Tuesday, 16 November 2010

Championship Result 14th November 2010

Swansea City 1-0 Middlesbrough
Swansea tried to keep up the pressure on Cardiff with a win over Middlesbrough, who continue to struggle. Promotion favourites? Maybe next year. In League One.
Ashley Williams was in the right place to clear a Boro shot off the line but he was in slightly the wrong place when his header on goal went over. Joe AllenMan of the Match according to Yahoo - also came close to to taking the lead but he laughed off the idea that he was the best midfielder in the Championship. David Cotterill also caused panic in the Boro defence with a corner. David and Neil Taylor were both substitutes but at least they were used substitutes, unlike Jazz Richards, who has had few opportunities to build on some very promising performances last season.
Boro are still without Danny Coyne, who has a calf injury but he’s been doing his bit to help Jason Steele, who has been selected for the England under-21s.

League Two Results 13th November (Part 2)

Macclesfield Town 2-0 Aldershot Town
Macclesfield moved into the top half of the table after beating Aldershot.
Sam Wedgbury came off Macclesfield’s bench with three minutes to go.
BBC Sport suggests Aldershot defender Darren Jones had something to do with one of Macclesfield’s goals but if he did, it didn’t make much difference to the result. Aaron Morris also played.

Northampton Town 0-0 Port Vale
Northampton have done well against the big sides on a couple of occasions this season and they did well to hold Port Vale to a draw, particularly considering they played the second half with only ten men,
Paul Walker was on Northampton’s bench.
Lewis Haldane was thrilled to make his first start of the season for Port Vale and lasted 64 minutes.
Gareth Owen played in defence, his delight at seeing Lewis back on the pitch not getting in the way of his defensive duties.

Rotherham United 2-1 Oxford United
Rotherham came back from a run of five games without a win to beat Oxford 2-1. Oxford have only won away once this season.
Mark Bradley played the full match for Rotherham.

Southend United 1-1 Accrington Stanley
Southend manager Paul Sturrock was disappointed with his side’s lack of possession but it wasn’t like they had less possession than Accrington, who are still looking for their first away win of the season.
Southend actually nearly won it but their second goal was offside.
Peter Gilbert got the assist for Southend’s equaliser.

Torquay United 1-1 Barnet
Torquay were on another winning run after finally remembering how to do it again but Barnet made sure this one wasn’t nearly as long as the last one. Barnet are still bottom of the table and without an away win this season. This was actually only the second point they’ve gained from away matches.
Grant Basey played in defence for Barnet.

Wycombe Wanderers 1-0 Bradford City
A late goal for Wycombe gave them all three points against Bradford. Bradford went down to ten men following a sending-off which even the victim felt was harsh.
Jason Price played up front for Bradford. His loan spell has now come to an end but manager Peter Taylor really wants to keep him for longer.

League Two Results 13th November 2010 (Part 1)

Bury 0-1 Stockport County
BBC Sport described this as a shock win over Stockport but I’m not so sure. Bury have been doing well lately but they were forced to play without their goalkeeper, Owain fon Williams, as he is on loan from Stockport.
Robbie Williams (not the famous one, by which I mean not the one at Altrincham who played for Wales) is credited with the assist for Stockport’s goal but it sounds like Anthony Pulis’ free kick was a very important part of it.

Chesterfield 1-2 Burton Albion
Chesterfield lost at home for the first time this season while Burton won away for the first time. But Chesterfield are still top of the table so things aren’t too bad.
Craig Davies didn’t score for what I believe is the second time in three matches. But I don’t think that’s anything to worry about.
Tony James was in Burton’s starting line-up. Tony says he’s happy to have found himself again after being lost on the bench.

Gillingham 1-3 Crewe Alexandra
Gillingham lost again even though they need all the home points they can get but the manager was happy. Why? Because he had 12-14 players out through injury or suspension. Manager Andy Hessenthaler used to be a footballer so I think we can forgive him for having trouble with counting to fourteen.
Rhys Taylor was in goal for Crewe after recovering from an ankle injury (it seems to be Goalkeeper Injury Curse month – Rhys, Danny Coyne, Lewis Price and Tony Roberts have all been injured) and his presence was probably another reason why Gillingham lost. He did actually do them a big favour at one point but luckily Gillingham didn’t score.

