Championship Results 2nd May Part 1

Blackpool 1-1 Bristol City
A point for Blackpool was enough to ensure they ended the season in sixth place – and in the play-offs. They’ll face Nottingham Forest in the play-off semi-finals. It’s a great result for Blackpool but the ever-amusing Ian Hollway says he was promised a bonus if he could keep Blackpool in the Championship. But if they continue their good form in the play-offs, he might not be able to keep them in the Championship. I really want Cardiff to go up but I’ve really enjoyed Blackpool this season and it would be great to see Ian Holloway on Match of the Day every week.
Bristol City finish in 10th place. It’s a disappointing end to the season for a club who were challenging for the play-offs at the start of the season but considering they also spent some time challenging for relegation, maybe 10th is a relief in some ways.
David Vaughan was very lively for Blackpool and Bristol Evening Post credits him with bringing the crowd back to life, so maybe he should go to medical school once he’d finished playing football.
Rob Edwards remained on the bench and Neal Eardley was out of the squad again, perhaps with a recurrence of his hamstring injury.
Lewin Nyatanga played for Bristol City again but Christian Ribeiro was out of the squad.

Coventry City 0-4 Watford
Coventry’s season ended disappointingly as the former play-off contenders were thrashed 4-0 by Watford, who aren’t exactly known for their good away form. Manager Chris Coleman was sacked a few days later. Coventry finish in 19th although they’re only three points away from 13th-place Queen’s Park Rangers.
Watford sealed their survival last week but they finished their season in style, which puts them ahead of Coventry – and the other two teams with 54 points – on goal difference.
Freddy Eastwood played 71 minutes for Coventry but couldn’t get them a goal although they were only 2-0 down when he left the field so maybe he’d been busy defending.

Derby County 2-0 Cardiff City
Derby finished their season with a win that took them to 14th place. The season might not have been everything they’d hoped for but it wasn’t completely without its positives. A few new players next season might make a big difference.
They might not have won though if Cardiff hadn’t chosen to rest all their best players. It’s a gamble that might pay off with the players all fresh and rested for the play-offs but it does mean they aren’t really going into the matches on a run of good form. They finished fourth though and it’s great to see them in the play-offs after so nearly making it last year.
Aaron Wildig was the only (almost) Welshman to start for Cardiff. He struggled to deal with Robbie Savage but perhaps not as much as the local radio stations have recently (yay Robbie!). Adam Matthews came off the bench after 63 minutes. Joe Ledley was also on the bench with youngsters Aaron Morris and Jonathan Meades.