Match Reports

Cardiff’s nemesis Peterborough grabbed two points after winning 2-1, when bottom of the table beat the top, ending Keith’s 100% home record. Cardiff have now lost the 3 of the last 4 meetings between the two but remain top of the table despite a decreased lead. Chris’ Birmingham came back from 2-0 down to draw 2-2 at Paula’s St. Andrew’s. This was a disappointment for Paula as they failed to capitalise on Keith’s slip up, keeping them second in the table. Chris can take the positives from this result with Burnley up next. Despite the Boss's boy Bruce being sent off after full time for ‘violent conduct’ the Tigers beat Andy’s Huddersfield 2-0 with an early and late goal to secure their third consecutive victory. This puts Amy’s team on level points with Middlesbrough and just one point behind automatic promotion (and a cheap curry!)


Unfortunately Pete lost 1-0 on a visit to Millwall, who have joined Leicester in the playoff places. A goal from sub Taylor was all it took to sink the foxes. Austin’s penalty early on saw Anna take a well-earned point from Scott’s Watford with a 1-1 draw. Brighton and Nottingham Forest remain outside the playoffs (on the same points) after Mick’s trip to the Amex Stadium saw stalemate. Both teams hit woodwork but it just wasn’t their day.  Lyn won 2-0 including a belter of a header from Broadfoot, meaning Shirley’s Blackburn saw their fourth defeat in five. The odd decision to put keeper Robinson on the bench clearly took its toll, although Blackburn had the more obvious chances. Dave hosted Jan with Leeds coming out on top, winning 2-0. The tractor boys had opportunities they missed and Leeds now go 4 points within the playoff places. Margs’ secured a win over Jane with two goals in 6 minutes from Ngog to take the spot above Charlton in the table. This saw the addicks’ first away defeat since September and halted their steady climb up the table. Ted won away at Barnsley, bringing him to the same points as Kelly. A slip up from Steele allowed O’Grady to get the only goal from the game and gave the olws hope to hold on from the battering the home side gave.


There were two domestic rivalry games at play on Saturday. Kelly’s Bristol hosted Jon’s Derby where the rams won 2-0 with two goals in as many minutes. Derby are now on level terms with Forest and Brighton, with Bristol hovering above the relegation zone. The other game saw Colin’s Boro’ welcome Sue’s Wolves with another male win. There were chances both ends and Wolves looked to take a rare point from Middlesbrough however Colin was awarded a penalty in the 89th minute and finished off the game with a second in the 90th.

CCC TEAM OF THE WEEK - HULL

- Team of the week is handed to Hull City F.C. ahead of Saturday’s game against Andy. It seems fitting  as the Tigers top goal scorer Aluko had his efforts rewarded with Championship player of the month. 

- Formed in 1904, Hull city played at The Boulevard until 1946 when they moved to Boothferry Park. 2002 saw them move to the newly built KC Stadium. 

- The tigers fluctuated between Division 2 and 3 (even dipping into Division 4 in the 1980’s) due to the usual financial issues, various managers and a problem ex-owner. Conveniently it’s only the recent history of the club that’s worth reading about! 

- The ‘greatest player to ever wear the Tigers’ kit was Horatio (Raich) Stratton Carter, a legend at both Hull and Sunderland. Consequently the opening game at the KC Stadium in 2002, between the before mentioned, was played for the Raich Carter Trophy (we won, obviously). 

- The 1909-10 seasons saw them loose out on promotion to Oldham by one of the slimmest goal averages in the history of the Football League: 0.29 of a goal. 

- Peter Taylor was appointed as manager weeks before the move to the KC. He saw two promotions but the success drew attention from other clubs and he left for Palace in 2006 (thanks Paula!)

- In what was very impressive form, it took just 5 seasons for Hull to climb their way from League 2 to the Premier League. The Tigers beat Bristol City in the 2007-08 Play-off Finals to reach the Premier League for the first time in the club’s history! I shall be sporting the shirt from this season at the curry as I’m sure the Tigers will be getting promoted again!!

