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I was getting somewhat concerned that our timid defeat there a couple of weeks ago might be enough to see them escape the drop, that this one chance to see them down in the lower leagues might be lost. It certainly seemed so when Richard Cresswell gave them an early lead against Ipswich. For the Ipswich players there was a sign of things to come when some Leeds fans got on to the pitch to celebrate the goal.
A win, and anything but a win for Hull at Cardiff, would see them out of the bottom three with just the one game to go, but just a few minutes into the second half Dean Windass gave Hull the lead and if both sides won it would leave Hull still a point clear.
That's how it looked set to end until two minutes from the end at Elland Road. Hull did win and then former Claret Alan Lee scored an equaliser for Ipswich that has virtually condemned Leeds to a life below the Championship.
Referee Michael Jones, fresh from his battering at Burnley earlier in the week, allowed an extra six minutes. But well into the last of those minutes came another pitch invasion. This one held up the game for over half an hour until the pitch was cleared and then incredibly the referee brought them out to complete the game.
Hull are now three points clear with a goal difference that is nine better than that of Leeds. It would take some shock results to turn that around that would probably bring with it a major FA enquiry.
Leeds will join Luton and Southend in dropping out of the league. Luton were already relegated but won for the first time in twelve games. Southend would have been relegated even if they'd won, with Hull winning, but were soundly beaten. This one is no surprise to me, they were shockingly poor against us recently, and I still wonder how on earth we lost that game.
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Up to the top of the league then, and Sky turned it into a drama with the top three clubs all playing on different days. RK Sunderland started on the Friday with their win against us. That took them to the top but a day later they lost that place again as Birmingham beat Sheffield Wednesday.
It was a tough game for Birmingham against the division's form team, and they had to do it with ten men after Fabrice Muamba was sent off for two bookable offences. Not quite, he was sent off for one bad refereering error and one bookable offence.
Cameron Jerome turned in a rebound from close range but Sebastian Larsson scored the goal of the day to clinch the victory. Good goal it was, but I think Larsson was having something of a laugh comparing himself to Maradona in his post match interview.
That all left Derby under some pressure. Anything but a win at Selhurst Park against Crystal Palace and they would be out of the running for an automatic promotion place, and they didn't get that win. Clinton Morrison put Palace in front and it was almost farcical to see the Derby defenders arguing with each other as an unmarked Mark Kennedy blasted in the second.
There was no punching the air from Billy this time, no job done for him, as his side have now confirmed a place in the play offs whilst Birmingham and RK Sunderland will both go back up at the first time of asking.
They are the only side who have definitely got a place in the play offs, but it is the end of the road for both Sheffield Wednesday and Colchester. Wednesday's defeat at Birmingham means they cannot make the top six now and neither can Colchester after they fell to defeat at Stoke.
Colchester led too after a first half penalty that came following a poor decision when Salif Diao clearly played the ball. Stoke though came storming back to score three times in nine second half minutes through Darel Russell, Mamady Sidibe and Danny Higginbotham and they are only outside that top six on goals scored.
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In fourth place are West Brom. They won at Coventry in a game that saw two red cards. Coventry's Ben Turner was first to go. This was his second league game of 2007 and his second red card, the earlier one coming in a one game loan spell at Oldham.
West Brom may have won their appeal in midweek over the sending off of Paul McShane but they are a side with a discipline problem and manager Tony Mowbray has slammed Diomansy Kamara who got himself sent off in stoppage time. Paul Robinson got the goal for West Brom in the first half.
That leaves us with Preston. They haven't been outside the top six since last September, or should I say they hadn't, because they certainly are now and the fans are far from happy with some calling for the head of manager Paul Simpson.
They have lost six of their last seven games, and from being real contenders for an automatic spot they now have a fight on their hands to get into the play offs. They lost 2-0 at Plymouth with defender Sean St Ledger doing what he does best. He doesn't like to be made to play out of position and now apparently he's not too keen on the referee giving a penalty when he handles the ball in his own box.
His hand ball led to Plymouth taking the lead from the spot and Barry Hayles scored a late second. I bet it was a long journey home for the fans who will now need to see their side get a good result against Birmingham who are still chasing the title.
The final fixtures are below - all kicking off at 1:00 p.m. this Sunday.
