PNE defender Andy Boyle described making his first start in PNE colours this evening as a 'great feeling'.
The Irishman slotted in at centre half alongside Paul Huntington for his first ever game in English football, all of which on his 26th birthday.
"I've waited a while but I can't have any complaints as the lads have been doing really well and it's difficult to get into the team," said Boyle on making the starting XI for the first time since arriving at North End at the start of 2017.
"It's a decent result for us - I felt we deserved something from the game and to do it in the way we did it makes it even better."
Boyle was alluding to North End's last minute equaliser this evening which saw Tom Barkhuizen level the scores seconds before the final whistle after Matej Vydra fired the hosts in front in the 50th minute.
Chances were few and far between throughout the 90 minutes at Pride Park, and Boyle felt Derby's goal early in the second-half could have been a real blow to their hopes of picking up a point this evening.
"Their goal halted our momentum," Boyle continued. "We probably didn't start the second-half as well as we'd have liked and to be fair to them, they started quite quickly and it was hard to get to grips with them, but we kept going and ended the game strongly.
"We were well worth the point tonight, we limited them to few chances so taking everything into account, I thought we deserved it."
Today will certainly be one for the Boyle scrapbook after making his bow in English football on his birthday, and the defender was satisfied with his night's work.
"I've been looking forward to this moment since I signed," stated Boyle. "I thought I did okay - It would have been nice to keep a clean sheet but a point is the main thing and that keeps us going.
"Credit to the lads, with ten minutes to go at a big club like Derby to still be pushing for an equaliser, it's a great point for us and moves us on to Saturday."
On his emotions after finding out that he made the starting XI, Boyle added: "I found out an hour and a half before kick-off so it was a late enough one but we'd done plenty of work in preparation in our shape and things like that. You have to be ready for these types of occasions when they're brought upon you."
"I've waited a while but I can't have any complaints as the lads have been doing really well and it's difficult to get into the team," said Boyle on making the starting XI for the first time since arriving at North End at the start of 2017.
"It's a decent result for us - I felt we deserved something from the game and to do it in the way we did it makes it even better."
Boyle was alluding to North End's last minute equaliser this evening which saw Tom Barkhuizen level the scores seconds before the final whistle after Matej Vydra fired the hosts in front in the 50th minute.
Chances were few and far between throughout the 90 minutes at Pride Park, and Boyle felt Derby's goal early in the second-half could have been a real blow to their hopes of picking up a point this evening.
"Their goal halted our momentum," Boyle continued. "We probably didn't start the second-half as well as we'd have liked and to be fair to them, they started quite quickly and it was hard to get to grips with them, but we kept going and ended the game strongly.
"We were well worth the point tonight, we limited them to few chances so taking everything into account, I thought we deserved it."
Today will certainly be one for the Boyle scrapbook after making his bow in English football on his birthday, and the defender was satisfied with his night's work.
"I've been looking forward to this moment since I signed," stated Boyle. "I thought I did okay - It would have been nice to keep a clean sheet but a point is the main thing and that keeps us going.
"Credit to the lads, with ten minutes to go at a big club like Derby to still be pushing for an equaliser, it's a great point for us and moves us on to Saturday."
On his emotions after finding out that he made the starting XI, Boyle added: "I found out an hour and a half before kick-off so it was a late enough one but we'd done plenty of work in preparation in our shape and things like that. You have to be ready for these types of occasions when they're brought upon you."