Hat trick for Pete Whittingham |
Blackpool played in the live match at tea time on Saturday and went down to a 1-0 defeat at Leicester with Ben Marshall scoring the only goal from the penalty spot. It hasn't knocked them off the top of the league but would have done if either of Sheffield Wednesday or Blackburn had won.
Our local rivals, who have now seen Ken Beamish depart, led 2-0 at Leeds, but had to score a late goal to earn a point as Colin's team hit them for three.
If that wasn't a surprise then Sheffield Wednesday's defeat at Crystal Palace most certainly was. Palace went in front in the first minute through Glenn Murray and the former Brighton striker also scored the winner seven minutes from time.
They were Palace's first points of the season and it was their first league win since mid-March when Sean Scannell, now at Huddersfield, scored a stoppage time winner for them against Barnsley.
This win has taken them up one place with Peterborough now on their own in bottom place having lost every game. They haven't won since March either and we don't want them to start winning too quickly; they are our next opponents after the international break.
We need those points; we've joined Palace and Posh in the bottom three now, and that's the first time we've been in the relegation positions in this division since the early days of the promotion season, back in August 2008.
Our only goal on Saturday came courtesy of an own goal from Brighton's Gordon Greer. It wasn't the only own goal of the day and the other two were far more entertaining. Forest's Camp goalkeeper might have considered himself unlucky as the ball rebounded off him into the net but there was no such bad luck for Peterborough goalkeeper Bobby Olejnic.
The summer signing from Torquay came out to collect a Wade Elliott free kick but somehow managed to push it upwards and towards goal where the waiting defenders were helpless to stop it going in.
It was certainly the funniest goal of the day whereas the best in the Championship was surely Craig Mackail-Smith's second at Burnley.
On the Sunday, former Burnley loan player Pete Whittingham notched all three in their 3-1 win against Wolves. The losing side have reacted by terminating the contract of Terry Connor, for so long a coach at Molineux and also manager at the end of last season. They'd confirmed he would be kept on but the promise didn't last long.
The league's finally had its first red card. Barnsley goalkeeper, film star Ben Alnwick, was sent off in the COCUP in the week before the league season got underway, but until Saturday none of the 24 teams had seen any of their players dismissed in league action.
There were 44 yellow cards over the weekend and that first red card, and it was Barnsley again who had Bobby Hassell sent off by referee Steve Rushton just a couple of minutes after Jacob Mellis had scored the only goal of the game to give them their second win of the season.
Into September, and strangely we've had no managerial sackings in the Championship yet this season. There were strong suggestions on Saturday night that one was on the brink. It appears he's survived for now, but for how long. I can't say who, but his team lost 3-1 and a former Claret gave them a 1-0 lead.
It's break time this week. The window shut on Friday and we haven't got any games at weekend due to the first international break of the season.
Martin Paterson's not going off with Northern Ireland, not for the first of their games. The rested/injured striker is continuing his rehabilitation at Burnley.
The weekend results are below with the stats, the leading goalscorers, each club's disciplinary record, the highest and lowest attendances and the next fixtures.
The Results | |
Saturday 1st September | |
Barnsley 1 Bristol City 0 | Ipswich Town 2 Huddersfield Town 2 |
Birmingham City 1 Peterborough United 0 | Leeds United 3 Blackburn Rovers 3 |
Burnley 1 Brighton & Hove Albion 3 | Leicester City 1 Blackpool 0 |
Crystal Palace 2 Sheffield Wednesday 1 | Millwall 3 Middlesbrough 1 |