The Weekend Results | |
Friday 27th April | |
RK Sunderland 3 Burnley 2 | . |
Saturday 28th April | |
Barnsley 0 Leicester 1 | Norwich 0 Southampton 1 |
Birmingham 2 Sheffield Wed 0 | Plymouth 2 Preston 0 |
Cardiff 0 Hull 1 | Southend 1 Luton 3 |
Coventry 0 West Brom 1 | Stoke 3 Colchester 1 |
Leeds 1 Ipswich 1 | Wolves 2 QPR 0 |
Sunday 29th April | |
Crystal Palace 2 Derby 0 | . |
The Weekend Stats | |
Biggest win | Luton 3-1 v Southend (away) |
Total goals scored | 27 |
Player scoring most goals | no player scored more than one goal |
Highest Attendance | 44,448 - RK Sunderland v Burnley |
Lowest Attendance | 10,276- Southend v Luton |
Total Yellow Cards | 45 |
Total Red Cards | 4 |
Most cards in a game | Stoke v Colchester (8Y 1R) |
The leading scorers (league only) | |
23 | Jamie Cureton (Colchester) |
22 | Michael Chopra (Cardiff) |
20 | Diomansy Kamara (West Brom) |
18 | Robert Earnshaw (Norwich) Chris Iwelumo (Colchester) Grzegorz Rasiak (Southampton) |
16 | Steve Howard (Derby) Alan Lee (Ipswich) |
15 | David Nugent (Preston) |
14 | Andy Gray (Burnley) Gary McSheffrey (Birmingham) |
13 | Dexter Blackstock (QPR) Barry Hayles (Plymouth) Kevin Phillips (West Brom) Rowan Vine (Birmingham) - 12 with Luton |
12 | David Connolly (RK Sunderland) Iain Hume (Leicester) Kenwyne Jones (Southampton) Steven MacLean (Sheffield Wed) Clinton Morrison (Crystal Palace) |
Hat Tricks (league only) | |
26th Aug | 3 - Jamie Cureton - COLCHESTER v Derby |
12th Sep | 3 - Gifton Noel-Williams - BURNLEY v Barnsley |
14th Oct | 3 - Kevin Phillips - Ipswich v WEST BROM |
29th Oct | 3 - Alan Lee - IPSWICH v Luton |
28th Nov | 4 - Chris Iwelumo - COLCHESTER v Hull |
9th Dec | 3 - Gary McSheffrey - BIRMINGHAM v Preston |
27th Jan | 3 - Michael Chopra - CARDIFF v Leicester |
17th Feb | 3 - Andrew Surman - SOUTHAMPTON v Barnsley |
31st Mar | 3 - Dean Windass - HULL v Southend |
31st Mar | 3 - Marek Saganowski - Wolves v SOUTHAMPTON |
7th Apr | 3 - Jamie Cureton - Southend v COLCHESTER |
Disciplinary Record (all games) | |||||
Club | Y | R | Club | Y | R |
Barnsley | 85 | 6 | Luton | 68 | 6 |
Birmingham | 74 | 9 | Norwich | 75 | 4 |
Burnley | 86 | 7 | Plymouth | 89 | 5 |
Cardiff | 62 | 10 | Preston | 77 | 4 |
Colchester | 48 | 2 | QPR | 97 | 1 |
Coventry | 85 | 2 | Sheffield Wed | 84 | 6 |
Crystal Palace | 49 | 1 | Southampton | 57 | 1 |
Derby | 96 | 4 | Southend | 79 | 4 |
Hull | 84 | 3 | Stoke | 84 | 4 |
Ipswich | 106 | 8 | RK Sunderland | 63 | 4 |
Leeds | 98 | 5 | West Brom | 99 | 11 |
Leicester | 83 | 3 | Wolves | 68 | 6 |
The Week's Fixtures | |
Sunday 6th May | |
Burnley v Coventry | Luton v RK Sunderland |
Colchester v Crystal Palace | Preston v Birmingham |
Derby v Leeds | QPR v Stoke |
Hull v Plymouth | Sheffield Wed v Norwich |
Ipswich v Cardiff | Southampton v Southend |
Leicester v Wolves | West Brom v Barnsley |