Stiliyan Petrov's 50-metre wonder goal was the undoubted highlight of Aston Villa's 6-0 romp in the sunshine as Paul Jewell suffered yet another black day as boss of doomed Derby.
The Rams crashed to their worst home defeat of an already wretched season, eclipsing the 5-0 thrashing they suffered to another team in claret and blue in West Ham five months ago.
Ashley Young, John Carew, captain Gareth Barry, Gabriel Agbonlahor and Marlon Harewood all joined Petrov on the scoresheet at Pride Park to keep Villa in the hunt for European football next season.
Jewell must have thought, though, the season could surely not get any worse in the wake of his side's relegation that was confirmed two weeks ago.
The 43-year-old had at least hoped that with life in the Coca-Cola Championship now approaching, the players would play with a greater freedom over the closing fixtures.
For the opening 25 minutes that was at least the case in front of another sell-out Pride Park crowd who deserve far better than the collapse they have witnessed all season long.
The Rams were the more energetic side, chasing lost causes and generally proving a nuisance to a far more accomplished Villa outfit.
But then once the first goal went in, heads went down and that was it - game over for anyone connected with the club which remains on course to become the worst team in Barclays Premier League history.
In fairness to Jewell's side, it had virtually no time to prove if they are made of slightly sterner stuff these days as O'Neill's side added a second within 90 seconds.
There was a compelling case for pointing a finger of blame at Roy Carroll for both goals, the first of which there is no doubt.
The Northern Ireland international allowed a 25-yard free-kick from Young, awarded for a foul on Agbonlahor by Darren Moore, to slip through his fingers whilst under pressure from Olof Mellberg.
For the second, it can be argued Carroll should have pounced on a loose ball pinging around the edge of the six-yard box rather than a lunged clearance with his feet.
Unfortunately for Carroll, the ball fell to the feet of Carew and with rapier-like speed he rifled home a 20-yard drive.
Even more unfortunately for Carroll and Derby, the thunderbolt took a slight deflection off the knee of Agbonlahor who was two yards offside at the time yet no flag was raised.
Ten minutes later, with time initially to clear a back pass, Carroll was swiftly put under pressure by Agbonlahor, culminating in his eventual effort falling short of the half-way line.
What transpired in the seconds that followed was sheer genius as Petrov chested the ball down and allowed it to drop prior to unleashing a 50-yard strike that arrowed over Carroll and into the top right-hand corner of the net.
Petrov was rightly mobbed by his team-mates, while Carroll was a forlorn, lonely figure in his area, at one stage briefly pulling over his red-face his orange goalkeeping top, such was his acute embarrassment.
Carroll at least denied Villa captain Barry a fourth early in the second half, but not for long as he duly joined the scorers in the 58th minute.
His eighth goal of the season was a simple tap in after Carroll had turned a curled shot from Agbonlahor into his path - perhaps the Irishman had