Harford under intense pressure

SUBSTITUTE Sean Flynn piled the pressure on Blackburn manager Ray Harford last night with a dramatic late winner at Ewood Park.

The Derby midfielder, drafted into the action after 69 minutes, struck with only five minutes to go to give the newly promoted side their first victory in the Premiership.

Blackburn got off to the worst possible start, with Derby scoring after only 48 seconds. Jeff Kenna misdirected a clearance and it was picked up by Derby's Darryl Powell. He picked out Chris Powell, whose lob beat keeper Tim Flowers. Kenna was able to scramble back but only partially clear the ball to Dutchman Ron Willems, who swept it home.

It took Blackburn only 10 minutes to draw level thanks to a goal from Chris Sutton making his first senior appearance of the season after Graham Fenton had squared the ball into his path.

Derby appeared to be happy to settle for a point but then came the vital goal with only five minutes remaining. Substitute Marco Gabbiadini managed to make space in the penalty area and set up Flynn, who took his time to curve a shot beyond Flowers.

Fenton had one last chance of salvaging something for Blackburn but could not get his shot on target from close range and the howls of frustrations from the Blackburn fans at the end summed it all up.