Key events
Birmingham have beaten Preston 1-0 and now sit fifth-bottom; West Brom have a corner in the seventh of the five minutes of injury time. It comes to nothing, and that’s full time there. The Baggies, fifth, extend their lead over Norwich in sixth to four points and Coventry in seventh to eight. They’re looking good for the playoffs with six games to go.
Something has gone on at Bloomfield Road today.
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WHAT A GOAL! West Bromwich Albion 2-2 Watford (Furlong 90+1)
Furlong stretches out a leg to trap a poor pass then, from 22 yards out, near the right corner of the box, he turns, and leathers a glorious finish high inside the near post – via the keeper’s gloves! From 0-2 down, the Baggies are level, and is there a winner in this?!
GOAL! Stockport 1-0 AFC Wimbledon (Bailey 85)
Massive! If The Hatters hold on, they’ll be four clear of Mansfield at the top of League Two.
GOAL! Rotherham 2-1 Millwall (Wyke 86)
I mean, Rotherham are down, but they’re not mathematically down because Wyke’s header looks set to prolong their stay in the Champo until at least Friday, when they meet fellow strugglers Plymouth.
Elsewhere: Cambridge leads Wigan 3-1 so will move closer to League One safety; MK Dons have just gone 3-2 up against Notts, cementing themselves in the playoff positions; and Oxford are 4-0 up on Fleetwood.
GOAL! Sunderland 1-5 Blackburn Rovers 5 (Moran 81)
Before I can tell you about Sunderland’s consolation, Blackburn restore their four-goal advantage.
GOAL! Bolton 4-1 Reading (Collins 77)
A hat-trick for Aaron Collins and Bolton will be closing the gap to Derby and Portsmouth – who meet tomorrow – to three and eight points respectively.
GOAL! Rotherham 1-1 Millwall (Longman 78)
A tap-in following a corner, and if Rotherham doin’r score a winner, they’re down – bit even if they do, they’ll be 16 points off second-bottom.
“Re Stoke hitting the crossbar,” begins Josh Reynolds, “it was ex-Chelsea man Lewis Baker who took the kick. He has certainly been a very up and down player as a Potter but he seems to be in an up period at the moment.”
There’s a basic skill-level that every Premier League player seems to have now – and I’m sure that’s increasingly the case below, too. I feel like we might be losing our donkeys, and the game is the poorer for it.
Boro have scored again and lead Wednesday 2-0, while Spennymoor United now lead Farsley Celtic 2-1.
GOAL! Swansea City 0-1 QPR (Cook 77)
A corner, the ball drops, and Cook punches a side-foooted volley that gives the Rs the lead. A win here won’t alleviate their relegation worries, but it’ll give them a little cushion.
GOAL! Rotherham 1-0 Millwall (Revan 71)
Rotherham might go down if they lose here and 19 points off safety, they still probably will. But this is a lovely finish, driven low and hard from the right corner of the box inside the far bottom corner.
Eeesh, Asante is in … and Hoedt does superbly to slide in and avert the danger.
GOAL! West Brom 1-2 Watford (Asante 70)
A lash inside the near post, and game on!
GOAL! Coventry City 1-2 Cardiff City (Kitching own goal 67)
It’s a brace for Kitching! This time, someone – I’m not sure who – looks to stand up a cross, it clips Kitching and soars in! Can he make it a hat-trick?!
GOAL! Birmingham City 1-0 Preston (Stansfield 68)
Massive goal! Birmingham haven’t won since February, but a slip allows Stansfield to stride through and though the ball gets stuck in his feet, he recovers to slot what could be a massive goal – it might be enough to take Blues out of the bottom three.
GOAL! West Bromwich Albion 0-2 Watford (Rajovic 66)
This was coming, and Watford lead by two thanks to a finish slid in at the back post.
GOAL! Burton Albion 1-2 Barnsley (McAtee 64)
I didn’t get around to noting the Barnsley equaliser, but Carlisle will be relieved because a Burton win relegates them. Anyway, a counter and, with the Burton keeper stranded, McAtee punches home confidently from 20 yards.
Eesh, Dennis bundles along the by-line and hits the post for Watford against West Brom; Stoke have just had a header cleared off the line by Huddersfield.
GOAL! Plymouth Argyle 0-1 Bristol City (Wells 57)
Nakhi Wells, Nakhi Wells, Nakhi Wells nods in and Plymouth, fifth-bottom and just two points above the relegation zone, are in trouble.
GOAL! Sunderland 0-4 Blackburn Rovers (Dolan 54)
This could get messy. Tyrhys Dolan not only scores, but celebrates with a backflip.
I always respected him though, because him and Rooney would have Welbeck, who was living at home at the time, bring them the Ghanaian food his mum would make and, as someone married to a British-Ghanaian, I know exactly what a smart move this was.
“Your surprise at having to type ‘Tom Cleverley’s men’ was matched by a Manchester United Fan I was chatting to at work the other day, who just hadn’t seen a coaching career in Clevs’s future,” advises Mac Millings. “However, having seen him mature at Watford (where he spent the bulk of his playing career) as a leader on the pitch, then club captain, U-18 coach, and now interim head coach, I’m far from the only Hornet who has only been more and more impressed with him as time has gone by. It’s too early to say, but I’ll say it anyway: Tom Cleverley is going to have a good career in the dugout. (But yes, Antony T., only for a few more weeks at Watford…)”
I always wonder how his career might’ve goner had he not been pressed into service when not fully fit: he’d started the 11-12 season really well, was first choice, and then was rushed back after United had lost the derby 6-1 because Fergie knew they needed a result in the next game, Everton away. So Clevz played, United won, and he didn’t appear again until they lost at Wigan in the run-in.
