Doncaster really looked as though they were going to upset the home team applecart at Leeds who were playing in front of new manager Neil Warnock. Donny led 2-0 with a brace from Mamadou Bagayoko before Leeds produced one of those comebacks they usually reserve for us.
The first goal came within a minute of Doncaster's second and then they equalised with ten minutes to go. The winner came in the ninth minute of stoppage time to ensure that all games ended in home wins.
Two of those home wins switched things round at the bottom of the league. On Friday, just before I left home for the trip to Reading, the news came through that Portsmouth had gone into administration.
The Pompey Chimes really should be changed to 'Pay Up Pompey', something they continually fail to do. The inevitable ten point deduction took them to the brink of the bottom three, hovering above only on goal difference.
They are there now though. Once they'd lost at Barnsley it was just a matter of who went above them with Nottingham Forest playing Coventry City. It was Forest who won to go three points clear of the drop zone and I'm sure even Steve Cotterill's fiercest critics would prefer to see Pompey sink rather than Forest get chopped down.
Our defeat has seen us drop to 11th but the three points have taken Reading into third place, a point above Cardiff who were beaten at Ipswich. It doesn't seem so long since Ipswich were doing nothing but lose. That's four successive wins now with twelve goals in those games.
One of Saturday's goals came from Michael Chopra. He didn't follow the modern pattern of not celebrating a goal against a former club. Maybe he felt he should have done because he's since apologised. Maybe he had a bet on scoring and celebrating.
The other two goals came from Lee Martin and that was a popular name on Saturday. Chris Martin also scored twice, getting his in Crystal Palace's 4-0 win against Watford, and Aaron Martin scored for Southampton as they too won 4-0, their win coming at home to Derby County.
Peterborough won the other game against Bristol City, and that's one point in fifteen for Derek McInnes' team who are still very much in a relegation battle. The inspired run just after he took over is now a distant memory.
This week we have some midweek games before the weekend games. Now we've started losing away from home maybe we can keep up the recent better run at home which has seen us go unbeaten in five games.
The results, the stats, the league's leading scorers, each club's disciplinary record, the highest and lowest attendances are all below with this week's fixtures.
The Week's Results | |
Friday 17th February | |
Reading 1 Burnley 0 | |
Saturday 18th February | |
Barnsley 2 Portsmouth 0 | Nottingham Forest 2 Coventry City 0 |
Crystal Palace 4 Watford 0 | Peterborough United 3 Bristol City 0 |
Ipswich Town 3 Cardiff City 0 | Southampton 4 Derby County 0 |
Leeds United 3 Doncaster Rovers 2 |
The Week's Stats | |
Biggest Win | Crystal Palace 4-0 v Watford (home) Southampton 4-0 v Derby County (home) |
Total Goals Scored | 24 (22 home - 2 away) |
Player Scoring Most Goals 2 |
Mamadou Bagayoko (Doncaster Rovers) Chris Martin (Crystal Palace) Lee Martin (Ipswich Town) Lee Tomlin (Peterborough United) |
Highest Attendance | 24,536 - Southampton v Derby County |
Lowest Attendance | 7,004 - Peterborough United v Bristol City |
Total Yellow Cards | 27 |
Total Red Cards | 1 |
Most Cards in a Game | Reading v Burnley (8Y) Ref: Darren Deadman |
Leading Goalscorers (League Only) | |
16 | Rickie Lambert (Southampton) - includes 6 penalties |
15 | Ross McCormack (Leeds United) |
12 | Michael Chopra (Ipswich Town) Darius Henderson (Millwall) - includes 2 penalties David Nugent (Leicester City) Jay Rodriguez (Burnley) - includes 1 penalty |
11 |
Billy Sharp (Southampton) - includes 1 penalty - (10 with Doncaster Rovers) |
