SKIPPER Robbie Savage's reminder to his Derby County's team-mates of the pain and utter dejection they felt after losing to Nottingham Forest earlier this season worked a treat.

What was abundantly clear from all the pre-match talk ahead of Saturday's return meeting was that the Rams had no intention of playing second fiddle to their neighbours again.

The 3-2 defeat at the City Ground at the end of August still hurt. The scars had not totally healed.

Derby had waited five months for pay-back and they were not about to let the chance pass.

And they didn't.

A quality header from a quality cross provided a quality winning goal 12 minutes from the end of another spiky showdown between the A52 rivals.

Rob Hulse, back to his old self and his best in the last two matches, stole a yard and met Kris Commons' beautifully-flighted free kick to power a header past Lee Camp.

The 1-0 victory was fully deserved and very sweet.

Forest arrived at Pride Park Stadium lauded as the Championship's in-form team. A side to be feared, we were told.

Their record was certainly impressive.

Unbeaten in 19 League games and seemingly unbeatable on the road, they sat second in the Championship and remain in one of the two automatic promotion places.

Derby had won only once in six League outings going into the game and they were looking over their shoulder at the bottom three.

A no-contest, many thought, but that was always a foolish prediction.

Deserved draws against two of the division's top three teams, West Bromwich Albion and Newcastle United, proved that Derby can, on their day, live with the best at this level.

And they more than lived with Forest.

Actually, apart from two brief spells, one at the start of the game and the other early in the second half, they had too much for Forest on the afternoon.

We all know about Forest's 'A' game. We had seen a combination of their passing, pace and confidence sweep opponents aside. They warmed up by hitting Queens Park Rangers for five a few days earlier.

But would they have a 'B' game to cope with what was always going to be a high-tempo, in-your-face approach by Derby?

The answer, on this occasion, was no.

Talk in the press room at half time focused on Forest rather than Derby.

"This is the worst I have seen Forest play," muttered one or two.

Such talk did Derby a disservice.

Nigel Clough's selection, his tactics and even his substitutions late in the game were spot on.

His team showed passion, purpose and belief.

They brimmed with energy and determination.

They set their stall out from the start and kept the tempo high to the finish.

Shaun Barker epitomised the display.

He was immense at the heart of the Rams defence. The centre-half asserted himself by winning a number of big headers in the opening 15 minutes and he never relinquished an iron grip on Forest's ineffectual forwards.

Nor did the excellent Jake Buxton alongside him.

The ball was magnetically drawn to the head of Barker and Buxton and they must have pockets in their shorts because that is where Robert Earnshaw and Dexter Blackstock, both former Rams players, spent the first half.

Derby's back four defended deep and did not leave grass in behind them for the quick Forest players to use their pace.

In midfield, the tireless Savage, Stephen Pearson, Paul Green and Lee Johnson pressed the visitors and did not allow them to settle into a rhythm.

"Derby did a good job stopping us playing," said Billy Davies, who made his first return to Pride Park since his acrimonious split from Derby in 2007.

Savage and Co made sure little was seen of Davies' midfield general Paul McKenna, such an influence on Forest.

Hulse did not give Forest's defenders a minute's peace. Wes Morgan, Kelvin Wilson and James Perch, filling in at left-back, are not as convincing if you get in and around their feet and force them to make decisions under pressure.

It was not a classic 'derby' clash.

It was scrappy rather than stylish and the bobbly pitch was not conducive to passing.

But everybody was enthralled, more by the competitive edge than the quality on show.

Corners – Derby won seven in the first 25 minutes – and free-kicks took precedence over free-flowing football.

Morgan headed wide at the back post early on before Derby's power-play saw them take control of the first half.

Forest creaked as Commons and Johnson whipped in corners and twice Derby-born Camp had to claw the ball out. Arching backwards, he turned Buxton's looping header over and then plunged low to his right to keep out a Barker header.

The worry was that Derby had not scored when on top.

Forest had to show more in the second half and they did for 15 minutes after the break.

Radoslaw Majewski cleverly weaved his way into the area but his blasted cross led to nothing. The skilful Polish midfielder can play but Forest needed him to play for more than 15 minutes.

Stephen Bywater's only serious saves of the match came when he did well to keep out headers from Blackstock and Paul Anderson, whose follow-up was tame when he probably should have found the net.

The tenacious Jay McEveley blocked Anderson's drive before Derby, with Nicky Hunt composed and impressive at right-back, rallied again.

Camp was tested by corners and crosses before substitute Gary Teale came on for his 100th appearance in a Derby shirt and added genuine width to the Rams' play at just the right time.

He darted between two Forest players on the right and was fouled. Commons delivered the free kick and Hulse gave Camp no chance with a bullet-like header from six yards.

It was his seventh goal of the season and his first since the victory over Reading at the end of November.

Barker and Buxton were in no mood to relinquish the lead, nor did Forest really suggest they had it in their locker to rescue the situation.

All good things come to an end, as Forest's run did. The road to promotion is full of twists, turns and bumps, as Davies knows from his time at Derby and as he pointed out after Saturday's game.

The pot had been simmering all afternoon and boiled over in the shape of a touchline melee in stoppage time. Players and coaching staff from both teams were involved.

It followed a dispute over a throw-in.

McEveley stood waiting to take it when it was surprisingly awarded to Forest. Their right-back, Chris Gunter, suddenly decided to show more aggression than he had shown in the previous 90-odd minutes and barged into McEveley in a bid to grab the ball. McEveley did not take kindly to Gunter's actions and bounced the ball off the head of the Forest player.

What followed was unnecessary but perhaps predictable.

The ruckus, however, should not overshadow the fact that this was very much Derby's day.