, but simply can't help myself! Something very special is happening.
Its a great time to be a Ram!

Next time we go to Port Vale and the burger bar decides to not sell burgers I may take you up on it!

Our season was well and truly brought out of it's slumber by a combination of them both.
To quote the late, great George Michael...
'Wake Me Up B4 you Diego...'
 
 
I'll fetch my coat.

It wouldn't surprise me. 
There's an old Albanian proverb : after shaking hands with a Greek, count your fingers. 

I live half a mile from there Dave, I would have knocked you up a sarnie or summat if you'd of asked!

OH WHAT A NIGHT! 
I got up at 3.15 yesterday morning for work, and arrived home at 12.30 am this morning. Cream crackered but the best spend of energy ever! And Vale's idea of away fans catering meant that I didn't eat till 11.30 pm, a food gap of 10 hours! I got some ale in, though! And no, I wasn't driving for this match!
Th match itself was frenetic for most of the time, partly because we tend to high-press more than we used to, and Port Vale were up for it, almost as though it was a cup final! There have been loads of comments about how poorly we played, but bottom line is that we had to adapt to playing on a cabbage patch - hence the propensity for the long ball game. Someone spoke about the degrading pitch, but whether that was because it was degrading to play on, or steadily getting worse as the match wore on they didn't say. It was both! So some of the poor finishing, and poor passing was because of the terra firma being so bobbly. And some was because we didn't have a good night.
But the match I was watching Vale were quick and having a go, but didn't create that many  chances until they had scored. By contrast Derby looked threatening, and early on were the ones creating the opportunities. In the end Warne thought our tactics were the best way to go, and he has done well on that score, particularly recently. And having 18 (?) shots with 5 on target in an away match is pretty darned good, don't you think?
Davis was excellent in the first half, and NML is consistently playing well. But stand out to me was Barkhuisen. Like NML on Saturday he had his full back on toast - several times the full back simply whacked the ball into touch when there was no-one near him, he was so rattled. So when Dobbin came on, it was Open Sesame! The full back was not only either useless or knackered, he was a beaten man. Quite rightly Dobbin was given man of the match, because he ended up with 3 shots on goal, and created 3 chances, in only a very short space of time.
It did seem as though it was going to be one of those nights where no matter what we did, the ball simply wasn't going to go in. But the persistence was amazing, and paid of - testament yet again to Paul Warne's fitness regime - we kept motoring on despite having had a draining match on Saturday while Vale had their feet up. And as ever the ref played his part. He booked a Vale player very early on, but that was it. We got 5 minutes of good ref, then it was back to normal. Yet again, all Vale had to do was gently sit down and it was a free kick, while being free to simply run at a Derby player with both arms forwards and push the Ram out of the way without censure. Smith went down holding his face in our area when there was no-one within 2 or 3 yards of him - thankfully the ref let Vale down on that one. And after we went a goal down, Barkhuisen was all-in-wrestled away from a through the ball , and when Didsy went to pick the loose ball up he was hacked down right on the edge of the box, but nothing was given for either. Terrible refereeing, and we only ended up winning because Vale obviously didn't pay the ref as much as they did for the match at Pride Park, allegedly.
The away end was deafening all night, apart from when we were "Sssssshhhhhh"ing at the Vale librarians! And to see the whole team celbrating at our end for the second goal was brilliant. IT was very, very special.
Unlike the burger van outside, although it did serve some very tasty looking items - none of this "Do you want onions or cheese on it? There you go", but properly assembled pieces of art. But like many Rams, we baled out in order to get to out seats for kick off, nipping out at half time instead, only to get to the front of the queue to find that he had run out of food! Massive starvation feelings, but perhaps he had planned it well to run out with only a dozen or so left in the queue. H no doubt made a killing, especially at £7 a go, but surely he would have know that it was an away-end sell out. If he had more than just himself serving, and brought more food to begin with he could have made 30 - 50% more sales. What a missed opportunity. We walked past the chippy in a side street near the ground on the way in because of the queue, and it was closed when we came out. A chippy closed before 10 pm? Good grief!
So we finally got home at 12.30pm, still absolutely buzzing, still floating on air, and for the second match in a row I was leaping around like a madman for the goals! I haven't done that for years, but simply can't help myself! Something very special is happening.
Its a great time to be a Ram!

