Nice result for Sheffield in the earliest Easter Monday game.

Sheffield United 3 - 0 Bradford City

Will mean a bit of nervousness in the Bradford ranks for their play off spot till season end..

Ah the other early game has now ended & this is a bit closer to my heart..

Cheltenham 2 - 1 Grimsby

Town had a great first half & went in 2 goals to the good. The nerves started to kick in then & when Grimsby clawed way 1 back with 20 minutes to go I was fearing the worst!! However the ref intervened & sent one of the visitors for an early bath so we managed to sneak through.
With 3 games left for Town to play they are now 5 points plus a goal difference away from danger. Just need a couple of results to go our way shortly to breath a little easier, but that is unlikely although 2nd. from bottom Newport are away at high fliers Plymouth !!

Ipswich Town 3-1 Newcastle United
Leeds United 0-1 Wolverhampton Wanderers
Oxford United 2-0 Port Vale
Scunthorpe United 3-1 Chesterfield
Cheltenham Town 2-1 Grimsby Town
Macclesfield Town 1-3 Solihull Moors
Southport 2-0 Forest Green Rovers
Darlington 4-2 FC United of Manchester

As they get to the final hurdle Newcastle are struggling to claim that automatic promotion spot. Brighton win & are now promoted, while Reading now seem to be the ones trying to spoil Newcastle's joy. However with 3 matches remaining Newcastle are still 6 points & a +30 goal difference in front,
Worse for Leeds as the drop out of the play off places on a -9 goal difference,

Pretty dismal Vale display against an Oxford side who have not exactly set the division alight & have little to play for. Vale remain a point from safety.
Chesterfield go down as The Iron had a very comfortable day at the office.

With Newport getting a stuffing away at Plymouth & almost certainly gone Leyton Orient beating 3rd. from bottom Hartlepool, it was, for once a happy day for the faithfully few Town supporters. It still needs 2 wins out of the remaining 3 to make it a certainty that league football will remain though!!

The Silkmen are playing for nothing but pride while Solihull are fighting the drop. It showed.
Rovers are hitting another bad spell just as the play offs beckon, not the best time to do so.
Lincoln remain on course to take the automatic spot while Tranmere continue to chase them to the end & must be favourites to win the play off battle.

FC United again playing for the shirt while Darlington are looking at a play off place - it showed!!

Scunthorpe assured of a play off place now ! =D>
Its possible that there could be reaction to this event on the forum later !

Zidane wrote:Scunthorpe assured of a play off place now ! =D>
Its possible that there could be reaction to this event on the forum later !

Not much chance to keep up with the results at mo , after the SK hols its back to the grindstone and away again to Bkk later today .

DM not singing n dancing just yet Zid ... the Iron can still sneak the second place automatic promo spot that would mean a FREE BEER EVENT at the Tap for sure !!! , the playoffs no good for my nerves as could be up against Iron nemisis Millwall or Bradford much prefer Fleetwood ...

Still on the bright side ,,we are safe from relegation unlike Vale and Gillingham

6 points from the Swindon and Coventry games would be nice ..

Not a great day fro the mighty whites who have chosen the wrong time to go off the boil , im sure leaving the 3 Asean Leeds fans Khuns Adhoc , PanPaul and Niggly deflated ...

UP THE IRON

Didn't see this one coming but Birmingham had to do something as they are staring relegation in the face.
They sacked a good manager in Gary Rowett and his successor,Gianfranco Zola,won only 2 out of 24 matches,so they have only themselves to blame.

Birmingham City have appointed Harry Redknapp as their new manager.
The ex-West Ham, Tottenham and QPR boss succeeds Gianfranco Zola, who resigned on Monday following defeat by Burton.
Redknapp, 70, took charge of Jordan for two World Cup qualifiers last year, and also worked as an advisor to Derby County last season.
Birmingham are currently 20th in the Championship, just three points above the relegation zone and they face local rivals Aston Villa on Saturday.

Zola is being touted to replace Ronald Koeman at Everton at the end of the season !

Drunk Monkey wrote: Not a great day fro the mighty whites who have chosen the wrong time to go off the boil , im sure leaving the 3 Asean Leeds fans Khuns Adhoc , PanPaul and Niggly deflated ...

UP THE IRON

I suppose deflated is one way of describing it

Some crucial games coming up this weekend in League 1......
Current standings......
Team,Played,Points.
1.Sheffield United 44 94 already promoted as Champions.
2.Bolton Wanderers 44 80
3.Fleetwood 44 78
4.Scunthorpe 44 76
5.Bradford 44 75

Fixtures....
MK Dons (12) v Sheffield United (1)
Bradford (5) v Wimbledon (14)
Gillingham (18) v Fleetwood (3)
Port Vale (21) v Bolton Wanderers (2)
Swindon (22) v Scunthorpe (4)

3 teams desperate to avoid relegation play 3 teams who need the points in the automatic promotion chase.
Victories for Scunthorpe and Bradford plus defeats for Bolton and Fleetwood would mean just 2 points separating 4 teams aiming for automatic promotion on the last day of the league season !

This weekends games involving our local much loved teams.....

