The Round Ball Game

[cloughie]

I assume that gives you some pleasure, cloughie...and Alison too I imagine! Lat less!

Certainly more pleasure than this afternoon's result at Deepdale - at least we are still top six.

[Lat-Literal]

Latest forum results

Thursday,Europa League

FC Midtjylland 2 Manchester United 1 Poor display in a competition they may have to win to secure Champions League football next season
FC Augsburg 0 Liverpool 0 Dour game apparently

Friday,League game

Partick Thistle v Aberdeen was postponed

Today,FA Cup 5th round

Arsenal 0 Hull City 0 Gunners dominated but were up against an inspired keeper
Bournemouth 0 Everton 2 Cherries had chances and had a penalty saved

FA Vase,6th round

Hereford 3 Camberley Town 2 After extra time,2-2 @ 90 mins

League games

Cardiff City 4 Brighton 1 Setback after a recent upturn in form,conceded 3 in the 1st 30 mins
Preston 1 Sheffield Wednesday 0 Red card on 66 mins,conceded on 73 mins,remain in the top 6
Barnet 1 Wimbledon 2 Held on after conceding an 87th min goal at 2-0
Bristol Rovers 2 Morecambe 1 Up to 6th,scored both goals in the last 20 mins
Cambridge United 3 York City 1 Well beaten after recent good run,remain outside the bottom 2
Luton Town 2 Hartlepool United 1 Still in the game until conceding a late 2nd
Welling 0 Wrexham 2 Both goals in the 1st half,now just outside the play off places
Brackley Town 0 Stockport County 1 Scored just before half time,mid table
Chelmsford City 2 Margate 3 Took an early lead but were 1-2 down at half time,got back level just after the break but let it slip on 68 mins
Truro City 1 Ebbsfleet 1 Took the lead just after the break but were pegged back ,good point v the league leaders
Celtic 3 Inverness Caledonian Thistle 0 Had chances in the 1st half before conceding 3 after the break
St Mirren 1 Dumbarton 0 Scored midway through the 2nd half,now 10 points clear of the bottom 2
East Stirlingshire 0 Annan Athletic 1 Made it difficult for the promotion chasers,conceded in the 2nd half


No games for Coventry,Leicester,Newcastle and Southampton
Crystal Palace and Chelsea play tomorrow,Manchester United on Monday

Many thanks Rob. I am not surprised by the York result. Two wins in succession after a dismal run, largely achieved because of a player on loan, were not enough to encourage great optimism. It's position 22nd as you say but several of the other teams at the bottom have games in hand. I opted not to comment on Arsenal's win against Leicester last week for diplomatic reasons - ie Leicester fans on the forum - and also because they are for most of us our first choice to win the league if it isn't one of our teams that does so. In the case of Arsenal, there is also no point in getting carried away because of the inevitable inconsistency - who could forget the night at Southampton? - and the fact that a North London neighbour is looking impressive! An additional cup match at Hull is not especially helpful. I think I'm right in saying that Arsenal, Tottenham and Man City all have a potential maximum of well over 20 games to play in the rest of the season - league/cups - whereas Leicester have a maximum of 12. The Foxes could win the Premier League yet!

For the record, I might comment on my need to have two teams! I first went to Highbury with my father in 1971 which means that I am in my 45th year as a Gunner. After 1974, there were eight years of hiatus in terms of attending football on account of various school commitments and to some extent the hooliganism. I still followed it all very closely.

I saw York City a lot from 1982 so I have been supporting them for 34 years. I was then very regular at Arsenal from the late 1980s until the mid 2000s and also attended York's matches in London. There have been a lot of other bits and pieces. When I lived in the North, I managed to visit Hull, Sheffield Wednesday, Man United and Middlesborough. I've been to many London grounds including Millwall and Charlton to which there are family links. I've also seen Marseille, AC Milan and Ajax when on holiday and attended a Euro match in Braga. But I won't be asking for the inclusion of Marseille, my favourite non-British team, or any of the others to be included in your list. Actually if I had to pick a top flight North of England club it would be Newcastle, not that I have been to football there, also because of family connections. Luckily, you are including those already for Anton!

[johncorrigan]

Thanks Rob...10 points above the play-offs and 7 points below the play-offs - don't know which way to look.
On another issue, on this week's R4 'News Quiz' a great clipping about a Cleveland teenager who has been banned for 16 reasons including wearing a cowboy hat during a game and giving birth to the ball after scoring. Thought it was a bit of a laugh...made me think Gazza in his pomp.

http://indy100.independent.co.uk/article/a-teenager-was-banned-from-his-football-league-for-a-quite-incredible-list-of-reasons--Wky7bxJg0x

[EdgeleyRob]

Tottenham 0 Crystal Palace 1 Scored just before half time and rode their luck a bit,welcome boost after a poor league run.
Chelsea 5 visitors 1

[EdgeleyRob]

Midweek results

Arsenal 0 Barcelona 2 Couple of lapses of concentration led to the goals

League

Partick Thistle 2 St Johnstone 0 Both goals in the last 18 mins,up to 8th
Arbroath 0 East Stirlingshire 0 Remain bottom of the league
Bristol City 0 Brighton 4 Promotion push back on track,3 points off top spot
Sheffield Wednesday 1 QPR 1 Points dropped after missing a penalty,still in the top 6
Wimbledon 1 Carlisle United 0 Win takes Dons into the play off spots
York City 1 Northampton Town 2 Always looked a tough game v the runaway leaders,back in the bottom 2
Wrexham 2 Kidderminster Harriers 0 Both goals in the 1st half hour,now in the play off spots
Concord Rangers v Truro City was postponed

[antongould]

Nigel Pearson requested 1st Bach Cello Suite on Breakfast this morning ......

