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Good Friday delivered yet another stunning afternoon of fixtures, particularly at the top of the League One ladder as Brentford confirmed their return to the second tier of English football for the first time in twenty-one years.
The games at Griffin Park and the thriller between promoted club, Wolves and Rotherham who are hoping to follow in their footsteps proved that even outside of the Premier League, English football can serve up dramatic circumstances.
After the top of the table clash in the Premier League between Liverpool and Manchester City and all of the underlying Hillsborough tributes that the week would inevitably bring, it set the bar drastically high for the Football League to top. However, right from the ten-minute delay at Molineux, there was a sense that a special day was about to transpire in the third tier of English football.
Brentford, for all of their shortcomings in the past couple of years via the play-off system, were looking to join Wolverhampton Wanderers in party mode as Wolves secured an immediate return to the Championship last week.
After Doncaster Rovers delivered a crushing blow last season and replacing them on the final day in the final automatic promotion place with a winning goal via a counter attack from a Brentford penalty, which was missed from Marcello Trotta.
The penalty spot was even hit and miss for The Bees on Friday, with Alan Judge opening the scoring on the half hour mark against Simon Grayson’s Preston North End who are also vying for a return after a three-year absence from the second tier of English football. Judge was stumped by the greasy Griffin Park turf in the second half which heaped a degree of pressure on the London club.
Meanwhile, Wolves and Rotherham were playing out an instant classic at Molineux. Wolves, on 93 points going into the game were already assured of a return to the Championship and were in party mode. In a ten-goal game, 21-year old Nouha Dicko and Kieran Agard exchanged hat-tricks for the two clubs.
That left Rotherham level with two minutes left on the clock, needing one more goal to halt Brentford’s promotion party which was ongoing some two hours down the road in a pitch invasion at Griffin Park following Brentford’s 1-0 home victory against Preston.
The celebrations were almost premature after Brentford had secured one of three permutations themselves. Crawley Town also aided The Bees’ promotion bid by toppling the early league leaders Leyton Orient with a second half winner courtesy of Andrew Drury in a 2-1 win for Crawley over the Orient who could’ve fallen to fourth place had Rotherham snatched a late winner.
However, Rotherham suffered a capitulation in injury time at the death, conceding through Sam Ricketts and Kevin McDonald goals in the six added minutes at the home of the presumed incumbent League One champions.
Looking towards the tables in the Football League, whilst the automatic promotion places may be segregated from the play-offs in the top two divisions, the last remaining play-off places and especially the relegation zone could hardly be closer with seven clubs in the hunt for safety in the Championship.
With the likes of Birmingham, Doncaster, Charlton and Blackpool plummeting in terms of their form it gives a free-for-all sense in terms of the three unenviable slots which demote clubs to the third tier of English football. Speaking of free-for-all, though, the bottom eight in League One have seemingly been interchangeable in the past month or so.
Notts County, for instance, have bobbed above the relegation zone for air at points but keep being dragged down by the likes of Crewe, Carlisle and Shrewsbury whilst Stevenage seems the only club in the division condemned to relegation. Meanwhile, in League Two, Northampton continue to fight tooth and nail to remain safe.
Realistically, any team from 16th down to 23rd could be the unfortunate team to join Torquay who are seemingly destined for the drop back down into the ignominy of non-league football.
These tight divisions only serve to magnify the clashes between Wycombe and Northampton which was played out to a desperate 1-1 draw on Good Friday, whether they’re at the bottom of League Two or the top of the Championship.
In recent years, aside from the aforementioned promotion battle in League One last year which pitted Doncaster Rovers and Brentford on the final day, Watford’s semi-final second leg clash with Leicester City at Vicarage Road was almost a mirror image of Brentford’s disappointment.
After missing a penalty in the final minute which would’ve effectively sent Leicester into the play-off final with Crystal Palace, Anthony Knockaert’s Leicester fell foul to a swift breakaway as Troy Deeney turned the tie on its head as Watford won the game 3-2 on aggregate with the 97th minute goal. This was also coupled with Watford’s woes as they were replaced with Hull City on the final day in the same season’s automatic promotion places.
Needing to match Hull’s result against already-champions Cardiff City, Watford hosted Leeds United. Almen Abdi levelled the tie up at half-time at home to the Yorkshire club and were left in second place as Hull were being held at home to Cardiff 0-0.
Fraizer Campbell soon increased Watford’s chances of promotion, scoring for Cardiff against Hull, his former club, as the Humberside club looked down and out in terms of automatic promotion. However, as Watford pushed desperately for a second goal which would all but confirm their automatic Premier League status for the following season, Nick Proschwitz and Paul McShane overturned the game on its head at the KC Stadium which left Watford in desperate need for a goal to gain promotion.
Stand-in teenage goalkeeper Jack Bonham, at the age of 19, was at fault for Leeds’ 90th minute goal courtesy of Ross McCormack. Watford either needed to instantly hit back or hope Cardiff did them a favour, with Nicky Maynard levelling the Welsh side with Hull with a 95th minute penalty.
As Hull players such as Alex Bruce stood watching the television, they saw Watford throw the kitchen sink at Leeds United at Vicarage Road. They couldn’t find a goal and the rest is history as Hull were promoted, alongside Cardiff City and Crystal Palace, who beat a deflated Watford in the play-off final at Wembley.
Conversely, the Premier League as had its moments of drama too. From the great escapes of West Ham in 2007 and Fulham in 2008—the 2004/05 relegation battle was the most dramatic to date as the likes of Norwich, Crystal Palace, West Brom and Southampton battled for the final safety spot in the division.
West Brom started the day at the bottom of the table, two points adrift of Norwich whilst Southampton and Palace were just a point off safety. However, West Brom’s 2-0 win over Portsmouth combined with Norwich’s despairing 6-0 thrashing at Craven Cottage, Southampton’s loss at home to Manchester United and Crystal Palace’s inability to beat Charlton saw West Brom escape relegation, becoming the only club to survive relegation after being bottom on Christmas Day.
Of course, the Premier League saved their most dramatic moment to crown Manchester City the Premier League champions in May 2012 through Sergio Aguero’s last minute winner which helped Manchester City overcome their successful neighbours, beating QPR 3-2 and in the process matching fellow title chasers Manchester United’s 1-0 win away at Sunderland.
Jake Doyle
follow me on twitter @JakeDoyle93
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