Derby County 2 Southampton 2: Peschisolido strips gloss off Burley's Pride Park return
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Your support makes all the difference.Paul Peschisolido struck for the older guard with a last-minute Derby County equaliser on a rousing afternoon of firsts and reunions at Pride Park.
Southampton's superb second-half revival, highlighted by two goals in seven minutes, including a crashing debut strike by Bradley Wright-Phillips, had appeared destined for maximum reward. However, with the sides alternating in threatening to add to the scoring, 35-year-old Peschisolido raced on to fellow substitute Morten Bisgaard's pass and drove low beyond Kelvin Davis into the far corner.
Two clubs under new ownership made for exciting Sunday viewing, even if there were mixed feelings for Billy Davies and George Burley. The last time the managers had been in opposition was in the second leg of the 2005 play-off semi-final at this ground: Burley's final match in charge of Derby.
Davies prevailed that night, and looked like doing so again, having a deserved 35th-minute breakthrough from Seth Johnson.
Southampton were handicapped early on, when their captain Claus Lundekvam was carried off following a clash of heads with Giles Barnes; and were further inconvenienced by the second-half departure of Ricardo Fuller with a hamstring problem.
They were second best for almost an hour, and Steve Howard would probably have marked his £1m arrival from Luton Town with a goal had he not lost his balance following an excellent pull-back by Barnes. Inigo Idiakez then saw an inswinging corner headed off the line by Jamel Belmadi and a free-kick safely held.
Burley admitted that in the first half "we looked like a team just put together, and Derby were better than us, We played well in the second half and showed a lot of quality."
Alexander Ostlund and Fuller went close before left-back Gareth Bale curled in a 25-yard free-kick for the equaliser just after the hour.
Wright-Phillips, captured for £750,000 from Manchester City in the close season, quickly marked his arrival as a substitute by being booked for handling.
Then he thundered in a right-foot beauty from near the edge of the area, following a lay-off by the £2m former Derby striker Grzegorz Rasiak.
Near misses came in quick succession in a gung-ho finale, and Davies was only partially pacified by the salvation. "We didn't work hard enough in the last 30 minutes," he said. "We have to assess and find players who can sustain it and develop a mentality of winning 1-0."
Goals: S Johnson (35) 1-0; Bale (62) 1-1; Wright-Phillips (68) 1-2; Peschisolido (90) 2-2.
Derby County (4-4-2): Camp; Edworthy, Moore, M Johnson, Jackson; T Smith, Idiakez (Bolder, 78), S Johnson (Peschisolido, 84), R Smith (Bisgaard, 62); Barnes, Howard. Substitutes not used: Oakley, Nyatanga.
Southampton (4-4-2): Davis; Baird, Lundekvam (Ostlund, 5), Pele, Bale; Belmadi, Viafara, Wright, Skacel (Surman, 90); Rasiak, Fuller (Wright-Phillips, 54). Substitutes not used: Poke (gk), Dyer.
Referee: A D'Urso (Essex).
Booked: Derby County Lawrence. Southampton Wright-Phillips, Skacel.
Man of the match: Belmadi.
Attendance: 21,939.
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