Saints and Royals stretch lead

Last updated : 26 March 2012 By Tony Scholes

Two Bill Sharp goals were enough for Southampton against his former club, and far from keeping with the modern tradition of not over celebrating goals against previous clubs he went so over the top after the second that he earned himself a yellow card. Some footballers really do have short memories.

At the Madejski, normal service was resumed after Reading's brilliant run came to an end in midweek at Peterborough. They cruised past Blackpool whose performance certainly didn't impress Ian Holloway as they dropped out of the top six.

That top six now includes West Ham, Brighton, Middlesbrough and Birmingham but things could change this week if West Ham can get back to winning rather than drawing. The game at the Turf on Saturday was their fifth successive draw but two wins this week, at Peterborough and at home against Reading in the game of the on Saturday, will see them back in an automatic place.

I've written Coventry off on a number of occasions this season, but they are still in there with a reasonable chance of avoiding the drop. Saturday was a vital game for them and one they won, beating Portsmouth who are now very much bottom of the league with 30 points.

Doncaster have one point more but there's then a further four points to Coventry's 35 and they are now only a point behind Bristol City who have won just once in twelve games and only Pompey can match their recent run of poor results.

All clubs now have either seven or eight games remaining and so there are not going to be too many changes at top and bottom. Surely Southampton have pulled too far away now and I can't see them missing out on promotion and neither can I see their rivals Portsmouth or Doncaster staying up.

I still have a hunch that West Ham will make it, and at least that would mean we wouldn't have to put up with Sam Allardyce next season, whilst down at the bottom I'll stick with Coventry for that third relegation place, but even at this late stage in the season it is very likely that I've still got things horribly wrong.

The weekend results are below along with the stats, the leading goalscorers, each club's disciplinary record, the highest and lowest attendances and the week's fixtures.

The Week's Results
Saturday 24th March
Barnsley 1 Peterborough United 0 Millwall 0 Leeds United 1
Burnley 2 West Ham United 2 Nottingham Forest 1 Brighton & Hove Albion 1
Coventry City 2 Portsmouth 0 Reading 3 Blackpool 1
Derby County 3 Crystal Palace 2 Southampton 2 Doncaster Rovers 0
Leicester City 2 Hull City 1 Watford 2 Ipswich Town 1
Middlesbrough 1 Bristol City 1  
Sunday 25th March
Birmingham City 1 Cardiff City 1  

 

The Week's Stats
Biggest Win Coventry City 2-0 v Portsmouth (home)
Reading 3-1 v Blackpool (home)
Southampton 2-0 v Doncaster Rovers (home)
Total Goals Scored 31 (20 home - 11 away)

Player Scoring Most Goals

2 - Billy Sharp (Southampton)
Highest Attendance 30,209 - Southampton v Doncaster Rovers
Lowest Attendance 9,698 - Barnsley v Peterborough United
Total Yellow Cards 32
Total Red Cards 4
Most Cards in a Game Barnsley v Peterborough United (6Y 1R) Ref: Andy Haines

 

Leading Goalscorers (League Only)
24 Rickie Lambert (Southampton) - includes 9 penalties
16 Ross McCormack (Leeds United)
15 Darius Henderson (Millwall) - includes 2 penalties
Kevin Phillips (Blackpool)
Jay Rodriguez (Burnley) - includes 3 penalties
14

Michael Chopra (Ipswich Town)
David Nugent (Leicester City)

13

Billy Sharp (Southampton) - includes 1 penalty (10 with Doncaster Rovers)
Robert Snodgrass (Leeds United) - includes 2 penalties

12

Matty Fryatt (Hull City) - includes 1 penalty
Marlon King (Birmingham City) - includes 2 penalties
Ricardo Vaz Te (West Ham United) - (10 with Barnsley)

11

Craig Davies (Barnsley) - includes 1 penalty
Marvin Emnes (Middlesbrough)
Pete Whittingham (Cardiff City) - includes 3 penalties

10 Charlie Austin (Burnley)
Ashley Barnes (Brighton & Hove Albion) - includes 3 penalties
Luciano Becchio (Leeds United)
Guly Do Prado (Southampton)
Lukas Jutkiewicz (Middllesbrough) - includes 1 penalty - (9 with Coventry City)
Robert Koren (Hull City)
Adam Lallana (Southampton)
Kevin Nolan (West Ham United)
Paul Taylor (Peterborough United)
Chris Wood (Bristol City) - (9 with Birmingham City)
Nikola Zigic (Birmingham City)

 

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
26/02/12 3: Rickie Lambert - Watford v SOUTHAMPTON
17/03/12 3: Rickie Lambert - Millwall v SOUTHAMPTON
20/03/12 4: Garath McCleary - Leeds United v NOTTINGHAM FOREST

 

Disciplinary Record (League and Cup)
Club Y R Y R Club Y R Y R
  League   Total   League  Total 
Barnsley 53 2 56 2 Ipswich Town 49 5 50 5
Birmingham City 50 3 55 3 Leeds United 62 5 68 5
Blackpool 49 1 52 2 Leicester City 54 9 62 9
Brighton and Hove Albion 81 8 95 8 Middlesbrough 65 7 68 7
Bristol City 72 6 74 6 Millwall 66 2 73 2
Burnley 54 2 62 2 Nottingham Forest 52 4 57 4
Cardiff City 46 0 62 0 Peterborough United 46 2 49 2
Coventry City 48 2 50 2 Portsmouth 62 4 69 4
Crystal Palace 47 2 51 3 Reading 52 0 55 0
Derby County 52 1 52 1 Southampton 46 4 49 4
Doncaster Rovers 62 2 64 2 Watford 55 2 57 2
Hull City 56 1 61 1 West Ham United 57 6 60 7

 

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)
34,900 West Ham United v Crystal Palace (25/02) 6,392 Peterborough United v Millwall (06/03)
34,749 West Ham United v Barnsley (17/12) 6,717 Peterborough United v Reading (20/03)
34,650 West Ham United v Doncaster Rovers (10/03) 7,004 Peterborough United v Bristol City (18/02)
33,465 West Ham United v Portsmouth (10/09) 7,540 Peterborough United v Blackpool (10/03)
33,366 Leeds United v West Ham United (17/03) 7,555 Peterborough United v Portsmouth (28/01)
33,010 Derby County v Southampton (15/10) 7,572 Doncaster Rovers v Millwall (20/03)
33,010 Derby County v Leeds United (26/12) 7,650 Doncaster Rovers v Watford (26/11)
33,010 Derby County v Nottingham Forest (17/03) 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)

 

The Next Fixtures
Tuesday 27th March
Crystal Palace v Doncaster Rovers (20:00) Peterborough United v West Ham United
Ipswich Town v Middlesbrough Portsmouth v Hull City
Leicester City v Nottingham Forest  
Friday 30th March
Doncaster Rovers v Birmingham City  
Saturday 31st March
Blackpool v Southampton (17:25) Ipswich Town v Barnsley
Brighton & Hove Albion v Middlesbrough Leeds United v Watford
Bristol City v Derby County Peterborough United v Leicester City
Cardiff City v Millwall (12:30) Portsmouth v Burnley
Crystal Palace v Nottingham Forest West Ham United v Reading
Hull City v Coventry City