OH WHAT A NIGHT! 
I got up at 3.15 yesterday morning for work, and arrived home at 12.30 am this morning. Cream crackered but the best spend of energy ever! And Vale's idea of away fans catering meant that I didn't eat till 11.30 pm, a food gap of 10 hours! I got some ale in, though! And no, I wasn't driving for this match!
Th match itself was frenetic for most of the time, partly because we tend to high-press more than we used to, and Port Vale were up for it, almost as though it was a cup final! There have been loads of comments about how poorly we played, but bottom line is that we had to adapt to playing on a cabbage patch - hence the propensity for the long ball game. Someone spoke about the degrading pitch, but whether that was because it was degrading to play on, or steadily getting worse as the match wore on they didn't say. It was both! So some of the poor finishing, and poor passing was because of the terra firma being so bobbly. And some was because we didn't have a good night.
But the match I was watching Vale were quick and having a go, but didn't create that many  chances until they had scored. By contrast Derby looked threatening, and early on were the ones creating the opportunities. In the end Warne thought our tactics were the best way to go, and he has done well on that score, particularly recently. And having 18 (?) shots with 5 on target in an away match is pretty darned good, don't you think?
Davis was excellent in the first half, and NML is consistently playing well. But stand out to me was Barkhuisen. Like NML on Saturday he had his full back on toast - several times the full back simply whacked the ball into touch when there was no-one near him, he was so rattled. So when Dobbin came on, it was Open Sesame! The full back was not only either useless or knackered, he was a beaten man. Quite rightly Dobbin was given man of the match, because he ended up with 3 shots on goal, and created 3 chances, in only a very short space of time.
It did seem as though it was going to be one of those nights where no matter what we did, the ball simply wasn't going to go in. But the persistence was amazing, and paid of - testament yet again to Paul Warne's fitness regime - we kept motoring on despite having had a draining match on Saturday while Vale had their feet up. And as ever the ref played his part. He booked a Vale player very early on, but that was it. We got 5 minutes of good ref, then it was back to normal. Yet again, all Vale had to do was gently sit down and it was a free kick, while being free to simply run at a Derby player with both arms forwards and push the Ram out of the way without censure. Smith went down holding his face in our area when there was no-one within 2 or 3 yards of him - thankfully the ref let Vale down on that one. And after we went a goal down, Barkhuisen was all-in-wrestled away from a through the ball , and when Didsy went to pick the loose ball up he was hacked down right on the edge of the box, but nothing was given for either. Terrible refereeing, and we only ended up winning because Vale obviously didn't pay the ref as much as they did for the match at Pride Park, allegedly.
The away end was deafening all night, apart from when we were "Sssssshhhhhh"ing at the Vale librarians! And to see the whole team celbrating at our end for the second goal was brilliant. IT was very, very special.
Unlike the burger van outside, although it did serve some very tasty looking items - none of this "Do you want onions or cheese on it? There you go", but properly assembled pieces of art. But like many Rams, we baled out in order to get to out seats for kick off, nipping out at half time instead, only to get to the front of the queue to find that he had run out of food! Massive starvation feelings, but perhaps he had planned it well to run out with only a dozen or so left in the queue. H no doubt made a killing, especially at £7 a go, but surely he would have know that it was an away-end sell out. If he had more than just himself serving, and brought more food to begin with he could have made 30 - 50% more sales. What a missed opportunity. We walked past the chippy in a side street near the ground on the way in because of the queue, and it was closed when we came out. A chippy closed before 10 pm? Good grief!
So we finally got home at 12.30pm, still absolutely buzzing, still floating on air, and for the second match in a row I was leaping around like a madman for the goals! I haven't done that for years, but simply can't help myself! Something very special is happening.
Its a great time to be a Ram!

We decide to cop out and have a MacDonald's. There is one just after gritting on the A 50 at Stoke, but despite being all lit up it was closed for a refit. We found one near Uttoxeter which was rammed with Rams, so joined a huge queue and got served at 11.30 pm!

Looked a fairly clear cut penalty when Dobbin spooned that chance wide - PV defender lunged in with both feet to try and block the ball and followed through bringing Dobbin down just after he got his shot away, but definitely an out-of-control tackle which gave Dobbin a nasty whack on the shins.

OH WHAT A NIGHT! 
I got up at 3.15 yesterday morning for work, and arrived home at 12.30 am this morning. Cream crackered but the best spend of energy ever! And Vale's idea of away fans catering meant that I didn't eat till 11.30 pm, a food gap of 10 hours! I got some ale in, though! And no, I wasn't driving for this match!
Th match itself was frenetic for most of the time, partly because we tend to high-press more than we used to, and Port Vale were up for it, almost as though it was a cup final! There have been loads of comments about how poorly we played, but bottom line is that we had to adapt to playing on a cabbage patch - hence the propensity for the long ball game. Someone spoke about the degrading pitch, but whether that was because it was degrading to play on, or steadily getting worse as the match wore on they didn't say. It was both! So some of the poor finishing, and poor passing was because of the terra firma being so bobbly. And some was because we didn't have a good night.
But the match I was watching Vale were quick and having a go, but didn't create that many  chances until they had scored. By contrast Derby looked threatening, and early on were the ones creating the opportunities. In the end Warne thought our tactics were the best way to go, and he has done well on that score, particularly recently. And having 18 (?) shots with 5 on target in an away match is pretty darned good, don't you think?
Davis was excellent in the first half, and NML is consistently playing well. But stand out to me was Barkhuisen. Like NML on Saturday he had his full back on toast - several times the full back simply whacked the ball into touch when there was no-one near him, he was so rattled. So when Dobbin came on, it was Open Sesame! The full back was not only either useless or knackered, he was a beaten man. Quite rightly Dobbin was given man of the match, because he ended up with 3 shots on goal, and created 3 chances, in only a very short space of time.
It did seem as though it was going to be one of those nights where no matter what we did, the ball simply wasn't going to go in. But the persistence was amazing, and paid of - testament yet again to Paul Warne's fitness regime - we kept motoring on despite having had a draining match on Saturday while Vale had their feet up. And as ever the ref played his part. He booked a Vale player very early on, but that was it. We got 5 minutes of good ref, then it was back to normal. Yet again, all Vale had to do was gently sit down and it was a free kick, while being free to simply run at a Derby player with both arms forwards and push the Ram out of the way without censure. Smith went down holding his face in our area when there was no-one within 2 or 3 yards of him - thankfully the ref let Vale down on that one. And after we went a goal down, Barkhuisen was all-in-wrestled away from a through the ball , and when Didsy went to pick the loose ball up he was hacked down right on the edge of the box, but nothing was given for either. Terrible refereeing, and we only ended up winning because Vale obviously didn't pay the ref as much as they did for the match at Pride Park, allegedly.
The away end was deafening all night, apart from when we were "Sssssshhhhhh"ing at the Vale librarians! And to see the whole team celbrating at our end for the second goal was brilliant. IT was very, very special.
Unlike the burger van outside, although it did serve some very tasty looking items - none of this "Do you want onions or cheese on it? There you go", but properly assembled pieces of art. But like many Rams, we baled out in order to get to out seats for kick off, nipping out at half time instead, only to get to the front of the queue to find that he had run out of food! Massive starvation feelings, but perhaps he had planned it well to run out with only a dozen or so left in the queue. H no doubt made a killing, especially at £7 a go, but surely he would have know that it was an away-end sell out. If he had more than just himself serving, and brought more food to begin with he could have made 30 - 50% more sales. What a missed opportunity. We walked past the chippy in a side street near the ground on the way in because of the queue, and it was closed when we came out. A chippy closed before 10 pm? Good grief!
So we finally got home at 12.30pm, still absolutely buzzing, still floating on air, and for the second match in a row I was leaping around like a madman for the goals! I haven't done that for years, but simply can't help myself! Something very special is happening.
Its a great time to be a Ram!

