Championship Round-Up 21st August 2007
By The Seasider
Updated Tuesday, 21st August 2007
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A Round-Up of reports and stats from the week 2 games affecting Blackpool's rivals in the Coca-Cola Football League Championship.
The Weekend Results |
Saturday 18th August |
Blackpool 1 Bristol City 1 | QPR 0 Cardiff 2 |
Crystal Palace 2 Leicester 2 | Scunthorpe 2 Burnley 0 |
Colchester 2 Barnsley 2 | Stoke 2 Charlton 1 |
Coventry 1 Hull 1 | Watford 1 Sheffield Utd 0 |
Norwich 2 Southampton 1 | West Brom 2 Preston 0 |
Plymouth 1 Ipswich 1 | . |
Sunday 19th August |
Sheffield Wed 1 Wolves 3 | . |
The Weekend Stats |
Biggest win | Wolves 3-1 v Sheffield Wed (away)
Cardiff 2-0 v QPR (away)
Scunthorpe 2-0 v Burnley (home)
West Brom 2-0 v Preston (home) |
Total goals scored | 31 |
Player scoring most goals
2 | Jamie Cureton (Norwich)
Brian Howard (Barnsley) |
Highest Attendance | 24,004 - Norwich v Southampton |
Lowest Attendance | 4,450 - Colchester v Barnsley |
Total Yellow Cards | 28 |
Total Red Cards | 3 |
Most cards in a game | Colchester v Barnsley (4Y 2R) |
The leading scorers (league only) |
3 | Brian Howard (Barnsley)
Alan Lee (Ipswich)
James Scowcroft (Crystal Palace) |
2 | Jamie Cureton (Norwich)
Sylvain Ebanks-Blake (Plymouth)
Leon McKenzie (Coventry)
Clinton Morrison (Crystal Palace)
Scott Murray (Bristol City)
Kevin Phillips (West Brom) |
Hat Tricks (league only) |
11th Aug | 3 - James Scowcroft - Southampton v CRYSTAL PALACE |
Disciplinary Record (all games) |
| Club | Y | R | Club | Y | R |
| Barnsley | 3 | 1 | Norwich | 7 | 0 |
| Blackpool | 1 | 0 | Plymouth | 2 | 0 |
| Bristol City | 1 | 0 | Preston | 5 | 0 |
| Burnley | 4 | 0 | QPR | 7 | 0 |
| Cardiff | 5 | 0 | Scunthorpe | 5 | 0 |
| Charlton | 3 | 0 | Sheffield Utd | 1 | 0 |
| Colchester | 2 | 1 | Sheffield Wed | 7 | 0 |
| Coventry | 4 | 0 | Southampton | 3 | 0 |
| Crystal Palace | 2 | 0 | Stoke | 7 | 0 |
| Hull | 6 | 1 | Watford | 3 | 0 |
| Ipswich | 2 | 0 | West Brom | 2 | 0 |
| Leicester | 3 | 0 | Wolves | 3 | 0 |
The Week's Fixtures |
Saturday 25th August |
Barnsley v Plymouth | Leicester v Watford |
Bristol City v Scunthorpe | Preston v Colchester |
Burnley v QPR | Sheffield Utd v West Brom |
Cardiff v Coventry | Southampton v Stoke |
Charlton v Sheffield Wed | Wolves v Blackpool |
Hull v Norwich | . |
Sunday 26th August |
Ipswich v Crystal Palace | . |
Colchester 2 Barnsley 2
Honours were even but this incident-packed Championship clash was steeped in controversy. Referee Andy Hall was the centre of attention after sending off two players and also awarding two penalties, the second of which seemed extremely harsh.Hosts Colchester dominated the early exchanges but things turned against them when they lost their keeper and also went down to ten men midway through the first period.Dean Gerken was sent off for a professional foul after appearing to hold back Barnsley striker Kayode Odejayi inside the box.
Suddenly the U's were down to ten men and manager Geraint Williams was forced to send on teenager Mark Cousins as the substitute keeper for a surprise senior debut.Cousins' first job was to pick the ball out of the net as Brian Howard beat him from the spot.Yet battling Colchester, despite having to play with ten men for nearly three quarters of the game, were deservedly level just before the break.Teddy Sheringham, making his competitive home debut for the Essex club steered home a precise cross from George Elokobi from close range.
Three minutes into the second half and the home side went ahead when wing-back Rob Kozluk headed into his own net, while under pressure from Matthew Connolly following a corner by Johnnie Jackson.Barnley looked a beaten side when they too were reduced to ten men as skipper Paul Reid was dismissed for elbowing Sheringham in the 51st minute.The U's looked comfortable, but they didn't bargain for referee Mr Hall awarding a harsh penalty with five minutes remaining.
