Sunderland 1 Derby 1

The curtain came down today on 6 years of Premiership football for the Rams. A draw at the Stadium of Light against Sunderland was the final act in a season of poor football from the Rams both home and away.

Gary Twigg excellent cross for Derby's Goal

A bumper crowd of 47,989 watch in nervous anticipation because a Rams win and a Win by Ipswich at Liverpool would result in today's host's joining us in the first division next season.

As usual Derby surrended the offensive high ground almost immediately, Niall Quinn hitting a post after only 10 minutes of the match. As Sunderland pressed it was only a matter of time before the Rams surrended the lead. It was Kevin Phillips who scored the goal after what can only be described as a farce in the Rams defence. Kevin Phillips shot was dropped by Poom and as his defenders stood around looking at each other to clear the ball, Phillips nipped in and rammed the ball into the net from a tight angle.

Sunderland hit the bar as the half comes to an end, a Claudio Reneri cross was met by Phillips but his shot struck the woodwork.

Marvin Robinson scores Rams final goal in the Premiership

Derby looked devoid of ideas as the second half began and it looked ever bit that the Rams would gain a record breaking eighth straight defeat. John Gregory blooded some of his young hopefuls and things changed very dramatically in the 67^th minute. Marvin Robinson collected a ball turned and picked his spot to give the Rams an equaliser they quite frankly didn't deserve. The goal however sparked more urgency in the Rams and a last Premiership victory didn't look out of the question.

Try as they might though, the Rams could not claim another goal. In fact it was Patrick Mboma who nearly claimed the points for Sunderland. His header from just 6 yards out looked a certain goal but Poom somehow managed to save.

Well that's it from the Premiership, lets hope John Gregory can perform a miracle in the closed season and return with a championship winning side for next season.