15/10/2011 The Football League Show

Well, in theory, the Championship has had a week off, although the

reality is that some clubs have been busier than normal.

Keith Millen, of course, has parted company with Bristol City, who are

yet to name a replacement, while just yesterday Steve Cotterill said

goodbye to Portsmouth to become the new manager of Nottingham Forest.

So there's plenty for our studio guest Leroy Rosenior to get through

this evening. Here's a glimpse of what's coming

up from the NPower Football League. It was third versus first at Pride

Park today in the battle of the two Nigels.

Clough's Derby are flying high this season, but they faced a tough

assignment against the team at the top, Adkins' Southampton.

Steve Cotterill is on the move. It's bye bye Pompey and hello

Nottingham. We'll see how Forest's players

reacted to the news of Cotterill's arrival when they travelled to the

West Midlands to take on Coventry. So where does that leave

Portsmouth? Well, before they assess their

managerial options, Pompey had a game to prepare for, with Barnsley

the visitors to Fratton Park. There's no such managerial unsrnty

at Southend United. His team have won five league games in a row and

he's looking for his fifth man gearal promotion.

We start tonight in the East Midlands and the game between Derby

County and Southampton. Third-placed Derby had a setback

against Leicester City in their last outing, but six wins from

their ten league games have propelled Nigel Clough's side into

the upper echelons of the Championship.

As for the leaders Southampton, well they've spent the last

fortnight enjoying their best start to a season for 52 years.

At Pride Park for us was Martin At Pride Park for us was Martin

Fisher. COMMENTATOR: Attendance and

atmosphere that would have many in the Premier League green with envy.

It's a 32,000 sellout at Pride Park as two of the early pace setters in

the Championship go head-to-head. Derby County sitting third,

boosting their best start for 40 years, against top of the table

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Southampton, off to a flyer as they Connolly. Snide Lynn in for Cork.

He's chasing that. Davis can let it run. Great save by the keeper.

Robinson. Derby take the lead just after the two minute mark.

Robinson's first goal since the end of August. Good work initially by

Ward. Hendrick picking up the piecies. Ben Davis denied by Kelvin.

In the right place, at the right time, Theo Robinson to tap it home.

The League leaders behind early doors at Pride Park, just the start

the manager wanted. Roberts didn't gate shout from anybody at all,

neither his captain or his goalkeeper. He will hope nothing

comes from this corner kick. It has come a long way, it's come to

Lambert. Derby unable to clear their lines at the moment. In the

end, Connolly's header had no power in it at all. A simple stop for

Fielding. Steady pressure from Southampton. Ward twice in the way.

Southampton still come away with the ball. Lambert. It's a lovely

ball. Connolly waits in the middle. That's too deep. He can't get there

in time. Southampton have to build again. Lovely football, Fielding,

what a save. What a save, Frank Fielding. The pressure is building

from the league leaders. It's a lovely move this. Fonte and

Hooiveld ready to make their moves. Connolly with the shot blocked.

Fonte is in there. Off the line, booted away by the goalkeeper,

Fielding. Jose Fonte so close here. It's Steve Davies, Derby's top

scorer, who gets his body in the way. Several of the white figures

on the line. Great movement about this Southampton team. That's a

free-kick. Challenge on Connolly. He was trying to poke that one away.

He caught the left ankle of the former Irish international. Massive

Derby wall. It's Lambert. It's Chaplow and it's over. Every chance

that has fallen his way has fallen to his weaker foot, his right.

Lambert just trying to drill this under the wall. It fell invitingly

for Chaplow. Fielding had it covered., "come on Derby" is the

scream from the best part of 30,000 fan as they sense Southampton

turning the screw again. This is Cork, Connolly the far side.

Chaplow in the box. This is Lambert, given space and time. Rickie

Lambert, tame effort. Just trying to curl this one beyond Fielding

into the far corner. Six goals in his last five games for Rickie

Lambert. All Southampton, Derby can't keep the ball. They have

retained their resilience, but for how much longer? Lambert, Connolly.