- 6 years and 6 managers later, Steve Bruce was appointed in June 2012 after an unsuccessful attempt to push for the play-offs last season. He’s doing a rather splendid job at the moment! Keep it up Brucey J 

- Heaviest defeat: 0-8 vs Wolves, Division 2, November 1911

- Biggest win: 11-1 vs Carlisle, Division 3, January 1939

- Highest attendance: 55,019 vs Manchester United, FA Cup, Feb 1949 (we lost a respectable 0-1)

- HIGHLIGHT in researching Hull history: my year of birth (just to make you feel old) 1992, saw two 'tiger skin' shirts worn - dubbed the 'worst ever' football kits. Personally I think they're amazing, just slightly too awesome to afford one for the curry. What do you think?

Update & next week's fixtures

This week's table - Jan's in single figures!!

	Team	Pts	Who	Pence in the pound
1	Cardiff	44	Keith	0p
2	Crystal Palace	41	Paula	0.2p
3	Hull	38	Amy	0.5p
4	Middlesbrough	38	Colin	0.5p
5	Leicester	37	Pete	0.8p
6	Watford	33	Scott	2p
7	Brighton	32	Dan	2.3p
8	Nottm Forest	32	Mick	2.3p
9	Derby	30	Jim	3.3p
10	Blackburn	29	Shirley	3.8p
11	Blackpool	29	Lyn	3.8p
12	Charlton	29	Jane	3.8p
13	Huddersfield	29	Andy	3.8p
14	Leeds United	29	Dave	3.8p
15	Burnley	28	Anna	4.7p
16	Wolves	28	Sue	4.7p
17	Bolton	26	Margs	6.6p
18	Birmingham	24	Chris	8.7p
19	Ipswich	23	Jan	9.7p
20	Bristol City	18	Kelly	15.5p
21	Sheff Wed	15	Ted	18.9p

Next weekend's fixtures - all on saturday

Amy	v	Andy
Chris	v	Paula
Lyn	v	Shirley
Margs	v	Jane
Dan	v	Mick
Anna	v	Scott
Keith	v	Peterborough
Dave	v	Jan
Millwall	v	Pete
Barnsley	v	Ted

And there are two Matches of the Day - both purely because of domestic rivalry

Kelly	v	Jim
Colin	v	Sue

Match reports

Keith’s Cardiff kept their lead at the top (and Keith’s freebie) as they beat Shirley’s Blackburn on Friday night 4-1. Also at the higher end of the table Colin’s Middleborough broke the Team of the Week curse and won 3-2 away at Peterborough and Amy’s Hull beat Scott’s Watford 2-1 away (Scott scoring in the 90th minute). 

There were four 2-2 draws for Paula (Palace) V Lyn (Blackpool), Jane (Charlton) V Dan (Brighton), Andy (Huddersfield) V Margs (Bolton) and Pete (Leicester) V Barnsley. I’m sure there was controversy in those games but apart from Andy scoring late to deny me a win, I haven’t looked.  Mick’s Forest beat Anna’s Burnley 2-0 at home to push him up the table and Jim’s Derby beat Dave’s Leeds 3-1 to give him 10th spot behind Mick. Dave says Leeds can’t play anymore!  Sue’s Wolves beat Chris’s Birmingham 1-0 although it was a Birmingham own goal that ended Wolves run over six home games without a win. 

Jan made a bid for freedom from the bottom of the table with a 3-0 win over Millwall. He didn’t inflict damage on anyone else in CCC and he didn’t move up any places but he is within reach of other teams and he opened up a gap between him and Kelly and Ted.  And as for the Match of the Day – Kelly and Ted… Ted took the lead in the 3rd minute but Kelly equalised with a penalty on 18 minutes. The game was heading for a draw until Ted took the lead again in the 79th minute and then Kelly scored a penalty in the 86th and the winner in 88th to take the three points, have a three point lead on Ted and subject him to his seventh straight defeat.

CCC Team of the Week - Colin's Middlesborough

When deciding to write about Middlesborough as team of the week there were only two interesting facts that I knew (well I thought they were interesting):
a) when Pompey were playing away at Middlesborough and I thought about going, the last train back to London was at 4.40pm so it wasn't possible to watch the whole match and get back to London
b) my old school friend lives up that part of the country and her son is supporter getting free tickets from a friend of theirs who is one of the back room staff - physio or doctor or something like that.

So then in my research I found of course that the captain Gareth Southgate took over as manager despite not having the coaching qualifications, and was allowed to continue after receiving special dispensation.

