Thank you very much for joining me for all that drama.
Ben Fisher has kindly written a match report about it all, as he’s a very nice man.
Waghorn says he felt like Derby would stay up thanks to sticking together, adding he just had a feeling they would do it today.
“As someone who has won absolutely everything, he [Rooney] has just tried to keep us calm as a team. He has told us he believes in us from day one. He has instilled that belief to keep going.”
Waghorn’s son also played against Sheffield Wednesday, which is nice.
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Rotherham will be very frustrated after they are relegated due to the goal they conceded in the 88th minute.
What a dramatic day in Derby. Sheffield Wednesday will feel hard done by in the end and I am sure Dunkley will feel pretty bad now after the penalty he gave away cost them survival.
Full-time! Derby 3-3 Sheffield Wednesday
The Rams survive by the skin of their teeth.
90+6 mins: A corner for Wednesday sees Westwood go up but it is headed clear. That is almost that.
90+5 mins: A long throw is sent into the box by Paterson. It reaches the six-yard box and Lawrence clears.
90+4 mins: Squeaky bum time.
90+2 mins: Bannan lumps the ball into the box, it is cleared to Paterson on the right but his cross is turned behind. The corner is cleared back to Bannan whose second cross is belatedly sent out of the box.
90+1 mins: Derby are doing some impressive timewasting here. I am sure Mike Dean will not stand for it.
90 mins: Six minutes added on!
89 mins: Derby are defending deep as Wednesday just look to smash it up the field.
Steve McClaren is also down in the technical area, I assume for novelty value.
88 mins: Wednesday are now the ones lumping it up but Derby have a back five now so are not too worried by it all.
Harris replaces Dunkley for the visitors.
86 mins: Ebosele is booked while warming up after punching the ball away. What larks.
Waghorn is shouting advice to the defence from the sidelines.
Full-time! Cardiff 1-1 Rotherham
All over for the Millers. It’s down to Derby and Wednesday now for who survives.
83 mins: Bannan fails to collect the ball on his own halfway line, allowing for a pass to slipped through for Roberts to latch onto but he tries to go round the goalkeeper and fails.
A goal for Wednesday would see them stay up ...
82 mins: Waghorn is down but seems to be laughing. Curtis Davies replaces him.
80 mins: Also a reminder that the game in Cardiff is 10 minutes ahead of this. It would be ruddy dramatic if Rotherham do take the lead there.
GOAL! Cardiff 1-1 Rotherham (Pack, 88)
Bad news for Rotherham. They need a goal to stay up. Derby are the ones who sill survive now.
GOAL! Derby 3-3 Sheffield Wednesday (Waghorn, pen, 78)
The closest thing to a free-flowing move from Derby we’ve seen all day sees Waghorn slip in Jozwiak, who gets across Dunkley, resulting in the defender taking him down. Waghorn steps up and calmly puts it into the top corner.
Updated
76 mins: Wednesday look to break from a corner but Jozwiak takes one for the team and brings his man down near the halfway line.
Wycombe are not down yet!
10 goals in 10 minutes and a Cardiff equaliser vs Rotherham and Wycombe are safe. You won't read that in the MSM
— Duncan Alexander (@oilysailor) May 8, 2021
74 mins: Poor Forsyth is taken off after a tough day at the office.
A free-kick is swung into the Owls box from Waghorn but Kazim-Richards heads it well wide.
72 mins: Roberts tries to chest the ball down in the Wednesday box but it bounces away from him and a defender clears. Changes are coming for Derby.
70 mins: Rotherham are the ones staying up. They need to hold on at Cardiff.
GOAL! Derby 2-3 Sheffield Wednesday (Borner, 69)
A corner is sent in from the right by Bannan, Kazim-Richards flicks it to the back post where Dunkley is waiting to nod it to Borner to turn it home from pretty much on the line. Terrible defending from Derby.
