Max Bird wonder strike in Derby victory hailed as goal of the season contender

Posted Sunday, January 15, 2023 by PA

Max Bird’s stunning strike has a strong claim for goal of the season, according to Derby first-team coach Matt Hamshaw.

The Rams’ skipper smashed an unstoppable shot into the top corner from more than 30 yards to help his side recover from a goal down to win 3-2 at Cheltenham and continue their sparkling run of form.

“Wow, what a goal,” Hamshaw said. “I’ve just said to him, whoever had the goal of the season before today does not have it now.

“What an unbelievable goal and we’ve been banging on at him to shoot more and he has unbelievable feet.”

Cheltenham took an early lead through Caleb Taylor before Derby stormed back to make it 3-1, but Alfie May’s late goal set up a tense finish.

“Fair play to Cheltenham, they are a good team who have won eight games at home this season so it goes to show what a tough place it is to come,” Hamshaw said.

“At times we were outstanding, some of our forward play, and we probably should have taken more opportunities.

“Would we have taken a 3-2 win this morning? It’s not great for our hearts, but we probably would.

“All winning teams have to hang on, defend well, press high and work hard. This is a fantastic group and we are on a long unbeaten run, so long may it continue.”

The home side took a shock lead inside two minutes when Liam Sercombe won a 50-50 challenge and crossed for Taylor to nod in the first goal of his career on his 20th birthday.

It was the first goal Derby had conceded in 463 minutes, but they responded quickly.

Eiran Cashin found Nathaniel Mendez-Laing on the right and his cross was headed past Luke Southwood by Conor Hourihane in the eighth minute.

Paul Warne’s side added their second three minutes later when, after Jason Knight’s shot on the edge of the box was blocked, Bird followed up to smash a superb long-range effort past Southwood.

The lead was extended 10 minutes into the second half when a misplaced pass from Ryan Broom was seized upon by Tom Barkhuizen, who finished confidently.

May pulled one back in the 77th minute, slamming in Taylor’s nod down from close range, but Derby on to make it four wins in a row in all competitions and 12 unbeaten in the league.

Despite the loss, Cheltenham boss Wade Elliott was encouraged by his team’s efforts against the in-form Rams.

“We were very good and we’ve had a right go against a really good team,” Elliott said.

“We’ve been on the front foot, caused them a lot of problems and a quick look at the stats shows you there is nothing in it in terms of shots, chances created and all the rest of it.

“Ultimately, we’ve been done with an absolute ‘worldy’ and we’ve given them something of our own making.

“I don’t like getting beaten, but I can handle it as long as we represent ourselves properly, which is what I think we did. If we approach all the games in the same manner, the rest will take care of itself.”