Likewise - it was absolutely excellent. Derby's catering has a lot to learn. Sorry to hear that they didn't have enough to go round all, sure they're used to small crowds but this has been sold out for weeks now.

You need to finish your lyrics.
Oh what a night
Late January back in 23......?
 

OH WHAT A NIGHT! 
I got up at 3.15 yesterday morning for work, and arrived home at 12.30 am this morning. Cream crackered but the best spend of energy ever! And Vale's idea of away fans catering meant that I didn't eat till 11.30 pm, a food gap of 10 hours! I got some ale in, though! And no, I wasn't driving for this match!
Th match itself was frenetic for most of the time, partly because we tend to high-press more than we used to, and Port Vale were up for it, almost as though it was a cup final! There have been loads of comments about how poorly we played, but bottom line is that we had to adapt to playing on a cabbage patch - hence the propensity for the long ball game. Someone spoke about the degrading pitch, but whether that was because it was degrading to play on, or steadily getting worse as the match wore on they didn't say. It was both! So some of the poor finishing, and poor passing was because of the terra firma being so bobbly. And some was because we didn't have a good night.
But the match I was watching Vale were quick and having a go, but didn't create that many  chances until they had scored. By contrast Derby looked threatening, and early on were the ones creating the opportunities. In the end Warne thought our tactics were the best way to go, and he has done well on that score, particularly recently. And having 18 (?) shots with 5 on target in an away match is pretty darned good, don't you think?
Davis was excellent in the first half, and NML is consistently playing well. But stand out to me was Barkhuisen. Like NML on Saturday he had his full back on toast - several times the full back simply whacked the ball into touch when there was no-one near him, he was so rattled. So when Dobbin came on, it was Open Sesame! The full back was not only either useless or knackered, he was a beaten man. Quite rightly Dobbin was given man of the match, because he ended up with 3 shots on goal, and created 3 chances, in only a very short space of time.
It did seem as though it was going to be one of those nights where no matter what we did, the ball simply wasn't going to go in. But the persistence was amazing, and paid of - testament yet again to Paul Warne's fitness regime - we kept motoring on despite having had a draining match on Saturday while Vale had their feet up. And as ever the ref played his part. He booked a Vale player very early on, but that was it. We got 5 minutes of good ref, then it was back to normal. Yet again, all Vale had to do was gently sit down and it was a free kick, while being free to simply run at a Derby player with both arms forwards and push the Ram out of the way without censure. Smith went down holding his face in our area when there was no-one within 2 or 3 yards of him - thankfully the ref let Vale down on that one. And after we went a goal down, Barkhuisen was all-in-wrestled away from a through the ball , and when Didsy went to pick the loose ball up he was hacked down right on the edge of the box, but nothing was given for either. Terrible refereeing, and we only ended up winning because Vale obviously didn't pay the ref as much as they did for the match at Pride Park, allegedly.
The away end was deafening all night, apart from when we were "Sssssshhhhhh"ing at the Vale librarians! And to see the whole team celbrating at our end for the second goal was brilliant. IT was very, very special.
Unlike the burger van outside, although it did serve some very tasty looking items - none of this "Do you want onions or cheese on it? There you go", but properly assembled pieces of art. But like many Rams, we baled out in order to get to out seats for kick off, nipping out at half time instead, only to get to the front of the queue to find that he had run out of food! Massive starvation feelings, but perhaps he had planned it well to run out with only a dozen or so left in the queue. H no doubt made a killing, especially at £7 a go, but surely he would have know that it was an away-end sell out. If he had more than just himself serving, and brought more food to begin with he could have made 30 - 50% more sales. What a missed opportunity. We walked past the chippy in a side street near the ground on the way in because of the queue, and it was closed when we came out. A chippy closed before 10 pm? Good grief!
So we finally got home at 12.30pm, still absolutely buzzing, still floating on air, and for the second match in a row I was leaping around like a madman for the goals! I haven't done that for years, but simply can't help myself! Something very special is happening.
Its a great time to be a Ram!

