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In the Championship – Reading stretch the lead
I’ve no liking for the Berkshire club at all, they rip us off every year, but I have to admit to enjoying some of their football on the highlights, particularly when the player in the number seven shirt is involved.
And Glen was at it again yesterday. He all but created an opener for Kitson, then almost scored himself, before producing a piece of wing play that took me back about four years to the time he was doing it for us. That led to the first goal and there was no way back for a Wolves side who Glenn Hoddle said had never played so badly whilst he’s been at the club.
Reading will be promoted, there’s nothing could be surer than that, their lead over third place has now reached twenty points and it is difficult to work out how they could possibly lose that.
Meanwhile over at Bramall Lane we had Boxing Day’s shock result and the daftest goal of the lot from yesterday’s game. It is almost too difficult to describe in words but with Norwich already 2-1 up they broke down the left wing. Blades’ keeper Paddy Kenny came racing out but got nowhere and the ball was slipped inside for Dean Ashton who with an empty goal he put his effort wide of the target from just outside the box.
Never fear, Chris Morgan was there and instead of letting the ball pass safely out for a goal kick he decided to keep it in play and headed it. The only problem was he headed it straight into his own goal. Disappointingly the television pictures didn’t show Neil Warnock at that precise moment.
Aidy’s looking up again and Watford returned to form with a comprehensive 3-0 win over Southampton, who were playing their first game under the new management structure.
The Saints, who were without tantrum boy Dennis Wise, included Nathan Dyer for the first time in a league game. The south coast club revealed yesterday that loaning Dyer out to Burnley was a bizarre decision, and he was apparently their best player and came close to scoring late in the game with a spectacular overhead kick that came back off the bar.
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They won it 3-1 in the end and deserved to which just leaves us with our latest Ian Moore goal check. Still looking for his first Leeds goal we can reveal that he was not even in the sixteen yesterday.
Crystal Palace will be in the top six at worst by the end of the season according to Joe Royle after he saw them beat his Ipswich side despite ending the game with only nine players. They had both Jonathan Macken and Ben Watson sent off by Northampton referee Andy Woolmer who also waved his yellow card no fewer than nine times.
It was a controversial performance from the referee and I bet you can’t guess where he’ll be appearing next. I’ll give you a clue, it is this coming Saturday and the visitors are Sheffield Wednesday.
It wasn’t the only game to see two red cards, Leicester and Millwall both finished with ten men in their 1-1 draw at the Crisp Bowl. Leicester’s Tiatto went first for an off the ball incident and Millwall’s Paul Robinson became the eleventh of their players to be sent off this season.
The point wasn’t good enough to take Millwall off the bottom but at least provided the league’s newest and youngest manager David Tuttle with an unbeaten start.
There were no sendings off at Preston, and no goals either. Manager Billy Davies spent all last night checking for penalty claims that were turned down but couldn’t find any. So he’s had a go at his forwards instead and told them they cannot keep relying on Dave Nugent for the goals. Davies was boasting though about Preston’s unbeaten run that has now stretched to fourteen games. The problem is, ten of them have ended in draws.
I bet Derby were pleased when they heard they were playing Luton on Boxing Day. Luton haven’t lose very often recently on this particular day, the last time they were beaten in a Boxing Day game was fifteen years ago when they went down 1-0 to Sheffield United at Bramall Lane.
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Crewe seem to do very well with Boxing Day fixtures, that is when they can keep the snow off the pitch, and although we kept well away from them this year they were at home once again. Hull were the visitors this year and twice they came from behind to earn themselves a point.
That point kept Hull above Plymouth on goal difference despite the Pilgrims picking up a surprise win at Ninian Park against Cardiff. Late goals from Paul Wotton, yet again from the penalty spot, and David Norris were enough to win it for them. The penalty led to a red card for Darren Purse which looked a bit harsh but where Purse is concerned I’m sure it is a case of what goes around, comes around. It is his second red card in his last three games.
That just leaves us with Brighton and they won back to back games for the first time this season when they beat QPR 1-0 with a goal from Guy Butter. It didn’t come without a price though, Charlie Oatway was stretchered off with a broken ankle in the early stages of the game. He’s expected to be out for about six weeks.
Today’s the rest day, tomorrow we are all back in action again with the Clarets set for Norwich and Carrow Road. The fixtures for the next week are shown below.
