Derby County: Carling Cup semi-final nearly created new history just a year after 11-point season - View | OneFootball

The Rams came so close to going to Wembley, after competing against Manchester United in the last four.

Derby County's 2007/08 season was a disaster, with the club being relegated from the Premier League with the lowest points tally in history of just 11.

The Rams returned to the Championship with their struggles continuing, and failed to win until matchday five, waiting almost a whole year for the club to pick up their first win - running out 2-1 winners against Sheffield United at Pride Park Stadium.

Their league form was very hit-and-miss as they attempted to recover from the previous season's decimation, and despite reaching a high of ninth in the table, they slid back towards the relegation zone before Paul Jewell left the club.

Derby eventually finished 18th in the second tier, but it was in the cup competitions where they shone; reaching the fifth round of the FA Cup, and the semi-finals of the League Cup (known as the Carling Cup then due to sponsorship reasons).

Derby were handed favourable draws in the early stages

Although their league form was a worry, they were able to forget about that twice during the first month of the season, seeing themselves past Lincoln City and Preston North End in the first two rounds of the competition.

It took Derby extra-time to beat League Two Lincoln, with Nathan Ellington equalising in the final ten minutes to save Jewell's team before the cup had really got going. Nevertheless, the striker scored twice more to complete his hat-trick to see the Rams through to the next stage, where they beat the Lilywhites 1-0.

Derby continued to avoid the bigger teams in rounds three and four, instead drawing League One opposition in both of the ties in Brighton & Hove Albion and Leeds United.

They eased past the Seagulls, running out 4–1 winners at Withdean Stadium, with Emmanuel Villa picking up a hat-trick of his own, before Leeds visited Pride Park, where a 2-1 win saw the home side through to the quarter-finals.

A trip to the Britannia Stadium stood between Derby and the final four of the League Cup, and it was Nathan Ellington who once again struck the Rams through in the competition. His penalty was the last kick of the game, breaking Stoke City hearts as Jewell's team beat Premier League opposition.

Derby nearly saw themselves past Manchester United

After a dreadful run of form in the Championship, Jewell left the club not long before their semi-final tie against Manchester United.

Nigel Clough was the new man in charge. However, he joined the club too late to play a role in the first-leg and, instead, academy boss David Lowe oversaw the match.

Few would have believed what the next 90 minutes was about to throw up, with the visitors struggling to inflict any damage on a team that had won just once in their last nine games.

Kris Commons' 25-yard strike was the only goal at Pride Park, with the former Nottingham Forest winger smashing the ball past Tomasz Kuszczak to send the crowd into delirium.

Rob Hulse will probably still think about the chance he had to double Derby's lead before the end of the first-leg, as he fired over on the rebound after another Commons shot was saved.

The 1-0 lead was never going to be big enough to hold on to at Old Trafford, and United found themselves 3-0 up after 34 minutes, with goals from Nani, John O'Shea and Carlos Tevez handing the Premier League and European champions a healthy lead.

Giles Barnes' penalty brought Derby within one goal in the second-half. However, Cristiano Ronaldo scored one of his own late on to all but secure United's place in the final.

A wonderful free-kick from the Rams' once teenage sensation, Barnes, in added time could have left Sir Alex Ferguson's team nervy, but time quickly ran out, and Clough's defiant Championship side were graciously knocked out of the League Cup in the semi-final.

It was a memorable journey that season in the League Cup and gave Derby fans something to hang onto during a couple of bleak seasons. Whilst it didn't quite mean all was forgiven after the 11-point season, it's quite ironic that something so successful followed such a poor campaign.