10 | Charlie Austin (Burnley) Guly Do Prado (Southampton) Matty Fryatt (Hull City) - includes 1 penalty Lukas Jutkiewicz (Middllesbrough) - includes 1 penalty - (9 with Coventry City) Ricardo Vaz Te (West Ham United) - (10 with Barnsley) Chris Wood (Bristol City) - (9 with Birmingham City) |
9 | Keith Andrews (Ipswich Town) Carlton Cole (West Ham United) Craig Davies (Barnsley) - includes 1 penalty Marlon King (Birmingham City) - includes 2 penalties Robert Koren (Hull City) Scott McDonald (Middlesbrough) Kenny Miller (Cardiff City) Kevin Phillips (Blackpool) Pete Whittingham (Cardiff City) - includes 3 penalties |
Hat Tricks | |
Date | Player & Game |
20/08/11 | 3: Lee Tomlin - PETERBOROUGH UNITED v Ipswich Town |
10/09/11 | 3: Rickie Lambert - SOUTHAMPTON v Nottingham Forest |
11/09/11 | 3: Chris Wood - BIRMINGHAM CITY v Millwall |
12/10/11 | 3: Darius Henderson - Leicester City v MILLWALL |
02/11/11 | 3: Jonjo Shelvey - Leeds United v BLACKPOOL |
19/11/11 | 3: Rickie Lambert - SOUTHAMPTON v Brighton & Hove Albion |
26/12/11 | 3: Matthew Phillips - Barnsley v BLACKPOOL |
31/12/11 | 3: Ricardo Vaz Te - BARNSLEY v Leeds United |
21/01/12 | 3: Darius Henderson - Barnsley v MILLWALL |
31/01/12 | 4: Nikola Zigic - Leeds United v BIRMINGHAM CITY |
Disciplinary Record (League and Cup) | |||||||||
Club | Y | R | Y | R | Club | Y | R | Y | R |
League | Total | League | Total | ||||||
Barnsley | 41 | 1 | 44 | 1 | Ipswich Town | 39 | 4 | 40 | 4 |
Birmingham City | 40 | 1 | 44 | 1 | Leeds United | 51 | 5 | 57 | 5 |
Blackpool | 39 | 1 | 42 | 2 | Leicester City | 45 | 7 | 53 | 7 |
Brighton and Hove Albion | 72 | 6 | 86 | 6 | Middlesbrough | 49 | 5 | 52 | 5 |
Bristol City | 55 | 4 | 57 | 4 | Millwall | 53 | 2 | 60 | 2 |
Burnley | 47 | 2 | 55 | 2 | Nottingham Forest | 41 | 3 | 46 | 3 |
Cardiff City | 38 | 0 | 52 | 0 | Peterborough United | 35 | 2 | 38 | 2 |
Coventry City | 39 | 2 | 41 | 2 | Portsmouth | 52 | 4 | 59 | 4 |
Crystal Palace | 41 | 1 | 45 | 2 | Reading | 46 | 0 | 49 | 0 |
Derby County | 43 | 1 | 43 | 1 | Southampton | 40 | 4 | 43 | 4 |
Doncaster Rovers | 47 | 2 | 49 | 2 | Watford | 45 | 2 | 47 | 2 |
Hull City | 48 | 1 | 52 | 1 | West Ham United | 49 | 5 | 52 | 6 |
Highest and Lowest Attendances | |||
Highest | Lowest | ||
Att | Fixture | Att | Fixture |
34,936 | West Ham United v Coventry City (02/01) | 6,351 | Peterborough United v Cardiff City (18/10) |
34,749 | West Ham United v Barnsley (17/12) | 7,004 | Peterborough United v Bristol City (18/02) |
33,465 | West Ham United v Portsmouth (10/09) | 7,555 | Peterborough United v Portsmouth (28/01) |
33,010 | Derby County v Southampton (15/10) | 7,650 | Doncaster Rovers v Watford (26/11) |
33,010 | Derby County v Leeds United (26/12) | 7,778 | Doncaster Rovers v Bristol City (27/08) |
32,875 | West Ham United v Southampton (14/02) | 7,901 | Peterborough United v Burnley (17/09) |
32,150 | Southampton v West Ham United (18/10) | 7,928 | Peterborough United v Ipswich Town (20/08) |
31,812 | Southampton v Brighton & Hove Albion (19/11) | 8,062 | Peterborough United v Coventry City (17/12) |
31,718 | West Ham United v Nottingham Forest (21/01) | 8,319 | Doncaster Rovers v Blackpool (14/02) |
31,524 | Southampton v Crystal Palace (26/12) | 8,320 | Peterborough United v Barnsley (03/12) |
The Next Fixtures | |
Tuesday 21st February | |
Barnsley v Birmingham City | Millwall v Middlesbrough |
Blackpool v West Ham United (20:00) | |
Wednesday 22nd February | |
Hull City v Brighton & Hove Albion | |
Thursday 23rd February | |
Derby County v Leicester City | |
Saturday 25th February | |
Birmingham City v Nottingham Forest | Doncaster Rovers v Peterborough United |
Brighton & Hove Albion v Ipswich Town | Middlesbrough v Reading |
Bristol City v Blackpool | Portsmouth v Leeds United |
Burnley v Millwall | Watford v Southampton |
Coventry City v Barnsley | West Ham United v Crystal Palace (12:45) |