When is a draw better than a win?

In the football world there are only two obvious answers to the above question:-

1. When the point your opponents have gained means that your local rivals are relegated
2. If you have secured a lucrative replay against a big club in the Cup

However, according to my fellow QPR supporters at Pride Park on Saturday, you can add to the above list scoring 2 goals in added time to draw the game. It was one of those afternoons where the 300 mile round trip and £35 spent on tickets for me and my 4 year old son was worth every penny. And the icing on the cake was the vast array of opinions that were voiced from the fans in the seats around us.

It was somewhat ironic that a statue of Brian Clough and Peter Taylor, the greatest managerial team in British football was unveiled before kick-off, the former never afraid to voice his opinion. A man of his astute judgement would also have known that the Derby County fans chants of “you’ll never beat Shaun Barker” were slightly tenuous claims.

Patrick Agyemang was clearly up for this challenge, as minutes later he left Barker for dead and stabbed the ball past Stephen Bywater in the Derby goal. According to one vocal away supporter, Agyemang is playing for his career. Interesting. He earns more than 10 grand a week, has a year to run on his 4 year contract, turns 30 in September and has scored 5 goals in the last two seasons. I would suggest to Patrick that he put a bit of money aside from his current contract.

But the strangest event of the afternoon for me was the gradual exiting of supporters from Pride Park before the final whistle. I’ve never understood why fans leave early, there is as much chance of seeing a piece of individual brilliance in the last minute, as there is in the first minute. And on Saturday, Jamie Mackie conjured up that piece of brilliance with a 95th minute equaliser, leaving my son bemused at his dad’s excitement and the fans proclaiming that this was “better than a win”.