Technology Partner


Community Partners

Five Spices

"One accusation you can't throw at me is that I've always done my best." (Alan Shearer) And our Chairman Damon can never be said to be one to make unfair criticisms.

Harsh, but fair, our Chairman dispenses his trenchant, pithy post match analysis of the overpaid heroes and goats that make up the “Happy Band” of Euro 2008. If you're in the prawn sandwich and skim latte club, or part of the "Dippy Darling" brigade this column is not for you!!

Who's hot? Who's not? Who's left their bottle at home? Watch this space carefully as the tournament unwinds.

Previous Analysis :

Week 15.... Week 14.... Week 13.... Week 12.... Week 11.... Week 10

Back to business as usual

Arsenal 1  -  Wigan Athletic 0

An out of form Arsenal won against Wigan to keep their fans still hoping they're in with a shout of the title. Of course, they're not but, despite another nervous performance, they managed to squeeze past an even poorer Wigan side to end the weekend hanging on the coat-tails of the leaders for another week. Emmanuel Adebayor was the match winner, tucking home Francesc Fabregas's deflected pass in the sixteenth minute. As ever, once they were ahead Arsenal played the ball around in the midfield with some conviction but with little cutting edge and ended up finishing the game without another serious shot on target. Wigan can consider themsleves a little unlucky to have come away from this game with nothing but really only have themselves to blame after failing to take advantage of currently fragile opposition. Arsenal, somehow, remain in fourth whilst Athletic continue to hang around just outside the relegation spots.

 

Blackburn Rovers 1 -  Liverpool 3

Liverpool remain in top spot after coming out of a turgid encounter with a flattering win. The first half came and went with nothing to show for it other than Pepe Reina's fantastic save from Morten Gamst Pederson, tipping the left winger's long-range effort onto the bar. It took until twenty five minutes after the break before the deadlock was finally broken when Xabi Alonso ran onto an uncleared ball at the edge of the Blackburn area to sidefoot home a top-class finish and put the league leaders ahead, whilst Paul Robinson managed to arc his overweight frame completely over the path of the ball. Blackburn almost responded within minutes, only to see Roque Santa Cruz head wide whilst totally unmarked and they were punished for the miss when Yossi Benayoun skipped away from the amateur attentions of Stephen Warnock to bury the ball into the bottom right-hand corner of the net. Santa Cruz, as possibly befits the Christmas season, managed to nod one home with five minutes to go but the fightback never materialised and Liverpool were able to add a third after Steven Gerrard was cleverly played in by Alonso after Robinson was only able to block the ball back out into play. I'll be surprised if Paul Ince lasts too much longer after this one. 

 

Bolton Wanderers 0 - Chelsea 2

Chelsea maintained their 100% away record in comfortable fashion at the Reebok to remain just a point behind the league leaders. It took only nine minutes for the Londoners to take the lead, when Nicolas Anelka returned to haunt his old club by heading home Jose Boswinga's excellent right-wing cross.  Before the Trotters were able to mount any kind of sustained fightback, they found themselves two behind when Deco acrobatically scissor-kicked Michael Ballack's nod down into the top corner of the net. Bolton fought back gamely but never really looked like getting back into the match and a counter-attacking Chelsea looked the most likely scorers as time ran out, though couldn't manage to add a third. Chelsea, with eleven away wins on the bounce, beat Tottenham's twenty-eight year record but would probably swap a couple of those wins for better home form.

 

Everton 2 - Aston Villa 3

A good, old-fashioned, blood and thunder encounter full of drama and passion saw Villa edge Everton in the top division's most-played fixture. The game got off to a cracking start when Steve Sidwell rifled in from twenty yards after a flowing move down the right after only thirty seconds. Everton got a deserved equaliser after half an hour when Joleon Lescott stabbed home Leon Osman's flick on from Mikel Arteta's free kick and then looked to be in the ascendancy with a barrage of high stuff into the box that Marouane Fellaini, in particular, was getting on the end of. Their hard work was undone, though, when Phil Jagielka failed to see the onrushing Ashley Young as he attempted a pass back to Tim Howard and the Villa winger latched onto the ball to restore the visitors' lead. At the death, Lescott's well-executed scissor kick looked to have earned the Toffees a point, only for Villa to break in the dying seconds, with Young again racing through to find the net with the last kick of the game. Heartbreaking for Everton but what a finish.

 

Fulham 1 - Manchester City 1

Honours ended even in this mid-table clash as the nouveau riches of Manchester still find themselves stuck in the balmy summer of their phoney revolution. Until the cash is well and truly splashed, City are forced to fall back on their current resouces which, in all fairness to them, were more than adequate to edge the first half of this clash in West London. The Mancunians took the lead when Benjani Mwaruwari muscled his way between his markers to nod home Pablo Zabaleta's cross after just six minutes. Fulham under Roy Hodgson, though, look a far better proposition than in recent years and were level before the half-hour was up, through Jimmy Bullard's excellent finish after having been played in by Bobby Zamora. Zamora, throughout the ninety minutes, was excellent and caused the City rearguard no end of problems, whilst the visitors themselves remained dangerous, particularly down the right flank. Unfortunately for the neutrals (and match report writers) there were to be no more goals but both of these sides, in the opinion of your humble writer, should prove a good each-way bet for a finish in the top eight this year.

