Championship
With two of the top three out of action due to the FA Cup, Bournemouth had the opportunity to go clear at the top of the Championship, but they couldn’t take advantage after being held to a 1-1 draw by Huddersfield at Dean Court. Yann Kermorgant gave the Cherries the lead in the first half before James Vaughan equalised to salvage a point, which still takes Eddie Howe’s men to first place on goal difference.
Beneath them, Norwich slid into the play-off spots with a solid 2-0 victory over Wolves, the goals coming from Bradley Johnson and Lewis Grabban, while Ipswich moved within two points of the automatic promotion places after a Daryl Murphy brace gave them a 2-1 win over Fulham at Craven Cottage.
A frankly remarkable affair took place at Blackpool, the division’s bottom side facing Nottingham Forest on a pitch that more resembled a Lancashire allotment than a field on which to play football. The hosts took a first-half lead through Gary Madine, an advantage doubled after 66 minutes by Andrea Orlandi, but that only sparked 12 minutes of madness in which five goals were scored and Blackpool’s Tom Aldred was sent off. The drama was nowhere near over at that point though, as after Darren O’Dea was taken off on a stretcher thus reducing Blackpool to nine, Forest took the lead in the 94th minute through Chris Burke … only for David Ferguson to head home another equaliser in the 97th.
Almost as dramatic was the game at the Macron Stadium, in which Watford beat Bolton 4-3, the hosts having equalised through the youngster Zach Clough in the 85th minute, only for Troy Deeney to secure a remarkable three points for the Hornets in injury time.
Leeds moved into the top half of the table after an Alex Mowatt free-kick gave them a 1-0 victory over Millwall, Charlton earned a heartening three points with an excellent 3-0 victory over promotion contenders Brentford, while the less said about Sheffield Wednesday and Brighton’s 0-0 draw at Hillsborough, the better.
League One
It was a bad day for the top teams in League One, with the three sides occupying the first three spots all losing. Bristol City were felled 3-1 at home by Sheffield United, who themselves moved up to fifth place, Swindon were soundly beaten 3-1 by Scunthorpe, while MK Dons slumped to a 4-2 defeat at Gillingham. Oldham’s grip on a play-off spot was loosened slightly after a surprise 1-0 defeat at home to Colchester, but the three points wasn’t enough to take the strugglers out of the bottom four.
Elsewhere towards the foot of the table, Yeovil fell to last spot after they were beaten 3-0 by Doncaster, while a quite remarkable encounter at Chesterfield saw previous bottom-dwellers Leyton Orient snag a 3-2 victory, thanks to a goal in the 101st (one-hundred-and-first) minute by Dean Cox.
Barnsley sacked manager Danny Wilson this week, but it didn’t have the desired effect in the first game after the axe fell, as the managerless Tykes were absolutely spanked 5-1 by Crawley Town, for whom Izale McLeod hit a hat-trick.
League Two
Things didn’t exactly go to plan for Northampton Town, who organised a ‘John-Joe O’Toole Day’ in celebration of their cult-figure midfielder, with fans travelling to their clash with Mansfield wearing long hair wigs and headbands. However, the festivities were cut a little short after O’Toole was sent off just 36 minutes into the game for taking a swing at the Mansfield defender Ritchie Sutton. In better news, a late Marc Richards penalty secured a 1-1 draw for the Cobblers, after Vadaine Oliver had given Mansfield the lead.
At the top of the table, Burton and Shrewsbury maintained an almost freakish commitment to emulating each other, as the sides level on points at the division’s summit recorded identical 2-0 victories, over Oxford United and AFC Wimbledon respectively. Wycombe, however, lost ground on the leaders after a Yan Klukowski double secured a 2-1 win fort Newport County.
And at the other end, York City clambered out of the relegation zone, leapfrogging Tranmere after a 2-0 victory over the very same side, while a 2-1 home defeat to Bury saw Cheltenham drop into the bottom two. There they join Hartlepool, who are now seven points from safety following their 3-1 home loss to Stevenage.
