An open apology to the two ladies wearing replica Derby County shirts on flight QF1 from Sydney this week. When they said that as long as they won the home leg of the Carling Cup Semi, they would stand a good chance of beating mighty Manchester United, I believe I offered a derisory chuckle and cynical comment like "Dream on". At this point, a fellow passenger chipped in and with venom added "I would love to see them beat that lot". And so the dream goes on - at least for a little while. We live in hope except for the millions of Manchester United followers from around the world who may have missed this unimportant result.