Jackson blocked a fierce shot from substitute Kim Christensen at point-blank range. The ball appeared to hit him at the top of his shoulder, but referee Mr Hall considered it to be a hand-ball and gave the Tykes a lifeline.Up stepped the reliable Howard to dispatch his second spot-kick of the afternoon, sending rookie keeper Cousins the wrong way.Both sides could have won it in a hectic finale. Barnsley's Hungarian international Istvan Ferenczi sent a free header wide, while Colchester skipper Karl Duguid fired wide from a great position.
Coventry 1 Hull City 1
Ten-man Hull City clung on to a 1-1 draw against
Coventry City at the Ricoh Arena.The Tigers had been one down after a Leon McKenzie second-half goal. But after equalising through Nick Barmby, Sam Ricketts was dismissed for a second bookable defence.Both sides started slowly in what was an even first half.
But the game came to life in the 20th minute when Coventry had a penalty claim. Michael Hughes crossed to Kevin Kyle, only for the striker to be wrestled to the ground by Damien Delaney. Coventry appealed, but referee Barry Knight waved away their appeals.Hull then had the best chance of the half ten minutes later. A good cross by Delaney found Barmby eight-yards out, but the veteran's strong header was saved well by goalkeeper Dimi Konstantopoulos.Coventry had won their last two matches because of strong second-half displays, and continued with the habit, taking a 50th minute lead.
Half-time substitute Stephen Hughes moved down the right and floated an inch-perfect cross to McKenzie at the back post, who headed the ball past Matt Duke from six-yards to score his second goal of the season.But Hull fought back and after defending well against Coventry pressure, they equalised through Barmby.Full-back Sam Ricketts sent a teasing cross to the front post, and Barmby made up for his earlier miss with a diving header. Konstantopoulos got a hand to it, but it wasn't enough to keep out the equaliser.
The Tigers hopes of pushing for a win took a blow in the 67th minute when Ricketts received a second booking. After picking up a card in the first half for a foul Kyle, Ricketts fouled Gray as he broke into the area.Hull went on the defensive, bringing on defenders Andrew Dawson and David Livermore for strikers Stuart Elliott and Barmby.Coventry put on a late surge, but despite several targets, they failed to test the Hull goal and the visitors hung on to earn their first point of the season.
Crystal Palace 2 Leicester City 2
Clinton Morrison struck deep into stoppage time to rescue a point for Peter Taylor's Eagles at Selhurst Park.A drab first half saw Stuart Green fire Palace in front on 33 minutes, but Leicester recovered with second-half goals from Dudley Campbell and Patrick Kisnorbo.However, Morrison made it 2-2 at the end with practically the last kick of the match.
An utterly miserable first 30 minutes eventually supplied some action.Mark Kennedy slipped the ball into the path of Morrison only for the Palace hitman to be pulled back by defender Kisnorbo on the edge of the box.Kisnorbo was booked for the offence but the Foxes were not going to get away with it.From the free-kick, Green struck it low through a flimsy wall and into the far corner of the net.
Five minutes later Palace could have doubled their lead. Morrison was again in the action with a neat flick to Matt Lawrence, but the midfielder's shot from 12 yards out was superbly tipped over by the flying Marton Fulop.Leicester didn't muster one attempt on the Palace goal in the first 45 minuites, but it all changed after the break.After 47 minuites Alan Sheehan fired over from Shaun Newton's cross and then midfielder James Wesolowski's effort was pushed over the bar by Julian Speroni for his first save.
The Foxes were on top and deservedly levelled on 64 minutes when skipper Stephen Clemence's inswinging corner was allowed to drop into the Palace goalmouth and Campbell forced it over the line as the home defence were unable to clear.Manager Peter Taylor made substitutions to pick up his ailing side as Shefki Kuqi and Dougie Freedman joined the strikeforce.The Eagles came close to restoring their lead when captain Mark Hudson had a free header which went straight into the arms of Fulop.
With three minutes left Leicester went in front with Clemence again providing the assist with a perfect corner.Kisnorbo took full advantage of some awful marking with a low downward header past Speroni.It looked all over for Palace until well into stoppage time when Freedman won a free-kick 20 yards out.The veteran striker took the kick himself and, after Leon Cort got a touch, it fell straight to Morrison who made no mistake from ten yards out to save a point for Palace.