GOAL! Bolton Wanderers 3-1 Reading (Bodvarsson 49)
Bolton attack down the right and when a low cross comes in, Bodvarsson adjusts feet well to punch home a close-range finish.
GOAL! Sunderland 0-3 Blackburn (Hedges 47)
Sunderland are a mess.
GOAL! West Bromwich Albion 0-1 Watford (Kayembe 40)
This is a lovely strike, Kayembe picking the ball up following a half-cleared corner, taking a touch and stroking a power-drive low inside the near post.
GOAL! Cheltenham Town 1-0 Exeter City (Williams 51)
Colossal goal for the Ladiescolleges – one that might take them out of the bottom three if they can hang on.
GREAT GOAL! Stoke City 1-1 Huddersfield Town (Hoever 50)
Hoever, right side of the box, steps inside and curls a beauty into the far top bin!
GOAL! Sutton United 2-0 Swindon Town (Bycroft own goal 48)
Sutton started the day second bottom, Town sixth-bottom – and this could be a fourth win on the spin for the Stockbrokers.
Half-time rave at The Hawthorns. Or maybe Kyren Wilson is in the crowd.
Little eyebrows.
“Words I never expected to type dept: ‘Tom Cleverley’s men’,” begins Antony T. “Don’t worry it’s Watford, you’ll only have to do it for a few more weeks.”
Badabing!
I’m going to get some water, then we’ll be back for what should be an edifyingly frantic set of second halves seconds half.
Half-time scores
Championship
Birmingham 0-0 Preston North End
Coventry 1-1 Cardiff
Middlesbrough 1-0 Sheff Wed
Plymouth 0-0 Bristol City
Rotherham 0-0 Millwall
Stoke 0-1 Huddersfield
Sunderland 0-2 Blackburn
Swansea 0-0 QPR
West Brom 0-0 Watford
**
League One
Blackpool 0-0 Wycombe
Bolton 2-1 Reading
Bristol Rovers 0-0 Shrewsbury
Burton Albion 1-0 Barnsley
Cambridge 1-0 Wigan
Carlisle 0-1 Lincoln
Charlton 0-0 Stevenage
Cheltenham 0-0 Exeter
Leyton Orient 0-2 Peterborough
Northampton 1-0 Port Vale
Oxford Utd 3-0 Fleetwood
**
League Two
Crewe 0-3 Forest Green
Harrogate 0-1 Gillingham
Morecambe 2-0 Barrow
Newport 0-2 Crawley
Notts County 1-1 MK Dons
Stockport 0-0 Wimbledon
Sutton 1-0 Swindon
Tranmere 1-1 Colchester
Walsall 1-0 Salford City
GOAL! Bolton 2-1 Reading (Collins pen 45+4)
Clear penno, calmly slotted.
“I can see by your confidence at 15.31pm that you haven’t been following Forest Green closely over the last couple of seasons,” chides Rory Beresford. “That said, Steve Cotterill has finally got them looking like an actual football team. Amazing what you can achieve by hiring a manager with a shred of management experience.”
I guess there’s a tension now: previously, clubs wanted the experience you mention, which is why you had your your Curbseses, your Allardyces and so on passing round club. Nowadays, though, clubs are looking for the Bayern youth coach, or someone doing a great job in Finland’s GM Vauxhall Conference who can come and build something for cheap.
A win for Huddersfield will take them out of the bottom three and ensure Stoke remain in the mix too.
LOVELY GOAL! Stoke City 0-1 Huddersfield Town (Radulovic 45)
Radulovic works space inside the box, eluding two challenges before planting a fine finish into the top corner.
GOAL! Bolton 1-1 Reading (Wing 40)
Trouble for Bolton, Wing feinting the shot, ducking outside his man, and leathering one from the edge that flies off a defender and in. Reading, struggling with financial irregularities and points deductions, are aggravating the third-placed promotion-chasers.
GOAL! Middlesbrough 1-0 Sheffield Wednesday (Ihiekwe own goal 41)
A corner, some mess, and Boro, still not out of the playoff conversation, are in front.
Stoke have just hit the bar against Huddersfield, a free0kick from far thudding the bar. Sorry to whoever took it because they earned some flowers, but by way of exculpation my wife has just come in and noted that I’ve three blaring screens, blaming ADHD not the rigours of watching football for a living.
GOAL! Burton Albion 1-0 Barnsley (Powell 37)
Interesting! Barnsley are settled in fifth in League 1, seven points above Lincoln, whereas Burton are in danger, five places off the bottom and two points away from the relegation zone.
GOAL! Sunderland 0-2 Blackburn Rovers (Szmodics 36)
Cut-back from the by-line and Szmodics now has 29 goals this season.
GOAL! Oxford United 2-0 Fleetwood Town (Brannagan 14)
But Fleetwood are making this a game, just cracking the bar with a brutal free-kick.
GOAL! Coventry City 1-1 Cardiff City (Kitching own goal 29)
I think we’ll get to see what happened as we were shown the first goal, but not as yet.
Scuffle at The Hawthorns, West Brom’s Furlong shoving Bayo in the phizog, to the intense aggravation of Emmanuel Dennis, who is sad.
GOAL! Sunderland 0-1 Blackburn Robers (Szmodics 29)
It’s a good finish this, snapped across the keeper after a darting run to collect a reverse-pass into the box. Sunderland just want this season to end.
GOAL! Crewe Alexandra 0-3 Forest Green Rovers (Robson 28)
Rovers, currently bottom of League Two but not adrift – they’re four points from safety – are going to beat the side currently ensconced in sixth.
GOAL! Newport County 0-2 Crawley Town (Darcy 26)
It’s looking good for the Red Devils.