League One Weekend Review - 25th February

After another busy weekend of action in NPower League One last weekend, Henry Hudson brings us his regular review of the matches that took place and tells us who is in form and who isn't.....

Here we are again, another weekend of football over, another set of thoughts to ponder over and here is what I think of it all.  This week of League 1 action may not have produced as many shocks as previous weeks but there were certainly lots of goals to see.

It may not have been the most entertaining match of the weekend but it was certainly the most important. A fixture that many would believe should be played at a higher level then League One – the Steel City Derby, contested by the two Sheffield clubs, Wednesday and United.  The clash at Bramall Lane earlier in the season finished 2-2 so there were still bragging rights at stake as well as three points.

Gary Megson was the manager celebrating at the end of this match as they overcame the Blades 1-0 in a very tight encounter.  Sheffield Wednesday had been in appalling in recent games, a home defeat to Stevenage as well as a loss at lowly Chesterfield putting Gary Megson under pressure from the fans.  Many felt that the board as well as his peers maybe losing faith in his ability yet how just a single victory can change things.

Beating their bitter rivals has pleased the fans who will now have a renewed belief in Megson.  As for Sheffield United their good form comes to an end and as much as their fans will be disappointed, I think they will accept that it was just one for those days and move on to their next game.  United still lie two points ahead of Wednesday with two games in hand.

Wycombe produced the result of the weekend as they demolished Hartlepool 5-0.  It was a commanding display as they made Hartlepool look like the team that were struggling near the foot of the League rather than themselves.  After receiving so much criticism in the past, even his most passionate critic would have to admit that Gary Waddock got the tactics spot on, he did not let them get complacent at 1-0 or even 2-0 like they had in the past.

As for Hartlepool, their fans were extremely humiliated and even though they have enough points to avoid late season relegation battle, their fans will still be angry that they were defeated so convincingly by a team struggling near the bottom of the League and will now expect a response when they travel to Bury in midweek.

Chris Powell's Charlton continue to ease towards the Championship

League leaders Charlton enjoyed a comfortable victory over this seasons dark horses Stevenage.  It is the second loss on the spin for Stevenage, which does beg the question, is their promotion bid just a good bit of form?  Will the teams just below them such as Carlisle leap ahead of them?  Will their experience in this League help others to climb ahead of the very inexperienced Stevenage?  We should not get ahead of ourselves, even if they do wilt in the coming months and finish in midtable they can still consider this season as a triumph, after all they are a newly promoted  and the other side’s that got promoted from League 2 last season have not settled in as well as they have.

Stevenage deserve lots of credit but if we are focusing on the coming weeks then they will want to turn around the poor from starting when they host Huddersfield in midweek.  As for Charlton they can almost touch the Championship now after yet another win for the team that have really set the bar this season.  Surely it is too late for Huddersfield and the Sheffield clubs to catch them?

Despite leading the League by ten points, prior to the midweek games, Chris Powell will not allow complacency to creep into his team he knows the League is not won yet, he will make the Charlton lads play to the standard they have played all season until they have mathematically confirmed a return to the Npower Championship.  Stevenage fall out of the playoff places, however they are only one point behind Carlisle and they have a game in hand on Greg Abbott’s men.

Carlisle only just sneaked ahead of Stevenage in the League as they edged Yeovil Town.  Yeovil thought they had snatched a draw as Dominic Blizzard scored late on yet Carlisle snatched a last minute winner to send the west-country men home with no points.  Although the Yeovil fans will be incredibly frustrated that their team could not hold out for at least a point (especially the ones that travelled the long distance to see them), the supporters can see that the performances are improving under new manager Gary Johnson and they did not succumb to the promotion chasing team and can definitely take some positives out of this defeat.  As for Carlisle, their fans will remember this match for the drama; however they will know that this was not their side’s best display and will expect a more solid performance in the next game.

Simon Grayson took charge of his first game as Huddersfield Manager on Saturday

Simon Grayson took charge of Huddersfield Town for the first time today as they took on Exeter City at the Galpharm.  Huddersfield ran out easy winners, a good start for the new gaffer as he got to see a lovely goal by Jordan Rhodes to finish off the scoring.  Exeter will be disappointed that they could not really test Huddersfield as they never really got themselves into the game.

MK Dons moved within four points of the automatic promotion places after a valuable win at Bournemouth.  This win reminded everyone that the race for the second automatic promotion place is well and truly a four horse race, not just three.  Huddersfield, Wednesday and United would be wise to watch their backs for the last months of the season. As for Bournemouth, they remain uninspiring and their weak performances of late will be a great cause of concern for their supporters.  Lee Bradbury has to get the players performing again or could soon face a fate that every manager fears.

Preston North End’s issue with scoring goals continued at the weekend as they were held by Walsall. Graham Westley’s brand of football is starting to be disliked by Preston fans, yet another match where they have struggled in front of goal.  They have no proven goal scorer and, therefore, cannot win matches; Westley has not solved the problems from Phil Brown’s reign so the progress of the team seems impossible at the moment.  A decent point for Walsall, they will be happy with that as they battle the drop to League 2.

Tranmere’s abysmal run of form continued as they were beaten again, this time a narrow loss at Oldham.  More Tranmere fans are now calling for the sacking of gaffer Les Parry, every game he seems to get the tactics wrong and seemingly just about all the fans have lost their patience.  Oldham continue their campaign knowing they will be in midtable, their fans will be pleased with this display , a clean sheet as well as three points to take away from this potentially difficult encounter.  Rovers are now just two points above the drop zone.

Keith Curle's Notts County are one of the in-form teams in League One

Scunthorpe and Brentford were involved in a stalemate as either team could have snatched it but on reflection both gaffers would be content with the result.  Brentford did not exactly approve of the poor pitch and although they had their chances they can be happy with their display.  Scunthorpe were playing, what is statistically, a superior side so will also be thankful for a point.  Now Scunny are only in the drop zone on goal difference.

Notts County continued their surge towards the playoff places as they narrowly beat lowly Chesterfield.  Iit was a late goal that sealed a second successive victory for new gaffer Keith Curle. The new man has lifted the dressing room and now you would not bet against them reaching the playoffs.  Chesterfield will feel disappointed that they could not hold their hosts to a point; they played well enough to earn that single point.  Chesterfield are now four points off safety and moved back to the foot of the League.

Two midtable sides, Bury and Leyton Orient slugged out a score draw.  Bury saved a point with a second half goal but will feel that, with home advantage, they should be winning these kinds of games and Leyton Orient will be reasonably content with a point.

The final game of the weekend was a contender for the most tedious match of the season; even the Colchester fans thought the match was boring.  However, a fantastic point and clean sheet for Rochdale who will be more optimistic of League 1 survival now.  Colchester will perhaps accept that they just were not at it in that game and will also be looking forward to their midweek game at Oldham.

As you read this the midweek games previously mentioned would have been played and you can expect a review of them aswell.  Thank you for reading and I hope you enjoyed it.