With the final whistle braced and ready to be blown, Tom Lawrence became the hero for Derby County in the 2018/19 season opener with what he described as ‘the best header I’ll ever score in my life.’
Not many could argue with his statement after he wonderfully latched on to a cross from Mason Bennett to fire the winning goal past Vito Mannone in the final minute of stoppage time.
Bennett’s energy was immediately felt when he entered the match in the 73rd minute and he provided a pinpoint cross from the right side of the box to the 24-year-old winger.
Lawrence explained to RamsTV what happened next: “Close your eyes and hope for the best!
“No, it was a great ball from ‘Mase’, an unbelievable cross, and I just managed to get on the end of it. Luckily it was probably the best header I’ll ever score in my life.
“A big shout out to ‘Mase’ who came on and played tremendously. He put an unbelievable shift in, he got behind and that’s how the goal came.”
It was a spectacular header, even more so from the Welsh international who we are more used to seeing bending in crosses and striking from range than powering finishes with his head.
However, Lawrence joked that the potential has always been there.
“I’m just keeping them in the back pocket for late winners like that! Heading is not my specialty, but I’ll take that.”
Mason Mount pulled the first goal back for the Rams, scoring a stunner from range in his competitive debut for Derby after Jon Dadi Bodvarsson put Reading ahead at the start of the second-half.
The Royals had some threatening moments in the first half, calling Scott Carson into action on a couple of occasions as the Rams started the Sky Bet Championship opener sluggish.
“You could say that we didn’t come out the blocks very well, we know we can play a lot better than that,” Lawrence said.
“We showed that in pre-season and we will show that further on through the season. It’s the first game and both teams wanted it.”
Derby built into the game and Lawrence believes that the team showed resilience and character to fight to get back to the fast-flowing football they had shown in pre-season.
Although it took the Royals taking the lead for Frank Lampard’s side to go up the final gear which they remained right until the bitter end.
“Second half I think we showed a lot better play. We dug deep, we had to stick with it and once they scored I think that gave us a kick up the you know what.
“It shows character from all the boys. It’s an unbelievable sign going forward as well, and the fans never gave up, so a big thanks to them.”