After a lacklustre first half in which Kenwyne Jones put Southampton ahead, the Norwich City came back strongly in the last half hour with goals from Jamie Cureton to take the three points.The Canaries kicked off attacking the River End goal and in the seventh minute Gary Doherty rattled the Saints crossbar with a fierce left-foot volley from Simon Lappin's free-kick on the City right.David Marshall had no trouble with Jones' header and at the other end Kelvin Davis did well to cut out a low right-wing cross from Jon Otsemobor.Former Canary Youssef Safri was booked in the 20th minute for a late tackle, before Jhon Viafara fired into the sidenetting.
Jones had a shot cleared off the line by Adam Drury for a corner. Safri fired in the flag kick, Marshall appeared to be impeded and the ball fell kindly for Jones, who found the inside of Marshall's right-hand post with a low right-foot shot from eight yards.The goal lifted the Saints and they finished the half looking much stronger than the Canaries who at times lived dangerously in their own penalty area.Five minutes into the second half Marshall did well to save from Grzegorz Rasiak.
The City keeper then saved Andrew Surman's shot preventing it from crossing the line at the second attempt.This save paid off because a back pass from Chris Makin led to an indirect free-kick. This was laid off by substitute Mark Fotheringham to Cureton whose right-foot shot found the top right hand corner of Davis' goal.The Saints keeper then pulled off two acrobatic saves to deny Cureton and Fotheringham.
However, there was nothing he could do to keep our Cureton's winning goal.Lee Croft crossed from the right and Cureton controlled the ball on his chest before hitting a fierce right-foot volley from 12 yards. beating Davis as the keeper dived to his right.It was the Saints then who looked the most vulnerable as Norwich tried to kill the game with a third goal, but they had done enough to secure a victory
Sylvan Ebanks-Blake came off the bench to be Plymouth Argyle's goal hero for the second successive Saturday as the Pilgrims gave sick manager Ian Holloway a late tonic at Home Park.Holloway was taken to hospital in an ambulance two hours before kick-off after collapsing in pain caused by a kidney stone.
By the time former
Manchester United man Ebanks-Blake netted an 85th-minute penalty to level Alan Lee's early headed opener, Holloway was well on the way to recovery.Lee headed home Jon Walters' second-minute cross to give Ipswich the perfect start and their defence remained well on top of Argyle's efforts to draw level.It all started to unravel for the Blues in the 72nd minute when Dutch defender Fabian Wilnis was sent off by referee Mr Friend.
Wilnis was dismissed for an ugly lunge on David Norris and has now been sent off four times in his career and three of those times have been in matches against Argyle, including the corresponding Home Park fixture last season when Friend was also referee.It still looked more likely that disciplined Ipswich would keep their 100 per cent start to the Championship season, but, with five minutes left, the Pilgrims were thrown a lifeline. Friend pointed to the spot after David Wright had tangled with Argyle's Hungarian international left-winger Peter Halmosi.
It seemed a harsh decision but substitute Ebanks-Blake nervelessly stepped up to the plate and, despite having missed his previous penalty effort, drilled a low shot past goalkeeper Neil Alexander.Ipswich had commanded most of the first half, with Spaniard Pablo Counago proving especially difficult for the Pilgrims to pick up.In a game of few goalscoring opportunities for either side, the closest Argyle went to scoring from open play was when Rory Fallon drove a loose ball goalwards from 12 yards, only for Alexander to stop the attempt easily.
Goals from Steven MacLean and the outstanding Paul Parry gave Cardiff a comfortable victory at Loftus Road.QPR were booed off by their fans at full-time after another dismal home display - four days after their Carling Cup defeat to
Leyton Orient.
Cardiff opened the scoring on 29 minutes. The home defence failed to clear former R's star Trevor Sinclair's corner and MacLean turned the ball home from close range.The breakthrough came just seconds after Rangers goalkeeper Lee Camp had denied MacLean by sprinting from his line and blocking his shot after the striker was put through by Stephen McPhail's pass.
Up until then, both sides struggled to create clear-cut chances.QPR striker Danny Nardiello and Parry both fired wide, before Rangers unsuccessfully appealed for a penalty when Nardiello's drive struck defender Kevin McNaughton's arm.
MacLean's goal came just as Cardiff were beginning to dominate and he would have put them further ahead had he not headed Parry's cross wide of the target when it seemed easier to score.Less than a minute into the second half, Cardiff were very nearly punished for that miss. Martin Rowlands picked out Stefan Moore, whose shot from the edge of the area beat keeper Ross Turnbull but bounced back off the post.
