Derby County grabbed a vital three points at the Pride Park Stadium this afternoon, beating Leeds United 3-1.
The Rams got on top of the game straight from kickoff and were rewarded with a goal after 15 minutes. Conor Sammon collected the ball in the area before calmly rolling it past the goalkeeper to make it 1-0.
After 24 minutes, a clever interchange between Theo Robinson and Sammon created an opening, though Robinson's low drive was saved well by Paddy Kenny.
Will Hughes then played Sammon in on goal with a fine through ball, but the forward could not evade Tom Lees, who got back to challenge and clear well.
Leeds then grabbed an equaliser just before half time after a cross was headed down into the path of former Derby man Paul Green, who fired into the net to bring the scores level.
After 53 minutes, Ryan Hall went close for Leeds, but saw his shot from inside the box denied by a defensive block.
Hughes looked lively again for the home side, using some great footwork to get into the box, though his effort was beaten away by Kenny.
Nigel Clough's side restored their lead after 66 minutes when Jake Buxton guided Richard Keogh's shot into the back of the net to make it 2-1.
Leeds came close to an equaliser on 78 minutes when El-Hadji Diouf's cross was headed onto the post by Lees before being cleared.
Diouf was involved again for Neil Warnock's side, letting fly from 25 yards, though his effort went just wide.
Ben Davies secured all three points for Derby, grabbing a third goal in injury time to make it 3-1.
Sam Hughes