OH WHAT A NIGHT! 
I got up at 3.15 yesterday morning for work, and arrived home at 12.30 am this morning. Cream crackered but the best spend of energy ever! And Vale's idea of away fans catering meant that I didn't eat till 11.30 pm, a food gap of 10 hours! I got some ale in, though! And no, I wasn't driving for this match!
Th match itself was frenetic for most of the time, partly because we tend to high-press more than we used to, and Port Vale were up for it, almost as though it was a cup final! There have been loads of comments about how poorly we played, but bottom line is that we had to adapt to playing on a cabbage patch - hence the propensity for the long ball game. Someone spoke about the degrading pitch, but whether that was because it was degrading to play on, or steadily getting worse as the match wore on they didn't say. It was both! So some of the poor finishing, and poor passing was because of the terra firma being so bobbly. And some was because we didn't have a good night.
But the match I was watching Vale were quick and having a go, but didn't create that many  chances until they had scored. By contrast Derby looked threatening, and early on were the ones creating the opportunities. In the end Warne thought our tactics were the best way to go, and he has done well on that score, particularly recently. And having 18 (?) shots with 5 on target in an away match is pretty darned good, don't you think?
Davis was excellent in the first half, and NML is consistently playing well. But stand out to me was Barkhuisen. Like NML on Saturday he had his full back on toast - several times the full back simply whacked the ball into touch when there was no-one near him, he was so rattled. So when Dobbin came on, it was Open Sesame! The full back was not only either useless or knackered, he was a beaten man. Quite rightly Dobbin was given man of the match, because he ended up with 3 shots on goal, and created 3 chances, in only a very short space of time.
It did seem as though it was going to be one of those nights where no matter what we did, the ball simply wasn't going to go in. But the persistence was amazing, and paid of - testament yet again to Paul Warne's fitness regime - we kept motoring on despite having had a draining match on Saturday while Vale had their feet up. And as ever the ref played his part. He booked a Vale player very early on, but that was it. We got 5 minutes of good ref, then it was back to normal. Yet again, all Vale had to do was gently sit down and it was a free kick, while being free to simply run at a Derby player with both arms forwards and push the Ram out of the way without censure. Smith went down holding his face in our area when there was no-one within 2 or 3 yards of him - thankfully the ref let Vale down on that one. And after we went a goal down, Barkhuisen was all-in-wrestled away from a through the ball , and when Didsy went to pick the loose ball up he was hacked down right on the edge of the box, but nothing was given for either. Terrible refereeing, and we only ended up winning because Vale obviously didn't pay the ref as much as they did for the match at Pride Park, allegedly.
The away end was deafening all night, apart from when we were "Sssssshhhhhh"ing at the Vale librarians! And to see the whole team celbrating at our end for the second goal was brilliant. IT was very, very special.
Unlike the burger van outside, although it did serve some very tasty looking items - none of this "Do you want onions or cheese on it? There you go", but properly assembled pieces of art. But like many Rams, we baled out in order to get to out seats for kick off, nipping out at half time instead, only to get to the front of the queue to find that he had run out of food! Massive starvation feelings, but perhaps he had planned it well to run out with only a dozen or so left in the queue. H no doubt made a killing, especially at £7 a go, but surely he would have know that it was an away-end sell out. If he had more than just himself serving, and brought more food to begin with he could have made 30 - 50% more sales. What a missed opportunity. We walked past the chippy in a side street near the ground on the way in because of the queue, and it was closed when we came out. A chippy closed before 10 pm? Good grief!
So we finally got home at 12.30pm, still absolutely buzzing, still floating on air, and for the second match in a row I was leaping around like a madman for the goals! I haven't done that for years, but simply can't help myself! Something very special is happening.
Its a great time to be a Ram!

