|
In the Championship - We've done Little Billy a favour
Big Dave (Darren Moore) pulled Iain Hume's shirt, grabbed him by the throat and then jumped all over him but incredibly Premiership referee Webb played on and just a few seconds later Craig Fagan had given Derby the lead at the other end. They probably should have gone on and won it but there was perhaps some justice in Hume's second half equaliser.
With the Clarets ensuring Birmingham didn't get the three points to take them to the top, it meant RK Sunderland climbed above them with a home win over Wolves. It was hardly a welcome return for former Mackems' boss Mick McCarthy who got the glares from Roy Keane on the touchline and then saw his side fall behind to a goal scored by Darryl Murphy, a player he himself had taken to Wearside.
The game attracted the biggest Championship crowd of the season and the play justified top billing with a late Wolves rally coming close to giving them an equaliser, but they were not the only one of the play off contenders to fall to defeat and for Preston it has been a week they will want to forget.
They've made a habit of losing to the bottom clubs. Last Saturday they were beaten at Leeds, they went down to QPR in midweek but were probably more hopeful with a return to London to take on Crystal Palace.
No chance, they were two behind after just twenty minutes and went on to lose the game 3-0 with Shefki Kuqi scoring twice. They conceded two goals to free headers from set pieces and manager Paul Simpson described it as the worst week of the season and suggested his players hadn't worked hard enough and hadn't done their jobs.
Preston were the only one of twelve teams playing away from home to fail to score, and over the two days there were no fewer than seven away victories. One of those was at West Brom and following this defeat to Stoke it leaves their automatic promotion hopes fading away very quickly. Until recently they had the best home record in the division but this latest defeat was their third reverse in four home games.
Again, as in their win last week against Leicester, Ricardo Fuller was the inspiration behind the victory that has kept Stoke in with a chance of a play off place themselves. When he behaves himself and plays like this he's a real asset, but with the Devout Diver the other side of him is never far away.
|
Currently the favourites to go down with them are Southend and Barnsley who both suffered heavy defeats. Southend's Good Friday local derby against Colchester was an awful game but it was Colchester who took the points with what in the end was an easy win courtesy of Jamie Cureton's second hat trick of the season.
Barnsley were hit for five at Ipswich but three of the goals came late after Barnsley pushed for an equaliser. That's five defeats in six now for the Tykes and they are beginning to look a side in trouble, particularly with Leeds extending their unbeaten run to five games.
The Elland Road club are certainly looking as though they are going to get out of trouble at the eleventh hour. A late goal earned them a draw at Southend and in the two games since goals at the death have brought them wins against Preston, and now Plymouth.
They were behind to Plymouth but David Healy equalised for them before Lubomir Michalik got the late winner although there was some doubt as to whether it crossed the line. Having blasted his players at Burnley on Tuesday, Ian Holloway claimed pride had been restored after this performance although they lost two goals to balls hit into their own box from free kicks. "I still can't believe that we've lost, but that's life," said Holloway.
Hull were another relegation threatened side to lose, and this one was perhaps something of a surprise with them expected to beat Norwich at home. In truth they were never in it after Darren Huckerby had given the visitors the lead and it was Huckerby who created the second goal for Dickson Etuhu and then found the net himself again only for it to be ruled out for offside.
All Hull had in reply was a late consolation goal from full back Andy Dawson and that meant they dropped a place in the table with QPR winning at Coventry with a goal from Jimmy Smith. Is Iain Dowie's honeymoon over at the Ricoh? That's successive defeats and they now face a trip to leaders Derby.
Finally our next opponents Cardiff were beaten by a Sheffield Wednesday side who have now extended their unbeaten run to eight games. Cardiff had Simon Walton sent off for the third time this season for a poor challenge on Wednesday's Peter Gilbert.
Dave Jones wasn't happy with the decision by referee Mick Russell, but frankly he doesn't appear to have any grounds for an appeal. If there is no appeal then Walton faces a five match ban, and Cardiff have just five league fixtures remaining. So, unless they make the play offs that's the season over for Walton.
