JULIAN Joachim came off the substitutes' bench to complete a stirring Aston Villa revival with a second half winner that broke Derby's stubborn resistance in the Premiership clash at Villa Park.

Joachim, who has struggled to make a first team impact since signing from Leicester two years ago, had been on the field only seven minutes when he grabbed the winner.

It added to the equaliser two minutes earlier by Dwight Yorke and enabled Villa to register their third successive Premiership success after losing the opening four matches.

Derby grabbed a shock early lead through Francesco Baiano after a mistake by Ugo Ehiogu but that was just about the sum total of their attacking aspirations.

They were forced to defend for most of the game and in the first half restricted Villa to mainly long-range efforts with Jacob Laursen outstanding at the back.

But in the second half Villa started to hurt them more and it was just a matter of how long Smith's men could survive against the odds as they seldom moved out of their own half.

Man of the match Steve Staunton was a constant threat with his surging runs and thunderbolt like shots while Yorke tormented the Derby rearguard in the second 45 minutes.

After a fiercely contested but uninspiring opening 15 minutes Derby stunned the home side by snatching the lead courtesy of that mistake by Ehiogu.

The former England player tried to head a through ball back to Mark Bosnich but he woefully fell short with the effort and let in Baiano. Jim Smith's £1.5 million capture from Fiorentina saw his first effort blocked but reacted to scoop the rebound into the unguarded net.

Derby were forced to defend deeper and deeper in the second half and Villa's pressure finally told off with two goals in two minutes.

First Yorke struck from close range following a Staunton corner. The ball was headed back across goal by first Taylor and then Collymore before Yorke swivelled to score from close range.

Derby had hardly recovered before Villa went in front. Nelson tried to pick out Yorke with a low centre and, although he missed his kick. Joachim was to make no mistake at the far post.