Burton Albion v Leeds United
Port Vale v Bolton Wanderers
Swindon v Scunthorpe United
Blackpool v Cheltenham Town
Lincoln City v Macclesfield Town
Forest Green Rovers v Maidstone United
Nuneaton Town v FC United of Manchester
Newcastle United v Preston North End,playing Monday night.

The phrase "more important than life or death" most certainly applies to the games involving Leeds,Port Vale and Scunthorpe.Good luck to them all and their supporters over here must try to go easy on the sedatives over the next couple of days !
Also,the game between Lincoln City and Macclesfield Town is being shown live on Sky TV with a 6.15pm kick off here in Thailand.If Lincoln win they secure automatic promotion back to the Football League and the match is a 9,000+ sell out.

If that wasn't enough its also FA Cup semi finals day at Wembley back in the mother country.
Chelsea v The Spuds,11.15pm Saturday Thai.
Manchester City v Arsenal,9pm Sunday Thai.
Two exciting games in prospect and I'm going for a Spuds v Citeh final which,almost certainly,means it will be a Chelsea v Arsenal final in May !

Norwich 2 - 0 Brighton

Brighton would have clinched the title with a win last night - they are already assured of promotion.
They were way below their best though & rather let Norwich get away with an easy win.
Two goals that both required bouncing off the keeper to cross the line did it.
All too late for Norwich's season though, with just 2 games to go & 7 points off the play offs..

DM praying for a Port Vale win ... and that Fleetwood n Bradford drop points ... SO

CARMORN THE IRON ... an away win at lowly Swindon is required to set up a nail biting final day in L1 season !!

Remember IF SCUNNY get the remaining AUTOMATIC PROMOTION place theres a TOTALLY FREE draft beer event on at the Tap ..

DM

Thankyou DM for the prayers we need them, times are bad in Burslem. PVFC

Burton Albion 2-1 Leeds United
Port Vale 0-2 Bolton Wanderers
Swindon Town 1-2 Scunthorpe United
Blackpool 3-0 Cheltenham Town
Lincoln City 2-1 Macclesfield Town
Forest Green Rovers 2-2 Maidstone United

The result saves Burton from the drop but puts Leed's play off chances in large doubt.
No good news for Vale as they remain in the zone.
No free beer for the Iron automatic promotion, but the play offs are on!!
Town get a hammering away at the seaside. Newport win to get out of the zone for just about the first time in the season - Hartlepool take their place.
Lincoln cap their FA Cup exploits with a return to the league in the early game, but Macclesfield gave them a run for their money.
Forest Green do enough to clinch a play off spot, but it is a free playing second placed side, Tranmere Rovers, that look the pick of that group..

Bad news for Valiants Vale ...and Tbar Steves Gillingham ... one ov em for the drop ..??

For the The Iron its the playoffs as Bolton won away at Vale in a fiesty affair that was delayed due to a pitch invasion and fans fighting after the Wheater Bolton goal ... IMO Bolton should be deducted points for this disgusting behaviour !!!!.

Elsewhere Leeds Utd play off hopes look slim after another horror display at Burton ... Messers Adhoc , Pan Paul n Niggly must now be thinking about cancelling the big party .... dont forget to let the caterors know we boys dont want the 3 lard butties going to waste .

UP THE IRON

Well that's it for LUFC for this season. Yesterday's defeat all but put paid to any chance of the play offs.
In truth we have flattered to deceive at times and probably over achieved.
My exotic bird syndrome has returned :-&
On the plus side, this has been the best, most exciting season we have had for many a year. And at times we have played some good football, the whole atmosphere around the club and the fans has changed. Things are much more positive now.
If we hang on to Gary Monk, make 3 or 4 good signings, next season we should be much better placed for a promotion attempt.
Looking forward to August!!!

MOT

Adhoc wrote:Well that's it for LUFC for this season. Yesterday's defeat all but put paid to any chance of the play offs.
In truth we have flattered to deceive at times and probably over achieved.
My exotic bird syndrome has returned :-&
On the plus side, this has been the best, most exciting season we have had for many a year. And at times we have played some good football, the whole atmosphere around the club and the fans has changed. Things are much more positive now.
If we hang on to Gary Monk, make 3 or 4 good signings, next season we should be much better placed for a promotion attempt.
Looking forward to August!!!

MOT

Yep. no chance now but I have my memories of Elland Road rocking again when I was back in the UK earlier this year - something that plastic clubs like Reading and Brighton can only dream about. Don't know about the new signings Adhoc, I am more worried about the likes of Wood, Vieira and Taylor leaving.

Anyone want to buy my ticket home to the UK on 24/5/17 in time for the play off final?

Oh well, you'd think following The Mighty Whites for so long you'd get used to disappointment but no, it's still hurts

You lot are depressing me ... ITS ONLY A GAME !!... WHY DONT YOU JUMP SHIP AND SUPPORT SCUNNY you know it makes sense even if its just for the playoffs ..we could be up against Bradford ??

True, it's only a game. Just like the Grand Canyon is a hole in Arizona

Monday 24th April 2017
Sky Bet Championship

Newcastle United 4-1 Preston North End

So that is the 2 automatic promotion places settled. Well done Newcastle &, specifically, their manager, Rafael Benitez.
It will be interesting to see how he manages on a small budget in the Premiership this time round - he really had little chance to impress in the 2 months he had last time...