Hereford United 1-1 Cheltenham Town
It’s a bit unfair when you’re unbeaten in six whole games and you’re still in the bottom two. Even if you do have an aversion to winning at home. But Hereford are only there on goal difference and if they can win the next game they should move ahead of Gillingham who are playing away.
Right back Ryan Green has been playing in central defence for Hereford and he says he likes it which is always good. He and Ryan Valentine played the full match for Cheltenham but Stuart Fleetwood was suspended after picking up his fifth yellow card of the season.
Josh Low played the full match for Cheltenham. He thinks Cheltenham are playing a bit like Spain.

League One Results 13th November 2010 (Part 2)

Sheffield Wednesday 2-0 Rochdale
Sheffield Wednesday’s victory over Rochdale was their third win in three matches.
Rochdale’s Welsh substitutions mirrored Cardiff’s Welsh substitutions even down to the time of substitution. After 71 minutes, Nicky Adams came off and Matt Done went on but Matt was not replacing Nicky.

Swindon Town 2-1 Colchester United
Swindon moved closer to the top half of the table after beating Colchester, who lost an away match for the first time this season.
No Welshmen in this game. Billy Bodin (Swindon) and Lee Beevers and Lloyd James (both Colchester) were all unusued substitutes.

Tranmere Rovers 1-0 Plymouth Argyle
Tranmere moved out of the relegation places with victory over Plymouth, who are ahead of them only on goal difference.
Tranmere are still without ankle injury victim Ash Taylor but he is back in training.
Carl Fletcher (Plymouth) is likely to be able to out with a leg injury for at least another fortnight.

Yeovil Town 1-3 Dagenham & Redbridge
Dag & Red moved ahead of Yeovil on goal difference after beating them 3-1, their first away win of the season.
Nathan Jones started for Yeovil. The assistant manager says he is proud to have more appearances with Yeovil than with any other club in his career.
Owain Tudur Jones played despite a recent thigh strain and got the assist but that probably wasn’t much of a consolation. Shaun MacDonald also started for Yeovil and came close to scoring. Gavin Williams was a late substitute.
Goalkeeper Tony Roberts was absent from Dag & Red’s squad due to an ankle injury. So they did especially well to win. But Dag & Red did have one Welsh player on the bench: Kayelden Brown, who has signed on loan from West Bromwich Albion. He has previously played on loan at Tranmere Rovers this season.

League One Results 13th November 2010 (Part 1)

Bournemouth 3-0 Walsall
Bournemouth’s excellent home record continues as they beat bottom club Walsall and moved into third place.
Rhoys Wiggins got the assist for Bournemouth’s second goal.
Sean Geddes was back on the bench for Walsall but he has been earning his money lately, playing a part in Rotherham’s reserves beat Walsall’s reserves 7-0.

Brentford 0-2 Milton Keynes Dons
MK Dons’ away record was looking pretty good after the first game of the season but it took them until Saturday to find their second away win.
Poor MK Dons striker Jermaine Easter missed the whole thing due to a thigh injury after failing a late fitness test.

Bristol Rovers 0-3 Leyton Orient
Leyton Orient went into this match without an away win to their names but when it finally came, they made sure it was a good one.
Byron Anthony played the full match for Bristol Rovers but perhaps he was a little optimistic in his claims that Bristol Rovers would manage just fine without leading scorer Will Hoskins. Eliot Richards was a 58th minute susbstitute while Ben Swallow played on the bench.

Exeter City 3-1 Notts County
Exeter ended a run of three defeats with victory over Notts County, who drop into the bottom three.
Richard Duffy was the only Welshman to start for Notts County but that didn’t seem to do Exeter any harm. Rob Edwards and Daniel Nardiello were on the bench. First team coach Rob will be very happy with his young team-mates.
A Ben Davies free kick provided the assist for Notts County’s goal.

Oldham Athletic 1-0 Huddersfield Town
Oldham keep their unbeaten home record intact with victory over Huddersfield, who remain in the play-offs despite the defeat.
Joe Jacobson was an unused substitute for Oldham.

Peterborough United 1-5 Charlton Athletic
Charlton are in second place and unbeaten in six after beating Peterborough United by quite a big scoreline.
Lewin Nyatanga played for Peterborough and he might have had some small involvement in Charlton’s fifth goal but it was probably a bit late for a Peterborough comeback by then. Arron Davies was a half-time substitute.

