Leicester paddle to win at Portsmouth and Brighton win

Last updated : 04 November 2002 By Tony Scholes

Action from the farce between Portsmouth and Leicester
The two managers disagreed but for once I have to agree with the beaten manager Redknapp in his belief that the game should not have gone ahead. There was so much surface water in places that it made it impossible to kick the ball and surely only a complete fool would have given the game ahead.

The problem was Andy Hall was the referee and so the decision was left to a fool. Having said that the pitch was in far better condition than the one this referee allowed us to play Macclesfield on four years ago. That pitch was virtually a lake but we still had to play.

At the bottom Brighton finally won a game and it should have come as no surprise that the opposition were Bradford City. It was the West Yorkshire club who managed to concede six points to the Unprofessionals last season and they have continued their run of losing to the bottom club. It also means we are no longer the only side to lose to them.

Clubs who have had managerial changes this week didn’t do to well. Joe Royle saw his Ipswich side go down in a Sunday game at home to Palace whilst Tony Pulis saw Stoke lose 4-2 at Walsall. Andy Cooke came on as a sub in this game and scored two late goals for Stoke to reduce the arrears.

Sheffield Wednesday went down at home again under caretaker boss Bill Green. The 3-1 defeat to Derby included two goals from former Sheffield United player Lee Morris, son of ex-Claret Colin.

Watford’s point at home to Wolves was enough to see them go third with Norwich going down 4-2 at Franchise but overall it is still the same teams in the top six.

Joe Royle and Willie Donachie look on as Ipswich lose at home again, this time to Crystal Palace
A win at Deepdale would have seen us in 9th place but we are now down to 14th and the goals against column should be given cause for serious concern. Only Grimsby have conceded more goals than the Clarets currently and the top two clubs have conceded less between them.

Elsewhere Rotherham’s drop down the league continues after another defeat at Coventry. Having taken the lead through Nick Daws they were finally beaten with Daws himself getting the winner with an own goal.

Forest got three in nine minutes at home to Sheffield United with no sign of David Johnson finding the net, in fact Johnno was substituted on Saturday after a second poor performance in a week. He must be giving everyone else a chance to be leading scorer.

Performance of the week though has to be Brighton, their first points in thirteen games. It still leaves them five points adrift at the bottom though.

This week’s fixtures
(kick off 3:00 p.m. unless otherwise shown)

Wednesday 6th November

Wolverhampton Wanderers v Portsmouth (7:45 p.m.)

Saturday 9th November

Bradford City v Franchise
Burnley v Coventry City
Crystal Palace v Nottingham Forest
Derby County v Portsmouth
Gillingham v Reading
Leicester City v Walsall
Millwall v Preston North End
Norwich City v Sheffield Wednesday
Rotherham United v Watford
Sheffield United v Ipswich Town
Stoke City v Grimsby Town

Leading Goalscorers (League only)

14: David Johnson (Nottm. Forest)
10: Alan Lee (Rotherham)
9: Nathan Blake (Wolves)
8: Darren Byfield (Rotherham)
8: Andy Johnson (Crystal Palace)
8: Paul McVeigh (Norwich)
8: Neil Shipperley (Franchise)
7: Carl Asaba (Sheffield United)
7: Richard Cresswell (Preston)
7: Brian Deane (Leicester)
7: Steve Kabba (Grimsby including 1 for Crystal Palace)
6: Darren Ambrose (Ipswich)
6: Malcolm Christie (Derby)
6: Andy Cooke (Stoke City)
6: Jamie Cureton (Reading)
6: Paul Dickov (Leicester)
6: Ricardo Fuller (Preston)
6: Jorge Leitao (Walsall)
6: David Nielson (Norwich)
6: Svetoslav Todorov (Portsmouth)
5: Robbie Blake (Burnley)
5: Jay Bothroyd (Coventry)
5: David Connolly (Franchise)
5: Pablo Counago (Ipswich)
5: Nicky Forster (Reading)
5: Dougie Freedman (Crystal Palace)
5: Andy Gray (Bradford)
5: Heidar Helguson (Watford)
5: Andy Hughes (Reading)
5: Paul Merson (Portsmouth)
5: Vincent Pericard (Portsmouth)
5: Gareth Taylor (Burnley)
5: Michael Tonge (Sheffield United)