OH WHAT A NIGHT! 
I got up at 3.15 yesterday morning for work, and arrived home at 12.30 am this morning. Cream crackered but the best spend of energy ever! And Vale's idea of away fans catering meant that I didn't eat till 11.30 pm, a food gap of 10 hours! I got some ale in, though! And no, I wasn't driving for this match!
Th match itself was frenetic for most of the time, partly because we tend to high-press more than we used to, and Port Vale were up for it, almost as though it was a cup final! There have been loads of comments about how poorly we played, but bottom line is that we had to adapt to playing on a cabbage patch - hence the propensity for the long ball game. Someone spoke about the degrading pitch, but whether that was because it was degrading to play on, or steadily getting worse as the match wore on they didn't say. It was both! So some of the poor finishing, and poor passing was because of the terra firma being so bobbly. And some was because we didn't have a good night.
But the match I was watching Vale were quick and having a go, but didn't create that many  chances until they had scored. By contrast Derby looked threatening, and early on were the ones creating the opportunities. In the end Warne thought our tactics were the best way to go, and he has done well on that score, particularly recently. And having 18 (?) shots with 5 on target in an away match is pretty darned good, don't you think?
Davis was excellent in the first half, and NML is consistently playing well. But stand out to me was Barkhuisen. Like NML on Saturday he had his full back on toast - several times the full back simply whacked the ball into touch when there was no-one near him, he was so rattled. So when Dobbin came on, it was Open Sesame! The full back was not only either useless or knackered, he was a beaten man. Quite rightly Dobbin was given man of the match, because he ended up with 3 shots on goal, and created 3 chances, in only a very short space of time.
It did seem as though it was going to be one of those nights where no matter what we did, the ball simply wasn't going to go in. But the persistence was amazing, and paid of - testament yet again to Paul Warne's fitness regime - we kept motoring on despite having had a draining match on Saturday while Vale had their feet up. And as ever the ref played his part. He booked a Vale player very early on, but that was it. We got 5 minutes of good ref, then it was back to normal. Yet again, all Vale had to do was gently sit down and it was a free kick, while being free to simply run at a Derby player with both arms forwards and push the Ram out of the way without censure. Smith went down holding his face in our area when there was no-one within 2 or 3 yards of him - thankfully the ref let Vale down on that one. And after we went a goal down, Barkhuisen was all-in-wrestled away from a through the ball , and when Didsy went to pick the loose ball up he was hacked down right on the edge of the box, but nothing was given for either. Terrible refereeing, and we only ended up winning because Vale obviously didn't pay the ref as much as they did for the match at Pride Park, allegedly.
The away end was deafening all night, apart from when we were "Sssssshhhhhh"ing at the Vale librarians! And to see the whole team celbrating at our end for the second goal was brilliant. IT was very, very special.
Unlike the burger van outside, although it did serve some very tasty looking items - none of this "Do you want onions or cheese on it? There you go", but properly assembled pieces of art. But like many Rams, we baled out in order to get to out seats for kick off, nipping out at half time instead, only to get to the front of the queue to find that he had run out of food! Massive starvation feelings, but perhaps he had planned it well to run out with only a dozen or so left in the queue. H no doubt made a killing, especially at £7 a go, but surely he would have know that it was an away-end sell out. If he had more than just himself serving, and brought more food to begin with he could have made 30 - 50% more sales. What a missed opportunity. We walked past the chippy in a side street near the ground on the way in because of the queue, and it was closed when we came out. A chippy closed before 10 pm? Good grief!
So we finally got home at 12.30pm, still absolutely buzzing, still floating on air, and for the second match in a row I was leaping around like a madman for the goals! I haven't done that for years, but simply can't help myself! Something very special is happening.
Its a great time to be a Ram!

OH WHAT A NIGHT! 
I got up at 3.15 yesterday morning for work, and arrived home at 12.30 am this morning. Cream crackered but the best spend of energy ever! And Vale's idea of away fans catering meant that I didn't eat till 11.30 pm, a food gap of 10 hours! I got some ale in, though! And no, I wasn't driving for this match!
Th match itself was frenetic for most of the time, partly because we tend to high-press more than we used to, and Port Vale were up for it, almost as though it was a cup final! There have been loads of comments about how poorly we played, but bottom line is that we had to adapt to playing on a cabbage patch - hence the propensity for the long ball game. Someone spoke about the degrading pitch, but whether that was because it was degrading to play on, or steadily getting worse as the match wore on they didn't say. It was both! So some of the poor finishing, and poor passing was because of the terra firma being so bobbly. And some was because we didn't have a good night.
But the match I was watching Vale were quick and having a go, but didn't create that many  chances until they had scored. By contrast Derby looked threatening, and early on were the ones creating the opportunities. In the end Warne thought our tactics were the best way to go, and he has done well on that score, particularly recently. And having 18 (?) shots with 5 on target in an away match is pretty darned good, don't you think?
Davis was excellent in the first half, and NML is consistently playing well. But stand out to me was Barkhuisen. Like NML on Saturday he had his full back on toast - several times the full back simply whacked the ball into touch when there was no-one near him, he was so rattled. So when Dobbin came on, it was Open Sesame! The full back was not only either useless or knackered, he was a beaten man. Quite rightly Dobbin was given man of the match, because he ended up with 3 shots on goal, and created 3 chances, in only a very short space of time.
It did seem as though it was going to be one of those nights where no matter what we did, the ball simply wasn't going to go in. But the persistence was amazing, and paid of - testament yet again to Paul Warne's fitness regime - we kept motoring on despite having had a draining match on Saturday while Vale had their feet up. And as ever the ref played his part. He booked a Vale player very early on, but that was it. We got 5 minutes of good ref, then it was back to normal. Yet again, all Vale had to do was gently sit down and it was a free kick, while being free to simply run at a Derby player with both arms forwards and push the Ram out of the way without censure. Smith went down holding his face in our area when there was no-one within 2 or 3 yards of him - thankfully the ref let Vale down on that one. And after we went a goal down, Barkhuisen was all-in-wrestled away from a through the ball , and when Didsy went to pick the loose ball up he was hacked down right on the edge of the box, but nothing was given for either. Terrible refereeing, and we only ended up winning because Vale obviously didn't pay the ref as much as they did for the match at Pride Park, allegedly.
The away end was deafening all night, apart from when we were "Sssssshhhhhh"ing at the Vale librarians! And to see the whole team celbrating at our end for the second goal was brilliant. IT was very, very special.
Unlike the burger van outside, although it did serve some very tasty looking items - none of this "Do you want onions or cheese on it? There you go", but properly assembled pieces of art. But like many Rams, we baled out in order to get to out seats for kick off, nipping out at half time instead, only to get to the front of the queue to find that he had run out of food! Massive starvation feelings, but perhaps he had planned it well to run out with only a dozen or so left in the queue. H no doubt made a killing, especially at £7 a go, but surely he would have know that it was an away-end sell out. If he had more than just himself serving, and brought more food to begin with he could have made 30 - 50% more sales. What a missed opportunity. We walked past the chippy in a side street near the ground on the way in because of the queue, and it was closed when we came out. A chippy closed before 10 pm? Good grief!
So we finally got home at 12.30pm, still absolutely buzzing, still floating on air, and for the second match in a row I was leaping around like a madman for the goals! I haven't done that for years, but simply can't help myself! Something very special is happening.
Its a great time to be a Ram!

