Davies delight at final berth
16 May 2007 - 10:29:10
Derby County boss Billy Davies felt justice was done after the Rams sealed a place in the Championship play-off final following a penalty shoot-out victory over Southampton.
Darren Moore had extended Derby's one-goal first-leg advantage with a third minute header, but Jhon Viafara and Grzegorz Rasiak netted either side of a Leon Best own goal to send the match into extra-time.
In the shoot-out, Derby held their nerve to secure a Final berth following misses by Best and former County midfielder Inigo Idiakez.
"It was a great game of football, real end-to-end stuff," admitted Davies.
"After we'd scored so early I thought we just needed to keep Southampton quiet for the next five minutes and we'd be on our way, only for us to give away a stupid goal in typical Derby County fashion.
"Then they get another one, we pull one back and then Rasiak, a former player here, scores late on to force extra-time.
"At the end of the regulation 90 minutes I told the players that over two legs we'd done enough to deserve to go to Wembley and that they must believe it would be their night, that justice would be done.
"We were the only team who looked like winning it in extra-time but in the end we needed four well-taken penalties."