This is Lambert. This is dangerous. eventually. You just knew it was

likely to come from the boots of Rickie Lambert. His 11th goal of

the season, his ninth in the Championship. Derby's stubborn

resistance eventually crumbles. Lambert and Connolly with the

approach. Sized up the situation, Lambert, and drills it beyond

chance to get beyond Richardson. That's a great ball! Robinson, Ben

Davis. It was a terrific centre, fired across by Gareth Robert. It

almost fell into the path of Robinson. Kelvin Davis did just

enough and Ben Davis denied by the backside of Schneiderlin. Derby

save their best to the end. Fonte continues to dominate most things

in the air back there. Steve Davies has a blow to the head here. Mark

Brown, rather sensibly, call as temporary halt to proceedings.

Here's how Steve Davies collected kind of indentation just above his

left eyebrow there. Maybe that's what the problem is. Save to say,

he will have one heck of a headache going for goal himself. Now, that

came off a Southampton foot, this's a corner. -- that's a corner.

Fourth Derby corner, Ben Davis with it. Up goes Shackell, cleared.

Shackell hasn't scored for Derby since the opening day. He won't

come much closer than this, cleared from the line. This is a lovely

cross. They are queuing up. Away off the line. How close was that

for Southampton? A lovely centre. Lambert with the header across.

Lambert with the header across. Derby scramble it away. Would it be

fair to say that the Derby of last season would have buckled sooner

than the 60th minute? Possibly. We hang on in there just through our

honesty and endeavour. Youngsters who are still improving and

learning, Mark O'Brien throws Hyslop head at anything Co have

done better leading up to the ground. The league table will

fluctuate. We have the right principles on how we want to play

football. We pass the ball about. We play out from the back. Good

football players. We create opportunities. Entertaining for our

supporters. I want to prove to myself that I can play at this

level and score goals. I'm very happy with the way it's gone up to

now for me personally and the team You put him in that position and

he's going to score nine times out of ten. Great finish. We had a few

opportunities after that. Ben Davis cleared off the line. Worth a point

at least. A point a piece at Pride Park. A great open game this one.

Third v first is how it was billed. It looked like it? Enthralling from

start to finish. Derby started off at a pace, but Southampton took

control. Up until the last-minute it do could have gone anyway.

Suggestions from the Southampton camp there was a hint of offside,

camp there was a hint of offside, what do you think? Yes, there

certainly was. When I first saw it I didn't see. It I had to wait for

the re-play. Theo comes back into an offside position after he takes

his shot. He was more eagle-eyed than me and spotted it the first

time. They deserved it because of the way they approached the game

and put Southampton on the back foot. Southampton took the game to

Derby country. Rickie Lambert was at the centre of it all. Not

surprising to see him score the equalliser? No. They passed the

ball extremely well. This is a will havely move. Good one touch play in

and around the box. Nice and slick. Fantastic finish. You don't expect

him to miss there. Great feet and him to miss there. Great feet and

great scoring record. He is looking to prove himself at this level. He

scored 11. 2--21 before that, 90 in all in three and a quarter seasons.

He is your goal machine? He is. There were doubts over him about

his pace. I have seen him since he was a young lad. He has always been

able to finish. He has just got better and better with age. If he

gets in the position, either with either foot, or with his head, he

will always hit the target. He is showing his quality. I should wish

Steve Davies the best as he recovers from that fracture above

the eyebrow. He is out for six weeks.

Let's round-up the rest of the action then from the top end of the

Championship and we start with the only unbeaten team in the

Championship, Middlesbrough. Boro began the day in second, but

their season has stalled somewhat of late on the back of three

goalless draws. goalless draws.

