CarlingNet - No 1 for Match Reports

Blackburn v Derby 09/09/96 8.00

Blackburn               (1) 1 Derby                   (1) 2 FT
Sutton 11                     Willems 1
                              Flynn 85

Substitute Sean Flynn piled the pressure on Blackburn manager Ray Harford tonight with a dramatic late winner at Ewood Park.

The Derby midfielder, drafted into the action after 69 minutes, struck with only five minutes to go to give the newly-promoted side their first victory in the Premiership.

It was the club's third successive home defeat and dealt a massive blow for Harford. The fans are already beginning to vote with their feet by staying away in large numbers.

Tonight's game was witnessed by a gate of less than 20,000 - 8,000 down on last season's average although it was shown on Sky TV.

The departure of both Kenny Dalglish and Alan Shearer has increased the pessimism surrounding the Lancashire club.

And they got off to the worst possible start, with Derby scoring after only 48 seconds. Jeff Kenna misdirected a clearance and it was picked up by Derby's Darryl Powell.

He picked out Chris Powell, whose lob beat keeper Tim Flowers. Kenna was able to scramble back but only partially clear the ball to Dutchman Ron Willems, who swept it home.

It took Blackburn only 10 minutes to draw level thanks to a goal from Chris Sutton, making his first senior appearance of the season after damaging his ankle during the summer at Colchester.

Sutton could not hide his delight at sweeping the ball in after Graham Fenton had squared the ball into his path.

It was Sutton's first goal in almost a year after injury worries had limited his first team appearances.

Sutton's goal should have filled Blackburn full of confidence but they still looked edgey.

Aljosa Asanovic rattled the bar with a thundering 25-yard free-kick to give the 1994 champions another scare.

Fenton should have put Blackburn ahead early in the second half when he got on the end of a perfectly-weighted ball from George Donis only to head wide.

Then Donis, who looked lively in the last 45 minutes, struck the bar with a fierce 30-yard shot with keeper Russell Hoult beaten.

Derby appeared to be happy to settle for a point but then came the vital goal with only five minutes remaining. Substitute Marco Gabbiadini managed to make space in the penalty area and set up Flynn, who took his time to curve a shot beyond keeper Flowers.

Fenton had one last chance of salvaging something for Blackburn but could not get his shot on target from close range and the howls of frustrations from the Blackburn fans at the end summed it all up.