Updated
68 mins: Wednesday need to win and hope Cardiff can turn things around against Rotherham, so they are going for it. A Derby win would guarantee their survival. It’s all quite tense now.
66 mins: Edmundson launches a throw into the Wednesday box and it’s headed behind for a corner. Roberts whips it in from the right but the ball is cleared.
64 mins: Rhodes needs treatment after getting a whack in the face.
GOAL! Derby 2-2 Sheffield Wednesday (Paterson, 62)
A long ball into the box is flicked on and Forsyth misscontrols it, allowing Paterson to send a shot into the bottom corner. Rotherham are now staying up ...
Updated
60 mins: Windass wins a corner on the right-hand side. Bannan comes over to take it but it goes straight into Roos’ arms.
Kazim-Richards has been booked for something or other.
58 mins: Reach whips a very dangerous cross into the corridor of uncertainty, but no Owls attacker can get on the end of it, allowing Forsyth to clear.
56 mins: Derby are now the ones staying up thanks to their quickfire double but I am sure there will be another twist before the 90 minutes is up.
54 mins: The Owls have now realised they need to up things here. A cross from the right is flicked towards goal by Rhodes but Clarke turns it behind.
GOAL! Derby 2-1 Sheffield Wednesday (Roberts, 52)
Roberts, who once cost Manchester City £10m, picks up the ball in the Wednesday half, drives towards the box and curls a shot beyond Westwood from 20 yards. What a turnaround.
Updated
51 mins: Sheffield Wednesday need to get some intensity into their play now. They’ve started very slowly.
GOAL! Derby 1-1 Sheffield Wednesday (Waghorn, 49)
The first bit of quality from Derby all day sees a lovely cross from the left flicked home by Waghorn.
Updated
47 mins: Derby just going direct and hoping for the best. Not what is needed. Surely Roberts and Lawrence can bring some variety to this.
Second half
Here we go! A huge 45 minutes ahead!
(Cardiff v Rotherham is seven minutes ahead of this).
Luke Jones asks: “I don’t watch a lot of Championship games. Are they always this bad? Is it just these teams? Or is the pressure getting to them?”
I am hoping it’s the pressure as this is awful.
Some scores.
Selected half-time scores:
— Guardian sport (@guardian_sport) May 8, 2021
Cardiff 0-1 Rotherham
Barnsley 2-1 Norwich
Bournemouth 0-1 Stoke
Middlesbrough 0-2 Wycombe
Watford 0-0 Swansea
Join @Will_Unwin for all the latest from the Championshiphttps://t.co/mEOsaYEHmS pic.twitter.com/AOWBjLnjCb
Striker!
SHEFFIELD WEDNESDAY LEAD! 🦉
— Sky Sports Football (@SkyFootball) May 8, 2021
Sam Hutchinson bundles it over the line right on the stroke of half-time. What an important goal that could be!
Watch live on Sky Sports Football 📺 pic.twitter.com/LCSxvyDgLK
Half-time!
We ended up with eight minutes added on. Derby are staring down the barrel here. Not that things are much better for Wednesday. Rotherham are currently the ones staying up.
GOAL! Derby 0-1 Sheffield Wednesday (Hutchinson, 45+4)
A long throw makes it into the box which is flicked on by Derby’s Forsyth and Hutchinson reacts first after Rhodes’ shot is repelled, allowing the defender to turn home. What a moment.
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45+3 mins: Shambles in the Wednesday defence as Westwood comes to claim but runs into Dunkley, resulting in the goalkeeper dropping the ball. Dreadful communication.
45+2 mins: Roberts tries to dribble through the Wednesday midfield but his run is curtailed by a Bannan trip, which earns him a booking.
45 mins: Five minutes added on due to the Waghorn issue before.
44 mins: Byrne swings in a corner to the near post but it is headed clear.
Kazim-Richards gets the chance to find Waghorn free in the box but his cross hits Borner. This game needs more quality.
