Even the Doncaster board called the idea of bringing in players on short term deals 'The Experiment'. It hasn't worked; their time is up and it might be some time before we visit the Keepmoat again; a pity really given that we've just managed to get a first win there.
Portsmouth should have gone with them too on Saturday and would have done but for some astonishing refereeing by Mick Russell. Pompey were 2-0 down at Doncaster before the sparse gathering had got their seats warmed but came back courtesy of some generous decisions.
There might be arguments for two of Portsmouth's goals being allowed to stand but the first penalty was a joke. Even if it was a foul then it was some distance outside the box. The third was a blatant foul by Dave Kitson, and did he put it in with his hand in any case?
Still, you don't have to even put the ball in the net now to score a goal as we saw at Wembley yesterday so an odd bad decision at Doncaster is hardly going to start any alarm bells ringing.
Despite the win it will be a miracle should Portsmouth survive whilst above them Coventry are still favourites to go down. It could have been all but over for them too when Bristol City led 2-0 at Birmingham whilst Coventry trailed 1-0 at Burnley. That would have seen a seven point gap opened up but with both drawing it leaves the Sky Blues in with a chance.
Up at the top there is only one team to comment on and that's Reading. They've won a sensational 43 points from their last 16 games and that's a massive 11 points more than any other team has won during that period.
They were mere play off hopefuls, and only hopefuls, ahead of this run but they are now promotion favourites and three points clear at the top of the league having won 3-1 at Southampton on Friday night.
Their leading goalscorer, even before Friday, was Adam Le Fondre and he scored twice in this win which surely must signal a return to the Premier League. They need one win and one draw to be certain of promotion.
A win for either team gave West Ham a chance of catching the other and they could do no more than they did on Saturday with a massive 6-0 win against Brighton. I wonder just how long Gus Poyet hung around this time. West Ham are just three points behind Southampton now.
They are in the play offs with Birmingham, Blackpool and Cardiff and looking at things now it does look as though Middlesbrough are the only club that could possibly get in there. Brighton are next and look to have blown it with only two points from their last five games.
More could be decided tomorrow with the last set of midweek fixtures which will leave us with just two games to go.
The results, stats, leading goalscorers, each club's red and yellow card counts, the highest and lowest attendances are all below along with tomorrow's fixture list.
The Results | |
Friday 13th April | |
Southampton 1 Reading 3 | |
Saturday 14th April | |
Barnsley 0 Cardiff City 1 | Leeds United 4 Peterborough United 1 |
Birmingham City 2 Bristol City 2 | Millwall 2 Leicester City 1 |
Burnley 1 Coventry City 1 | Nottingham Forest 0 Blackpool 0 |
Crystal Palace 1 Ipswich Town 1 | Watford 1 Hull City 1 |
Derby County 0 Middlesbrough 1 | West Ham United 6 Brighton & Hove Albion 0 |
Doncaster Rovers 3 Portsmouth 4 |
The Stats | |
Biggest Win | West Ham United 6-0 v Brighton & Hove Albion (home) |
Total Goals Scored | 37 (21 home - 16 away) |
Player Scoring Most Goals |
3 - Ricardo Vaz Te (West Ham United) |
Highest Attendance | 32,339 - West Ham United v Brighton & Hove Albion |
Lowest Attendance | 8,196 - Doncaster Rovers v Portsmouth |
Total Yellow Cards | 26 |
Total Red Cards | 2 |
Most Cards in a Game | Crystal Palace v Ipswich Town (5Y) Ref: Fred Graham |
Leading Goalscorers (League Only) | |
27 | Rickie Lambert (Southampton) - includes 9 penalties |
20 | Ricardo Vaz Te (West Ham United) - includes 1 penalty - (10 with Barnsley) |
18 | Ross McCormack (Leeds United) |
16 | Charlie Austin (Burnley) - includes 1 penalty Marlon King (Birmingham City) - includes 2 penalties |
15 | Darius Henderson (Millwall) - includes 2 penalties David Nugent (Leicester City) Kevin Phillips (Blackpool) Jay Rodriguez (Burnley) - includes 3 penalties Billy Sharp (Southampton) - includes 1 penalty (10 with Doncaster Rovers) |
