Derby County fell agonisingly short of the Championship play-offs as Sheffield United left a packed Pride Park stunned with a fightback victory on a dramatic final day. The eighth-placed Rams had to win and hope results elsewhere went their way to leap two spots and gatecrash the top six, and for an hour they looked the part in front of a crowd of more than 32,000.
Sam Szmodics gave Derby the ideal start with a close-range finish following the chaos of a corner the Blades failed to clear, but a defensive mistake from Joe Ward gifted Tom Cannon a 62nd-minute equaliser before Sydie Peck's long-range strike turned the game on its head. Defeat consigned Derby to an eighth-placed finish, four points adrift of Hull City, while victory ensured Sheffield United ended up 13th, a respectable conclusion to a season that began awfully.
Szmodics Makes Amends to Spark Derby
There was a terrific atmosphere inside the stadium before kick-off and Derby almost made the perfect start in the second minute. Szmodics got away down the United right but rolled his shot just wide with Ben Brereton Diaz unmarked in the middle, squandering a huge chance on a must-win afternoon in the East Midlands.