Gameweek 29 Report
March 13, 2008
G'day Harold Leaguers,
What a mixed week! Harold League's scores this week have ranged anywhere between a dismal 20 and a thumping 104 points. Needless to say the ladder has been a little unsettled by this broad range of tallies, but more about this after the usual match reports:
Premier League Match Reports
Liverpool 3-0 Newcastle United In their 4th successive win, Liverpool cruised home with an easy 3 goal win over Newcastle at Anfield on Saturday. The loss was Newcastles' 11th game without victory. Goalscorers: Jermaine Pennant (Liverpool), Fernando Torres (Liverpool), Steven Gerrard (Liverpool).
Blackburn Rovers 1-1 Fulham Jimmy Bullard scored a late equaliser as Fulham stunned Blackburn Rovers to keep alive their hopes of avoiding relegation from the Barclays Premier League. Christopher Samba was punished for high feet in a challenge on the edge of the area and Jimmy Bullard stepped up to curl home the free-kick just 3 minutes from time. Goalscorers: Morten Gamst Pedersen (Blackburn), Jimmy Bullard (Fulham)
Reading 2-0 Manchester City Reading boosted their hopes of avoiding relegation with a 2-0 Barclays Premier League win over Manchester City at the Madejski Stadium. A second-half strike from Shane Long and a late goal from substitute Dave Kitson (his 9th for the season) proved enough for a second successive win by the Royals to move out of the bottom three. To add injury to insult, City lost captain Richard Dunne to a leg injury, which needed stitches. Goalscorers: Shane Long (Reading), Dave Kitson (Reading)
Sunderland 0-1 Everton A slice of luck for Andrew Johnson was enough to hand Everton the points in the Barclays Premier League match at Sunderland and keep alive their hopes of edging Liverpool out of the Champions League places. Johnson scored the only goal when Mikel Arteta's left-wing cross ricocheted off his arm in the 55th minute, leaving a committed but limited Sunderland side still nursing relegation worries. Goalscorers: Andrew Johnson (Everton)
Tottenham Hotspur 4-0 West Ham United A double from Dimitar Berbatov helped seal Tottenham's very convincing win over West Ham United at White Hart Lane on Sunday. Both of Berbatov's goals came from headers, and both scored early in the first half. Hopes of a Hammers comeback were all but dashed when Luis Boa Morte was dismissed just before the break. West Ham got no reprieve in the second half, with 2 more scored against them, first from Gilberto and then finally from Darren Bent. Goalscorers: Dimitar Berbatov x2 (Tottenham), Gilberto (Tottenham), Darren Bent (Tottenham)
Wigan Athletic 0-0 Arsenal In probably the biggest upset of the round, Wigan Athletic pressed their home ground advantage to hold off league leaders Arsenal for a share of the spoils. Goalscorers: none.
Portsmouth 4-2 Birmingham City Jermain Defoe scored a double for Portsmouth in a game that has firmly dented Birmingham City's battle against relegation. Defoe scored a penalty and then a tap-in in the first eight minutes of the game. Fabrice Muamba instantly replied for Birmingham, and then Sebastian Larsson tied the game just before the break, lifting Birmingham's hopes. But this was short lived, as Hermann Hreidarsson's close-range strike put Pompey's noses back in front, and Kanu (on as a substitute) polished off Birmingham's four-match unbeaten run with a diving header from a Pedro Mendes cross in the closing minutes. Goalscorers: Jermain Defoe x2 (Portsmouth), Fabrice Muamba (Birmingham), Sebastian Larsson (Birmingham), Hermann Hreidarsson (Portsmouth), Kanu (Portsmouth)
Aston Villa 1-1 Middlesbrough Stewart Downing gave a visiting Boro team the half-time lead with his seventh goal of the season at Villa Park. Aston Villa managed to level after skipper Gareth Barry netted a dubiously-given penalty. Goalscorers: Stewart Downing (Middlesbrough), Gareth Barry (Aston Villa)
Chelsea 6-1 Derby County A four-goal haul from Frank Lampard saw Chelsea close the gap on Barclays Premier League leaders Arsenal to just five points. The England midfielder scored a second-half hat-trick as Derby County were completely embarrassed by the Blues. Joe Cole and Salomon Kalou also put marks on the scorecard, and were answered by a solitary goal in reply from Derby's David Jones. Goalscorers: Frank Lampard x4 (Chelsea), Joe Cole (Chelsea), Salomon Kalou (Chelsea), David Jones (Derby)
Harold League Reports
STATS:
Highest Gameweek scores: Snapper's (104), Psycho Chickens (101), JAMBOS (98)
Lowest Gameweek scores: Burton Battlers (20), Yoles (22), basilton (25)
Biggest Ladder Climbs: Snapper's (+5), JAMBOS (+4)
Biggest Ladder Falls: Ballarat FC, Team Larry 08, Team Schwarz (-3)
A huge 50 points from a good selection of captain helped Snapper's and Psycho Chickens to impressive triple-figure scores this week. With an average gameweek score of just 48.7 points, Lampard's 4 goal haul has been a great bonus for all those who had him in their side. Good scores were also made by Liverpool's Steven Gerrard and Fernando Torres for the second week in a row.
A point of note: Psycho Chicken's are currently sitting in overall 22nd position of teams who have nominated Australia as their home country - a very impressive feat! Well done Matt! Pressure's on - we're all watching to see how high you can go...
Don't forget about the double-games from Chelsea, Man U, Bolton and Tottenham this round. A well picked captain can make the world of difference, as we've been clearly shown this round. Good luck!
Ryan.
The thoughts ofRyan Minster at 8:58 PM
Labels: Reports
Great report ryan, im guessing you have a copy of MOTD each week. Nice stats regarding Matt's psycho chickens. Both Ross and myself are pumping him up a) because he has clearly won the league unless something goes horribly wrong and b) because we too want to see just how high he can get. As you probably know he is ranking in the low 400 for the overall lead. Also at the start of this season Matt had no idea of football let alone the players...now he is a critic. Gotta love the round ball game, it is a religion for some. Cheers. Troy