League Two Fixtures 1st May Part 3

Rochdale v Burton Albion
Rochdale could be caught by third-placed Bournemouth if they lose this game. If they draw, Bournemouth will be behind on goal difference if they win/ Burton could still just about finish in the top half.
Tony James was rested for Burton’s last match. They lost but they were playing Bournemouth. Still, I hope he’ll be back to face Rochdale. At 31, Tony isn’t exactly one of the youngest in Burton’s squad. But the man who’ll be between the sticks tomorrow, Kevin Poole, is almost old enough to be Tony’s father.

Shrewsbury Town v Morecambe
Both sides harbour hopes of the play-offs although Shrewsbury would have to win all their games and rely on six of the other play-off hopefuls to drop lots of points. They’ve also just sacked their manager which usually doesn’t help at this stage. Morecambe are currently eighth and are only outside the play-offs on goal difference.
Shrewsbury have a few injuries so maybe Will Richards will come back into the squad. He was on the losing side when Shrewsbury Reserves played Derby County Reserves in the League Central division. But Derby’s team did include Robbie Savage. Also in Shrewsbury’s team were Tom Bradshaw, Wayne Farmer and some other players with Welsh-sounding names. Iain Edmunds was on the bench.
Darren Moss just has to keep his place after scoring that brilliant goal for Morecambe last weekend. But that doesn’t mean he’ll be picked.

League Two Results 17th April Part 2

Notts County 4-1 Morecambe
Notts County confirmed their promotion in style, putting four past Morecambe and staying a point ahead of Rochdale. Morecambe in 11th place look a long way from the play-offs now but there’s actually only two points in it.
It seems Notts County can’t score any goals without Ben Davies wanting to get in on the action. This time he got the assist for the third goal and scored the fourth. If he keeps going it won’t just be the Welsh non-professional team who are interested. I can’t wait to see how he does in League One nest season. I know playing against Morecambe is a bit different from playing against England but let me dream okay? Besides, he could be playing against Leeds United next season.
Darren Moss played in defence for Morecambe. So he probably didn’t enjoy the match nearly as much as Ben did.

Rochdale 1-0 Northampton Town
Rochdale confirmed their promotion in less emphatic style than Notts County – but it was three points just the same. The last time Rochdale weren’t in League One (or Division 3 or Division 2 or whatever it was calling itself), my mum was at school so that was quite a long time ago really.
Northampton are only three points outside the play-offs so these two teams could be meeting again in the League next season.
Peter Gilbert played for Northampton.

Rotherham United 0-0 Cheltenham Town
At one time, Rotherham looked like overtaking Bournemouth and getting the third automatic promotion place. They could still do it but I bet they won’t. Now they won’t even definitely be in the play-off places after the next game unless any of Bury, Aldershot Town, Dagenham & Redbridge and Chesterfield are playing each other.
Only managing a point against Cheltenham, a team who would be called ‘struggling Cheltenham’ if Darlington and Grimsby Town weren’t so bad, might not bode well for their future.
Josh Low played for Cheltenham but he couldn’t manage all those goals and assists he got against Bury, who aren’t that much worse than Rotherham really. Maybe Josh’s manager should have a word with him again. I don’t really want my Welsh players getting into trouble but it worked so well last time.

Shrewsbury Town 1-0 Lincoln City
Shrewsbury’s play-off hopes are just about alive after this win over Lincoln. They’re only four points away but that’s quite a lot at this stage of the season. Lincoln are eight points away from the relegation zone and it’s hard to believe they’re really in any danger.
Shrewsbury had so many players out, they could only put six substitutes on the bench, including Tom Bradshaw, who moved to Wales at the age of two months and is probably eligible for Wales under the education rule if nothing else. I’ll adopt him for the time being anyway. Whatever his nationality, he looks a good player – he scored twice on his debut against Crewe Alexandra and he’s only seventeen.
Will Richards was also out with a bug but he recovered in time to join Wayne Farmer, Iain Edmunds and quite possibly some more Welsh players I don’t know about as Shrewsbury under-18s lost to title rivals Preston North End.
David Stephens was on the bench again for Lincoln.