On Saturday, they faced Millwall. The arrival of a team second from

bottom in the table offered Middlesborough the perfect chance

to get back to winning ways. They had taken one point on the road all

season. The Championship's worst away record. It was no huge

surprise to see Middlesborough break their barren spell. Stepping

aside as the midfielder did the rest. That fine strike had the home

fans in high spirits there was a warning before the break to take

nothing for granted as Millwall new boy on-loan from QPR picked out

Liam Trotter. All season it had been the same story for the Lions

when they had fallen behind they finished up with nothing. A second

Middlesborough goal would kill the contest. McDonald's second bite was

ball palmed away by David Forde. Then came the sucker punch. Trotter

scored from a set-piece. Deep into stoppage time they almost broke

that sequence they were unlucky. It is Middlesborough's best start to

the back of a 5-0 thumping by Bristol City. It is 77 seasons

since Blackpool last tasted victory at West Ham. That looked said can -

- to continue when John Carew scored. Sam Baldock made it two. I

clear indication as to who may be celebrating an immediate return to

the top flight was given minutes later when Sam Baldock added his

second. The Hammers were not finished there. McCartney did the

hard work. Jack Collison scored the first league bowl in two years.

West Ham in second. We got beaten by the better team. They defended

better, they attacked better. I defence found it very difficult in

the second half to deal with Sam Baldock's movement and John Carew's

strength. We were beaten by the better team. The two players up

front were the best in our team today. That is always a good sign.

Soaring for the first few weeks, Brighton and now getting to grips

with the reality of the new division. In terms of travelling

teams they do not come much more difficult than Hull. They can count

themselves unlucky to draw on the road for the third time running.

Craig Mackail-Smith put and Rio -- and Rihanna Basso to the test. --

Adriano Basso. The game remained goalless.

Michael Chopra joined his Ipswich team-mates for a journey west of

the Welsh capital. It was the first time he had faced his former

employers since his summer move. But it was Gestede who landed the

first goal. Ipswich have had the better of Cardiff in their last

five meetings. It was not long before they recovered. Jason

Scotland equalising with his excellent strike. Ipswich began to

dominate possession. Their superiority was rewarded when it

Chopra scored his 5th of the season. Cardiff rallied in search of an

equaliser. After initially waving away appeals for hand ball, the

referee thought it best to consult his linesman. After much

deliberation, penalty was the verdict. Cardiff had a lifeline.

Peter Whittingham took responsibility to rescue an

unlikely point and spark debate. Both of us chi mack frustrated we

did not win it. We started well. Ipswich finished very well. There

were chances at both ends. They were maybe a couple of decisions

that could have fallen either way. The referee has given them a

lifeline. At times he looked like a Sympathy for Paul Jewell? More than

sympathy. It was an awful decision. It hits Carlos on the hand. There

is nothing he can do. You would say that it cost Ipswich. A much needed

home performance Brom West Ham. -- from West Ham. A huge relief for a

Sam Baldock to get off the mark? is a top-quality player. He will

get better. He finishes with confident. He can finish from

inside and outside the box. The combination with Karoo up front

will be important. -- John Carew. He will bring the best out of John

Carew. He will go on from there. West Ham have set down a marker.

That is the kind of result that makes you think no - might take

notice? West Ham supporters want teams to come and... What a week

for Nottingham Forest. They appointed a new manager in Steve

Cotterill. He replaced Steve McClaren. Cotterill knows the city

of Nottingham pretty well, having led Notts County to promotion two

seasons ago. The first set of business for him was to watch his

charge at Coventry. He left that job to rob Kelly. Early on the

outcome looked good. Miller brought ass save Eidur of Joe Murphy. The

camp was having a quieter day. Coventry had their tails up,

pushing forward in search of their first win in five. Jutkiew'z could

not be stopped. -- Jutkiewicz. Joe Murphy was stretchered off, leading

to an anxious 10 minutes of stoppage time. Forest dropping to

the relegation zone. We started the game very brightly,

a couple of half chances. In that bright spell you hope to take them

up but we did not. It was a fairly even game. They scored from a ball

in our box. There was no lack of spirit or determination. We did not

create enough. Steve Cotterill sees his new team

lose. What of Portsmouth, the team he left behind? Stuart Gray and Guy

Whittingham were put in temporary charge of the team. They played

Barnsley. Butterfield! Turned away by

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The goalkeeper got his hands behind it. A great hit. Came back off the

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post. Both teams having chances. referee and assistant say no.

