Derby County claimed a point against league leaders Portsmouth tonight as multiple players starred for the visitors.
Derby County strengthened their hopes of finishing in the automatic promotion places as a 2-2 draw against Pompey gave the Rams a four point buffer on third place Bolton Wanderers.
Joe Ward opened the scoring on 23 minutes with a crisp strike following a lung bursting run from Corey Blackett-Taylor. Abu Kamara then equalised for the hosts moments later with a clever finish past Joe Wildsmith.
After trying his luck for the first, Ward bought a ticket and won the raffle for his second as his deflected strike off Connor Ogilvie wrong footed goalkeeper Will Norris.
Sadly, the visitors were unable to hold out for a mammoth victory as Owen Moxon equalised with a stunning strike.
It was a great counter-attacking performance from the visitors, coupled with diligent and organised defending, as Blackett-Taylor earned plaudits for the role he played in the first goal.
Corey Blackett-Taylor praised for Derby performance vs Portsmouth
Following a slow start to life in a Derby shirt, Blackett-Taylor is beginning to show the form that saw the Rams sign him from Charlton Athletic in January.
The 26-year-old looked dangerous in the win over Blackpool as Ebou Adams wonder strike secured all three points at Pride Park.
Blackett-Taylor continued that form against the table toppers, utilising his electric pace to catch Pompey out cold on the counter-attack, with journalist Leigh Curtis lauding him for his magnificent run for Ward’s goal.
Curtis hailed Ward for his stunning finish into the bottom left corner but the goal was created by Blackett-Taylor, whose surging run opened space for the Derby winger to take aim and fire the Rams into the lead.
Corey Blackett-Taylor looked dangerous against Portsmouth
Blackett-Taylor decimated League One during his time at Charlton, scoring eight and assisting seven in the first half of the season.
Despite struggling with injury niggles in the early stages of his Rams career, the Englishman is starting to show his best form.
Tonight, he turned up for the big occasion by causing Portsmouth real troubles on the counter, hurting them with his pace and powerful ball-carrying.
This was what Warne and the Derby faithful expected from Blackett-Taylor when he signed. It’s brilliant that he’s now starting to show what he’s capable of and his performance tonight was excellent.
If he can continue looking so dangerous in the upcoming matches, he will get a few more goal contributions on the board.