Cardiff were given another scare when Turnbull had to rush from his line to block Nardiello's effort after the striker managed to get in front of Roger Johnson.Rangers were on top but just before the hour-mark McPhail crossed from the right and Parry headed in Cardiff's second goal.John Gregory's men never looked like recovering and substitute Nick Ward missed a golden chance by shooting tamely at Turnbull from eight yards out.Parry might have grabbed his second goal near the end but saw his header from MacLean's cross drift wide
Scunthorpe 2 Burnley 0
Scunthorpe celebrated their first home game at Championship level for 43 years with a well-earned victory.Second-half goals from strike Martin Paterson and midfield man Jim Goodwin did the trick after Burnley had lost the early stages.The visitors might have scored twice in the opening minutes, from set-pieces, with new signing David Unsworth each time going close.
But Scunthorpe gradually found their confidence to take charge of the game with Burnley keeper Gabor Kiraly having an unhappy afternoon.Twice he flapped at high balls into the box and each time he had to be rescued by his defence.
First Unsworth headed away a goal-bound effort from Ian Baraclough and then Clarke Carlisle also had to head over another goal-bound header from Iron skipper Andy Crosby.Just before the interval substitute Andy Butler almost gave the home side the lead with a header that looped just over.
It was Scunthorpe who took control at the start of the second half, going in front after 47 minutes when a quickly taken free-kick by Goodwin was flicked by Paul Hayes into the path of Paterson, who drilled a left-foot shot past Kiraly.Seventeen minutes later Scunthorpe struck again when Jonathan Forte sent Goodwin racing through the middle to beat Kiraly with a right-foot shot from the edge of the box.
Winger Kevan Hurst went close to making it 3-0 with a stinging 20-yard drive that flashed just wide.Burnley, opening day winners against West Brom, pressed strongly in the closing stages with Unsworth going close to a consolation goal with a header from a Robbie Blake corner that was well blocked away by goalkeeper Joe Murphy.The result gives Scunthorpe four points from the first six in their bid to prove the bookies wrong and survive at this level.
Lee Williamson's first Watford goal ensured Aidy Boothroyd's side maintained their excellent start to the campaign and underlined why many are tipping them to return to the Premier League at the first attempt.In a predictably tight contest between two of the three relegated sides, the Hornets took a grip on the game at the start of the second period and deserved to make the breakthrough.Yet the opening 45 minutes were curious because there was a feeling that the team which took the lead would go on and win comfortably, but neither side had sufficient control of the game to suggest they would be the ones to take the lead.
After the Blades had shaded the opening exchanges and the unmarked Leigh Bromby had headed straight at Mart Poom following a corner, Watford enjoyed the best spell of sustained attacking pressure in the first half, but neither Tommy Smith or Williamson were able to trouble Paddy Kenny with headers.But the Hornets upped the ante after the break and deservedly went in front after 56 minutes.
A good ball from Smith found Darius Henderson on the left and, after weighing up his options, the striker superbly cut the ball back to the edge of the area where Williamson met it with a first-time clipped half-volley that beat the diving Kenny at his near post.Having set up one goal, Henderson so nearly made it two minutes later when he powered a close-range header narrowly wide from a corner and then Marlon King unleashed a trademark long-range effort that wasn't too far away either.
But Watford really should have made the game safe in the 70th minute when Henderson got goal-side of a defender to latch onto Jobi McAnuff's pass inside and closed in on goal, but he placed his shot too close to Paddy Kenny.And, had it not been for a fantastic intervention from Smith moments later, the Hornets would have been made to rue that miss.The Watford winger appeared from nowhere to clear the ball from inside the near post after Poom had only been able to get a hand to a Chris Armstrong free-kick that went under the wall.
WBA 2 PNE 0
Ishmael Miller made a dream debut for
West Bromwich Albion as the first goal of his career helped them see off Preston at The Hawthorns.Miller, 20, who joined Albion on a season-long loan from
Manchester City on Thursday, set the seal on the win with a stunning 71st minute strike.
Veteran marksman Kevin Phillips had fired Albion ahead with his second goal of the campaign seven minutes earlier as Tony Mowbray's side picked up their first points of the season.But it was not the response that Preston boss Paul Simpson had wanted on the back of their Carling Cup defeat at the hands of
Morecambe.
Failure to take advantage of their early pressure proved to be costly and they are still looking for their first goal of the season in the league after last weekend's stalemate with Norwich City.Albion were fortunate to escape the opening exchanges unscathed as they struggled to keep Neil Mellor in check.Mellor blocked a third minute clearance from Dean Kiely that dropped just wide of the post.
Mellor then saw his seventh minute drive well held by Kiely as Albion struggled to get a foot-hold in the game.Brett Ormerod headed just wide after 18 minutes, before former Albion midfielder Darren Carter was denied a goalscoring return seven minutes later when Kiely dived bravely at his feet.
