A MONTH that started with a goal drought ended with a deluge, including five against rivals Nottingham Forest on a memorable afternoon at the iPro Stadium.
March was always going to be a testing month for Steve McClaren's team.
Burnley at Turf Moor was the first fixture. The Clarets, unbeaten at home, sat second in the Championship and in Danny Ings and Sam Vokes possessed a strike force bang in form.
Neither scored in Burnley's 2-0 victory. David Jones and Dean Marney found the net, and Derby County's cause was not helped by the dismissal of top scorer Chris Martin shortly before half-time.
Martin's second yellow card was for diving. Replays showed it was a harsh decision by the referee although Martin had stretched the official's patience.
Derby battled manfully in the second half and played some good football but the game was over after Marney scored Burnley's second after 68 minutes.
Successive home games against Millwall and Bolton Wanderers provided the chance of a perfect pick-me-up, or so we thought.
Strugglers Millwall arrived in determined mood and left with the three points.
Derby huffed and puffed, and rarely looked like scoring. John Eustace was surprisingly left out and the midfield balance was not right. Nor was the quality in the final third.
So, what had appeared to be a home banker became a coupon buster when striker Steve Morison headed Millwall's winner just after the hour.
Frustration increased a few days later when Bolton put up the shutters.
As hard as they tried to break down Bolton's stubborn resistance, Derby could not find that one moment of quality to make the difference. Nor did the ball drop for them in the box, and sometimes you need a lucky break in tight contests.
Derby dominated for long, long spells. They deserved better than a point from a goalless draw.
A point from a goalless draw at Reading followed to keep the Rams third. The need for a goal was growing and their six-hour wait ended in spectacular fashion when they hit five without reply against Forest.
The 5-0 result equalled Derby's biggest ever win over Forest back in 1898 and matched the biggest margin of victory ever recorded in the history of the fixture between the two clubs.Craig Bryson's hat-trick was the first scored against Forest by a Derby player in the League since Steve Bloomer 116 years earlier and it is fair to say the neighbours had been sent back down the A52 with their tail between their legs.
Derby burst from the blocks in their next game when Patrick Bamford scored after only 34 seconds.
The Rams controlled the game at Ipswich Town for an hour before they switched off at two set pieces to lose 2-1.
Fuelled by the disappointment, they responded to record a 3-0 home victory over Charlton Athletic. Johnny Russell and Bamford struck in the first half, and Martin grabbed his 19th goal of the season late on.
