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In the Championship – The strangest of weekends
Up at the top of the league it meant that Reading, looking for a win at Leicester, were able to clinch promotion without winning. They were behind for more than half the game after Iain Hume had given the home side the lead, but a late equaliser from Kevin Doyle was enough to ensure Premiership football at the Madejski next season.
Well done to Reading, once in front they never let up and have without any doubt been the best side in the Championship this season, but I'm sure when the Premiership was conceived the big clubs never considered that the likes of Blackburn, Fulham, Wigan and Reading would be in there with big benefactors helping them along the way.
Sheffield United have been slipping recently but for once everything went their way as they picked up three comfortable points against Southampton at Bramall Lane. Again Neil Warnock opted for his tried and trusted squad which meant none of the recent signings got into the starting line up.
It worked, and two goals in the last three minutes of the first half set them on the way to their biggest win since they beat us at the beginning of December. Warnock has been hitting the panic button recently so he must have been relieved to get these points and then quickly find out that Leeds and Watford had only picked up one point between them.
Leeds scraped a point from a 0-0 draw against Stoke whilst Watford must have ruined the fixed odds for many a punter this weekend by losing at home to Millwall. They should have gone in front but Gavin Mahon missed from the penalty spot during a goalless first half.
Colin Cameron set up Carl Asaba just past the hour and he just had to roll the ball into an empty net for his first goal since September. Watford fought back but Ben May wrapped up the points for the London club with a second on the break in stoppage time.
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I'm sure we could have predicted with some certainty that Brighton would go in front with a Gifton Noel-Williams goal and that's exactly what did happen on a Withdean Stadium pitch that must have come close to seeing the game called off. Visitors Luton fought back on the mud bath and got themselves a point with a Steve Robinson equaliser.
Crewe were at home to form team Coventry but that didn't bother them and they run out easy 4-1 winners. They were in front after just four minutes through Billy Jones, Madjid Bougherra added a second and although Stern John pulled one back for Coventry it was 3-1 with just 24 minutes gone when Luke Rodgers scored.
A somewhat fortuitous Gareth Taylor goal in the second half completed the scoring although Dario G's boys remain bottom, a point behind Brighton.
Just outside the bottom three are Sheffield Wednesday and they had a tough trip to Molineux. They came away with all three points with Deon Burton scoring for the third consecutive game and Marcus Tudgay netted twice.
Glenn Hoddle's side would have gone into the top six and the play off places with a win and he kept his side locked in the dressing room for over half an hour after the game after this disappointing performance.
Their chance to climb the table came because Preston failed to beat Plymouth at Deepdale on a day when the Midget in the Suit was constantly bemoaning that his side needed a break. Latest signing Marcus Stewart started up front with Brett Ormerod but the manager claims they need a goal off someone's backside to give them some good luck.
Crystal Palace are just above Preston and they didn't have a very good day either. They did go in front at Derby through Clinton Morrison but two goals from Inigo Idiakez gave the home side all three points. The winner came in stoppage time when Idiakez had a penalty saved but hit home the rebound.
That leaves just two more draws to report. There were no goals in the Cardiff v QPR game but at Portman Road, Ipswich led against Hull through Darren Currie but Leon Cort equalised for the visitors to give them a point.
It was the strangest of all weeks where all but one of the winners came from teams in the bottom seven of the table, but a week when something we expected actually happened – Reading were promoted. We'll miss our trip to the Berkshire Library next season.
The Weekend Results | |
Friday 24th March | |
Burnley 2 Norwich 0 | . |
Saturday 25th March | |
Brighton 1 Luton 1 | Leicester 1 Reading 1 |
Cardiff 0 QPR 0 | Preston 0 Plymouth 0 |
Crewe 4 Coventry 1 | Sheffield Utd 3 Southampton 0 |
Derby 2 Crystal Palace 1 | Watford 0 Millwall 2 |
Ipswich 1 Hull 1 | Wolves 1 Sheffield Wed 3 |
Leeds 0 Stoke 0 | . |
The Weekend Stats | |
Biggest win | Crewe 4-1 v Coventry (home) |
Total goals scored | 26 |
Player scoring most goals | Inigo Idiakez (Derby) |
Highest Attendance | 25,578 - Leicester v Reading |
Lowest Attendance | 6,444 - Crewe v Coventry |
Total Yellow Cards | 28 |
Total Red Cards | 0 |
Most cards in a game | Watford v Millwall (5Y) |
The leading scorers (league only) | |
18 | Marlon King (Watford) |
16 | Cameron Jerome (Cardiff) |
15 | Ade Akinbiyi (Sheffield Utd) - 12 with Burnley Kevin Doyle (Reading) Dave Kitson (Reading) |
13 | Steve Howard (Luton) Gary McSheffrey (Coventry) |
12 | Darius Henderson (Watford) Andy Johnson (Crystal Palace) Clinton Morrison (Crystal Palace) Ashley Young (Watford) |
11 | Robbie Blake (Leeds) Carl Cort (Wolves) Rob Hulse (Leeds) Inigo Idiakez (Derby) Jason Koumas (Cardiff) Leroy Lita (Reading) |
10 | Dele Adebola (Coventry) Dean Ashton (Norwich) Paul Gallagher (Stoke) David Healy (Leeds) Dave Nugent (Preston) Neil Shipperley (Sheffield Utd) |
9 | Steven Kabba (Sheffield Utd) Kenny Miller (Wolves) Steve Sidwell (Reading) |
8 | Sammy Bangoura (Stoke) Joey Gudjonsson (Leicester) Iain Hume (Leicester) Paul Ifill (Sheffield Utd) Phil Jagielka (Sheffield Utd) Ben May (Millwall) Matthew Spring (Watford) Rowan Vine (Luton) Danny Webber (Sheffield Utd) Paul Wotton (Plymouth) |
Disciplinary Record (all games) | |||||
| Club | Y | R | Club | Y | R |
| Brighton | 70 | 4 | Millwall | 90 | 14 |
| Burnley | 69 | 5 | Norwich | 64 | 2 |
| Cardiff | 67 | 2 | Plymouth | 56 | 1 |
| Coventry | 85 | 4 | Preston | 73 | 2 |
| Crewe | 31 | 2 | QPR | 72 | 7 |
| Crystal Palace | 76 | 3 | Reading | 44 | 0 |
| Derby | 61 | 5 | Sheffield Utd | 58 | 2 |
| Hull | 49 | 3 | Sheffield Wed | 49 | 1 |
| Ipswich | 54 | 6 | Southampton | 59 | 4 |
| Leeds | 68 | 2 | Stoke | 69 | 7 |
| Leicester | 73 | 5 | Watford | 56 | 5 |
| Luton | 50 | 5 | Wolves | 55 | 1 |
The Week's Fixtures | |
Tuesday 28th March | |
Burnley v Southampton | Preston v Crewe |
Wednesday 29th March | |
QPR v Stoke | . |
Saturday 1st April | |
Coventry v Preston | Plymouth v Wolves |
Crystal Palace v Watford | QPR v Crewe |
Hull v Leeds | Reading v Derby |
Luton v Ipswich | Sheffield Wed v Burnley |
Millwall v Brighton | Southampton v Cardiff |
Norwich v Leicester | Stoke v Sheffield Utd |