Foster in front of, not over the instantaneous. The goal, simply

double. Fashioned by Kitson, taken save by Stephen Henderson. That was

going in. We needed three points today to get everybody back on

track. Goals change games. They got the first bowl. They ran the game

out quite comfortably. Goals change games. If we had scored first I am

sure we would have won. I have to Askew, are you interested in the

manager's job? Not at all. We want to help to steer the ship.

Whittingham run himself out of the Pompey job. -- ruling. Let's start

at the City Ground. Frank Clark comes in as new chairman. How will

Steve Cotterill's appointment go down? I think it will go down well.

He is enthusiastic, a great He is enthusiastic, a great

motivator, a great coach. I think he will turn the doubters around

very quickly. If you were in his shoes, what would be one of the

first thing she would do? I have seen them play aback five, Bak four.

I would get -- four in place straight away. They do seem to be

struggling. If he gets the defence in place and works from there, he

will move that the club forward. The relationship with Frank Clark

is really important. As for Pompey, they are in a more stable position.

This is a great job for somebody, isn't it? It is. Just look at the

players they have got. The experience. Liam Lawrence, Benjani,

Kitson. There is a lot to work with. That was a big result for them.

do you see get in the Portsmouth job? I think Billy Davies would be

ideal. He has worked at Derby County, Nottingham Forest. He has

worked with top-quality players. There are a lot of top quality

players at Portsmouth. That could be interesting. On to the rest of

the Championship. First, the game that took place on Friday night,

Doncaster Rovers against Leeds Leeds United have taken the lead.

He was completely unmarked on the edge of the six-yard box. He just

dropped off, sneaked away from everybody. What a great goal.

McCormack Gets the second for Leeds. That's 10 for the season for him.

three. He has been a tower of strength at the back, and now in

the opposition penalty area, he has There was nothing in the game until

we conceded from what was just a simple cross into the box. We do

not get chances like that. Good teams do not concede goals like

that. If you want to do anything in this league, you're going to have

to win games away from home. Ipswich, we lost but we should have

got something. You have to get points on the board. In the next

few weeks we have got midweek games coming up as well. The points tally

coming up as well. The points tally can quickly go forward. Dougie

Freedman brought his Crystal Palace side to Vicarage Road, hoping to

improve on a poor recent one of results. Watford nearly went ahead

early on. There wasn't much to choose between the sides until

Crystal Palace took the lead in some style. Wilfried Zaha had

plenty to do, but it was a wonderful finish. You can see why

he has his suitors. The highly- rated 18-year-old then had a chance

to get his second. Palace had to wait until time added on to get

their second, and it came from Jermaine Easter. They move up to

eighth after this win. Watford have lost three of their last four.