As for the club as a whole, Middlesbrough Football Club also known as Boro, were formed in 1876.  They have played at the Riverside Stadium since August 1995, their third ground since turning professional in 1889. Their longest-serving home was Ayresome Park, where they played for 92 years, from 1903 to 1995. One of the founding members of the Premier League in 1992, they won the League Cup in 2004, the club's first and only major trophy as they were beaten in the 2006 UEFA Cup Final  by Sevilla  The club's highest league finish to date was third in the 1913-14 season and they have only spent two seasons outside of the Football League’s top two divisions.  The emergence of one of the club's top goalscorers, Brian Clough (204 goals in 222 games) happened during the 20-year spell outside the top division (in the Championship) which started after the club suffered relegation in 1954.  Who knew Brian Clough was actually a prolific goal scorer?

Similar to several of our teams, the club has experienced severe financial difficulties.  So for Amy's history bit, during the mid-1980s finances were a problem and in April 1986 the club had to borrow £30,000 from the PFA to pay wages and the final game of the season saw Middlesbrough relegated to the Third Division. That summer, the club called in the Liquidator and shortly afterwards, the club was wound up and the gates to Ayresome Park were padlocked. Without the £350,000 capital required for Football League registration, it seemed that the club would fold permanently but they were saved by a consortium and completed their registration for 1986-87 season 10 minutes before the deadline.  Following the registration there was both a change of club crest and a change of the official company name to Middlesbrough Football and Athletic Club (1986) Ltd.
Over the next two seasons, Middlesbrough gained successive promotions into Division Two and then into Division One. The next season though, they went straight back down to Division Two, and with it came the then British transfer record move of Gary Pallister to Manchester Utd. for £2.3 million.  Bryan Robson took charge in 1994 and they gained promotions and ended up in the Premier League. 

And another fascinating fact that I don;t remember, they were controversially deducted three points for failing to fulfil a fixture against Shirley’s Blackburn Rovers during the 1996-97 season and were subsequently relegated.  In that same season they were losing finalists in both the League and FA Cups. 

Middlesbrough were promoted back to the Premiership at the first attempt in 1998 and spent eleven consecutive seasons in the top division before relegation in May 2009. During their first season back they enjoyed a 12-game unbeaten run which included most significantly a 3–2 win at Old Trafford in January, United's only home defeat during their treble winning season.
The managers changed with Venables as co-manager for a while and then a spell for Steve McClaren before he left for the England job which was followed by Southgate

The club were relegated to the Championship on the last day of the 08-09 season after eleven years in the top flight.  In 2009-10 they finished mid-table and then started the 2010–11 campaign as promotion favourites but they finished 7th in the League, missing out on the play-off's by 5 points and 1 position, meaning Middlesbrough are in the CCC this year

Update & fixtures

Here's the update - Jan hasn't paid this little since September 16th!

	Team	Pts	Who	Pence in the pound
1	Cardiff	41	Keith	0p
2	Crystal Palace	40	Paula	0.1p
3	Leicester	36	Pete	0.6p
4	Hull	35	Amy	0.7p
5	Middlesbrough	35	Colin	0.7p
6	Watford	33	Scott	1.3p
7	Brighton	31	Dan	2.1p
8	Blackburn	29	Shirley	2.9p
9	Leeds United	29	Dave	2.9p
10	Nottm Forest	29	Mick	2.9p
11	Blackpool	28	Lyn	3.6p
12	Charlton	28	Jane	3.6p
13	Huddersfield	28	Andy	3.6p
14	Burnley	27	Anna	4.4p
15	Derby	27	Jim	4.4p
16	Bolton	25	Margs	6.2p
17	Wolves	25	Sue	6.2p
18	Birmingham	24	Chris	7.2p
19	Ipswich	20	Jan	11.7p
20	Bristol City	15	Kelly	17.5p
21	Sheff Wed	15	Ted	17.5p

This weekend's fixtures
Friday 7th

Shirley

v

Keith

Saturday 8th

Jim	v	Dave
Jane	v	Dan
Paula	v	Lyn
Andy	v	Margs
Jan	v	Millwall
Pete	v	Barnsley
Mick	v	Anna
Peterborough	v	Colin

Scott	v	Amy
Sue	v	Chris

Match of the Day - is has got to be the bottom of the table clash

Ted

v

Kelly

Results & Match Reports

Starting with Friday night’s game, which was between Chris’ Birmingham and Colin’s Middlesbrough. Middlesbrough took the lead in the 14^th minute with a Grant Leadbitter header which was cancelled out on the stroke of half time by a Marlon King penalty. Middlesbrough then re-took the lead 15 minutes into the second half with a goal from Scott McDonald but they only held on for four minutes when Wade Elliot equalised. Another goal from Marlon King in the 81^st wrapped up all three points for the blues.

