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The Championship did well overall with only four games called off. That was better than any division but there was certainly a big surprise that one game reached its conclusion, that between Ipswich and Leicester at Portman Road.
It really was a throw back with the blue lines, the orange ball (after initially starting with a yellow ball) a pitch covered in snow and the game twice held up supposedly to clear the lines. Ipswich won it 3-0, and deservedly so, but the spotlight was on referee Stuart Atwell. He should have refereed our game at Portsmouth two weeks ago but this was his first Championship game of the season.
I was mystified as to how he allowed play to continue in the first half when it wasn't possible to see the lines. It would have been impossible to give a penalty anywhere near close to the edge of the box. A 28 minute half time cleared the lines and then astonishingly, just thirteen minutes into the second half, he took the players off for a further 18 minutes.
It looks as though he'd decided to abandon the game but once Roy Keane came storming over he seemed to backtrack and ask for the lines to be cleared, even though they were clear.
Leicester boss Sven Goran Eriksson didn't believe the game should have been played but joked afterwards: "I have found out that my players can't play on snow." He also confirmed that both his central defenders had suffered injuries caused by the conditions and they did finish the game with ten men.
On the theme of referees and that game at Elland Road. Visiting manager Neil Warnock wasn't too happy at the end and blasted at Scott Mathieson in the tunnel area. Incredibly Mathieson retaliated, something you just wouldn't expect of a referee.
Leeds won it and that's nine without defeat for them now. What a shame the television coverage last night was blighted by the presence of Johnny Giles, one of the nastiest pieces of work I've ever seen set foot on a football pitch.
Leeds, along with Barnsley, are the form teams in the division right now, but at the other end of the scale it's all gone wrong at Derby in the last few weeks. Despite being the better side yesterday against Reading they suffered a fourth successive defeat, conceding a late Shane Long winner that looked even beyond our defence to concede.
Hopefully the weather will improve in the next few days and we can get a full fixture list played on Boxing Day, that's if we actually want to play at Barnsley. Just a reminder that our last win there came on 16th April 1932 when John Hall scored the only goal of the game in the first minute of the second half. Since then it's been five draws and nine defeats.
The weekend results are below with the stats, the leading scorers, each club's disciplinary record and the next fixtures.
The Weekend Results | |
Friday 17th December | |
Doncaster 2 Middlesbrough 1 | . |
Saturday 18th December | |
Cardiff v Burnley - Postponed | Millwall v Barnsley - Postponed |
Coventry 1 Norwich 2 | Nottingham Forest 3 Crystal Palace 0 |
Derby 1 Reading 2 | Portsmouth v Scunthorpe - Postponed |
Hull 2 Bristol City 0 | Sheffield United 1 Swansea 0 |
Ipswich 3 Leicester 0 | Watford v Preston - Postponed |
Leeds 2 QPR 0 | . |
The Weekend Stats | |
Biggest win | Ipswich 3-0 v Leicester (home) |
Total goals scored | 20 (15 home - 5 away) |
Player scoring most goals | Max Gradel (Leeds) |
Highest Attendance | 29,426 - Leeds v QPR |
Lowest Attendance | 9,543 - Doncaster v Middlesbrough |
Total Yellow Cards | 18 |
Total Red Cards | 1 |
Most cards in a game | Coventry v Norwich (4Y 1R) - Chris Sarginson |
The leading scorers (league only) | |
13 | Jay Bothroyd (Cardiff) |
12 | Kris Commons (Derby) - includes 2 penalties |
11 | Luciano Becchio (Leeds) |
10 | Danny Graham (Watford) |
9 | Chris Iwelumo (Burnley) Grant Holt (Norwich) Lewis McGugan (Nottingham Forest) - includes 1 penalty Adel Taarabt (QPR) - includes 4 penalties |
8 | Andy King (Leicester) Jamie Mackie (QPR) Steve Morison (Millwall) - includes 1 penalty Scott Sinclair (Swansea) |
7 | Andy Hammill (Barnsley) James Hayter (Doncaster) Jon Parkin (Preston) Billy Sharp (Doncaster) - includes 3 penalties Jason Scotland (Ipswich) |
Hat Tricks (league only) | |
11th Sep | 3 - Chris Iwelumo - BURNLEY v Preston |
14th Sep | 3 - James Coppinger - DONCASTER v Norwich |
14th Sep | 3 - James Vaughan - CRYSTAL PALACE v Portsmouth |
28th Sep | 3 - Jon Parkin - Leeds v PRESTON |
30th Oct | 3 - Jonny Howson - Scunthorpe v LEEDS |
13th Nov | 3 - Luciano Becchio - LEEDS v Bristol City |
27th Nov | 3 - Grant Holt - NORWICH v Leeds |
Disciplinary Record (all domestic games) | |||||
| Club | Y | R | Club | Y | R |
| Barnsley | 34 | 0 | Middlesbrough | 34 | 1 |
| Bristol City | 26 | 1 | Millwall | 32 | 2 |
| Burnley | 39 | 4 | Norwich | 34 | 3 |
| Cardiff | 27 | 1 | Nottingham Forest | 28 | 0 |
| Coventry | 40 | 2 | Portsmouth | 33 | 3 |
| Crystal Palace | 32 | 5 | Preston | 49 | 5 |
| Derby | 38 | 1 | QPR | 35 | 2 |
| Doncaster | 26 | 1 | Reading | 36 | 3 |
| Hull | 40 | 1 | Scunthorpe | 22 | 1 |
| Ipswich | 35 | 3 | Sheffield United | 29 | 4 |
| Leeds | 42 | 2 | Swansea | 43 | 1 |
| Leicester | 24 | 2 | Watford | 25 | 0 |
The Boxing Day Fixtures | |
Sunday 25th December | |
Barnsley v Burnley | Middlesbrough v Nottingham Forest |
Cardiff v Coventry | Portsmouth v Millwall (13:00) |
Crystal Palace v Norwich (13:00) | QPR v Swansea (13:00) |
Derby v Doncaster | Reading v Bristol City |
Ipswich v Watford | Scunthorpe v Preston |
Leicester v Leeds | Sheffield United v Hull |