It's lift-off for Kenny and Derby

The Derby new boy put Billy Davies on the road to his 100th victory as a manager with a onceina-lifetime goal on his debut that saw all of the doom and gloom encircling Pride Park disappear at a stroke.

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The Scot, signed on deadline day from Celtic for £3million, struck a magnificent long-range effort as Allardyce's unbeaten record was deservedly shattered.

In the week when Newcastle's club sponsors, Northern Rock, claimed the headlines for all the wrong reasons, the visitors' boss probably feared that the foundations he himself had laid would be shaken against a side as wounded as the Rams.

Lying bottom of the table with a solitary point after five games, some bookmakers were even taking wagers on whether Derby would win a game in the top flight.

But Miller's goal sent a surge of confidence through the hosts and, by the final blast of referee Peter Walton's whistle, there were few who could deny them their right to victory.

Indeed, just to cap a thoroughly miserable evening for the visitors, Allardyce decided to substitute England's hero Michael Owen just 10 minutes into the second-half in a failed bid to try and glean something from a game that for long periods seemed well beyond them.

Out of their seven seasons in the Premier League, this has been by far Derby's worst start. They had suffered four successive defeats, the last being a morale- sapping six-goal thumping at Anfield.

Conceding 12 goals in their last four games meant they were shipping at a rate of one every halfhour. All the ingredients were there for another harsh lesson to be handed out against a team — one of four — still protecting and unbeaten start.

Yet football rarely pans out as the form-book would suggest. When quizzed in the pre-match interviews, what he made of the Rams' opening to the campaign, Newcastle's boss broke into a smile and said: 'It worries me, to be honest.'

He perhaps sensed there would be a reaction to the pain inflicted on Merseyside. And Derby did begin as though the memories of that afternoon were still fresh.

Their first flash of inspiration came from the unlikely source of right-back Tyrone Mears. The defender, released by West Ham, was tipped for an England call by his manager after a couple of impressive early shows.

As he strode inside two challenges, a path to goal opened up. His left-foot finish though, showed why the clamour, started by Davies, has yet to reach the ears of those outside Derbyshire.

Alan Smith, perhaps marginalised out on the right, was lucky to escape censure with a tackle on Eddie Lewis that was worthy of a booking before Newcastle showed true menace when Steven Harper gathered the ball from a Derby corner.

The goalkeeper quickly released James Milner who carried the ball long enough for Owen to make a trademark diagonal run. The angle, however, defeated him and he was forced to pull the ball back where the unlikely figure of David Rozenhal had galloped to join the attack. The defender's finish flashed the wrong side of the upright.

The first goal of the evening will doubtless be one that will feature prominently in Miller's memoirs.

The Scot had showed some neat touches without really suggesting that he was capable of beating the four goals he grabbed in 25 Premier League appearances with his former English club, Wolves, three years ago.

He was afforded the chance when Bywater's mammoth punt upfield was misjudged in flight by the visitors' captain Geremi.

Steve Howard, a lifelong Newcastle fan, mis- controlled momentarily and the ball landed at his strike-partner's feet, well over 30 yards from goal.

With little other option, Miller tried his luck and Harper could only watch as the ball flew into the net.

MATCH FACTS

DERBY (4-4-2): Bywater 6; Mears 6, Leacock 6, Davis 6, Griffin 5; Teale 5, Oakley 6, Pearson 6, Lewis 5 (McEveley 86min); Howard 6, Miller 7 (Feilhaber 80). Booked: Mears, Oakley.

NEWCASTLE (4-4-2): Harper 5; Taylor 6 (Beye 75), Cacapa 5, Rozehnal 5, N'Zogbia 5; Smith 5, Geremi 5 (Faye 60, 5), Butt 4, Milner 5; Owen 4 (Martins 55, 5), Ameobi 4. Booked: Smith, Butt, N'Zogbia.

Man of the match: Stephen Pearson.

Referee: Peter Walton.