OH WHAT A NIGHT! 
I got up at 3.15 yesterday morning for work, and arrived home at 12.30 am this morning. Cream crackered but the best spend of energy ever! And Vale's idea of away fans catering meant that I didn't eat till 11.30 pm, a food gap of 10 hours! I got some ale in, though! And no, I wasn't driving for this match!
Th match itself was frenetic for most of the time, partly because we tend to high-press more than we used to, and Port Vale were up for it, almost as though it was a cup final! There have been loads of comments about how poorly we played, but bottom line is that we had to adapt to playing on a cabbage patch - hence the propensity for the long ball game. Someone spoke about the degrading pitch, but whether that was because it was degrading to play on, or steadily getting worse as the match wore on they didn't say. It was both! So some of the poor finishing, and poor passing was because of the terra firma being so bobbly. And some was because we didn't have a good night.
But the match I was watching Vale were quick and having a go, but didn't create that many  chances until they had scored. By contrast Derby looked threatening, and early on were the ones creating the opportunities. In the end Warne thought our tactics were the best way to go, and he has done well on that score, particularly recently. And having 18 (?) shots with 5 on target in an away match is pretty darned good, don't you think?
Davis was excellent in the first half, and NML is consistently playing well. But stand out to me was Barkhuisen. Like NML on Saturday he had his full back on toast - several times the full back simply whacked the ball into touch when there was no-one near him, he was so rattled. So when Dobbin came on, it was Open Sesame! The full back was not only either useless or knackered, he was a beaten man. Quite rightly Dobbin was given man of the match, because he ended up with 3 shots on goal, and created 3 chances, in only a very short space of time.
It did seem as though it was going to be one of those nights where no matter what we did, the ball simply wasn't going to go in. But the persistence was amazing, and paid of - testament yet again to Paul Warne's fitness regime - we kept motoring on despite having had a draining match on Saturday while Vale had their feet up. And as ever the ref played his part. He booked a Vale player very early on, but that was it. We got 5 minutes of good ref, then it was back to normal. Yet again, all Vale had to do was gently sit down and it was a free kick, while being free to simply run at a Derby player with both arms forwards and push the Ram out of the way without censure. Smith went down holding his face in our area when there was no-one within 2 or 3 yards of him - thankfully the ref let Vale down on that one. And after we went a goal down, Barkhuisen was all-in-wrestled away from a through the ball , and when Didsy went to pick the loose ball up he was hacked down right on the edge of the box, but nothing was given for either. Terrible refereeing, and we only ended up winning because Vale obviously didn't pay the ref as much as they did for the match at Pride Park, allegedly.
The away end was deafening all night, apart from when we were "Sssssshhhhhh"ing at the Vale librarians! And to see the whole team celbrating at our end for the second goal was brilliant. IT was very, very special.
Unlike the burger van outside, although it did serve some very tasty looking items - none of this "Do you want onions or cheese on it? There you go", but properly assembled pieces of art. But like many Rams, we baled out in order to get to out seats for kick off, nipping out at half time instead, only to get to the front of the queue to find that he had run out of food! Massive starvation feelings, but perhaps he had planned it well to run out with only a dozen or so left in the queue. H no doubt made a killing, especially at £7 a go, but surely he would have know that it was an away-end sell out. If he had more than just himself serving, and brought more food to begin with he could have made 30 - 50% more sales. What a missed opportunity. We walked past the chippy in a side street near the ground on the way in because of the queue, and it was closed when we came out. A chippy closed before 10 pm? Good grief!
So we finally got home at 12.30pm, still absolutely buzzing, still floating on air, and for the second match in a row I was leaping around like a madman for the goals! I haven't done that for years, but simply can't help myself! Something very special is happening.
Its a great time to be a Ram!

