Peterborough United were five minutes away from earning a creditable draw at Derby County on the opening day of the Coca-Cola Championship campaign after a spirited performance, but a late goal from Gary Teale earned the Rams all three points.

In front of a huge crowd at Pride Park, the start of the Coca-Cola Championship got underway with Darren Ferguson's men in all green while the hosts were in their traditional white shirts, and black shorts.

Derby won their first corner kick on three minutes and as Posh failed to clear, the Rams opened the scoring as a header across the box from Jake Buxton was converted by centre back Miles ADDISON who had the simple task of nodding the ball past Joe Lewis.

Davies headed a Paul Connolly cross wide of the target on 11 minutes as the home side continued to dominate in the early exchanges with Posh struggling to contain the Rams' midfield.

Posh  had the ball in the back of the net on 23 minutes after a slick Posh move resulted in Craig Mackail-Smith bundling a Tommy Rowe centre into the back of the net, but the offside flag was up and the goal was ruled out.

Gary Teale showed excellent pace to burst past Lee and into the box on 25 minutes, but his effort went wide of the target.

Zakuani saw a looping header go wide of the target on 34 minutes after a decent free-kick from Scottish midfielder Paul Coutts.

A glorious piece of football from Ferguson's men nearly led to the equaliser moments later as Rowe, Boyd and Williams combined to set up a presentable opportunity for Mclean at the near post, but he couldn't wrap his foot around the shot and it went wide of the target.

Dean Keates was booked by the referee for persistent fouling moments later after a trip on Savage in the middle of the pitch.

Half Time: Derby 1-0 Posh

Derby made a switch at half-time as Kris Commons was introduced and soon after the break, Dean Keates was replaced by Lee Frecklkington.

Gabriel Zakuani made a superb clearance to deny Steven Davies after a good low cross from Teale before Coutts was inches away from levelling with a superb 25-yard effort that had goalkeeper Bywater rooted to the spot.

Davies found the side-netting with a fierce effort on 64 minutes as Derby threatened a second goal before Mackail-Smith dallied when well-placed and alllowed Connolly to get back and clear.

Posh then created two glorious opportunities, the first for Mclean, whose sharp turn and shot was straight at Bywater and then less than 60 seconds later, Mackail-Smith was denied by the goalkeeper after a deep cross from Williams.

Frecklington then burst from midfield after more slick football from Posh, but just as he was about to shoot, he had his shirt tugegd and his shot was off balance - Bywater still did well to save.

Teale was denied by Lewis as he tried to steer the ball into the back of the net as the game continued to have an attractive, open feel to it.

Incredibly, Posh got themselves back into the game via a sublime piece of skill from Zakuani and a determined run by Batt, which was ended in spectacular style from Bywater with the referee pointing to the spot. BOYD stepped up and coolly slotted the ball into the back of the net. However, the Posh joy soon turned to despair as moments later the home side were back in front as an inswinging corner from Commons was not dealt with and despite the best efforts of Lee, who headed Addison's effort onto the crossbar, the ball ran loose and TEALE fired it into the net.

Five minutes of added time was indicated by the fourth official to give Posh hope, but the hosts were playing out time comfortably.

Lewis saved superbly from substitute Commons in stoppage time before the final whistle was greeted with large cheers from the home support.

Final Score: Derby 2-1 Posh

Derby: Bywater, Connolly, Green (sub Commons 46min), Addison, Croft (sub Pringle 79min), Savage, Teale, Pearson, Buxton, DavIes (sub McEveley 88min), Moxey. Unused subs: Deeney, Varney, Mendy, O'Brien.

Posh: Lewis, Lee, Williams, Morgan, Zakuani, Rowe (sub Batt 63min), Coutts, Keates (sub Frecklington 52min), Boyd, Mackail-Smith, Mclean. Unused subs: McKeown, Martin, Diagouraga, Pearce, Batt, Day.

Attendance: 33,010