Derby County 5 Watford 1 | Nottingham Forest 2 Charlton Athletic 1 |
Hull City 3 Bolton Wanderers 1 | |
Sunday 2nd September | |
Cardiff City 3 Wolverhampton Wanderers 1 |
The Stats | |
Biggest Win | Blackpool 6-0 v Ipswich Town (home) |
Total Goals Scored | 41 (27 home - 14 away) |
Player Scoring Most Goals | 3 - Pete Whittingham (Cardiff City) |
Highest Attendance | 24,411 - Leeds United v Blackburn Rovers |
Lowest Attendance | 8,088 - Barnsley v Bristol City |
Total Yellow Cards | 44 |
Total Red Cards | 1 |
Most Cards in a Game | Nottingham Forest v Charlton Athletic (7Y) Ref: Graham Salisbury |
Leading Goalscorers (League Only) | |
4 | Luciano Becchio (Leeds United) Tom Ince (Blackpool) Jermaine Johnson (Sheffield Wednesday) Craig Mackail-Smith (Brighton & Hove Albion) |
3 | Chris Eagles (Bolton Wanderers) Matej Vydra (Watford) Pete Whittingham (Cardiff City) - includes 1 penalty Martyn Woolford (Bristol City) |
2 | Alem Abdi (Watford) Charlie Austin (Burnley) Ashley Barnes (Brighton & Hove Albion) Michael Chopra (Ipswich Town) Nouha Dicko (Blackpool) Craig Davies (Barnsley) Owen Garvan (Crystal Palace) - includes 1 penalty Nuno Gomes (Blackburn Rovers) Colin Kazim-Richards (Blackburn Rovers) Andy Keogh (Millwall) Andy King (Leicester City) Miguel Llera (Sheffield Wednesday) Lewis McGugan (Nottingham Forest) Glenn Murray (Crystal Palace) Jordan Rhodes (Blackburn Rovers) - 2 with Huddersfield Town Liam Trotter (Millwall) Nikola Zigic (Birmingham City) |
Hat Tricks | |
Date | Player & Game |
01/09/12 | 3: Pete Whittingham - CARDIFF CITY v Wolverhampton Wanderers |
Disciplinary Record (League and Cup) | |||||||||
Club | Y | R | Y | R | Club | Y | R | Y | R |
League | Total | League | Total | ||||||
Barnsley | 8 | 1 | 11 | 2 | Huddersfield Town | 6 | 0 | 7 | 0 |
Birmingham City | 4 | 0 | 6 | 0 | Hull City | 3 | 0 | 3 | 1 |
Blackburn Rovers | 7 | 0 | 7 | 0 | Ipswich Town | 3 | 0 | 3 | 0 |
Blackpool | 5 | 0 | 5 | 0 | Leeds United | 8 | 0 | 10 | 0 |
Bolton Wanderers | 8 | 0 | 10 | 0 | Leicester City | 4 | 0 | 4 | 0 |
Brighton & Hove Albion | 6 | 0 | 7 | 0 | Middlesbrough | 7 | 0 | 7 | 0 |
Bristol City | 4 | 0 | 6 | 0 | Millwall | 7 | 0 | 9 | 0 |
Burnley | 4 | 0 | 8 | 0 | Nottingham Forest | 10 | 0 | 10 | 0 |
Cardiff City | 4 | 0 | 6 | 0 | Peterborough United | 8 | 0 | 10 | 0 |
Charlton Athletic | 5 | 0 | 5 | 0 | Sheffield Wednesday | 9 | 0 | 11 | 0 |
Crystal Palace | 6 | 0 | 10 | 0 | Watford | 5 | 0 | 6 | 0 |
Derby County | 3 | 0 | 4 | 0 | Wolverhampton Wanderers | 3 | 0 | 5 | 0 |
Highest and Lowest Attendances | |||
Highest | Lowest | ||
Att | Fixture | Att | Fixture |
27,437 | Derby County v Sheffield Wednesday (18/08) | 6,188 | Peterborough United v Millwall (21/08) |
25,518 | Brighton & Hove Albion v Cardiff City (21/08) | 8,088 | Barnsley v Bristol City (01/09) |
25,379 | Sheffield Wed v Birmingham City (21/08) | 9,576 | Millwall v Middlesbrough (01/09) |
24,752 | Sheffield Wednesday v Millwall (25/08) | 10,432 | Peterborough United v Leeds United (25/08) |
24,594 | Brighton & Hove Albion v Barnsley (25/08) | 11,010 | Millwall v Blackpool (18/08) |
24,411 | Leeds United v Blackburn Rovers (01/09) | 11,022 | Watford v Birmingham City (25/08) |
24,400 | Wolverhampton Wanderers v Barnsley (21/08) | 11,413 | Burnley v Brighton & Hove Albion (01/09) |
23,863 | Leicester City v Peterborough United (18/08) | 12,203 | Barnsley v Middlesbrough (18/08) |
23,745 | Leeds United v Wolves (18/08) | 12,221 | Bristol City v Crystal Palace (21/08) |
22,020 | Cardiff City v Wolverhampton W's (02/09) | 12,422 | Watford v Ipswich Town (21/08) |
The Week's Fixtures | |
Friday 14th September | |
Brighton & Hove Albion v Sheffield Wednesday | Charlton Athletic v Crystal Palace |
Saturday 15th September | |
Barnsley v Blackpool | Huddersfield Town v Derby County |
Bolton Wanderers v Watford | Hull City v Millwall |
Bristol City v Blackburn Rovers | Middlesbrough v Ipswich Town |
Burnley v Peterborough United | Nottingham Forest v Birmingham City |
Cardiff City v Leeds United | |
Sunday 16th September | |
Wolverhampton Wanderers v Leicester City (13:15) |