OH WHAT A NIGHT! 
I got up at 3.15 yesterday morning for work, and arrived home at 12.30 am this morning. Cream crackered but the best spend of energy ever! And Vale's idea of away fans catering meant that I didn't eat till 11.30 pm, a food gap of 10 hours! I got some ale in, though! And no, I wasn't driving for this match!
Th match itself was frenetic for most of the time, partly because we tend to high-press more than we used to, and Port Vale were up for it, almost as though it was a cup final! There have been loads of comments about how poorly we played, but bottom line is that we had to adapt to playing on a cabbage patch - hence the propensity for the long ball game. Someone spoke about the degrading pitch, but whether that was because it was degrading to play on, or steadily getting worse as the match wore on they didn't say. It was both! So some of the poor finishing, and poor passing was because of the terra firma being so bobbly. And some was because we didn't have a good night.
But the match I was watching Vale were quick and having a go, but didn't create that many  chances until they had scored. By contrast Derby looked threatening, and early on were the ones creating the opportunities. In the end Warne thought our tactics were the best way to go, and he has done well on that score, particularly recently. And having 18 (?) shots with 5 on target in an away match is pretty darned good, don't you think?
Davis was excellent in the first half, and NML is consistently playing well. But stand out to me was Barkhuisen. Like NML on Saturday he had his full back on toast - several times the full back simply whacked the ball into touch when there was no-one near him, he was so rattled. So when Dobbin came on, it was Open Sesame! The full back was not only either useless or knackered, he was a beaten man. Quite rightly Dobbin was given man of the match, because he ended up with 3 shots on goal, and created 3 chances, in only a very short space of time.
It did seem as though it was going to be one of those nights where no matter what we did, the ball simply wasn't going to go in. But the persistence was amazing, and paid of - testament yet again to Paul Warne's fitness regime - we kept motoring on despite having had a draining match on Saturday while Vale had their feet up. And as ever the ref played his part. He booked a Vale player very early on, but that was it. We got 5 minutes of good ref, then it was back to normal. Yet again, all Vale had to do was gently sit down and it was a free kick, while being free to simply run at a Derby player with both arms forwards and push the Ram out of the way without censure. Smith went down holding his face in our area when there was no-one within 2 or 3 yards of him - thankfully the ref let Vale down on that one. And after we went a goal down, Barkhuisen was all-in-wrestled away from a through the ball , and when Didsy went to pick the loose ball up he was hacked down right on the edge of the box, but nothing was given for either. Terrible refereeing, and we only ended up winning because Vale obviously didn't pay the ref as much as they did for the match at Pride Park, allegedly.
The away end was deafening all night, apart from when we were "Sssssshhhhhh"ing at the Vale librarians! And to see the whole team celbrating at our end for the second goal was brilliant. IT was very, very special.
Unlike the burger van outside, although it did serve some very tasty looking items - none of this "Do you want onions or cheese on it? There you go", but properly assembled pieces of art. But like many Rams, we baled out in order to get to out seats for kick off, nipping out at half time instead, only to get to the front of the queue to find that he had run out of food! Massive starvation feelings, but perhaps he had planned it well to run out with only a dozen or so left in the queue. H no doubt made a killing, especially at £7 a go, but surely he would have know that it was an away-end sell out. If he had more than just himself serving, and brought more food to begin with he could have made 30 - 50% more sales. What a missed opportunity. We walked past the chippy in a side street near the ground on the way in because of the queue, and it was closed when we came out. A chippy closed before 10 pm? Good grief!
So we finally got home at 12.30pm, still absolutely buzzing, still floating on air, and for the second match in a row I was leaping around like a madman for the goals! I haven't done that for years, but simply can't help myself! Something very special is happening.
Its a great time to be a Ram!

OH WHAT A NIGHT! 
I got up at 3.15 yesterday morning for work, and arrived home at 12.30 am this morning. Cream crackered but the best spend of energy ever! And Vale's idea of away fans catering meant that I didn't eat till 11.30 pm, a food gap of 10 hours! I got some ale in, though! And no, I wasn't driving for this match!
Th match itself was frenetic for most of the time, partly because we tend to high-press more than we used to, and Port Vale were up for it, almost as though it was a cup final! There have been loads of comments about how poorly we played, but bottom line is that we had to adapt to playing on a cabbage patch - hence the propensity for the long ball game. Someone spoke about the degrading pitch, but whether that was because it was degrading to play on, or steadily getting worse as the match wore on they didn't say. It was both! So some of the poor finishing, and poor passing was because of the terra firma being so bobbly. And some was because we didn't have a good night.
But the match I was watching Vale were quick and having a go, but didn't create that many  chances until they had scored. By contrast Derby looked threatening, and early on were the ones creating the opportunities. In the end Warne thought our tactics were the best way to go, and he has done well on that score, particularly recently. And having 18 (?) shots with 5 on target in an away match is pretty darned good, don't you think?
Davis was excellent in the first half, and NML is consistently playing well. But stand out to me was Barkhuisen. Like NML on Saturday he had his full back on toast - several times the full back simply whacked the ball into touch when there was no-one near him, he was so rattled. So when Dobbin came on, it was Open Sesame! The full back was not only either useless or knackered, he was a beaten man. Quite rightly Dobbin was given man of the match, because he ended up with 3 shots on goal, and created 3 chances, in only a very short space of time.
It did seem as though it was going to be one of those nights where no matter what we did, the ball simply wasn't going to go in. But the persistence was amazing, and paid of - testament yet again to Paul Warne's fitness regime - we kept motoring on despite having had a draining match on Saturday while Vale had their feet up. And as ever the ref played his part. He booked a Vale player very early on, but that was it. We got 5 minutes of good ref, then it was back to normal. Yet again, all Vale had to do was gently sit down and it was a free kick, while being free to simply run at a Derby player with both arms forwards and push the Ram out of the way without censure. Smith went down holding his face in our area when there was no-one within 2 or 3 yards of him - thankfully the ref let Vale down on that one. And after we went a goal down, Barkhuisen was all-in-wrestled away from a through the ball , and when Didsy went to pick the loose ball up he was hacked down right on the edge of the box, but nothing was given for either. Terrible refereeing, and we only ended up winning because Vale obviously didn't pay the ref as much as they did for the match at Pride Park, allegedly.
The away end was deafening all night, apart from when we were "Sssssshhhhhh"ing at the Vale librarians! And to see the whole team celbrating at our end for the second goal was brilliant. IT was very, very special.
Unlike the burger van outside, although it did serve some very tasty looking items - none of this "Do you want onions or cheese on it? There you go", but properly assembled pieces of art. But like many Rams, we baled out in order to get to out seats for kick off, nipping out at half time instead, only to get to the front of the queue to find that he had run out of food! Massive starvation feelings, but perhaps he had planned it well to run out with only a dozen or so left in the queue. H no doubt made a killing, especially at £7 a go, but surely he would have know that it was an away-end sell out. If he had more than just himself serving, and brought more food to begin with he could have made 30 - 50% more sales. What a missed opportunity. We walked past the chippy in a side street near the ground on the way in because of the queue, and it was closed when we came out. A chippy closed before 10 pm? Good grief!
So we finally got home at 12.30pm, still absolutely buzzing, still floating on air, and for the second match in a row I was leaping around like a madman for the goals! I haven't done that for years, but simply can't help myself! Something very special is happening.
Its a great time to be a Ram!