The Boxing Day Results | |
Monday 26th December | |
Brighton 1 QPR 0 | Leeds 3 Coventry 1 |
Burnley 1 Stoke 0 | Leicester 1 Millwall 1 |
Cardiff 0 Plymouth 2 | Preston 0 Sheffield Wed 0 |
Crewe 2 Hull 2 | Sheffield Utd 1 Norwich 3 |
Derby 1 Luton 1 | Watford 3 Southampton 0 |
Ipswich 0 Crystal Palace 2 | Wolves 0 Reading 2 |
The Boxing Day Stats | |
Biggest win | Watford 3-0 v Southampton (home) |
Total goals scored | 27 |
Player scoring most goals | no player scored more than one goal |
Highest Attendance | 27,980 - Wolves v Reading |
Lowest Attendance | 7,341 - Brighton v QPR |
Total Yellow Cards | 46 |
Total Red Cards | 5 |
Most cards in a game | Ipswich v Crystal Palace (9Y 2R) |
The leading scorers (league only) | |
12 | Ade Akinbiyi (Burnley) Marlon King (Watford) |
10 | Dean Ashton (Norwich) Cameron Jerome (Cardiff) |
9 | Carl Cort (Wolves) Kevin Doyle (Reading) Steven Kabba (Sheffield Utd) Dave Kitson (Reading) Ashley Young (Watford) |
8 | Sammy Bangoura (Stoke) David Healy (Leeds) Rob Hulse (Leeds) Gary McSheffrey (Coventry) Neil Shipperley (Sheffield Utd) |
7 | Dele Adebola (Coventry) Paul Gallagher (Stoke) Steve Howard (Luton) Inigo Idiakez (Derby) Andy Johnson (Crystal Palace) Jason Koumas (Cardiff) Clinton Morrison (Crystal Palace) |
6 | Ahmet Brkovic (Luton) Mark de Vries (Leicester) Joey Gudjonsson (Leicester) Phil Jagielka (Sheffield Utd) Leroy Lita (Reading) Garreth O'Connor (Burnley) Danny Webber (Sheffield Utd) |
5 | Robbie Blake (Leeds) Chris Brunt (Sheffield Wed) Warren Feeney (Luton) Dougie Freedman (Crystal Palace) Darius Henderson (Watford) Leon Knight (Brighton) Glen Little (Reading) Dean Morgan (Luton) Dave Nugent (Preston) Sam Parkin (Ipswich) Michael Ricketts (Cardiff) Matthew Spring (Watford) |
Disciplinary Record (all games) | |||||
| Club | Y | R | Club | Y | R |
| Brighton | 47 | 2 | Millwall | 56 | 11 |
| Burnley | 42 | 3 | Norwich | 43 | 2 |
| Cardiff | 45 | 2 | Plymouth | 42 | 0 |
| Coventry | 52 | 3 | Preston | 44 | 2 |
| Crewe | 24 | 1 | QPR | 57 | 6 |
| Crystal Palace | 53 | 2 | Reading | 26 | 0 |
| Derby | 43 | 3 | Sheffield Utd | 39 | 1 |
| Hull | 25 | 3 | Sheffield Wed | 29 | 1 |
| Ipswich | 37 | 4 | Southampton | 46 | 4 |
| Leeds | 47 | 2 | Stoke | 46 | 6 |
| Leicester | 49 | 4 | Watford | 38 | 2 |
| Luton | 32 | 3 | Wolves | 29 | 1 |
The Holiday Fixtures | |
Wednesday 28th December | |
Coventry v Crewe | Plymouth v Preston |
Crystal Palace v Derby | QPR v Cardiff |
Hull v Ipswich | Reading v Leicester |
Luton v Brighton | Sheffield Wed v Wolves |
Millwall v Watford | Southampton v Shefield Utd |
Norwich v Burnley | Stoke v Leeds |
Saturday 31st December | |
Brighton v Millwall | Leeds v Hull |
Burnley v Sheffield Wed | Leicester v Norwich |
Cardiff v Southampton | Preston v Coventry |
Crewe v QPR | Sheffield Utd v Stoke |
Derby v Reading | Watford v Crystal Palace |
Ipswich v Luton | Wolves v Plymouth |
Monday 2nd January | |
Coventry v Wolves | QPR v Burnley |
Crystal Palace v Leicester | Reading v Cardiff |
Luton v Watford | Sheffield Wed v Crewe |
Millwall v Derby | Southampton v Brighton |
Norwich v Preston | Stoke v Ipswich |
Plymouth v Leeds | . |
Tuesday 3rd January | |
Hull v Sheffield Utd | . |