Coca-Cola Championship
Gareth Davis reports from Carrow Road
Nathan Ellington came off the bench to net a dramatic late winner as Derby extended their unbeaten run to six games with a 2-1 success away to Norwich City.
The Rams' backs had been against the wall for long periods of the second half after they had Roy Carroll sent off just four minutes following the interval for a professional foul on Leroy Lita.
That allowed Sammy Clingan to slam home the penalty to level the game up with Rob Hulse having put Derby in front midway through the first half.
Though for all their possession after the break Norwich rarely threatened to take the lead themselves and they were punished with five minutes remaining when Ellington took advantage of a howler by home goalkeeper David Marshall to finish superbly well.
Steve Davies's goalscoring appearance in midweek against Birmingham saw him recalled to the starting line-up at Carrow Road with Stephen Pearson ruled out through injury.
Martin Albrechtsen was also sidelined so Lewin Nyatanga returned at the heart of Derby's defence for his first start of the season.
The home side included former Pride Park loanee Arturo Lupoli among their substitutes, while they gave an immediate start to Leroy Lita, signed on loan from Reading this week.
There was an early yellow card for Norwich skipper Darel Russell, who caught Miles Addison with a late challenge that warranted a caution despite less than four minutes showing on the clock.
And a long Davies throw-in created the game's first shot, a powerful one in the ninth minute as Norwich failed to clear and the ball came back to Derby's left winger who gave David Marshall some difficulty with his drive.
Both sides started the game looking spritely and Derby had skipper Paul Connolly to thank on the quarter-hour mark for a fine block that prevented Omar Koroma from having a clear sight of goal close-in.
Shortly afterwards, Rob Hulse flicked on a long pass from Connolly but the ball wouldn't quite drop for Davies to get his shot away well.
At the other end, Koroma planted a good chance well wide after a low cross had found him inside the Derby box.
Dean Leacock, lucky to escape censure earlier in the game after showing dissent, found himself in referee Darren Deadman's book on 21 minutes having caught Russell with a late one.
It was the centre-half's fifth of the season, incurring an automatic one-match ban and ruling him out of the home game against Plymouth Argyle on October 18.
And on 25 the Rams opened the scoring with the simplest of goals.
Davies trotted over to the right to fire across a delightful in-swinging corner to the far post where Hulse rose highest to power his header down and in to the back of the net.
A minute later the striker saw himself harshly cautioned for an apparent foul on Jon Otsemobor after the Norwich man's foot followed through while clearing.
Norwich looked for an immediate response and almost found one through Koroma, who saw his curling free-kick touched over the bar by Roy Carroll.
But it was Derby who came closest to a second goal on 38 minutes through Davies, who had drifted in to the middle and got his head on Jordan Stewart's cross only for his glance to drop just the wrong side of the post.
Davies was looking dangerous down the left and his cross presented Hulse with another opportunity four minutes before the interval.
This time, however, Derby's number 11 couldn't steer his header on target.
But it had been a largely comfortable first half for the Rams, who had looked in control for most of the opening 45 minutes without suffering any major alarms.
Norwich started the second half brightly and turned the game on its head just four minutes into the second period.
A long ball was allowed to bounce inside the Derby box and was touched goalwards by Lita, who was caught by Carroll as he looked to apply the finish.
Having given the penalty, referee Deadman had no other option than to send Derby's number one off, with Stephen Bywater taking the place of Tito Villa in the re-shuffle.
Bywater's first act was to pick the ball out of the back of the net having stood no chance of saving Sammy Clingan's powerfully-struck spot-kick.
It was all Norwich for a period afterwards with the home fans, who had booed their players off at half-time, changing their approach and getting right behind the Canaries.
But Derby withstood the pressure and were able to change things around a bit just after the hour with Przemyslaw Kazmierczak taking over from Nacer Barazite.
That saw the Rams switch to a more diamond-shaped midfield with Addison holding and Davies pushing further to support Hulse.
No sooner had Kazmierczak entered the field than he entered the notepad, though as with Hulse's first-half caution it looked more as if the home man - this time captain Russell - had collided accidentally with the Derby player while clearing.
Davies was almost through on Hulse's pass but Ryan Bertrand was back with a last-ditch challenge on the edge of the Norwich box.
The yellow cards continued to flow as Stewart was cautioned for dissent with 18 minutes remaining, though Derby's resolve had thus far seen them without anything serious to worry about as Norwich pushed for a second.
Indeed, the Rams signalled their intent to keep their own attacking threat up by replacing Davies with Nathan Ellington soon afterwards.
The home side's third change followed on 79 minutes, again an attacking one, though slightly surprisingly they took off the dangerous Lee Croft and sent on Lupoli against his old club.
The young Italian, scorer of 11 goals for Derby in 2006/07, received a good reception from the visiting faithful and responded with a clap of appreciation.
And amazingly the Rams were in front on 85 minutes thanks to the most horrendous of howlers from home goalkeeper Marshall.
The Scotsman came rushing out of his box needlessly to close down a long ball that he was never going to get to, and Ellington - always in command of the situation - controlled well before turning right on the corner of the box and finishing instinctively from a difficult angle.
Lita had a great sight of goal with seconds remaining of the 90 minutes as he raced on to Antoine Sibierski's flick, but the on-loan man couldn't control his shot.
Bywater saved a Sibierski header but that was Derby's only scare during five minutes of stoppage-time as they showed all of their grit and determination to keep hold of their advantage to the final whistle.
Norwich: Marshall, Otsemobor (Fotheringham 57), Drury, Croft (Lupoli 79), Clingan, Sibierski, Russell (C), Bertrand, Omozusi, Koroma (Bell 62), Lita.
Substitutes: Nelson (GK), Cureton.
Derby: Carroll (S/O 49), Connolly (C), Green, Stewart, Villa (Bywater 49), Hulse, Leacock, Nyatanga, Davies (Ellington 73), Addison, Barazite (Kazmierczak 62).
Substitutes: Sterjovski, Davis.
Attendance: 24,771.
