Our Favourite Games Of 2017

The last 12 months have been eventful to say the least on the field and here, our writers have taken a look back at their favourite matches from 2017…

Norwich City 1-2 Derby County – Tom Loakes: @TomLoakes

When I was asked to select my favourite game of 2017 from a Derby County perspective, a number of games immediately sprang to mind.

The 2-1 win at Norwich City back in October, though, is one that stands out above the rest for me. You could argue Derby rode their luck a little in the first half, as Norwich hit the woodwork and had a penalty appeal waved away, before David Nugent fired the Rams ahead on the cusp of half-time with a fine effort.

The home side equalised through Tim Klose with 20 minutes to go and at that point, Derby could have easily felt sorry for themselves or even sat back and been content with a point.

Crucially, they didn’t do that and instead they were rewarded for their positivity. As a team they responded strongly and Sam Winnall won it late on from close range to round off a fast and flowing move. He regularly tells us he loves a tap-in, and he proved it that day!

I left Carrow Road for the journey home that day not only impressed with the performance, but also Derby’s strong mentality. They displayed some excellent qualities on the day and it was certainly an afternoon to make others sit up and take note of the progress made under Gary Rowett’s management.

Birmingham City 1-2 Derby County – Tom Bestwick: @tbestwick93

After originally being torn between the FA Cup win over West Bromwich Albion and the 2-1 victory over Norwich City in October for overall performance, but my personal choice comes from the back end of last season and for one moment.

Gary Rowett had just joined us and won two of his first three games, now the question was could he get one over his former club?

The Rams headed to face Birmingham City on a baking hot April day and despite opening the scoring after just three minutes, thanks to Tomasz Kuszczak’s own goal, they had to weather heavy spells of pressure from a Blues side in a desperate battle to beat the drop.

After Che Adams eventually equalised it looked like they had to settle for a point. That was the case, however, until Scott Carson launched the sweetest of passes into the path of Tom Ince to score an injury-time winner.

Those packing up around me were scrambling around the press box trying to find out what happened, meanwhile Joe Carnell, our analyst, was going mad above us. Ah, the memories.

Leeds United 1-2 Derby County – Olli Milligan: @OlliAaron

What a night for Derby County and the fans that followed them to Elland Road. Going into the game off the back of three straight victories, it looked like that run was coming to an end when the home side raced into an early lead thanks to Pierre-Michel Lasogga’s near-post finish.

The Rams’ equaliser was a thing of beauty, as Tom Huddlestone swept the ball into the path of the marauding Craig Forsyth, whose inch-perfect cross found Sam Winnall who was there for a tap-in on 72 minutes, before the striker fired home from the spot eight minutes later to make it four wins in a row.

Winnall scored with each of his three shots in a four-day spell against Norwich City and then Leeds, underlining his influence during a key spell in the season, as well as his contribution to Rowett’s October Manager of the Month award.

Middlesbrough 0-3 Derby County – Sam Bailey: @SamBaileyDCFC

For as long as I can remember, facing Middlesbrough away was always a fixture which supporters would label as a write-off before a ball had even been kicked.

A 17-year winless record away against Boro says a lot about Derby’s luck at the Riverside.

From start-to-finish in the encounter, we made a side of very talented individuals look average.

Over the course of our impressive run on the road, what impresses me the most (and it’s not just Matej Vydra!) is our resilience at the back. I’m not just talking about our back five either!