Derby County collected their first away victory of the season at the home of local rivals Nottingham Forest this afternoon.

After Forest had gone down to ten men, Craig Bryson notched the only goal of the match to send the travelling faithful home with the bragging rights.

Sports Mole has analysed whether or not the Rams were deserving of the points.

Match statistics

Forest
Shots: 8
On Target: 6
Possession: 53%
Corners: 2
Fouls: 11

Derby
Shots: 4
On Target: 2
Possession: 47%
Corners: 4
Fouls: 17

Was the result fair?

Looking at the second half you would have to say Derby deserved the points. However, there is little doubt that Forest's chances evaporated with the controversial sending off of Dexter Blackstock. Credit Derby though, they made the most of their advantage.

Forest's Performance

As mentioned above, the departure of Blackstock certainly did not help their cause. Up until that point though they had struggled to create anything in the way of goalscoring chances. They pushed hard in the last ten minutes without really calling Frank Fielding into action.

Derby's Performance

They made the most of their numerical advantage, scoring a really good goal. Having gone 1-0 up, they then proceeded to defend really well against anything that Forest threw their way.

Referee's Performance

This was always going to be a tough encounter for Robert Madley to officiate - and so it proved to be. He did extremely well in the first half. However, his decision to dismiss Blackstock for an elbow on Richard Keogh looked harsh to say the least. It was a decision that changed the game in Derby's favour.

Sports Mole's man of the match

He may not have found the net but Connor Sammon led the line brilliantly for Derby. He didn't give the Forest rearguard a moment's rest and was a real thorn in their side. The perfect performance from a lone striker.

Biggest gaffe

In a match of few errors, this award will have to go to the Forest defence for allowing Bryson time and space inside the six-yard box to score the only goal of the game.

What's next?

Forest: The Tricky Trees will be looking to recover from that defeat when Blackburn Rovers visit the City Ground on Wednesday night.

Derby: Fresh from winning their first away match of the season, the Rams will go in search of their second against Middlesbrough on Wednesday.