While we were up at Turf Moor playing Burnley on FA Cup duty some of our League 1 rivals knocked out in earlier rounds were back to the bread and butter of league football in order to try and catch up on lost fixtures.
So not wanting to take our eyes of the ball, as usual below is a roundup of the League 1 results as teams stake a claim in the promotion places, with others doing their best not to get sucked into the race to beat the drop.
The midweek games versus Fleetwood Town & Ipswich Town, Oxford United & Doncaster Rovers, and AFCW & Wigan Athletic were all called off with positive tests for Covid 19 in one or both training camps.
Charlton 0 Accrington 2
These two met on Friday night at the Valley and once again it was Stanley who defied the bookies odds with a brace from Colby Bishop with a goal in each half. His first was of Charlton’s own making, a poor defensive back header from the Athletics skipper Jason Pearce looped over keeper Amos and Bishop had the simplest task to nod home, the second with 20 minutes to go when Colby latched onto a through ball and eased it past Amos. Charlton had the bulk of the shots, Forster-Caskey and Gilbey coming the closest, but this defeat means they drop outside the top six with no win in four games. Stanley for the first time this season move up to the automatic placings and if they win their games in hand could go top of the table.
On Saturday, the following games were called off, once again Covid 19 being the culprit, Sunderland versus Fleetwood Town, and Wigan Athletic versus Hull City.
Lincoln 1 Peterborough 1
In the early kick off Posh dominated the proceedings and deservedly took the lead, but there was a touch of fortune about it. A Clarke-Harris shot was cleared off the line, but it ricocheted off the back of defender TJ Eyoma and bounced into the back of the net. The Imps drew level just 4 minutes into the second half with an equally untidy goal, Beevers failed to clear a corner and Tony Scully didn’t need a second invitation to stroke it into the back of the net. With 30 minutes remaining Lincoln blew the chance to take the points, Nathan Thompson charging down a shot had the ball hit his arm and he was given his marching orders for a second yellow card, the 9th red of his career. Up stepped Jorge Grant to take the penalty, but he blasted it wide and both teams had to settle for a point.
Gillingham 0 Burton Albion 1
If I can give you one piece of advice if you like a footy bet, is avoid a Gillingham game like the plaque as once again they confounded the pundits and lost at home to struggling Burton who had Jimmy Floyd-Hasselbaink in charge for the first time. Debutant Hayden Carter on loan from Blackburn just two days ago scored the only goal of the game redirecting a Joe Powell freekick into the back of the net. That’s the first clean sheet for Burton in 29 league games, a run that stretched all the way back to a 0-0 draw with Gillingham last February.
Rochdale 3 Crewe 3
There is an old football saying, “It was a game of two halves”, and this really was. With Crewe apparently out of sight by half time with some great counter attacking play and winning 3-0 with a brace from Oliver Finney either side of an Owen Dale goal. But it was all Dale in the second half as they fought a rousing second half comeback to take a share of the spoils. Adrian Morley sparked the comeback minutes into the second half, then a brace from Matty Lund on the hour and six minutes from time, the latter being smashed into the net and followed by wild celebrations.
Ipswich 2 Swindon 3
With Ipswich hoping to climb into the top 6 and Swindon hoping to put some points on the board to try and get out of the bottom 4 there was a lot at stake in this game, so it was probably somewhat of a shock when Swindon took the lead through midfielder Diallang Jaiyesimi after just 16 minutes converting a header from a Thompson cross. James Norwood who came on at half time made it all square with a bit of luck on his side as the ball struck him and into the net. Everything seemed set for Ipswich to then gain the upper hand, but two goals in 7 minutes sunk the Tractor Boys with a Scott Twine thunderbolt from 30 yards and another from the impressive Jaiyesimi. Alan Judge pulled one back for Ipswich with a handful of minutes remaining, but Swindon hung on to take the points.
Sunderland 1 Hull 1
With the original opponents of these two laid up in the scheduled games, both teams approached the EFL to get this game on to try and catch up on cancelled fixtures, and surprisingly the EFL sanctioned it and Sky TV even sending their cameras up and making it a night game giving both clubs a share of the TV revenue which I’m sure is most welcome. Hull took the lead after 13 minutes after a neatly worked free kick routine that saw Reece Burke tap home from close range. Sunderland equalised with a set piece of their own, Aiden McGeady heading home a Jack Diamond delivery into the roof of the net, and that’s the way it stayed and was probably the fairest result, but it will do little towards both teams promotion hopes, least of all the Black Cats.
