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Sheffield United retain pole position following a 3-0 win over Rotherham at a deserted Don Valley Stadium. There was little to choose between the teams in the first half, but the Blades finished strongly with two goals from Dutch midfielder Marcel Cas and a third from Ryan Mallon.
Fola Onibuje’s late winner against the Clarets kept Preston in touch with United. Mystery still surrounds the scorer of the Lilywhites’ opener, with four players so far having been credited with it (3 Burnley, 1 Preston). If confirmed as an own goal it will be the third we have conceded this season. Not bad when you consider that there have only been four in total in all league fixtures played!
Walsall helped our cause with a 1-1 "home" draw with Oldham at Hednesford Town. The Latics led through youth team striker Scott Vernon, but a late equaliser from Daryl Taylor left Oldham just one point ahead of the Clarets having played two games more.
Barnsley beat Huddersfield 1-0 at Oakwell thanks to a first half strike from another youth, Griff Jones. Reds reserve team coach Colin Walker clearly is still an angry man. "I think it was apt that their goalkeeper was only booked for handling outside the area when we had Marc Shackleton sent off for the exact same thing the other week," he whined, referring to our 3-0 win. "There is nothing you can do about it and it is up to the opinion of the individual referee."
No it isn’t, Mr Walker! It’s up to the laws of football. A goalkeeper handling the ball outside the area shall be cautioned, unless the offence denies a clear goalscoring opportunity, in which case a red card shall be issued. Shackleton caught the ball as it was sailing over his head with Damien Hindle through on goal. Red card, you silly man!
This beggars the question that if all the "professionals" involved in the game were required to take a test on the laws of football, how many of them would actually pass? A sobering thought.
In the remaining league match Wolves beat Tranmere 2-0 on Monday evening to maintain their title hopes, Mohamed Camara and Matthew Watson getting the goals. It has been a bad week for Tranmere, for on Wednesday they were hammered 4-0 at home by Doncaster Rovers in the Avon Insurance Cup semi-final. Doncaster will now meet Hull City in the final.
Finally, the two sides who will replace Bury and either ourselves or Oldham next season are now known. Stoke City have won the First Division West (helped by four goals from Andy Cooke), and Hull City are champions of the First Division East.
Next week’s fixtures (Wednesday, April 23rd):
Burnley v Walsall (7pm)
Bury v Wolverhampton Wanderers
Huddersfield Town v Rotherham United
Oldham Athletic v Preston North End
Tranmere Rovers v Barnsley
Leading league goalscorers:
7 Joe O’Neill (Preston)
7 Paul Warne (Rotherham)
7 Griff Jones (Barnsley)
7 Scott Vernon (Oldham)
6 Damien Hindle (Burnley)
6 Gareth Seddon (Bury)
6 Isiaiah Rankin (Barnsley)
6 Paul Macari (Huddersfield)
6 Mark Robins (Rotherham)
6 Laurens Ten Heuvel (Sheffield Utd)
6 Simon Lynch (Preston)
6 Jimmi Lee Jones (Wolves)
Avon Insurance Premier Division Table