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In the Championship - On the brink
In what has become a three horse race for two automatic promotion places they have gone four points clear of second place Derby, although a win for Birmingham in their game in hand would see the lead reduced to just two points.
It's since the turn of the year that RK Sunderland have turned their form round. They have been unbeaten in the league in 2007 and they've won all but three of their games. The latest of those wins came in front of a near 40,000 crowd at the Stadium of Light over recently improved QPR with the goals on this occasion coming from Dean Whitehead and another strike from outside the box by Grant Leadbitter.
It means, should they win at Colchester on Saturday, that they will be guaranteed promotion in their last home game of the season, and that just happens to be against us a week on Friday during our week of Sky television domination.
The lead was extended because Derby were beaten at Ipswich in a game that will be remembered for a couple of sendings off, a third dismissal in three months for Billy Davies and some old bald headed bloke who decided to run on the pitch and separate a couple of players.
All seemed to be going well for Little Billy and his Derby team when Matt Oakley scored in the first minute, but that all changed just before the half hour when their keeper Stephen Bywater was involved in a little bit of afters with Ipswich defender Alex Bruce, son of the Birmingham manager Steve.
It seemed to be something and nothing from the TV pictures, but neither player had bargained for the man in the middle being Iain Williamson, and both looked stunned as he sent them off. It didn't end there either. Bywater appeared to be offering to shake hands with Bruce who overreacted somewhat, but what the old chap was doing running on the pitch to separate them is anyone's guess.
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Goals, not something Birmingham have been bothering with much recently, but they did get a couple to beat Southampton and stay very much in the race to go straight back up. They were somewhat fortunate to go in front. Southampton's Danny Guthrie was unfortunate to see his shot hit the foot of the post. Seconds later Birmingham won a corner from which Radhi Jaidi headed them in front.
It was a game that could have gone either way but Birmingham ran out 2-1 winners although Southampton should really have had a point but Kenwyne Jones missed an easy chance. That leaves Southampton outside the play offs but West Brom are still in there despite a poor performance and result.
It was basically disaster night for the Baggies who were beaten for the fourth time in five home games by Sheffield Wednesday. The goal just about crossed the line, but the officials got the decision correct in awarding the goal, but at the other end Diomansy Kamara was guilty of missing chances more than once.
West Brom were fortunate to go into the last few minutes with eleven men on the pitch, only referee Neil Swarbrick will know how on earth Paul Robinson stopped on the pitch. He decided to drag the injured Wednesday player Frankie Simek over the touchline so he could get on with the game. Already booked it is hard to believe he didn't get a second yellow.
As it happened they didn't finish with ten men, they managed to get it down to nine with substitute Neil Clement sent off for head butting Leon Clarke and Darren Carter getting a second yellow for a foul born out of frustration.
It's a bad time for West Brom right now but Preston got back to winning ways after four successive defeats. They were helped somewhat by a woeful Coventry side who were booed off by their fans both at half time and full time.
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Jay Bothroyd was on the mark again for Wolves as they remain in the top six. Having fallen behind at Palace he equalised within fourteen seconds and then scored again to put his side in front. They had to settle for a point in the end against the Legend's lot.
Down at the bottom it is nearly all over for Luton. What an impact Kevin Blackwell's had. We knew Luton were bad at Burnley but apparently they've got much worse since, and they were never in with a chance once Plymouth had gone in front through David Norris after just four minutes.
The Luton fans have seen their anti-bung manager Mike Newell sacked, they've found out that they were making payments to agents and they are seeing their side about to accept the inevitable relegation. On Saturday they heard their new assistant manager Sam Ellis, having watched this latest performance, say it couldn't have been worse.
Southend look odds on to go with them after losing at home to Barnsley. That's three defeats in four games now for the Essex side who will surely go down with Luton. Barnsley were much the better side here and were comfortable winners with the three points giving them a massive boost in their fight to avoid the drop.
They are one of four clubs who look to be fighting to avoid that last place. Leeds are another who beat us, whilst Hull and Leicester are the other two. Hull could only manage a home draw with Colchester, this after taking the lead through Nick Forster. Jamie Cureton scored for Colchester to bring the scores level in the second half.
What chances Leicester to go down? They've never really been in danger but four points from the last nine games has left them with a fight on their hands. New boss Nigel Worthington couldn't have got off to a better start against his old club Norwich when they went in front in the first minute. The scorer, not surprisingly, was former Canary Darren Kenton.