Rotherham are leading going into half-time at Cardiff.
42 mins: Wednesday have had 75% possession in recent times but have not actually created a chance.
Lawrence pings a shot from 20 yards or so but it hits a Wednesday body and loops wide.
40 mins: You can certainly see why these two sides are fighting for survival. All a bit mediocre.
38 mins: NO GOAL! Roberts cuts in from the right and gets away a bobbling shot from the edge of the box, Westwood parries it straight out to Kazim-Richards who taps home from from a few yards out but he is very much offside.
Updated
36 mins: Derby are a very direct side, it seems.
Wycombe are 2-0 up at Middlesbrough. Just another 10 required for them now.
34 mins: A long Paterson throw is the latest thing to be headed clear by the Derby defence. They do eventually get a corner, again on the left. Windass produces a decent delivery but Derby once again get their first.
32 mins: Windass has another corner from the left-hand side ... he takes it short to Bannan who chips in a weak cross which is easily headed away.
30 mins: Not much in the way of quality here, that’s for sure. Calm heads are required and there is plenty of experience in these two sides to provide it.
28 mins: Rhodes is fouled on the halfway line. Will he be the man to make the difference today. He just needs once chance but the Owls haven’t looked like creating one today.
26 mins: Byrne takes a corner from the left for Derby but Dunkley is there to head behind for another corner. Byrne can produce a fine set-piece, all three have been very dangerous thus far but Wednesday have been good enough to clear.
24 mins: Lawrence tries to ping a free-kick in from 35 yards but it barely gets up off the ground. Not the best.
22 mins: Derby stopped doing the knee after the racist abuse at Millwall, I believe.
@Will_Unwin Hi Will, sorry if I’m missing something obvious - or if this old news - but why did Derby stand aside and let Sheff Weds ‘take the knee’ alone?
— Daniel Coomber (@danieljcoomber) May 8, 2021
20 mins: All a touch scrappy in the rain.
18 mins: Windass swings in a corner for Wednesday but it goes straight out for a goal-kick. The Owls need to be better than that.
Darren Moore is in fact pitchside.
16 mins: Derby’s plan seems to be to ping it up to Kazim-Richards for him to flick on for Waghorn to chase. Liquid stuff.
14 mins: Waghorn is up on his feet and walking off unaided. He might even carry on. That was a four-minute stoppage.
13 mins: Waghorn is still being treated. The players are knocking balls about between them. The game in Cardiff kicked off earlier than this, too. Could be tension by the end.
12 mins: Derby swing in a corner, which is flicked to the backpost where Waghorn is waiting, he gets a touch on it but then slams head first into the post, as the ball goes wide. Medics are called for immediately. Let’s hope he is OK.
Updated
10 mins: No portable radios in the stands to get the message to the players due to the lack of fans. I am sure Rooney et al will know the score in Wales, though.
8 mins: The ball bounces around the Derby box after a cross, it eventually lands at the feet of Bannan who whacks a shot which flies high and wide.
GOAL! Cardiff 0-1 Rotherham (Wing)
A big moment in this relegation battle. The pressure is on for Derby, as the Millers have leapfrogged them.
Updated
6 mins: Both players need lengthy treatment, which is a sign of how full-bloodied the challenge was. Bother do eventually get up. The free-kick is lifted into the box but quickly cleared.
4 mins: Knight fouls Paterson after a 50:50. The Wednesday man is still down holding his ankle. Knight is also on the deck holding his knee.
2 mins: There is plenty of intensity in the opening couple of minutes in the driving rain. The pitch looks pretty wet already. Hopefully the playing surface does not impact the match negatively.
Kick-off!
Peep! Peep! Peep! Here we go!
MIKE DEAN TIME!
Jamie Smith, Wednesday’s assistant, confirms Darren Moore will be in the stands today and they will be in constant contact. Smith says the mood has been great this week and they are very much up for it.
