Championship Results 2nd May Part 2

Ipswich Town 0-3 Sheffield United
Ipswich finished the season as they began it – with a defeat. Ipswich fans will be disappointed with a 15th-place finish although early on in the season they’d probably have taken this quite happily.
Sheffield United were unable to keep up their challenge from the play-offs but in the end they finished just five points adrift.
Troy Brown was back on the bench for Ipswich and he made his debut for the club after 62 minutes. He also very nearly scored his first Ipswich goal.
Ched Evans made his first start for Sheff Utd since returning from a collarbone injury and repaid the manager’s faith in him when he put the side 2-0 up. I think it was only his second goal for the season but I’m sure this will be the second of many for Sheffield United.

Leicester City 2-0 Middlesbrough
Leicester won for the fifth time in a row and finished 5th in the Championship. They remained in the contention for most of the season although a run of poor results mid-season reduced their chances of finishing in the play-offs. However they bounced back and now go into the play-offs on great form.
For Middlesbrough, it has been a season of disappointments. They started well and were just a point behind the leaders when Gareth Southgate was sacked. But new manager Gordon Strachan was unable to help them to anything more than a mid-able finish.
Andy King was unable to add another goal to his impressive tally – but Leicester have at least two play-off matches in which he can do that. Nicky Adams wasn’t in the squad this time.
A red card for Boro goalkeeper Brad Jones meant that Danny Coyne came on as a substitute and replaced him between the sticks. He failed to keep out the penalty Jones had earned but plenty of goalkeepers would have done that. Jones will be suspended for I would guess just the first match of next season – so if Danny is still at the club, he’ll have a chance to stake his claim.
Rhys Williams was luckily allowed to rest his pelvis for this match and faces medical examinations to determine whether he’ll be fit to play for Australia in the World Cup.

Plymouth Argyle 1-2 Peterborough United
Both clubs were relegated quite a while before this match but they made a game of this with bottom club Peterborough taking the points.
In the case of Peterborough, it’s probably not a huge surprise they went straight back down – many would have predicted this as soon as their promotion from League One was confirmed. And with Plymouth struggling last season, their relegation wasn’t a complete surprise either. But it can’t have been nice.
Carl Fletcher played in midfield for Plymouth while Craig Morgan returned from illness to play in defence for Peterborough. I probably wouldn’t look completely biased if I said these two were among their clubs’ best players – so perhaps it’s not unreasonable to wonder if they’ll still be at these clubs next season. If they are, it will be a big plus for Plymouth and Peterborough as they look to bounce back.

Reading 4-1 Preston North End
Reading ended their season with an emphatic win over Preston North End which leaves you wondering what would have happened if Reading’s start to the season had been a bit brighter. You’d think the play-offs at least and I would love to see them competing for promotion next season. They were so unlucky not to go up last season.
Preston’s season have been variable – although anything would be a disappointment after their last-minute appearance in the play-offs last season.
Simon Church came off the bench for Reading to score a stunning winning goal in the 93rd minute. PNE manager Darren Ferguson implied Simon’s goal wasn’t one his defence ought to have stopped.
I hope Paul Parry will be back from his knee injury in time for next season.