|
In the Championship – Sunderland go up
You need some luck to win things and there’s no doubt Sunderland got some on Saturday. Already trailing 1-0 to an Alan Maybury goal they conceded a second to David Connolly. Somehow Chester referee Michael Jones saw an infringement that no one else saw and disallowed it.
It was all Sunderland needed and by half time leading scorer Marcus Stewart had equalised and it was left to their former Newcastle defender Stephen Caldwell to head home the winner in the second half.
Then came the wait for the news from Elland Road where Shefki Kuqi had given Ipswich an early lead that was cancelled out within a minute when Matthew Spring scored his first Leeds goal.
It ended that way and Sunderland were able to celebrate. Back at Leeds, Long Ball Joe was asked about Sunderland and he very graciously said, “The deserve it, they are the best team in the league and I’d like to send my congratulations to Mick (McCarthy).” Well done Joe.
The draw keeps Ipswich two points behind second place Wigan who surprisingly were unable to see off QPR at the Concrete Jungle. Brett Ormerod was still preferred to the league’s leading scorer Nathan Ellington but they fired blanks all afternoon and had to settle for a point in a 0-0 draw.
They still look favourites to claim second place but do have two tougher fixtures than Ipswich. They go to Preston and then host Reading whilst Ipswich have a home game against Crewe before going to Brighton.
I wonder if they will lose to Crewe, someone must surely before the end of the season. They are still looking for their first win since New Year’s Day and lost 2-0 at home to Stoke on Saturday.
|
That win against Leeds on the first day of the year had taken them to eighth in the table but a slide is guaranteed when you pick up just eight points from eighteen games.
Brighton edged that bit closer to them when they earned themselves a point against West Ham with a stoppage time goal from Dean Hammond at the Withdean. It was his second of the game and Brighton’s second equaliser.
Nigel Reo-Coker had given the Hammers an early lead and they were back in front within a minute of Hammond’s first goal though Marlon Harewood.
Brighton and Crewe now sit just four points ahead of Forest who beat the Clarets and between one and three points behind five other clubs.
Brighton and Crewe now sit just four points ahead of Forest who beat the Clarets and between one and three points behind five other clubs.
A run of nine games without defeat came to an end for Gillingham when they were beaten 2-0 at play off chasing Derby. It wasn’t a bad performance from the Gills though who created but missed some gilt-edged chances according to their manager. “We’ll have to take it on the chin,” he said after the game.
A Stern John goal right on half time looked all set to give Coventry the three points at Plymouth but the home side got themselves an equaliser in stoppage time through Tony Capaldi.
The win would have just about seen Coventry safe, taking them four points clear of Brighton and Crewe but whilst they missed out Cardiff gave themselves a massive boost with a 2-0 home win over weary Reading.
It’s certainly been all change for the Berkshire side who were top when we played them in October but who have been a bottom half of the table side since Christmas. They had no answer to Cardiff who won it with goals from Peter Thorne and Cameron Jerome.
|
Watford are still looking over their shoulders and could still find themselves in the bottom three by the end of the season. Probably Boothroyd will still be looking up and won’t notice them all catching him up.
Wolves beat Rotherham in what was a nothing match at Molineux with Kenny Miller getting both goals in the 2-0 victory. They don’t win that often don’t Wolves but they certainly don’t lose very often and have been beaten only once, against Wigan, in 22 games since Glenn Hoddle took charge.
That leaves us with yesterday’s match at Millwall that lost all its appeal when the game was held up for over seven minutes after the home keeper Andy Marshall was injured in an accidental clash with Chris Sedgwick.
It was a disturbing sight seeing Marshall being given oxygen out on the pitch but there was some better news when Marshall regained consciousness in hospital.
You would have thought Millwall might have behaved themselves after that but resident thug Kevin Muscat decided to take some retribution and it is hard to believe how he stopped on after a terrible challenge on Sedgwick.
Later in the game, Dennis Wise, on as a substitute decided to inject his own brand of football and won at least two free kicks after conning the referee with dives.
It really did all leave a sour taste in the mouth as Preston lost for only the second time this year. They were a goal down when Marshall was injured but equalised through an excellent Dave Nugent goal before Barry Hayles hit a second half winner.
We are coming towards the end now and this week sees the last home games for half of the clubs in the league before the last fixtures a week later. The week’s fixtures are shown below.
The Weekend Results | |
Saturday 23rd April | |
Brighton 2 West Ham 2 | Plymouth 1 Coventry 1 |
Cardiff 2 Reading 0 | Sunderland 2 Leicester 1 |
Crewe 0 Stoke 2 | Watford 0 Sheffield Utd 0 |
Derby 2 Gillingham 0 | Wigan 0 QPR 0 |
Leeds 1 Ipswich 1 | Wolves 2 Rotherham 0 |
Nott'm Forest 1 Burnley 0 | . |
Sunday 24th April | |
Millwall 2 Preston 1 | . |
The Weekend Stats | |
Biggest win | Cardiff 2-0 v Reading (home) |
Total goals scored | 23 |
Player scoring most goals | Dean Hammond (Brighton) |
Highest Attendance | 34,815 - Sunderland v Leicester |
Lowest Attendance | 6,8189 - Brighton v West Ham |
Total Yellow Cards | 22 |
Total Red Cards | 0 |
Most cards in a game | Sunderland v Leicester (6Y) |
The leading scorers (league only) | |
23 | Nathan Ellington (Wigan) |
20 | Darren Bent (Ipswich) Jason Roberts (Wigan) Teddy Sheringham (West Ham) |
19 | Dave Kitson (Reading) Kenny Miller (Wolves) |
18 | Dean Ashton (Crewe) - now with Norwich Paul Furlong (QPR) |
17 | Shefki Kuqi (Ipswich) |
16 | Richard Cresswell (Preston) Grzegorz Rasiak (Derby) Marcus Stewart (Sunderland) |
15 | Carl Cort (Wolves) Marlon Harewood (West Ham) Danny Webber (Sheffield Utd) - 12 for Watford |
14 | Stephen Elliott (Sunderland) Andy Gray (Sheffield Utd) Heidar Helguson (Watford) |
13 | Gifton Noel-Williams (Stoke) |
12 | Barry Hayles (Millwall) David Healy (Leeds) - 5 for Preston Lee McCulloch (Wigan) Peter Thorne (Cardiff) Paul Wotton (Plymouth) |
11 | Ade Akinbiyi (Burnley) - 7 for Stoke David Connolly (Leicester) Tommy Miller (Ipswich) |
The Week's Fixtures | |
Tuesday 26th April | |
Leicester v Derby | . |
Friday 29th April | |
West Ham v Sunderland | . |
Saturday 30th April | |
Burnley v Plymouth | QPR v Nott'm Forest |
Coventry v Derby | Reading v Wolves |
Gillingham v Cardiff | Rotherham v Brighton |
Ipswich v Crewe | Sheffield Utd v Millwall |
Preston v Wigan | Stoke v Watford |
Sunday 1st May | |
Leicester v Leeds | . |