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McAuley must really hate Norwich, he also put through his own goal when the two sides met at Carrow Road earlier in the season. On that occasion Norwich won 3-1 with McAuley scoring the final goal.
Michael Chopra, the former Newcastle striker, took time off from telling people who he'd played for when he scored a last minute equaliser for Cardiff at home to Stoke. Cardiff's play off dream looks all but over, however Stoke are now just two points behind sixth place Wolves.
They should have been above Wolves too. After taking the lead through Carl Hoefkens they had the easiest of chances but substitute Martin Paterson put his shot wide for what must have been the worst miss of the season.
There are two games tomorrow. We play Norwich and Leicester take on Birmingham in the two outstanding games before a full fixture list on Saturday. RK Sunderland could go up this weekend, Southend could go down, Luton will surely go down, and the Clarets will be safe if we beat Norwich or should Hull or Leeds lose on Saturday.
The Weekend Results | |
Friday 13th April | |
West Brom 0 Sheffield Wed 1 | . |
Saturday 14th April | |
Birmingham 2 Southampton 1 | Leeds 1 Burnley 0 |
Cardiff 1 Stoke 1 | Leicester 1 Norwich 2 |
Coventry 0 Preston 4 | Luton 1 Plymouth 2 |
Crystal Palace 2 Wolves 2 | Southend 1 Barnsley 3 |
Hull 1 Colchester 1 | RK Sunderland 2 QPR 1 |
Ipswich 2 Derby 1 | . |
The Weekend Stats | |
Biggest win | Preston 4-0 v Coventry (away) |
Total goals scored | 33 |
Player scoring most goals | Jay Bothroyd (Wolves) |
Highest Attendance | 39,206 - RK Sunderland v QPR |
Lowest Attendance | 7,601 - Luton v Plymouth |
Total Yellow Cards | 48 |
Total Red Cards | 5 |
Most cards in a game | Ipswich v Derby (9Y 2R) |
The leading scorers (league only) | |
22 | Michael Chopra (Cardiff) Jamie Cureton (Colchester) |
20 | Diomansy Kamara (West Brom) |
18 | Robert Earnshaw (Norwich) Grzegorz Rasiak (Southampton) |
17 | Chris Iwelumo (Colchester) |
16 | Steve Howard (Derby) |
15 | Alan Lee (Ipswich) David Nugent (Preston) |
14 | Gary McSheffrey (Birmingham) |
13 | Kevin Phillips (West Brom) Rowan Vine (Birmingham) - 12 with Luton |
12 | Dexter Blackstock (QPR) Iain Hume (Leicester) Kenwyne Jones (Southampton) |
11 | Chris Brunt (Sheffield Wed) Deon Burton (Sheffield Wed) David Connolly (RK Sunderland) Freddy Eastwood (Southend) Barry Hayles (Plymouth) 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 | 82 | 6 | Luton | 63 | 6 |
| Birmingham | 65 | 8 | Norwich | 73 | 4 |
| Burnley | 79 | 7 | Plymouth | 86 | 5 |
| Cardiff | 59 | 9 | Preston | 73 | 4 |
| Colchester | 43 | 1 | QPR | 92 | 1 |
| Coventry | 81 | 1 | Sheffield Wed | 79 | 6 |
| Crystal Palace | 47 | 1 | Southampton | 53 | 1 |
| Derby | 95 | 4 | Southend | 72 | 4 |
| Hull | 81 | 3 | Stoke | 78 | 4 |
| Ipswich | 102 | 8 | RK Sunderland | 59 | 4 |
| Leeds | 91 | 4 | West Brom | 96 | 9 |
| Leicester | 80 | 3 | Wolves | 63 | 6 |
The Week's Fixtures | |
Tuesday 17th April | |
Burnley v Norwich | Leicester v Birmingham |
Friday 20th April | |
Derby v Luton | . |
Saturday 21st April | |
Barnsley v Crystal Palace | QPR v Cardiff |
Colchester v RK Sunderland | Sheffield Wed v Coventry |
Plymouth v Southend | Southampton v Leeds |
Preston v Leicester | Stoke v Hull |
Sunday 22nd April | |
Norwich v Ipswich | Wolves v Birmingham |
Monday 23rd April | |
Burnley v West Brom | . |