Championship Results 13th November 2010 (Part 2)

Nottingham Forest 0-0 Queen’s Park Rangers
QPR remain unbeaten in the league while Nottingham Forest are still unbeaten at home but QPR are back in second place after yet another draw.
Robert Earnshaw was back in the starting line-up for Forest and should have won a penalty but the referee was wearing Arsene Wenger’s glasses. Chris Gunter also played for Forest.

Portsmouth 2-3 Doncaster Rovers
Doncaster played Portsmouth for the first time for twenty-eight seasons. Doncaster went 2-0 ahead in the first half, only for Portsmouth to score twice in the second half. But Doncaster weren’t having that and got the winner five minutes after the equaliser.
John Oster nearly got an assist for Doncaster but the Portsmouth goalkeeper was paying attention. Brian Stock was also playing for Doncaster.

Reading 3-3 Norwich City
Norwich were 3-0 up early in the second half but then they had a player sent off and Reading took the opportunity of fighting back.
Simon Church started for Reading with Hal Robson-Kanu on the bench.
Andrew Crofts returned from suspension to play for Norwich.

Scunthorpe United 2-4 Cardiff City
Cardiff bounced back from the most hurtful defeat of the season to take all three points against Scunthorpe and move to the top of the table.
Craig Bellamy and substitute Jason Koumas claimed the third and fourth assists. Darcy Blake played the first 71 minutes while Adam Matthews came off the bench after 71 minutes but Adam didn’t replace Darcy. The winning goal sounds a bit complicated but it looks like Jason’s shot deflected off the player who was credited with the goal, and then the ball deflected off Adam. But Jason gets the assist and Adam is just a deflection.
You hear a lot about Craig Bellamy and violence but when a fan jumped over the perimeter and punched him, Craig didn't murder him.

Championship Results 13th November 2010 (Part 1)

Crystal Palace 2-0 Coventry City
Crystal Palace climbed above Preston with a surprise victory over Coventry, who drop to eleventh but remain only two points outside the play-off places.
Andy Dorman was missing from Palace’s team but Lewis Price was back on the bench after recovering from a back injury.
Freddy Eastwood came off the bench after 71 minutes, making his first appearance since recovering from a knee operation.

Ipswich Town 1-3 Barnsley
Barnsley won away for the second time this season as Ipswich showed that perhaps they’re not back to their early season form after all. By the end, the Ipswich fans were cheering Barnsley but it was the home team who got a late goal.
Troy Brown was on the bench for Ipswich.

Leeds United 3-1 Bristol City
Leeds got their first home win for nearly three months against a Bristol City team who were unbeaten in five. Hard to imagine and if I had my spreadsheets I would check that (too lazy to look at every match report) but as I don’t I’ll take BBC Sport’s word for it. They don’t usually do anything too badly wrong although they did once say Middlesbrough keeper Danny Coyne was on the bench when he was actually playing.
Speaking of goalkeepers, Leeds’ own Welsh keeper, Jason Brown (well actually he’s not their own keeper, he’s Blackburn’s) really was on the bench but Sanchez Watt wasn’t ready to return from an ankle injury after all. Jason returned to Blackburn after this match as his loan spell had come to an end but Leeds manager Simon Grayson says he’s good to have around the place.
Brett Pitman, who got thirty-four minutes of action, was Bristol City’s only Welsh representative. And technically he’s not even that. I don’t think he’s chosen his country yet.

Leicester City 2-0 Derby County
Leicester move five points clear of the relegation zone after an excellent win over in-form Derby
Andy King scored Leicester’s first goal after thirteen minutes. and got himself into the Championship Team of the Week.
Robbie Savage missed out on the chance to face his former club as he wasft on the bench. And Derby lost, what a coincidence. Gareth Roberts wasn’t selected due to a back problem. His place on the bench was taken by a second goalkeeper.
Robbie thinks people are starting to like him. Well, I'm not starting to like you, Robbie. I've loved him for a long time now.

Millwalll 0-1 Sheffield United
Millwall are off on another winless run as Sheffield United ended a winless run of their own. Millwall played well and probably deserved an equaliser at least but it didn’t happen.
Steve Morison was back from suspension for Millwall.
Ched Evans got to start for Sheffield United but it wasn’t his goal.