Bristol City are gearing up for a busy few days off the field. The

man who will replace Keith Millen should be known by the end of the

week. It has not been much of a show so far this season for the

fans at Ashton Gate. The Peterborough goalkeeper was a busy

man in the first half. Here, he kept Brett Pitman at bay. City were

not playing like a side propping up Ferguson admitted his players were

off the pace in the first half. City's inability to take their

chances would come back to haunt them. Six minutes after the break,

Peterborough made a mockery of the home side's dominance. Now,

Peterborough were firm favourites to win the match. They had been

boosted by Lee Tom Mullins' unexpectedly rapid return from an

ankle injury. -- Lee Tomlin. Elliott got on the scoresheet for

Bristol City, but it was not enough. these two have been two of the

under-achievers in the league so far. Burnley had the assistant

referee to thank for ruling this one out. Ryan Hall dealt much

better with this effort, but there was not much else to shout about in

the first half. Jay Tabb was caught square in the face by this

clearance from the goalkeeper. He left the field in a neck brace, and

was replaced by a Jem Karacan. Brian McDermott's side were then

denied what looked like a clear-cut penalty. The freezing players were

not impressed. In the 9th minute of time added on, freezing got the

winner. They're now unbeaten in winner. They're now unbeaten in

five. That Reading goal almost as late as this show, but not quite!

We can pick out a couple of these fantastic goals from Crystal Palace.

Yes, they have got some good, young players, being managed very well by

Dougie Freedman. That was Wilfried Zaha, and this one, someone

slightly more experienced, Jermaine Easter. I'm a south London boy, and

if you drive through south London, you can feel the buzz about Crystal

Palace. Lots of good stuff going on there. Bristol City remain bottom,

coming unstuck against Peterborough. Darren Ferguson said they were

lucky to come away with the points. Huge decision for the board at

Bristol City, this one. What about Derek McInnes? Apparently he's come

in for talks. There could be a couple of others as well. I think

they would all be good managers. The players need a new voice, and

hopefully that will come quickly. They need to get it right. The

important thing, the fans stayed with the team today, even though

they lost. Moving into League One now. Charlton moved three points

clear in the week. They have the chance to increase their lead today,

League One this season, it was appropriate that it took one of

their old boys to finally sink them. Had to Charlton avoided defeat

today, it would have meant 13 games unbeaten, but this miss from

Bradley Wright-Phillips suggested it was not going to be their day.

Stevenage have also defeated Sheffield Wednesday this season.

They tend to do better against the big boys. It took a magnificent

save to finally deny Charlton. Another scalp for Stevenage, who

will wish they could play like this every week. We have beaten some big

sides here in recent times, it is no surprise to us to win the game.

But we have dropped our levelled too often in recent weeks. It is

nice to get back to winning ways. Our last four games, the goals we

have conceded have been two penalties and two deflected goals.

When you're on the run that we are in, it was always going to take a

deflection or something like that. Following his two goal performance

for Scotland's under-21s earlier this week, Jordan Rhodes was

returned to the starting XI Roman by Lee Clark, and it proved to be a

good move. He raced on to this through-ball to get his first.

Huddersfield were rampant, creating chances at will. Exeter were

struggling to cope. Jordan Rhodes' last hat-trick was against Exeter

two years ago this week, and he repeated the feat. In the final

minute, he capped a terrific performance, nodding in his nineth

unbeaten home record on the line against Bournemouth, who were

looking to make it four games undefeated on their travels. Angelo

Balanta put his side up just before half-time. Then, Thomas was given

all the space he needed to equalise. With 17 minutes remaining, Gary

MacKenzie gifted possession to Thomas, who got his fourth goal for

Bournemouth. But the lead did not last long. Clinton Morrison had two

Gulls in two games before today, and he made it three in three.

Again, he benefited from some suspect marking. I thought we had

enough chances to win two games. It was horrific defending for two

goals. It is funny how hard we have to work for our goals, and we gift

teams their goals. On a day of shock results in League One,

Walsall's defeat of Preston was another one. Preston lost Neil

Mellor to injury. They could not even make their extra man count,

following this second yellow card for Martin. It is now back-to-back

defeats for Preston, for whom that seven-match winning streak suddenly

feels like a distant memory. A local derby, this one, between

Chesterfield and Notts County. Ben Burgess leapt highest to get the

opener. The second came before the break, through Alan Judge, with a

clinical finish. John Yeah! Changed his formation, and it brought a

swift reward. Craig Westcarr cut the deficit with his third of the

campaign. With time ticking down, just a field pushed for an

equaliser, but County took advantage of space at the back,

their own fans since August. But they went ahead in the Swan, for

room... There was a second yellow card for this challenge. Despite

being down to 10 men for the remainder of the game, Scunthorpe

held on for a point, keeping their first clean sheet in 25 matches. A

few weeks ago, Hartlepool were looking invincible, but after five

leak wins on the spin, it is now three straight defeats. This one

came against Wycombe. Wanderers have lost seven of their previous

nine, but they put this result beyond doubt thanks to Sam Collins'

comical own-goal. There was to be a consolation goal for the home side.

