Even the Doncaster board called the idea of bringing in players on short term deals 'The Experiment'. It hasn't worked; their time is up and it might be some time before we visit the Keepmoat again; a pity really given that we've just managed to get a first win there.
Portsmouth should have gone with them too on Saturday and would have done but for some astonishing refereeing by Mick Russell. Pompey were 2-0 down at Doncaster before the sparse gathering had got their seats warmed but came back courtesy of some generous decisions.
There might be arguments for two of Portsmouth's goals being allowed to stand but the first penalty was a joke. Even if it was a foul then it was some distance outside the box. The third was a blatant foul by Dave Kitson, and did he put it in with his hand in any case?
Still, you don't have to even put the ball in the net now to score a goal as we saw at Wembley yesterday so an odd bad decision at Doncaster is hardly going to start any alarm bells ringing.
Despite the win it will be a miracle should Portsmouth survive whilst above them Coventry are still favourites to go down. It could have been all but over for them too when Bristol City led 2-0 at Birmingham whilst Coventry trailed 1-0 at Burnley. That would have seen a seven point gap opened up but with both drawing it leaves the Sky Blues in with a chance.
Up at the top there is only one team to comment on and that's Reading. They've won a sensational 43 points from their last 16 games and that's a massive 11 points more than any other team has won during that period.
They were mere play off hopefuls, and only hopefuls, ahead of this run but they are now promotion favourites and three points clear at the top of the league having won 3-1 at Southampton on Friday night.
Their leading goalscorer, even before Friday, was Adam Le Fondre and he scored twice in this win which surely must signal a return to the Premier League. They need one win and one draw to be certain of promotion.
A win for either team gave West Ham a chance of catching the other and they could do no more than they did on Saturday with a massive 6-0 win against Brighton. I wonder just how long Gus Poyet hung around this time. West Ham are just three points behind Southampton now.
They are in the play offs with Birmingham, Blackpool and Cardiff and looking at things now it does look as though Middlesbrough are the only club that could possibly get in there. Brighton are next and look to have blown it with only two points from their last five games.
More could be decided tomorrow with the last set of midweek fixtures which will leave us with just two games to go.
The results, stats, leading goalscorers, each club's red and yellow card counts, the highest and lowest attendances are all below along with tomorrow's fixture list.
The Results Friday 13th April Southampton 1 Reading 3 Saturday 14th April Barnsley 0 Cardiff City 1 Leeds United 4 Peterborough United 1 Birmingham City 2 Bristol City 2 Millwall 2 Leicester City 1 Burnley 1 Coventry City 1 Nottingham Forest 0 Blackpool 0 Crystal Palace 1 Ipswich Town 1 Watford 1 Hull City 1 Derby County 0 Middlesbrough 1 West Ham United 6 Brighton & Hove Albion 0 Doncaster Rovers 3 Portsmouth 4The Stats Biggest Win West Ham United 6-0 v Brighton & Hove Albion (home) Total Goals Scored 37 (21 home - 16 away)
Player Scoring Most Goals
