It’s all getting a bit serious now as one or two teams have gone into panic mode at the bottom of the table with Bristol Rovers sacking Paul Tisdale after less than three months in charge, and Northampton Town have parted company with Keith Curle who has overseen just 6 wins that reaped 20 goals in the 26 league games played so far, and just one goal scored in the last 7 matches. Curle was appointed in 2018 and steered the Cobblers into League 1 winning the League 2 Playoff Final.Apologies for the delay in publishing this but we wanted to include the results of Sundays games.
AFCW v Rochdale
Match postponed because of a frozen pitch.
Blackpool v Peterborough
This game was called off on Friday afternoon with the pitch frozen.
Charlton 2 Gillingham 3
It took the Gills just 30 seconds to open their account, a hopeful punt forward was not dealt with and Olly Lee needed no more invites and curled a shot into the back of the net from the edge of the box. Charlton drew level when the Gills defence also messed up, O’Keefe slipped allowing Lam Millar to put it on a plate for Chuks Aneke. Before the break Connor Ogilvie scored the goal of the day hitting a stunning 25 yard volley to put Gillingham back in front. In the second half recent signing Jayden Stockley made the game all square heading home an Andrew Shinnie cross. Both teams went in search of the winner and tempers started to fray and Chuks Aneke was carded twice in quick succession as he failed to control his frustration. With time running out the Gills took advantage of their superior numbers and Gills skipper Kyle Dempsey weaved through the Charlton defence to hit home the deciding goal.
Bristol Rovers v Swindon
Rovers sacked Paul Tisdale midweek and in temporary charge is Tommy Widdrington who is normally the Head of Recruitment, but it makes no difference as this was called off following a pitch inspection.
Crewe v Portsmouth
Unfortunately, this game was also called off on Friday with the pitch unlikely to thaw out.
Northampton 0 Burton Albion 2
The Cobblers sacked Keith Curle just an hour after Bristol Rovers parted company with Paul Tisdale and Under 18’s coach Jon Brady has been placed in caretaker charge, but it was zero change of luck for Northampton as they went down 2-0 at home to fellow strugglers Burton Albion who it has to be said have found a bit of form which is bad news for teams around them. It was a happy return to Sixfields for Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink who was the Cobblers boss during the 2017/18 season as both sides had opportunities, and it took Albion until the 77th minute to break the deadlock. Home keeper Jon Mitchell strangely picked up a back pass and was penalised and Michael Bostwick hammered it home after a layoff by Sean Clare from the resulting freekick. The Cobblers desperate to rescue something from the game committed men forward and in injury time were caught out as Ryan Edwards raced clear and slotted home. This result leaves the bottom seven clubs separated by just 4 points.
Shrewsbury v Ipswich
Another game that bit the dust and was called off late.
Sunderland 4 Doncaster 1
Doncasterlona were well and truly mauled by the Black Cats with Charlie Wyke scoring all four goals, even more incredibly Aiden McGeady created all four, but that wasn’t the whole story. Lee Burge in goal for Sunderland was also a headline maker. The Donny consolation goal came after a Taylor Richards shot rebounded back off the post and Burge somehow helped it over the line. Burge later made amends as Rovers penalty woes returned and thwarted any sort of revival as he saved two penalties, one from Jon Taylor and the other from Jason Lokilo. The Black Cats are now up into the top six with Charlton losing at home.
Plymouth 1 Fleetwood 0
Argyle extended their unbeaten run to eight games with a 1-0 win and goal coming from the unfortunate boot of Harrison Holgate who put into his own net whilst under pressure from Niall Ennis. Not much else to say other than Plymouth move up to 9th just three points outside the playoffs and Fleetwood drop two places after being leapfrogged by Gillingham and the Dons.
Lincoln 2 Accrington Stanley 2
Originally scheduled for Saturday, this was put back 24 hours in an attempt to get the fixture played and it proved a tough examination for the league leading Imps. Dion Charles put Stanley in front after just 6 minutes and it took Lincoln until early in the second half to restore parity through Man City loanee Morgan Rogers. With just 6 minutes left in the game Tom Hopper fired the hosts in front and then the Imps tried to shut the game down but up stepped Charles again to deservedly give Accy a share of the spoils.
Oxford 2 Wigan 1
Originally scheduled for Saturday, both teams and the EFL agreed a 24 hour postponement to allow the pitch to thaw out with better weather forecasted. Well the game got underway, but it looked at one stage like it wouldn’t get completed as a floodlight failure and a fire broke out during the half time interval resulting in the stadium having to be abandoned. The fire brigade attended, and an emergency electrician and quickly rectified matters and the second half got underway some 45 minutes late. Once play resumed it was Wigan who took an unlikely lead through Callum Lang but goals from Sam Winnall and a late winner by Elliot Moore gave the U’s victory in an eventful evening at the Kassam and moved them up to 7th place.