14 | Michael Chopra (Ipswich Town) |
13 | Marvin Emnes (Middlesbrough) Matty Fryatt (Hull City) - includes 1 penalty Robert Snodgrass (Leeds United) - includes 2 penalties |
12 | Carlton Cole (West Ham United) Kevin Nolan (West Ham United) Chris Wood (Bristol City) - includes 1 penalty - (9 with Birmingham City) |
11 | Chris Burke (Birmingham City) Craig Davies (Barnsley) - includes 1 penalty Lukas Jutkiewicz (Middlesbrough) - includes 1 penalty - (9 with Coventry City) Adam Le Fondre (Reading) Paul Taylor (Peterborough United) Pete Whittingham (Cardiff City) - includes 3 penalties Nikola Zigic (Birmingham City) |
Hat Tricks | |
Date | Player & Game |
20/08/11 | 3: Lee Tomlin - PETERBOROUGH UNITED v Ipswich Town |
10/09/11 | 3: Rickie Lambert - SOUTHAMPTON v Nottingham Forest |
11/09/11 | 3: Chris Wood - BIRMINGHAM CITY v Millwall |
12/10/11 | 3: Darius Henderson - Leicester City v MILLWALL |
02/11/11 | 3: Jonjo Shelvey - Leeds United v BLACKPOOL |
19/11/11 | 3: Rickie Lambert - SOUTHAMPTON v Brighton & Hove Albion |
26/12/11 | 3: Matthew Phillips - Barnsley v BLACKPOOL |
31/12/11 | 3: Ricardo Vaz Te - BARNSLEY v Leeds United |
21/01/12 | 3: Darius Henderson - Barnsley v MILLWALL |
31/01/12 | 4: Nikola Zigic - Leeds United v BIRMINGHAM CITY |
26/02/12 | 3: Rickie Lambert - Watford v SOUTHAMPTON |
17/03/12 | 3: Rickie Lambert - Millwall v SOUTHAMPTON |
20/03/12 | 4: Garath McCleary - Leeds United v NOTTINGHAM FOREST |
31/03/12 | 3: Radi Majewski - Crystal Palace v NOTTINGHAM FOREST |
31/03/12 | 3: Charlie Austin - Portsmouth v BURNLEY |
14/04/12 | 3: Ricardo Vaz Te - WEST HAM UNITED v Brighton & Hove Albion |
Disciplinary Record (League and Cup) | |||||||||
Club | Y | R | Y | R | Club | Y | R | Y | R |
League | Total | League | Total | ||||||
Barnsley | 57 | 2 | 60 | 2 | Ipswich Town | 55 | 5 | 56 | 5 |
Birmingham City | 59 | 3 | 64 | 3 | Leeds United | 70 | 8 | 76 | 8 |
Blackpool | 51 | 2 | 54 | 3 | Leicester City | 60 | 9 | 68 | 9 |
Brighton and Hove Albion | 88 | 8 | 102 | 8 | Middlesbrough | 72 | 7 | 75 | 7 |
Bristol City | 76 | 7 | 78 | 7 | Millwall | 72 | 2 | 79 | 2 |
Burnley | 67 | 2 | 75 | 2 | Nottingham Forest | 57 | 5 | 62 | 5 |
Cardiff City | 55 | 0 | 71 | 0 | Peterborough United | 51 | 2 | 54 | 2 |
Coventry City | 54 | 2 | 56 | 2 | Portsmouth | 71 | 4 | 78 | 4 |
Crystal Palace | 55 | 2 | 59 | 3 | Reading | 56 | 0 | 59 | 0 |
Derby County | 56 | 1 | 56 | 1 | Southampton | 51 | 4 | 54 | 4 |
Doncaster Rovers | 69 | 3 | 71 | 3 | Watford | 63 | 3 | 65 | 3 |
Hull City | 67 | 1 | 72 | 1 | West Ham United | 63 | 6 | 65 | 7 |
Highest and Lowest Attendances | |||
Highest | Lowest | ||
Att | Fixture | Att | Fixture |
34,936 | West Ham United v Coventry City (02/01) | 6,351 | Peterborough United v Cardiff City (18/10) |
34,900 | West Ham United v Crystal Palace (25/02) | 6,392 | Peterborough United v Millwall (06/03) |
34,749 | West Ham United v Barnsley (17/12) | 6,717 | Peterborough United v Reading (20/03) |
34,650 | West Ham United v Doncaster Rovers (10/03) | 7,004 | Peterborough United v Bristol City (18/02) |
33,465 | West Ham United v Portsmouth (10/09) | 7,540 | Peterborough United v Blackpool (10/03) |
33,366 | Leeds United v West Ham United (17/03) | 7,555 | Peterborough United v Portsmouth (28/01) |
33,350 | West Ham United v Reading (31/03) | 7,572 | Doncaster Rovers v Millwall (20/03) |
33,010 | Derby County v Southampton (15/10) | 7,650 | Doncaster Rovers v Watford (26/11) |
33,010 | Derby County v Leeds United (26/12) | 7,778 | Doncaster Rovers v Bristol City (27/08) |
33,010 | Derby County v Nottingham Forest (17/03) | 7,901 | Peterborough United v Burnley (17/09) |
The Next Fixtures | |
Tuesday 17th April | |
Blackpool v Leeds United (20:00) | Ipswich Town v Birmingham City |
Brighton & Hove Albion v Watford | Leicester City v Burnley |
Bristol City v West Ham United | Middlesbrough v Doncaster Rovers |
Cardiff City v Derby County | Peterborough United v Southampton |
Coventry City v Millwall | Portsmouth v Crystal Palace |
Hull City v Barnsley | Reading v Nottingham Forest (20:00) |