 

Hull City 2 - Middlesbrough 1

The Hull fairy tale coninues at the expense of Boro. A thoroughly soporific first half and a marginally-better third quarter gave way to a final ten minutes full of thrills and spills in the Premier League's lowest-profile local derby. With just ten minutes to go, Tuncay Sanli brought the game to life with a deft flick from Justin Hoyte's cross to open the scoring. Sparked into life, the hosts came back strongly and equalised just three minutes later when supersub Bernard Mendy's drive canonned back off the post onto the back of Ross Turnbull and into the net. It looks, from the papers, as if this is going to be awarded as an own goal to Turnbull and I think that's a downright frigging liberty but there you go. Not content with ruining the Australian's weekend, Hull went and got a late winner from the penalty spot just three minutes later. Geovanni, who'd had a nightmare afternoon and threatened the corner flags with more regularity than the score-sheet, burst into the Boro box where he was tripped by the unfortunate David Wheater, who saw a very harsh red for his misdemeanour. Marlon King stuck away the spot kick with the utmost confidence and Hull stay fifth whilst Boro are left cursing the Football Gods for the umpteenth time this season.

 

Manchester United 1 - Sunderland 0

Another game that proved a sterling advert for any competition other than the Premier League ended with United nicking a win deep into injury time. Managerless Sunderland travelled to Manchester with nothing more ambitious than a goal-less draw in mind and very nearly carried their game plan off. With the hosts largely toothless and lethargic, it was the visitors who impressed the most with a determination and defiance notably different from the attitude displayed in their last couple of outings under walk-away habitualist Roy Keane. Alas for the Black Cats, their resilience was not to last beyond the famous Old Trafford "Fergie Time" and Nicola Vidic found himself in the right place to belt home the rebound after Michael Carrick's effort had come back off the post to irk the early leavers ... and serve them right.

 

Newcastle United 2 - Stoke City 2

Newcastle contrived to earn a draw from a home-and-dry winning position to keep themselves teetering precariously on the edge of the abyss. There was hardly a smirk in the house as Michael Owen swept home Jonas Gutierrez's astute through ball with only eight minutes on the clock and the game appeared done and dusted just a quarter of an hour later when the diminutive ex-England striker was on hand to tuck away Obafemi Martins's left-wing cross. This is Newcastle, though, and the back-firing, smoking jalopy's doors blew off in inevitable fashion as the game drew to a close. Mamady Sidibe pulled a goal back when substitute Ricardo Fuller skipped past Fabricio Coloccini and squared with half an hour left to play and, in the last minute, Abdoulaye Faye swept home from close range to level matters. A fuming JFK, righteously, if wrongfully, indignant, was sent to the stands for a shorter touchline ban, one assumes, than his previous one.

 

West Bromwich Albion 1 - Portsmouth 1

The Baggies remain rooted to the table after Pompey earned a draw at the Hawthorns. Albion have made a habit of starting brightly and Jonathon Greening put them ahead when tucking home a Chris Brunt free-kick that came back off the post to underline their early first-half superiority. They started the second period in much the same vein but were pegged back when Peter Crouch's deflected shot from distance beat Scott Carson off the underside of the bar and a re-energised Portsmouth clawed their way back into the game. The marauding Glen Johnson twice nearly got on the scoresheet, the first time when surging into the box before pinging one off the Percy Dalton's man behind the goal, and the second when his right-wing cross was nearly carried into his own net by Carson. West Brom had their chances, too, with the busy Ishmael Miller a constant threat but when he was forced off injured, his replacement Roman Bednar's less-than-sharp reactions saw another chance go begging as a thoroughly entertaining second half played out. Portsmouth, now in seventh, are on a decent unbeaten run but Albion's need for a goal-scorer is getting acute. 

 

West Ham United 0 - Tottenham Hotspur 2

West Ham's recent resurgence and string of clean sheets comes to an end as Tottenham leave Upton Park with all three points. United probably just shaded the first half with Craig bellamy full of running, whilst Spurs' own flier, Aaron Lennon, was busy and intermittently-threatening up the other end. Herita Ilunga, as has been his wont in recent games, did his best to give away a penalty for a handball in the box but it seems his get-out-of-jail-free card is still valid for at least another week and the first half finished goal-less. When the first goal finally came, it was Lennon who provided the ammunition; his excellent right-wing cross nutted down and into the net in textbook fashion by Ledley King. The Hammers came back and had a couple of great chances to level but were thwarted both by David Di Michele's indecision and the razor-sharp reactions of Heurelho Gomes, who produced an outstanding double save to deny first Lucas Neill and then Di Michele again. As so often happens, having failed to make the most of their best chance, West Ham found themselves further behind within moments, as the ball was rapidly shifted upfield for Jamie O'Hara to smack home a decent left-footed finish and make the game safe. Spurs move up to fifteenth, a place above West Ham.