Football League: your thoughts
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Version 0 of 1. Championship • Just when you think things are becoming a little clearer at the top of the Championship, another matchday comes along to leave your most confidently-made predictions in a spin. Muddying the waters this time were Ipswich, who had seemingly fallen out of top-two contention in recent weeks and looked an increasingly shaky play-off bet ahead of their visit to Watford. The free-scoring Hornets had won eight of their previous 10 but this was a nip-and-tuck affair of few chances, Odion Ighalo missing the best of them for a home side that did not manage a shot on target. Then, with four minutes of added time virtually up, Freddie Sears nicked the ball away from a dithering Ben Watson, charged forwards and set up Richard Chaplow, who finished coolly to spark wild celebrations among the visitors and put Mick McCarthy’s team right back in the mix. “If the cap fits, ‘foxtrot oscar’!”, McCarthy said of those who had criticised a defence that conceded four at Middlesbrough last week but rallied superbly at Vicarage Road. Ipswich lie sixth, five points behind a Watford side that is still handily placed in second. • Watford’s defeat was good news for Bournemouth, who earlier in the day had emphatically shown why Middlesbrough still fail to completely convince. Eddie Howe’s team are now top, and travel to Portman Road next. It was also welcomed at Carrow Road, where goals for Ipswich – who are just three points shy of Norwich – are rarely cheered but an exception was made this time after the Canaries’ 3-1 win over Nottingham Forest. Jonny Howson, Cameron Jerome and a Wes Hoolahan penalty scored for Norwich in an impressive performance, with Chris Burke’s goal not doing enough to further any impression that Forest could yet gatecrash the top six. • That Chaplow goal might have prompted some soul-searching at Brentford, who might have thought that coming back from two goals down with five minutes remaining to draw 2-2 with Millwall was not a bad outcome in the scheme of things. Lee Gregory’s finish into an unguarded net and a point-blank header from Aiden O’Brien seemed to have won it for Neil Harris’ strugglers, but an Alex Pritchard penalty and a 90th minute leveller from Moses Odubajo tied matters. The kind of comeback mastered by play-off contenders? It could yet be, but Mark Warburton’s side drop out of the top six. • Millwall, though, will curse the fact that three points would have made up some considerable ground in the relegation battle. As it is, they are seven points shy of 21st-placed Rotherham, who were a goal up against Sheffield Wednesday with four minutes to play at the New York Stadium thanks to Ben Pringle’s deflected strike. Then things went berserk: Caolan Lavery equalised for the Owls but Jordan Bowery promptly seemed to win it for Rotherham; Atdhe Nuhiu headed home in the third minute of stoppage time for 2-2 and then, unbelievably, Kieran Lee scored in the eighth added minute to leave the Millers teetering on the edge. They do still hold a five-point advantage over Wigan, though, whose late overhead-kicked equaliser from Martyn Waghorn against Bolton may not prove enough in the final analysis. Blackpool, for what it’s worth, drew 1-1 with Leeds on the Bloomfield Road vegetable patch. League One • Any kind of result for Preston at Barnsley would strengthen their hold on second place and Joe Garner’s tap-in – his 20th goal of the season – seemed likely to send them five points clear of third-placed Swindon, who did not play. But Jabo Ibehre equalised late on from Mason Holgate’s cross, which probably goes down as a good outcome for play-off chasing Barnsley even though Peterborough leapfrogged them into sixth with a 1-0 win over Chesterfield. “It is not ideal but you’ve got to stick in there, don’t forget where we have come from,” said the Barnsley coach Lee Johnson. • MK Dons maintained their revival with a 4-1 win over Notts County that did not seem on the cards when the score was goalless after an hour. But Carl Baker’s solo effort broke the deadlock and a Lewis Baker lob doubled the advantage, before Elliott Whitehouse replied for the visitors. Will Grigg’s 58th minute introduction had already helped swing the game in MK Dons’ favour and he firmed up the good impression with two close-range finishes in the last six minutes. Karl Robinson’s side remain fourth, a remarkable 11 points clear of a fifth-placed Sheffield United side that beat Port Vale 1-0 with a Jose Baxter penalty. • The big game at the bottom was between Crawley – 21st – and Leyton Orient, who were a point and a place beneath them. It was settled by a 33rd-minute penalty from Crawley’s Izale McLeod, leaving their manager Dean Saunders in no doubt of the result’s significance. “It was a big win for us, but it also caused a lot of damage and that sort of result for them can damage their morale,” he told the BBC. Dropping into the bottom four are Crewe, who lost 1-0 at home to Oldham through a Conor Wilkinson goal. A last-gasp Doug Loft equaliser for Gillingham denied Colchester a lifeline further down; that game finished 2-2 and Tony Humes’ side are four points from safety. League Two • Bury had a big chance to put pressure on third-placed Wycombe, who were not playing, when they hosted play-off chasing Northampton. It appeared that they had blown it – Ricky Holmes scored early on for the visitors and Joe Riley was red-carded just after the interval, bringing the home side down to 10 men. But, in the kind of comeback that can garner you genuine promotion momentum, Bury won it: Kelvin Etuhu lashed in from 20 yards midway through the second half and then, right at the end, Adam El-Abd nodded in the winner to leave them just a point behind the chairboys. • That was of little concern to leaders Burton, with Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink’s side looking a dead cert for automatic promotion and doing nothing to sway that view with a 4-1 win at struggling Tranmere. Damien McCrory and Lucas Akins put them two up midway through the first half and, although Kayode Odejayi replied with a stunning volley, Nasser El Khayati and an Adam Dugdale own goal wrapped things up. Tranmere remain out of the relegation places on goal difference but Burton are nine points clear of Bury and five from second-placed Shrewsbury, who beat Oxford 2-0. In the battle of seventh and eighth, the status quo was maintained as Newport drew 0-0 with Plymouth, who are below them by one point. Fifth-placed Southend also played out a goalless draw, theirs with Cambridge, while Stevenage blew their chance to enter the play-off spots by losing 1-0 at home to mid-table Dagenham and Redbridge. Luke Howell scored the winner there, but Stevenage manager Graham Westley was left fuming after his back four appeared to stop for an apparent offside flag. • Can Hartlepool conjure up a great escape? Maybe. They beat Mansfield 1-0 at home, Brad Walker scoring a penalty early in the second half against opponents who were reduced to 10 men by Junior Brown’s poor challenge. Three wins in a row for the bottom side now – they are just a point below Tranmere and 23rd-placed Cheltenham, who were beaten at home by Exeter. |