That escape finally saw Albion start to threaten themselves mainly through their Scotland international striker Craig Beattie.Beattie headed straight at Wayne Henderson in the 28th minute before the former Celtic marksman flashed a shot wide nine minutes later.Preston were then indebted to central defender Youl Mawene who deflected James Morrison's goalbound free-kick over the bar five minutes before half-time.
Albion carried their threat into the second half and, after Beattie had again seen his shot saved by Henderson, their pressure finally told.Morrison ghosted down the left-wing and crossed for Phillips who had the simple task of heading into an empty net from three yards for his second goal of the season.That effectively sealed Preston's fate and left the stage clear for Miller to steal the show.He bustled his way clear from the halfway line and charged past Mawene before flashing his shot past the stranded Henderson.
Stoke City 2 Charlton Athletic 1Stoke substitute Jon Parkin tucked away a deserved winner 12 minutes from time as Charlton's disappointing start to the season continued.Parkin had only been on the pitch for five minutes after replacing Ricardo Fuller when he collected a pass from Mamady Sidibe 12 yards from goal.The big striker turned past his marker and slotted a well-placed shot beyond Nicky Weaver.
Stoke had set off at a frenetic pace, forcing six corners in the first eight minutes and putting the visitors goal under severe pressure.Richard Cresswell made a bright start to his own debut, bringing a fine save from Weaver and causing all sorts of problems for Yassin Moutaouakil.And Stoke should have taken a 15 minute lead when Fuller and Sidibe combined to set up Rory Delap, who shot wide with the goal at his mercy.
Charlton almost made Stoke pay with their first sign of class four minutes later as Darren Ambrose shot narrowly wide from Jose Semedo's perfect pass.Stoke suffered a blow in the 33rd minute when injury-prone right back Stephen Wright, on loan from
Sunderland, was stretchered off and replaced by Lewis Buxton.
But City continued to dominate and Dominic Matteo headed wide when it looked easier to score from Liam Lawrence's 42nd minute corner.And Sidibe was guilty of an even more spectacular miss just before half-time when he miscued after a header from Ryan Shawcross was blocked into his path.It was no surprise when an unhappy Alan Pardew made a double substitution at half time, bringing on Jerome Thomas and former Stoke favourite Chris Iwelumo.
And Charlton took a 55th minute lead after sloppy play by Delap led to Shawcross fouling Reid on the edge of the box.Reid smashed a free-kick and his powerful shot took a deflection to leave Steve Simonsen helpless.But Stoke drew level less than two minutes later when Fuller spun past Madjid Bougherra and clattered an unstoppable 20-yard shot beyond Weaver.The high tempo of the game continued, but there were few chances before Parkin struck the decider.
Wolves' summer signing Freddy Eastwood grabbed an opener and set up a second as Sheffield Wednesday tumbled to defeat.The £1.5 million arrival from Southend fired Wolves into the lead early in the game, before Wade Small levelled matters, but Eastwood sunk the Owls, slipping the ball to Michael Kightly who hit the second on 48 minutes with substitute Jay Bothroyd grabbing the third in injury time.Wolves swept ahead in the 14th minute as Andy Keogh sped past full-back Tommy Spurr,cut in from the right flank and fired in a right-foot strike which was blocked by keeper Lee Grant's outstretched foot. The ball spun to the feet of the lurking Eastwood who finished clinically with a low drive from ten yards.
The misery continued for the Sheffield side four minutes later when striker Francis Jeffers, a £700,000 capture from Blackburn in the summer, limped off after 18th minute to be replaced by Leon Clarke.Wednesday carved out a chance in the 27th minute, winger Jermaine Johnson caused havoc on the right flank, before pumping the ball to the far post as Small headed over from the tightest of angles.
Wednesday were back on level terms in first-half injury-time, Glenn Whelan's corner was met by Johnson, his crisp strike was handled on the line by defender Michael Gray and Small hammered the loose ball into the net with Gray picking up a yellow card.Wolves grabbed a second three minutes after the restart , Eastwood threading the ball beyond the reach of a string of defenders to Kightly who swept the ball past Grant from 12 yards.
Wednesday were prized open again minutes later, Kightly doing the damage with a strong run down the right, before crossing to Stephen Ward whose close-range shot was deflected.Small was foiled by a last-ditch tackle by Kevin Foley and a Johnson cross hit the top of the bar and with minutes to go Wayne Hennessey clung onto his low drive as the ball almost crossed the line, before substitute Bothroyd added the third in injury time.