Game of the day on Saturday was Mick’s Forests against Amy’s Hull in which Amy predicted 3-1 (to Hull obviously). A Koren penalty put Hull in front, but Forest got a penalty of their own at the end of the first half, which was converted by Sharp. Controversy then ensued in the second half when Paul McShane found the net in the 69^th with a handball being claimed by the Forest players. However, the goal stood and the game ended 2-1 with Amy losing out on her bet, but getting free beers off Mick when she next returns.

At the top of the table, Paula’s Palace saw off Dan’s Brighton with ease after Brighton were reduced to ten men after Lewis Denk was sent off in the eighth minute. Goals either side of half time for Glenn Murray and an Owen Garvan penalty in the second half made it a comfortable 3-0 win to send Palace top for at least a day (more on that later).

Pete’s high flying Leicester saw off Jim’s Derby 4-1 with first half goals from Whitbread and Waghorn, with Derby pulling one back before half time through Theo Robinson. However, the game was wrapped up with two goals from David Nugent in the final 15 minutes to take all three points.

Scott’s Watford managed to push into the play off places with a 4-1 victory over Barnsley. Two goals from Deeney and one each from Yeates and Vydra made it a comfortable victory.

At the bottom, Jan’s struggling Ipswich travelled to Margs’ Bolton. Mark Davies scored early on in the game and the Trotters held on until the 70^th minute when DJ Campbell equalised from the penalty spot. Michael Chopra then scored in the last minute to grant victory to Ipswich who are now FIVE points clear of the drop zone.

Also at the bottom, and yet another 4-1 score line, was the game between Kelly’s Bristol City and Sue’s Wolves.  Unfortunately for Kelly, all 3 points were wrapped up for Wolves at half time with goals from Ebanks-Blake and Sigurdarson with a double from Doyle coming between them. Neil Danns scored in the 85^th minute but this was only a consolation goal.

Mid-table, there was a cracking game between Andy’s Huddersfield and Dave’s Leeds. Atkinson fired Huddersfield into the lead after only 12 minutes, but two quick fire goals from Tonge and Becchio in the 35^th and 37^th minutes respectively to take the lead. But, the lead didn’t last long and Adam Clayton equalised from the spot just before half time. However, a 70^th minute goal from Norris and second goal from Becchio late on wrapped up all three points.

Jane’s Charlton were away at the Millwall scum in another Derby match. Millwall dominated for large periods but Charlton managed to hang on for a well-earned draw. The scum are now 13 games unbeaten, so maybe they need to be team of the week to see if the curse can strike them down?

The final game on Saturday was the fourth 4-1 victory of the day which was for Lyn’s Blackpool over bottom side Peterborough. The teams were level at 0-0 at half time, but two goals from Ince and goals from Thomas and Dicko in the 2^nd half made it the first victory for Michael Appleton as boss at Blackpool.

The first game on Sunday was between Anna’s Burnley and Shirley’s Blackburn. Burnley dominated the first half but did not take their chances. They were then punished by a goal from Jordan Rhodes midway through the second half. However, Sam Vokes equalised in the last minute to take a share of the points.

The final game of the weekend was between Keith’s Cardiff and my beloved Sheffield Wednesday. Cardiff was the only club in the entire football league with a 100% home record before the game, and, somewhat predictably, they still are! A single goal in the 80^th minute from Craig Conway was enough to sink Wednesday to a Sixth consecutive defeat and root them in the bottom of the CCC table, whilst Keith moved back to the free curry spot at the expense of Crystal Palace

Results

Chris                       3-2                          Colin

Mick                       1-2                          Amy

Paula                       3-0                          Dan

Pete                         4-1                          Jim

Scott                       4-1                          Barnsley

Margs                     1-2                          Jan

Kelly                       1-4                          Sue

Andy                       2-4                          Dave

Millwall                   0-0                          Jane

Peterborough          1-4                          Lyn

Anna                      1-1                          Shirley

Keith                      1-0                          Ted