We're all back in action later today for the Easter Monday fixtures, and they are shown below along with next weekend's games.
The Weekend Results | |
Friday 6th April | |
Hull 1 Norwich 2 | Southend 0 Colchester 3 |
Leicester 1 Derby 1 | . |
Saturday 7th April | |
Birmingham 0 Burnley 1 | Leeds 2 Plymouth 1 |
Cardiff 1 Sheffield Wed 2 | Luton 0 Southampton 2 |
Coventry 0 QPR 1 | RK Sunderland 2 Wolves 1 |
Crystal Palace 3 Preston 0 | West Brom 1 Stoke 3 |
Ipswich 5 Barnsley 1 | . |
The Weekend Stats | |
Biggest win | Ipswich 5-1 v Barnsley (home) |
Total goals scored | 34 |
Player scoring most goals | 3 - Jamie Cureton (Colchester) |
Highest Attendance | 40,748 - RK Sunderland v Wolves |
Lowest Attendance | 9,171 - Luton v Southampton |
Total Yellow Cards | 48 |
Total Red Cards | 1 |
Most cards in a game | Ipswich v Barnsley (7Y) |
The leading scorers (league only) | |
21 | Michael Chopra (Cardiff) |
20 | Jamie Cureton (Colchester) |
19 | Diomansy Kamara (West Brom) |
18 | Grzegorz Rasiak (Southampton) |
17 | Robert Earnshaw (Norwich) |
16 | Steve Howard (Derby) Chris Iwelumo (Colchester) |
15 | Alan Lee (Ipswich) |
14 | Gary McSheffrey (Birmingham) David Nugent (Preston) |
13 | Kevin Phillips (West Brom) Rowan Vine (Birmingham) - 12 with Luton |
12 | Iain Hume (Leicester) Kenwyne Jones (Southampton) |
11 | Chris Brunt (Sheffield Wed) David Connolly (RK Sunderland) Freddy Eastwood (Southend) Clinton Morrison (Crystal Palace) |
10 | Dexter Blackstock (QPR) Deon Burton (Sheffield Wed) Andy Gray (Burnley) Barry Hayles (Plymouth) David Healy (Leeds) Steven MacLean (Sheffield Wed) Marcus Tudgay (Sheffield Wed) |
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 | 78 | 5 | Luton | 59 | 6 |
| Birmingham | 63 | 7 | Norwich | 69 | 4 |
| Burnley | 71 | 7 | Plymouth | 84 | 5 |
| Cardiff | 59 | 9 | Preston | 68 | 4 |
| Colchester | 41 | 1 | QPR | 88 | 1 |
| Coventry | 76 | 1 | Sheffield Wed | 76 | 6 |
| Crystal Palace | 45 | 1 | Southampton | 53 | 1 |
| Derby | 89 | 3 | Southend | 68 | 4 |
| Hull | 77 | 3 | Stoke | 75 | 4 |
| Ipswich | 98 | 7 | RK Sunderland | 57 | 4 |
| Leeds | 87 | 3 | West Brom | 92 | 7 |
| Leicester | 78 | 3 | Wolves | 59 | 5 |
The Week's Fixtures | |
Monday 9th April | |
Barnsley v Birmingham | Preston v Southend |
Burnley v Cardiff | QPR v Luton |
Colchester v Leeds | Sheffield Wed v Ipswich |
Derby v Coventry | Southampton v RK Sunderland |
Norwich v West Brom | Stoke v Crystal Palace |
Plymouth v Leicester | Wolves v Hull |
Friday 13th April | |
West Brom v Sheffield Wed | . |
Saturday 14th April | |
Birmingham v Southampton | Leeds v Burnley |
Cardiff v Stoke | Leicester v Norwich |
Coventry v Preston | Luton v Plymouth |
Crystal Palace v Wolves | Southend v Barnsley |
Hull v Colchester | RK Sunderland v QPR |
Ipswich v Derby | . |