Crewe Alexandra bounced back from a disappointing defeat to Hereford United on Saturday to cause one of the shocks in the Carling Cup by knowing out Championship outfit Derby County. The Railwaymen worked their socks off to record a famous win over Nigel Clough's Rams with a Shaun Barker own goal in first half stoppage time deciding  the firsr round tie.

Crewe had to ride a Derby tidal wave in the second half but in fairness Rhys Taylor was never really tested with a chance of any note and it was Shaun Miller who went the closest with a curling shot that struck a Derby post just after the hour mark.

Dario Gradi had the luxury of naming an unchanged side from the weekend. The only change saw the Polish goalkeeper Ben Fogler named on the substitutes bench for the first time after the club received International clearance late in the day.

The Derby County starting XI included three former Crewe Alexandra players with Robbie Savage captaining the Rams and John Brayford and James Bailey starting only their second competitive game for the Midlands club following their summer moves to Pride Park. The Crewe born Rob Hulse started on the substitutes bench. 

Despite Saturday's set-back against Hereford, Crewe made a bright start on a sunny night at Gresty Road. It took Crewe just 40 seconds to register their first corner thanks to good work from Clayton Donaldson and just a few minutes in he flicked a shot in the arms of the Derby goalkeeper Stephen Bywater. It set the trend for what proved to be an enthralling contest.

After five minutes, a route one move from the Alex saw David Artell pick out the head of the towering Calvin Zola and his intelligent flick on released Donaldson, who forced another tidy stop from Bywater. It was a promising start from the Railwaymen and just two minutes later, Shaun Miller drove a shot into the side-netting after good combination play involving Zola and Donaldson.

It took Derby County a bit of time to settle into their passing stride but with Savage pulling the strings and Bailey rarely giving the ball away all evening, the Championship side were always going to create openings. The blond Ben Pringle forced Rhys Taylor into his first save of any note but again we were limiting a team to efforts from distance.

The lively Thomas Cywka then forced Taylor into another straight-forward save after he had been found by Savage. Moments later Pringle had a shot blocked by the brave Artell. Taylor's handling was immaculate all night as he caught cross after cross going into our penalty area.

On 20 minutes, Danny Blanchett had a lucky escape after the impressive Kris Commons had robbed him of possession before going down in the box. The referee looked at it but waved away the Derby appeals.

The pass of the night nearly saw Lee Bell pick out Donaldson but the forward couldn't quite take it in his stride and it just ran away from him.

On 26 minutes, Chris Porter went above Ada but couldn't keep his header down and Taylor wasn't troubled. A minute later, Artell headed a Westwood cross just wide of the mark as both teams continued to play some superb passing football.

Both teams were well organised and Crewe had to work hard to contain the likes of Commons and Cywka. Miller, who worked hard all night before being replaced late on by Byron Moore, was up-and-down the touchline keeping an eye on the rampaging Brayford.

Commons ran across goal but shot wide with Taylor covering his angles well. Two minutes before the break, Taylor was called into action for the first time when he was forced to tip over a fine header by Derby's centre-back Dean Peacock. It was a fine save from the on-loan Chelsea goalkeeper.

The first half went awfully quickly and would end on a high in stoppage time with the opening goal for the Alex. Donaldson flicked back over a pass from Westwood and under severe pressure from Calvin Zola, the Derby defender Shaun Barker could only head it past his own goalkeeper. It was the perfect time for Crewe to score and that prompted Rob Hulse to appear for the second half in place of Porter.

Derby came out in the second period with an extra zest after the Derby boss Nigel Clough gave them some choice words during the half time interval. Hulse forced Taylor into an early save and then Dean Moxey hit a powerful volley across the Crewe goal as the Rams looked to hit back early.

Even James Bailey tried to get in on the act with a shot straight at Taylor. The busy Alex keeper then caught a cross destined for Hulse. The Crewe goalkeeper then patted Matt Tootle on the head for clearing a dangerous far post cross, for which he would need treatment for after being headed in the back of the head by Cywka.

Crewe had their half chances also, Miller's spectacular effort cleared the bar before Murphy dragged another effort a yard or so wide.

Just after the hour mark, Miller thought he had won the tie there and then with a superb curling shot that unluckily thumped the Derby post. Miller thought he had scored, as did most of the Alex crowd. It would have been no more than he deserved too after the effort he had put in to contain Brayford. He deserved his late rest for the fresh legs of Moore.

Commons was always a threat though for the visitors and he forced Taylor into another good save as Derby stepped up their assault on our goal. Commons shot wide after a purposeful run before Ada blocked a shot from Pringle.

Crewe had Tootle and Taylor booked for what I can only say was for time wasting which seemed a little harsh.

In the closing stages of the game, Crewe were on the back foot, and had to survive a Commons free kick from the edge of the box and Hulse, who was kept relatively quiet by Artell, spun and shot wide of the mark. Crewe also had a late penalty shout to survive after a Commons cross reached the far post.

As Derby pressed forward looking for an equaliser, Crewe nearly hit them on the counter-attack. A great move from the home side saw Bell and Tootle combine well to allow Zola time and space to get a shot off. It took a deflection to give Crewe a late corner and some respite.

In stoppage time, a clever pass from Westwood so nearly found Zola through on goal but in the end it just ran away from him and into the arms of Bywater. The Derby keeper launched it up the field but the referee drew an end to the contest.