Derby County have taken a huge stride towards the Championship playoff final after a 2-1 win against Brighton & Hove Albion at the Amex Stadium this evening.
Jesse Lingard gave the home side the lead after 18 minutes when he poked home at the second attempt after Jake Buxton had done well to block his first strike inside the penalty area.
Brighton largely had the better of the opening half, but it was the Rams who struck on the counter-attack to level things up just before the half-hour mark.
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Craig Forsyth embarked on a lengthy run at the heart of the Seagulls defence before Matthew Upson made a clumsy challenge to concede the penalty.
Chris Martin then kept his cool from 12 yards to level the tie up.
Leonardo Ulloa then went close 10 minutes before half time, but the South American couldn't get the direction on his header after rising highest from around eight yards out.
With the first half petering out, Martin struck a fierce effort which bounced off the crossbar onto Thomas Kuszczak's back to give the Rams the lead.
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After the restart, Oscar Garcia's side came within inches of restoring parity but Lee Grant made a fingertip save onto the crossbar to deny Ulloa who never quite got hold of the shot inside the area.
The Seagulls continued to probe for the equaliser against a Derby side who began to retreat, and Lingard forced Grant into a good stop before Stephen Ward again called the keeper into action seconds later.
However, Steve McClaren's side managed to hold firm to take the advantage into the second leg at Pride Park on Sunday.
Paul Gorst