Stop rubbing it in!!!

OH WHAT A NIGHT! 
I got up at 3.15 yesterday morning for work, and arrived home at 12.30 am this morning. Cream crackered but the best spend of energy ever! And Vale's idea of away fans catering meant that I didn't eat till 11.30 pm, a food gap of 10 hours! I got some ale in, though! And no, I wasn't driving for this match!
Th match itself was frenetic for most of the time, partly because we tend to high-press more than we used to, and Port Vale were up for it, almost as though it was a cup final! There have been loads of comments about how poorly we played, but bottom line is that we had to adapt to playing on a cabbage patch - hence the propensity for the long ball game. Someone spoke about the degrading pitch, but whether that was because it was degrading to play on, or steadily getting worse as the match wore on they didn't say. It was both! So some of the poor finishing, and poor passing was because of the terra firma being so bobbly. And some was because we didn't have a good night.
But the match I was watching Vale were quick and having a go, but didn't create that many  chances until they had scored. By contrast Derby looked threatening, and early on were the ones creating the opportunities. In the end Warne thought our tactics were the best way to go, and he has done well on that score, particularly recently. And having 18 (?) shots with 5 on target in an away match is pretty darned good, don't you think?
Davis was excellent in the first half, and NML is consistently playing well. But stand out to me was Barkhuisen. Like NML on Saturday he had his full back on toast - several times the full back simply whacked the ball into touch when there was no-one near him, he was so rattled. So when Dobbin came on, it was Open Sesame! The full back was not only either useless or knackered, he was a beaten man. Quite rightly Dobbin was given man of the match, because he ended up with 3 shots on goal, and created 3 chances, in only a very short space of time.
It did seem as though it was going to be one of those nights where no matter what we did, the ball simply wasn't going to go in. But the persistence was amazing, and paid of - testament yet again to Paul Warne's fitness regime - we kept motoring on despite having had a draining match on Saturday while Vale had their feet up. And as ever the ref played his part. He booked a Vale player very early on, but that was it. We got 5 minutes of good ref, then it was back to normal. Yet again, all Vale had to do was gently sit down and it was a free kick, while being free to simply run at a Derby player with both arms forwards and push the Ram out of the way without censure. Smith went down holding his face in our area when there was no-one within 2 or 3 yards of him - thankfully the ref let Vale down on that one. And after we went a goal down, Barkhuisen was all-in-wrestled away from a through the ball , and when Didsy went to pick the loose ball up he was hacked down right on the edge of the box, but nothing was given for either. Terrible refereeing, and we only ended up winning because Vale obviously didn't pay the ref as much as they did for the match at Pride Park, allegedly.
The away end was deafening all night, apart from when we were "Sssssshhhhhh"ing at the Vale librarians! And to see the whole team celbrating at our end for the second goal was brilliant. IT was very, very special.
Unlike the burger van outside, although it did serve some very tasty looking items - none of this "Do you want onions or cheese on it? There you go", but properly assembled pieces of art. But like many Rams, we baled out in order to get to out seats for kick off, nipping out at half time instead, only to get to the front of the queue to find that he had run out of food! Massive starvation feelings, but perhaps he had planned it well to run out with only a dozen or so left in the queue. H no doubt made a killing, especially at £7 a go, but surely he would have know that it was an away-end sell out. If he had more than just himself serving, and brought more food to begin with he could have made 30 - 50% more sales. What a missed opportunity. We walked past the chippy in a side street near the ground on the way in because of the queue, and it was closed when we came out. A chippy closed before 10 pm? Good grief!
So we finally got home at 12.30pm, still absolutely buzzing, still floating on air, and for the second match in a row I was leaping around like a madman for the goals! I haven't done that for years, but simply can't help myself! Something very special is happening.
Its a great time to be a Ram!