3 - Ricardo Vaz Te (West Ham United) Highest Attendance 32,339 - West Ham United v Brighton & Hove Albion Lowest Attendance 8,196 - Doncaster Rovers v Portsmouth Total Yellow Cards 26 Total Red Cards 2 Most Cards in a Game Crystal Palace v Ipswich Town (5Y) Ref: Fred GrahamLeading Goalscorers (League Only) 27 Rickie Lambert (Southampton) - includes 9 penalties 20 Ricardo Vaz Te (West Ham United) - includes 1 penalty - (10 with Barnsley) 18 Ross McCormack (Leeds United) 16 Charlie Austin (Burnley) - includes 1 penaltyMarlon King (Birmingham City) - includes 2 penalties 15 Darius Henderson (Millwall) - includes 2 penaltiesDavid Nugent (Leicester City)Kevin Phillips (Blackpool)Jay Rodriguez (Burnley) - includes 3 penaltiesBilly Sharp (Southampton) - includes 1 penalty (10 with Doncaster Rovers) 14 Michael Chopra (Ipswich Town) 13 Marvin Emnes (Middlesbrough)Matty Fryatt (Hull City) - includes 1 penaltyRobert Snodgrass (Leeds United) - includes 2 penalties 12 Carlton Cole (West Ham United)Kevin Nolan (West Ham United)Chris Wood (Bristol City) - includes 1 penalty - (9 with Birmingham City) 11 Chris Burke (Birmingham City)Craig Davies (Barnsley) - includes 1 penaltyLukas Jutkiewicz (Middlesbrough) - includes 1 penalty - (9 with Coventry City)Adam Le Fondre (Reading)Paul Taylor (Peterborough United)Pete Whittingham (Cardiff City) - includes 3 penaltiesNikola Zigic (Birmingham City)
Hat Tricks Date Player & Game 20/08/11 3: Lee Tomlin - PETERBOROUGH UNITED v Ipswich Town 10/09/11 3: Rickie Lambert - SOUTHAMPTON v Nottingham Forest 11/09/11 3: Chris Wood - BIRMINGHAM CITY v Millwall 12/10/11 3: Darius Henderson - Leicester City v MILLWALL 02/11/11 3: Jonjo Shelvey - Leeds United v BLACKPOOL 19/11/11 3: Rickie Lambert - SOUTHAMPTON v Brighton & Hove Albion 26/12/11 3: Matthew Phillips - Barnsley v BLACKPOOL 31/12/11 3: Ricardo Vaz Te - BARNSLEY v Leeds United 21/01/12 3: Darius Henderson - Barnsley v MILLWALL 31/01/12 4: Nikola Zigic - Leeds United v BIRMINGHAM CITY 26/02/12 3: Rickie Lambert - Watford v SOUTHAMPTON 17/03/12 3: Rickie Lambert - Millwall v SOUTHAMPTON 20/03/12 4: Garath McCleary - Leeds United v NOTTINGHAM FOREST 31/03/12 3: Radi Majewski - Crystal Palace v NOTTINGHAM FOREST 31/03/12 3: Charlie Austin - Portsmouth v BURNLEY 14/04/12 3: Ricardo Vaz Te - WEST HAM UNITED v Brighton & Hove Albion
Disciplinary Record (League and Cup) Club Y R Y R Club Y R Y R League Total League Total Barnsley 57 2 60 2 Ipswich Town 55 5 56 5 Birmingham City 59 3 64 3 Leeds United 70 8 76 8 Blackpool 51 2 54 3 Leicester City 60 9 68 9 Brighton and Hove Albion 88 8 102 8 Middlesbrough 72 7 75 7 Bristol City 76 7 78 7 Millwall 72 2 79 2 Burnley 67 2 75 2 Nottingham Forest 57 5 62 5 Cardiff City 55 0 71 0 Peterborough United 51 2 54 2 Coventry City 54 2 56 2 Portsmouth 71 4 78 4 Crystal Palace 55 2 59 3 Reading 56 0 59 0 Derby County 56 1 56 1 Southampton 51 4 54 4 Doncaster Rovers 69 3 71 3 Watford 63 3 65 3 Hull City 67 1 72 1 West Ham United 63 6 65 7
Highest and Lowest Attendances Highest Lowest Att Fixture Att Fixture 34,936 West Ham United v Coventry City (02/01) 6,351 Peterborough United v Cardiff City (18/10) 34,900 West Ham United v Crystal Palace (25/02) 6,392 Peterborough United v Millwall (06/03) 34,749 West Ham United v Barnsley (17/12) 6,717 Peterborough United v Reading (20/03) 34,650 West Ham United v Doncaster Rovers (10/03) 7,004 Peterborough United v Bristol City (18/02) 33,465 West Ham United v Portsmouth (10/09) 7,540 Peterborough United v Blackpool (10/03) 33,366 Leeds United v West Ham United (17/03) 7,555 Peterborough United v Portsmouth (28/01) 33,350 West Ham United v Reading (31/03) 7,572 Doncaster Rovers v Millwall (20/03) 33,010 Derby County v Southampton (15/10) 7,650 Doncaster Rovers v Watford (26/11) 33,010 Derby County v Leeds United (26/12) 7,778 Doncaster Rovers v Bristol City (27/08) 33,010 Derby County v Nottingham Forest (17/03) 7,901 Peterborough United v Burnley (17/09)
The Next Fixtures Tuesday 17th April Blackpool v Leeds United (20:00) Ipswich Town v Birmingham City Brighton & Hove Albion v Watford Leicester City v Burnley Bristol City v West Ham United Middlesbrough v Doncaster Rovers Cardiff City v Derby County Peterborough United v Southampton Coventry City v Millwall Portsmouth v Crystal Palace Hull City v Barnsley Reading v Nottingham Forest (20:00)
Source: FOOTYMAD
