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In the Championship – All finished at the top
They won it 1-0 with a late goal from Danny Webber and even Ade Akinbiyi got half a game as the went twelve points clear of both Watford and Leeds who had four games left each. One of them would have to win all four to even make Sheffield United sweat and just a couple of hours later Watford were out of the running.
Wolves was the venue and what a good laugh it was, the fans chanted for the head of Glenn Hoddle whilst the manager lost it with the media after they pointed out the article in the programme from Chief Exec Jez Moxey who had described the season as a complete disaster. It looks as though Hoddle will be on his way very soon.
They did go in front with a goal from Jeremie Aliadiere but Marlon King pulled Watford level before being sent off for having words with the assistant referee after being denied a late penalty. He'll miss the next two games despite both he and manager Aidy Boothroyd claiming that he did not say what the assistant ref claimed he had said.
It ended 1-1 so for Sheffield United it was one down, one to go and the one to go was Leeds who were at home to Champions Reading. They went in front through Hulse who then got away with some blatant diving in the box before Reading ended their automatic promotion hopes with an equaliser from what was a Paul Butler own goal.
So, it is time to congratulate the Blades, at least from this distance we don't have to shake hands with their manager. It at least means we can avoid our annual Bramall Lane defeat and leaves us as one of the join longest serving clubs in the division.
With Wolves failing to win it meant the play off places were also secured for Preston and Palace and Preston celebrated with a win at Leicester where the home side went in front after just nine seconds.
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Ahead of the game manager Rob Kelly was given an extended deal so a defeat was inevitable. And that's what it was as goals either side of half time swung it in North End's favour.
Palace looked set for a big win when they went two up against Crewe with two Andy Johnson goals, but the Alex came back to earn a point with goals from Luke Rodgers and Kenny Lunt, the equaliser coming from the penalty spot after a and ball from Tom Soares.
Despite the point they dropped a point in the table as Brighton went to Ipswich and won 2-1 with Gifton getting the first one. Ipswich only pulled one back in stoppage time and it's a bad run they are on just now, that's seven games without a win.
Millwall remain bottom after they picked up a point from their home game against Plymouth, coming from behind to equalise through Marvin Williams.
So none of the bottom three lost but they had to wait then for news from Sheffield Wednesday where the kick off had been delayed by fifteen minutes to allow people to pay their respects on the seventeenth anniversary of the Hillsborough disaster.
So none of the bottom three lost but they had to wait then for news from Sheffield Wednesday where the kick off had been delayed by fifteen minutes to allow people to pay their respects on the seventeenth anniversary of the Hillsborough disaster.
When the news came through it was bad news for the bottom three with a Marcus Tudgay goal enough to win the game for the Owls. No one is down yet but Wednesday are one result away from condemning the bottom three to League One football next season.
That leaves the nothing to play for games and there were three besides ours. The crisis club clash between QPR and Derby ended in a point apiece from a 1-1 draw whilst Grzegorz Rasiak did what he does best and went down in the penalty box at Stoke. He got both their goals, including the penalty, in a 2-1 win.
The more important news at Stoke is of a potential takeover which would see them return to being an English club rather than the only Icelandic club in the Football League. But nothing is ever smooth running at the Windy City so anything could happen yet.
Finally Coventry returned to winning ways at Luton with a 2-1 win. Gary McSheffrey got their second and it is not that long since he kept going to Luton on loan as a succession of Coventry managers weren't interested in his services. Now he could be on the verge of a big money move to the Premiership.
Today's rest day, tomorrow we start again with the Easter Monday fixtures. All eyes will be on the Withdean where Sheffield Wednesday will try to bring the season to an end in terms of the promotion and relegation issues.
The Weekend Results | |
Friday 14th April | |
Cardiff 0 Sheffield Utd 1 | Wolves 1 Watford 1 |
Saturday 15th April | |
Cystal Palace 2 Crewe 2 | Luton 1 Coventry 2 |
Hull 0 Burnley 0 | Millwall 1 Plymouth 1 |
Ipswich 1 Brighton 2 | QPR 1 Derby 1 |
Leeds 1 Reading 1 | Sheffield Wed 1 Norwich 0 |
Leicester 1 Preston 2 | Stoke 1 Southampton 2 |
The Weekend Stats | |
Biggest win | no team won by more than one goal |
Total goals scored | 26 |
Player scoring most goals | Andy Johnson (Crystal Palace) |
Highest Attendance | 30,755 - Sheffield Wed v Norwich |
Lowest Attendance | 8,752 - Luton v Coventry |
Total Yellow Cards | 30 |
Total Red Cards | 2 |
Most cards in a game | Ipswich v Brighton (6Y) |
The leading scorers (league only) | |
21 | Marlon King (Watford) |
18 | Cameron Jerome (Cardiff) |
17 | Kevin Doyle (Reading) |
16 | Dave Kitson (Reading) |
15 | Ade Akinbiyi (Sheffield Utd) - 12 with Burnley Gary McSheffrey (Coventry) |
14 | Steve Howard (Luton) Andy Johnson (Crystal Palace) |
12 | Darius Henderson (Watford) Rob Hulse (Leeds) Clinton Morrison (Crystal Palace) Ashley Young (Watford) |
11 | Robbie Blake (Leeds) Carl Cort (Wolves) Paul Gallagher (Stoke) Inigo Idiakez (Derby) Jason Koumas (Cardiff) Leroy Lita (Reading) Neil Shipperley (Sheffield Utd) |
10 | Dele Adebola (Coventry) Dean Ashton (Norwich) David Healy (Leeds) Dave Nugent (Preston) Danny Webber (Sheffield Utd) |
9 | Sammy Bangoura (Stoke) Paul Ifill (Sheffield Utd) Steven Kabba (Sheffield Utd) Kenny Miller (Wolves) Steve Sidwell (Reading) |
Disciplinary Record (all games) | |||||
| Club | Y | R | Club | Y | R |
| Brighton | 75 | 4 | Millwall | 95 | 14 |
| Burnley | 74 | 5 | Norwich | 67 | 2 |
| Cardiff | 69 | 2 | Plymouth | 62 | 1 |
| Coventry | 87 | 4 | Preston | 84 | 2 |
| Crewe | 34 | 2 | QPR | 75 | 7 |
| Crystal Palace | 79 | 3 | Reading | 44 | 0 |
| Derby | 62 | 6 | Sheffield Utd | 60 | 2 |
| Hull | 52 | 3 | Sheffield Wed | 54 | 1 |
| Ipswich | 57 | 6 | Southampton | 61 | 4 |
| Leeds | 70 | 2 | Stoke | 74 | 7 |
| Leicester | 77 | 5 | Watford | 58 | 6 |
| Luton | 60 | 5 | Wolves | 61 | 1 |
The Week's Fixtures | |
Monday 17th April | |
Brighton v Sheffield Wed | Plymouth v Luton |
Burnley v Crystal Palace | Preston v Wolves |
Coventry v Leicester | Reading v Stoke |
Crewe v Cardiff | Southampton v Millwall |
Derby v Hull | Watford v Ipswich |
Norwich v QPR | . |
Tuesday 18th April | |
Sheffield Utd v Leeds | . |