[EdgeleyRob]

Nigel Pearson requested 1st Bach Cello Suite on Breakfast this morning ......

Latest

Missed one on Tuesday

Hereford 0 Highgate United 2 Rare defeat

Thursday,Europa League

Manchester United 5 FC Midtjylland 1 (6-3 aggregate win)
Liverpool 1 FC Augsburg 0 (1-0 aggregate win)

and whadya know,they face each other in the last 16

Friday,League

Hull City 0 Sheffield Wednesday 0 Clinging on to 6th place,Forestieri 2nd red in a week


Today's league games

Leicester City 1 Norwich City 0 Under par Foxes,late winner,5 points clear at the top at least until tomorrow
Southampton 1 Chelsea 2 Forum derby,Saints scored first,back to back Blues wins
Watford 0 Bournemouth 0 Both teams had good chances to nick it
West Brom 3 Crystal Palace 2 Down 3-0 at the break,just 3 points from the last 10 games
Coventry City 1 Fleetwood Town 2 Poor result v a struggling side,conceded a late 2nd goal at 1-1
Wimbledon 1 Oxford United 2 Level 1-1 at half time,dropped out of the play off positions
Hartlepool United 0 Northampton Town 0 Great point v the league leaders who had won their last 10 games
Wycombe Wanderers 1 Bristol Rovers 0 Conceded a late goal,still in touch with the play offs
York City 2 Luton Town 3 Looked set for a point until conceding a 92nd minute 3rd goal,back in the bottom 2
Macclesfield Town 0 Wrexham 0 Good chances to win it,remain in 4th place
Stockport County 2 Gainsborough Trinity 0 Goals on 5 and 80 mins and an amazing display by our keeper,including a saved pen, secured the win
Bishop's Stortford 0 Truro City 3 Scored on 5 mins and twice in the 2nd half,now in the play off spots
Weston-Super-Mare 0 Chelmsford City 3 Led at half time,then scored 2 after the hosts had a man sent off
Dundee 1 Inverness Caledonian Thistle 1 Scored very early on and looked set for the win until conceding on 86 mins
Motherwell 3 Partick Thistle 1 Well beaten,now 3 points above the bottom 2
Rangers 1 St Mirren 0 Managed to hold out until the 86th minute v the league leaders.7th
Elgin 2 East Stirlingshire 0 Both goals came in the last 25 mins,just 1 shot on target for our team,rooted to the bottom of the table

Liverpool,Manchester United and Arsenal play tomorrow
Brighton play on Monday
No games for Newcastle United and Hereford

[cloughie]

Hull City 0 Sheffield Wednesday 0 Clinging on to 6th place,Forestieri 2nd red in a week

It is rumoured that the ref has missed appointments at Specsavers!

[EdgeleyRob]

It is rumoured that the ref has missed appointments at Specsavers!

So I hear cloughie

[teamsaint]

Thanks for the excellent round up ER.

Some good wins there for board teams.

Palace are having a shocking time of it, and lady luck is against them just now.

Should be a long queue of refs at Specsavers this week..........

[Alison]

Vital win for Foxes.

Taking my Norwich City neighbours out for lunch tomorrow.

Pleased to see County win v Gainsborough.

Tell us more about yer keeper, Edge.

Sorry John C.

[johncorrigan]

Vital win for Foxes.



Sorry John C.

Dash it!...as my old Dad used to say at times like this.
Grinding out a win when not playing so great is a good sign for your Foxes, Alison, so say the pundits. Seems pretty good that you're heading into March with no other distractions.

[EdgeleyRob]

Vital win for Foxes.

Taking my Norwich City neighbours out for lunch tomorrow.

Pleased to see County win v Gainsborough.

Tell us more about yer keeper, Edge.

Sorry John C.

Ian Ormson,only 21,been at the club since 2010.
Last couple of seasons in and out of the side after a loss of form but has been great this year

Today

Missed out on our first trophy of the season as Liverpool were beaten on pens in the league cup final by some other team
Manchester United 3 Arsenal 2 forum derby,honours to the Red's youth team,Gunners 5 points behind Foxes

[jayne lee wilson]

Well, a true cup final, a real cup final almost THREE hours long, with an endless stream of goalmouth dramas - near misses, great saves, posts hit, last-ditch blocks.... we played very well, but.... if you miss THREE penalties....

Total heartbreaker. It'll take a few days...
We could win 5-0 on Wednesday and it wouldn't matter much....

(BUT it HAS to be said - LUCAS LEIVA - MAN OF THE MATCH, TOTAL HERO - he's found his best role as a classic central defender. Today, he even reminded me a little of the great Franco Baresi. (Who missed the first penalty in the 1994 World Cup Final shootout. It really does happen to the best.)

[Stanfordian]

Come on you Reds! United are back! Louis van Gaal's red and white army! et cetera! et cetera!

I'm still smiling when van Gaal simulated 'going down easy' by suddenly falling to the floor on the touchline by the 4th Official.