top half of the league. Those struggles continued against

Carlisle. Their cause was not helped by the dismissal of Belson

and the first half. The Cumbrians made the extra body count. Liam

Noble showed premier-league quality to give his team the lead. The

celebrations more dubious. The result was almost assured when Jon

Paul McGovern made it two. There was still time to ensure the 340

mile trip back home would be a happy one. Danny Livesey scored a

third. Colchester came flying out of the

blocks against Rochdale. Henderson fired them ahead after three

minutes. 10 minutes later Odejayi I doubled their advantage. At this

stage Colchester riding the crest of a wave. Up when guide saw raid.

-- Okuonghae. Rochdale pulled one back before half-time. Holness was

the scorer. Just when it looked as if Colchester had done enough, Gary

Jones fired an equaliser with two Maria -- minutes remaining.

It was a local a lad who settled Tranmere's game with Oldham. Baxter,

crawl their way up the table. One goal was all it needed to beat Bury,

Cox the scorer. Bury were playing with confidence. They give Orient a

late scare, Jones rattling the The standard result has got to be

Stevenage beating Charlton. You get the impression Graham Westley

enjoys playing some of the big teams? He certainly does. So do his

players. Stacy Long got a good goal. He is a former Charlton player as

well. The first loss for Charlton. They will come Bak. What a great

few days for Jordan Rhodes at Huddersfield. Two hat-tricks for a

club and country. 10 goals in four games. It is a purple patch he will

do well to replicate again? He is absolutely flying. It is a perfect

hat-trick. The left foot, right foot and that header. He can do no

wrong. First away win for two mums for Wycombe. Gary Waddle will put

on hold his search for a goalscorer. This is a beauty from Stuart Beavon.

A good away win for Wycombe. Notts County flying. Suddenly talk of

promotion may not be as perfect as some thought. Absolutely not. The

striker's starting to score. The important thing is that Martin, I

hope he does not mind me saying, has matured in the way he Hayes

managing a football club. He is letting the players do the talking.

They have been accredited. Walsall get their first win in eight. No

mean feat. When they went ahead, I thought they would throw it away.

Certainly when I saw the sending off. They held a vote against a

good Preston team. -- they held out. A wobble for Preston. The form team

going into the weekend were Southend United at the top of

League 2. Clement joined the bumper crowd on Saturday for the visit of

fellow promotion chasers more come. years for Southend. There is

nothing like a few wins to put smiles back on faces. The architect

of their success is Paul Sturrock, who has managed promotion with St

Johnstone, Plymouth, Sheffield Wednesday and Swindon Town. The

early Symes are that maybe he is about to do it again. -- signs. Did

you get a feeling in the summer this might be Ure year? It was

depending on what signings I managed to make. That would be the

deciding factor in how we would manager. You clearly love it?

the day today aspect. It is being on the training ground. A lot of

managers at my age take a back seat. I am pleased I can still do it.

beard is gone. I feel two stone lighter! Footballer in smartcard

shock! What is it like playing for your old man? At the training

ground he is not bad. -- he is not Daddy. He sleeps it, he eat it, he

dreams it. I am not exaggerating. It is constant. It is the biggest

thing his life. Not that the locals need to much encouragement, but

with the club announcing entry for a fiver for this match, they are

anticipating their best crowd For a couple of years. At the start of

last season used David off a winding-up order. Now top of the

league. How quickly things change? Yes, it has been good. Me and Paul

had at Torquay in January. Changed that philosophy. Different players

coming in. Things coming together. There is a little bit of pressure

to succeed and not be a failure. The usual football banter!

thought you have had your Roy of the Rovers moment at Millwall. Here

you go again with your boyhood heroes. It is. Millwall is in my

blood now. But I have come here for a new challenge. It is the Saturday

afternoon thrill. It is walking out in front of 2000 people. I did not

want to be sitting on the bench or in the stand. Is this more come?