Rooney says it’s a “huge occasion” and it’s up to the players to “leave everything on the pitch” ensuring they make themselves and the fans proud. A good collection of cliches. I should say he looks really fired up for it. I wonder what difference it would have made if he’d carried on playing.
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I went to Wayne Rooney’s first game as a player for Derby. They squeaked past Barnsley that night last January and things looked relatively rosy for Rooney et al but his move to Pride Park (I am pretty sure it’s called something else now) could now bring one of his lowest moments in football.
Overall ... there is not a massive amount to play for in the Football League. Only a few promotion, relegation and playoff places up for grabs. Maybe that makes it more dramatic in a way.
To save me thinking for myself, read Ben Fisher’s piece on all these shenanigans.
Derby v Sheffield Wednesday team news
Derby: Roos, Byrne, Edmundson, Clarke, Forsyth, Knight, Shinnie, Waghorn, Roberts, Lawrence, Kazim-Richards.
Subs: Cashin, Marshall, Jozwiak, Bird, Sibley, Buchanan, Ebosele, Davies, Watson.
Sheffield Wed: Westwood, Dunkley, Hutchinson, Borner, Palmer, Pelupessy, Bannan, Reach, Paterson, Windass, Rhodes.
Subs: Harris, Green, Dele-Bashiru, Urhoghide, Shaw, Wildsmith, Hunt, Brennan, Kachunga.
Referee ... Mike Dean.
Team news from the Riverside and Oakwell:
Middlesbrough v Wycombe
Middlesbrough: Archer, Hall, Bola, McNair, Howson, Spence, Saville, Coulson, Johnson, Bolasie, Watmore.
Subs: Robinson, Bettinelli, Akpom, Hackney, Malley, Kokolo, Coburn.
Wycombe: Stockdale, Tafazolli, Stewart, Jacobson, McCarthy, Adeniran, Thompson, Onyedinma, McCleary, Ikpeazu, Muskwe.
Subs: Grimmer, Wheeler, Bloomfield, Kashket, Horgan, Samuel, Obita, Anderson, Mehmeti.
Barnsley v Norwich
Barnsley: Collins, Sibbick, Helik, Andersen, Brittain, Palmer, Moon, Styles, Morris, Woodrow, Chaplin.
Subs: Walton, Jordan Williams, Kitching, Dike, Oduor, Halme, Sollbauer, Frieser, Adeboyejo.
Norwich: Krul, Aarons, Hanley, Omobamidele, Giannoulis, Tettey, McLean, Emi, Vrancic, Cantwell, Hugill.
Subs: Dowell, Placheta, Nyland, Quintilla, Stiepermann, Sorensen, Hernandez, Mumba, Idah.
Preamble
It’s the final day of the Championship season and with Norwich and Watford already having secured automatic promotion and the play-off quartet set, all eyes are on the battle to beat the drop. Two clubs with six league titles between them, Derby and Sheffield Wednesday, meet at Pride Park. Wayne Rooney’s Rams know a win will keep them up, but the visitors can send them down with a victory.
Even that might not spare the Owls relegation if Rotherham win at Cardiff, while a draw here and a Millers win in south Wales would send both Derby and Wednesday down. Bottom club Wycombe aren’t mathematically down yet, but need something in the region of an 8-0 win at Middlesbrough (and for other results to go their way).
Elsewhere, the play-off picture will be completed as Swansea (away at Watford), Bournemouth (at home to stoke) and Barnsley (hosting champions Norwich) duke it out to avoid third-placed Brentford in the semi-finals. All kick-offs at 12.30pm, BST:
Bournemouth v Stoke
Barnsley v Norwich
Blackburn v Birmingham
Bristol City v Brentford
Cardiff v Rotherham
Coventry v Millwall
Derby v Sheffield Wednesday
Middlesbrough v Wycombe
Nottingham Forest v Preston
QPR v Luton
Reading v Huddersfield
Watford v Swansea
