A solitary goal from Matt Ritchie was enough to give Newcastle United a hard fought 1-0 win over playoff chasers Derby County and help the team claim first place on the Championship standings.
Ritchie continued his impressive run off form as his shot took a deflection off Bradley Johnson giving Derby goalkeeper Scott Carson no chance.
Were it not for superb goalkeeping from Scott Carson, Newcastle could have doubled their lead as Carson made a fine save to deny Mohamed Diame.
Derby’s veteran forward Darren Bent thought he had scored from a last gasp injury time header, however his shot was cleared off the line by American defender DeAndre Yedlin.
Newcastle looked shaky for much of the match which showed as Bent had goalkeeper Karl Darlow beaten, had it done been for Yedlin flinging himself, the match would have been a draw.
However the three points will definitely give the team confidence as they aim to win the Championship and claim automatic promotion back to the Premier League.
