Steve McClaren's Derby obliterate woeful Leeds 3-1

Steve McClaren (R) and first team coach Paul Simpson give instructions during the Sky Bet Championship match between Derby County and Leeds United at Pride Park Stadium on October 05, 2013 in Derby, England. (Getty Images)

The watery late autumn sun was shining brightly as I gunned the car south for our clash with Steve McClaren’s Rams. The Happy Chocker, Quiet One, Beady and Dale were all on board as we tried to second guess the outcome of the latest Derby-Leeds showdown; a fixture rich in nostalgia and keen rivalry stretching back to the early 70′s when a certain Mr. Clough relished going toe to toe with the Don, both on and off the pitch.

Of late this game has been as one-sided as it gets as the Rams have reeled off nine straight wins against the mighty whites. Those were already potent ingredients for an exciting game but adding the extra twist of the sacking of Clough junior and replacing him with the “Wally with the Brolly” has brought this recipe to an intriguing boil.

Will McClaren benefit from the “new manager” syndrome or will he become the first manager to lose to Leeds in 10 games?

Of course the championship road has been a rocky one for Leeds in the last few games as their early season promise disintegrated on the rocks of poor finishing and less than impressive defending of balls flying into their box.

Brian McDermott was a relieved man after Tuesday’s victory against 10-man Bournemouth but as he admitted the result was more important than the performance. So were we confident of a getting a long overdue result against the Rams? Well judging from the feedback in the car not really with HC predicting a 3-0 reverse on the back of last week’s awful showing at Millwall.

Brian McD stuck with the starting line up against Bournemouth with Noel Hunt once again partnering Ross McCormack up front. The 4,000 travelling fans were nervously quiet as the game kicked off. We couldn’t possibly lose a 10th straight game to the Rams could we?

The early exchanges were surprisingly open. The battle of the two wunderkids, Alex Mowatt and Will Hughes, started with young Mowatt showing his excellent touch and balance on the ball in sharp contrast to his colleagues around him.

But it was Hughes, who so nearly claimed the first goal, as he took advantage of a horrendous mix up between Paddy Kenny and his defence but his angled chip into the open goal ended up on the roof of the net with Lee Peltier desperately covering back. Shortly after Richard Keogh flashed a header over the bar from a corner as Leeds showed some all too familiar signs of porous defending.