Are you sure? It is a difficult game today. I am confident we can

match was bowl this at half-time. It took just eight minutes of the

second period for big goal. Phil Jevons gave the visitors the lead.

He clearly enjoyed that one. 20 minutes later he went from hero to

villain. An apparently innocuous challenge led to a free kick.

However, he was punished for his reaction. A skilful led to a push

on Grant and Jevons was shown a straight red card. The wayside

would have to hold on for 15 minutes with ten men. It did not

take long for Southend to capitalise. Drummond and look away

now. He scored an own goal to level seven minutes from time.

Last season we would have lost that game. The first half was a non-

event. They made it difficult. We did not help ourselves. I hold my

hand up in the way that we set out for the second half. We left

ourselves open. They scored. Sometimes managers have to admit

when they make mistakes. The two substitutions gave us a little bit

Is there an art about what Paul Sturrock does, building clubs up

and seen them over the finish line? Yes, his identification of players

is exceptional, especially at that level. He has done it for many

years. He is very good at it. It was no surprise when I saw Michael

that he put the team together at Southend and they have done well.

He is proven at this level? Paul always wants to prove something to

himself. He lungs the challenge. When he took the job at Southend I

was surprised. He had an illness. I thought he wanted to take it easy.

Not Paul Sturrock. He is relishing the challenge. Good luck to him. As

for the teams trying to over also then at the top, two of them met,

League 2 after shrugging off a few academic -- epidemic do beat

Shrewsbury. Torres opened the scoring. Crawley dominated this

top-of-the-table clash. Howell scored the second goal just before

half-time. Mark Wright pulled one back for Shrewsbury later on.

Town's promotion challenge looks in rude health. It is a difficult week.

Shrewsbury are an excellent team. We all know that we should have

been four or 5 ahead at half-time. But if you do not kill the

opposition off, they come bat. back. Wimbledon met a Crewe side

who made the most of their chances. Jolley was guilty of missing an

open net. It was a memorable day for Nik Powell, who scored his

opening goal in league football. The home side increased their

performance and levelled after an hour. This time Jolley could not

miss. One apiece and game on. The equaliser galvanised the visitors.

They struck the next blow, Dugdale putting the Roman back in front. --

rare women. Wimbledon were hit by a sucker punch to make -- two minutes

from time when Leitch-Smith scored. Oxford have won their last three

matches away from home. They were looking to strengthen their

promotion push. Macclesfield took the lead, Diagne scoring. After

back-to-back victories, they were looking to win three on the spin

for the first time in more than three years. They were seconds away

from doing that. But deep into stoppage time Robert Hall levelled

the scores. Oxford unbeaten in wins in a row. This inviting cross

was gleefully converted, and there were on the way to victory. Spencer

confirmed the points with his third goal in as many matches. On this

evidence, a push for automatic promotion could be possible. Port

Vale were first out of the traps on Friday night. Pope claim their

first goal of the game. Port Vale's second came from midfielder Anthony

Griffith, who had not scored in almost a year. They were looking to

take advantage of a side who were staring back-to-back defeats in the

face. That was rubber-stamped before the break, with McCombe

getting the third. It is more than a year since Torquay have lost

back-to-back matches, but after defeat at Bradford last time out,

it was a possibility. It looked ominous when Jo Kuffour got his

first. He then got another 16 minutes before half-time. Torquay

have a proud home record, with just one defeat in 17 matches, and they

got back into this one just two minutes after the break, through

defender Chris Robertson. Four minutes later, the comeback was

complete. Gillingham were given the chance to retake the lead from the

penalty spot, after Jo Kuffour was fouled. It was converted by Rooney.

