Morris restores Derby's finishing

Derby County 2 Burnley

Derby County's change of ownership has not altered the focus of their season. It is still all about First Division survival.

The point is underlined by the five home League defeats they have already suffered, so good days like this are welcome relief on which they might build a platform for safety. George Burley's stated assessment is that his club has a rosy future and a short-term full of difficulties. Funds are scarce but the Derby manager is mixing and matching to buy time.

The midfielders Lee Holmes and Tom Huddlestone are approaching regular status at the age of 16, five other members of Saturday's starting line-up are in their early 20's and the rest are a combination of loan signings and free-transfer discards.

Amid all this rebuilding in the face of acute financial hardship, it is ironic that their new chairman, John Sleightholme, is considering the erection of a statue in memory of the Derby legend Steve Bloomer, who died more than 50 years ago. The present-day Rams are a pale shadow of the club's all-time record marksman, but found the cutting edge to defeat a Burnley side who played attractively without troubling the scorers.

Stan Ternent sends his players out to play the right way and, on a kinder afternoon, would have had some reward because the England Under-21 goalkeeper, Lee Grant, was one of the major differences between the teams.

Within hours of Derby announcing the sacking of their goalkeeper coach, Tony Godden, he saved brilliantly low down from David May's first-half header and rivalled that effort by denying Richard Chaplow just after the break.

These are Clarets with a soft centre, though, and they were to the liking of their opponents. In a game that rose well above its gloomy portents, Derby not having won in eight matches and Burnley in five, Lee Morris's 20th-minute dash through an offside trap undermined by the dallying May was matched by a finish of high composure.

The former Sheffield United player's fourth goal of the season was expertly made by Ian Taylor, who, in somewhat dubious circumstances, secured the points with a disputed penalty in the fifth minute of injury time.

It was Uriah Rennie's second contentious stoppage-time decision, the other having cost Arthur Gnohere a red card for holding Danny Dichio. Ternent called it a "wrong decision", citing Lee Roche as the last man. "I will speak to Uriah about it but, knowing him, I will be wasting my time," he said. "He gets himself noticed and always has done. That's why he was demoted from the Premiership."

Goals: Morris (20) 1-0; Taylor pen (90) 2-0.

Derby County (4-4-2): L Grant; Jackson, Mawene (Mills, 36), Johnson, Kennedy; Costa (Valakari, 86), Huddlestone, Taylor, Holmes (Boertien, 69); Dichio, Morris. Substitutes not used: Camp (gk), Tudgay.

Burnley (4-4-2): Jensen; West (Roche, 75), May, Gnohere, Camara; Little, Chaplow, T Grant, Farrelly (Branch, 57); I Moore, Blake. Substitutes not used: McGregor, O'Neill, Pilkington.

Referee: U Rennie (Sheffield).

Bookings: Derby: Johnson. Burnley: Chaplow, Little. Sent off: Burnley: Gnohere.

Man of the match: L Grant.

Attendance: 21,960.