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In the Championship - Strange week at the top
Last Updated : 15-Mar-2007 by
Neither RK Sunderland nor West Brom could win at home although at least the north east club grabbed themselves a point with a late goal. They were twice behind against Stoke, the first of the Stoke goals was something of a howler from goalkeeper Darren Ward but the second from Carl Hoefkens was an excellent finish.
Just when all looked lost Daryl Murphy scored in the last minute of normal time to rescue a point and take their unbeaten run to twelve games. There was no such luck for the Baggies though. They went in front but Palace equalised with yet another Clinton Morrison goal ten minutes before half time.
Three minutes later they lost influential defender Curtis Davies with a metatarsal injury and he won't play again this season. His replacement Martin Albrechtsen lasted just three minutes before he was sent off by referee Kevin Friend and Palace scored from the resulting penalty to lead at half time.
Despite all this it was virtually all West Brom in the second half. They equalised with a goal from Kevin Phillips but lost the game to a goal from Lewis Grabban in the fifth and last minute of stoppage time. They play Birmingham this weekend and their local rivals also lost, beaten 1-0 at Norwich to a superb solo goal from Darren Huckerby. It was a poor performance from Birmingham.
Wolves were also losers. A run of six consecutive wins came to an end at the Ricoh where they lost to Coventry. Dele Adebola put Coventry in front before Michael Kightly equalised for Wolves who, like West Brom, then had to play over half the game with ten men after Jackie McNamara was sent off by Peter Walton for a second bookable offence. Coventry won it with an Elliott Ward goal.
Southampton, having lost twice in the previous week, looked all set for a win against in form Cardiff at St Mary's. Chris Baird got the first for Saints with a superb 30-yard strike following a free kick and when Bradley Wright-Phillips added a second before half time it looked over for the Welsh club.
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Derby were thankful for a late Darren Moore goal at home to QPR. What looked like a home banker was suddenly looking as though it could be an away win after Derby failed to pull back from Martin Rowland's early goal. The home side dominated but there were only three minutes remaining when Big Dave scored his point saving goal.
A win would have seen QPR climb out of the bottom three at the expense of Southend but they remain third from bottom. In bottom position are Leeds who got a draw at Leicester. Both goals came in the last minutes of the first half. Firstly home keeper Paul Henderson was beaten by Robbie Blake after his free kick, a free kick given away by the keeper, had been blocked, and then Leeds goalkeeper Casper Ankergren chose just the wrong moment to slip. As he went down he had a fantastic view of Iain Hume's equaliser.
It's Luton next, and they lost a relegation six pointer at home against Hull. It was worse than that, goalkeeper Marlon Beresford was stretchered off with a head injury after half an hour with the score 1-0 and today, after further outbursts from manager Mike Newell, he found himself out of work, replaced on a temporary basis by Brian Stein.
Barnsley won 4-2 at Plymouth, with the pick of the goals the third from Martin Devaney, a superb strike from 40-yards. I always suspected this was very much a winnable game for the Tykes with Plymouth still suffering from their cup exit.
Plymouth hardly made it difficult either, Ian Holloway said the home side's performance was rubbish, were second best, and didn't show enough desire.
And finally Sheffield Wednesday had a comfortable 2-0 win over Colchester with Frankie Simek getting his first goal of the season and Matthew Mills heading into his own net whilst under no pressure. The heady days in the play off positions look over now for Colchester, this was their fifth game without a win.
There are big games at the top and the bottom this weekend. On Sunday it is West Brom v Birmingham and on Saturday there's another relegation scrap at Roots Hall where Leeds are the visitors. We'll be keeping a close watch on that whilst hoping for wins for Coventry, Ipswich, Leicester and RK Sunderland.
The Midweek Results | |
Tuesday 13th March | |
Coventry 2 Wolves 1 | Preston 1 Ipswich 0 |
Derby 1 QPR 1 | Sheffield Wed 2 Colchester 0 |
Leiester 1 Leeds 1 | Southampton 2 Cardiff 2 |
Luton 1 Hull 2 | Southend 1 Burnley 0 |
Norwich 1 Birmingham 0 | RK Sunderland 2 Stoke 2 |
Wednesday 14th March | |
Plymouth 2 Barnsley 4 | West Brom 2 Crystal Palace 3 |
The Midweek Stats | |
Biggest win | Barmsley 4-2 v Plymouth (away) |
Total goals scored | 34 |
Player scoring most goals | 2 - Martin Devaney (Barnsley) |
Highest Attendance | 31,358 - RK Sunderland v Stoke |
Lowest Attendance | 7,777 - Luton v Hull |
Total Yellow Cards | 52 |
Total Red Cards | 2 |
Most cards in a game | Preston v Ipswich (8Y) |
The leading scorers (league only) | |
21 | Michael Chopra (Cardiff) |
19 | Diomansy Kamara (West Brom) |
18 | Grzegorz Rasiak (Southampton) |
17 | Robert Earnshaw (Norwich) |
15 | Chris Iwelumo (Colchester) |
14 | Jamie Cureton (Colchester) Steve Howard (Derby) Gary McSheffrey (Birmingham) |
13 | Alan Lee (Ipswich) David Nugent (Preston) Rowan Vine (Birmingham) - 12 with Luton |
12 | Kenwyne Jones (Southampton) Kevin Phillips (West Brom) |
11 | Chris Brunt (Sheffield Wed) David Connolly (RK Sunderland) Freddy Eastwood (Southend) Iain Hume (Leicester) |
10 | Andy Gray (Burnley) Barry Hayles (Plymouth) 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 |
27h Jan | 3 - Michael Chopra - CARDIFF v Leicester |
17th Feb | 3 - Andrew Surman - SOUTHAMPTON v Barnsley |
Disciplinary Record (all games) | |||||
| Club | Y | R | Club | Y | R |
| Barnsley | 70 | 5 | Luton | 54 | 6 |
| Birmingham | 60 | 6 | Norwich | 64 | 4 |
| Burnley | 65 | 7 | Plymouth | 79 | 4 |
| Cardiff | 55 | 8 | Preston | 62 | 4 |
| Colchester | 40 | 1 | QPR | 76 | 1 |
| Coventry | 72 | 1 | Sheffield Wed | 70 | 5 |
| Crystal Palace | 42 | 1 | Southampton | 50 | 1 |
| Derby | 82 | 3 | Southend | 62 | 4 |
| Hull | 75 | 3 | Stoke | 69 | 3 |
| Ipswich | 95 | 7 | RK Sunderland | 53 | 4 |
| Leeds | 83 | 3 | West Brom | 88 | 7 |
| Leicester | 69 | 3 | Wolves | 55 | 5 |
The Weekend Fixtures | |
Friday 16th March | |
Southampton v Colchester | . |
Saturday 17th March | |
Coventry v Barnsley | Plymouth v Crystal Palace |
Derby v Cardiff | Preston v Burnley |
Leicester v QPR | Sheffield Wed v Wolves |
Luton v Ipswich | Southend v Leeds |
Norwich v Stoke | RK Sunderland v Hull |
Sunday 18th March | |
West Brom v Birmingham | . |