Torquay looked for another equaliser, but were susceptible to

the counter-attack. 12 minutes from time, the Gills went up the other

end and scored through West Ham loanee frank noble. By this stage,

winning ways for Bristol rivers. Scott McGleish spearheaded the new,

three-man strike force. Rendell was offering the Pirates another

striking option, winning them this penalty, which was converted by

Scott McGleish. They extended their lead three minutes later. It was

breathless stuff at the Memorial Ground, and Rotherham's revival

began with Jason Taylor's goal. Then Danny Schofield got one as

well, but disaster was about to strike. This was a straight red for

the two-footed tackle. Less than a minute later, the Pirates made the

points safe. Their biggest win under this current management was

fun run this week, Paolo Di Canio completed his half-marathon, and

was no worse to wear. His side made the early running against

Accrington, the first goal coming from Jake Jervis. This week, the

1:visited his former club West Ham to sign a Colombian striker for the

month. And he scored to confirm all three points. -- Paolo Di Canio.

Someone's losing streak had to come to an end in this one. It was the

away side who struck first, through Danny Hylton. Half-time provided a

wake-up call for Barnet, who were given the chance to level just

after the hour. Campbell was only introduced as a substitute at half-

time, but he was having a big impact on proceedings. With just

over 10 minutes remaining, we are Holmes scored his third goal in

three matches. After the game, Dean Holdsworth did not speak to the

Dagenham in League One. But they are progressing under Karl Fletcher,

not least 16-year-old Matt Lecointe. But there Pilgrims still have

plenty to improve upon, particularly their defending of set

pieces. The Daggers found a route back into the game. This time it

was John nurse, at the far post. But there was a sting in the tail.

Vassell Was hauled down in the box. Penalty. Simon Walton converted, to

make it seven points out of 12 for came 11 minutes from time. Harry

Bell's strong run was ended by Michael Flynn. Although it appeared

to be just accidental contact, the referee decided it was a second

yellow card. Stephen Lesley rubbed salt into the wound from the free

kick. Victory was assured in the final minute, when the black Paul

loanee Barkhuizen got on the scoresheet for the second week in a

row. Plymouth thought they had got off the bottom, but before they

know it, Hereford win as well. they cannot worry about what is

happening elsewhere. Credit to Hereford. You just feel that these

two sides have got to concentrate on picking up points consistently,

which they have not done this season, and if they do that, they

season, and if they do that, they would get out of trouble. As for

would get out of trouble. As for Stephen Evans at Crawley, he wanted

a monster performance against Shrewsbury, and he really got it.

He built this game up, he said it was their biggest game of the

season, and he was right. It seems that Tom Eastmond has come in from

Colchester on loan, and they are not conceding as many goals. Still

early in the season, though, I'm sure Shrewsbury will come back and

does two sides will be there or thereabouts at the end of the

season. AFC Wimbledon could have ended the day top of the league if

Incredible performances from Gillingham and Bristol Rovers as

well. Good results for both those teams. Before we signed off, let's

Huddersfield are now the only unbeaten side in the division.

Notts County go third. Exeter, Yeovil and Chesterfield or suffered

West Ham were the big winners of the day in the Championship. Today

they were the only team in the top six to pick up all three points.

Leicester have got a chance to move into fifth if they can beat

If you missed any of tonight's goals, the show can be seen on

Freeview and told to 20 5:00am, and on the red button until 6am.

Failing that, it is on the iPlayer all week. There is plenty of

football for you on Sunday. I am going to St Andrews for that match

between Birmingham and Leicester City. We kick off at 12:50pm. And