ucandomagic
Well-Known Member
Quite a bright end to the season against Blackburn. It was fun watching all of the various scores change, and our playoff semi-final opponent switching back and forth between Bristol City, Blackburn and Coventry as the final games unfolded simultaneously. It was particularly painful for Blackburn, as they were in the coveted 6th spot for a while, and a goal for them right up until the end would have clinched a playoff spot for them against us in place of Bristol City.
I thought that Blackburn could have thrown everything at us a bit more towards the end, as it was death or glory time – but apart from their keeper coming up for a couple of corners, it was hardly the charge of the light brigade! We should really have won the game, as we had 2 glaring misses from Hamer and Cannon. However, the points were shared with 2 second-half goals. Firstly, a goal from Blackburn’s Ohashi to complete a good counter attack. The cross could have been prevented by better McCallum coverage. Also, Peck had failed to track back with Ohashi, who was unmarked on the penalty spot. We equalized following a short corner. What looked like a clear penalty, as Cannon’s legs were taken away was followed quickly by a recycled cross which Holding headed down and Ahmedhodzic’s telescopic leg extended to knock the ball over the line. For me, O’Hare and Holding were our 2 most influential players.
The League Table below shows an unprecedented finish, with two teams on 100 points. Leeds and Burnley certainly deserve their promotions and, with just 7 points from our final 7 games, we fell away on the last lap. (15 points from those 7 games, including a win at Turf Moor, would have seen us in second place on 98.)
League Table:
I posted a season forecast on August 6th last year, before a ball was kicked, and this is compared to the actual final table in the Chart below. Generally, the comparison shows very few surprises, with only 3 teams more than 7 places away from my forecast. Luton finishing 22nd, when I had them finishing 8th were far and away the biggest surprise!
Pre-season Forecast Compared to Final Table:
Graph1 (and Graph 2 zoomed in) compare this season against our last 3 successful promotions from this level and show that 90 points equals Warnock in 05/06, is one ahead of Wilder in 18/19 and 1 behind Hecky in 22/23. Reg Freeman’s equivalent to 93 points in 1952/53 remains our best ever Tier 2 season. (We should, of course, remember that we have suffered a 2-point deduction this year)
Graphs 1&2:
So, our first playoff opponents will be Bristol City. We won 2-1 away at their place in November. A tight game was level until Cooper gave away a penalty in the 75th minute. One headed the equalizer after 87 minutes and Burrows’ superb finish took the points for us in the last minute. The return game was 1-1 at Bramall Lane in March. A well-worked and brilliantly-finished Ty Campbell goal put us ahead, but Bristol City equalized in the 90th minute. However, with 23 shots and a world-class save from Cooper they certainly deserved at least a point. Overall, you would say that both games were very evenly contested, and both games went right to the end to be decided.
Blades v Bristol City looks too close to call, and could go all the way to the second-leg whistle and beyond on May 12th.
Anticipate a late night!
UTB & Slava Ukraini!
I thought that Blackburn could have thrown everything at us a bit more towards the end, as it was death or glory time – but apart from their keeper coming up for a couple of corners, it was hardly the charge of the light brigade! We should really have won the game, as we had 2 glaring misses from Hamer and Cannon. However, the points were shared with 2 second-half goals. Firstly, a goal from Blackburn’s Ohashi to complete a good counter attack. The cross could have been prevented by better McCallum coverage. Also, Peck had failed to track back with Ohashi, who was unmarked on the penalty spot. We equalized following a short corner. What looked like a clear penalty, as Cannon’s legs were taken away was followed quickly by a recycled cross which Holding headed down and Ahmedhodzic’s telescopic leg extended to knock the ball over the line. For me, O’Hare and Holding were our 2 most influential players.
The League Table below shows an unprecedented finish, with two teams on 100 points. Leeds and Burnley certainly deserve their promotions and, with just 7 points from our final 7 games, we fell away on the last lap. (15 points from those 7 games, including a win at Turf Moor, would have seen us in second place on 98.)
League Table:
I posted a season forecast on August 6th last year, before a ball was kicked, and this is compared to the actual final table in the Chart below. Generally, the comparison shows very few surprises, with only 3 teams more than 7 places away from my forecast. Luton finishing 22nd, when I had them finishing 8th were far and away the biggest surprise!
Pre-season Forecast Compared to Final Table:
Graph1 (and Graph 2 zoomed in) compare this season against our last 3 successful promotions from this level and show that 90 points equals Warnock in 05/06, is one ahead of Wilder in 18/19 and 1 behind Hecky in 22/23. Reg Freeman’s equivalent to 93 points in 1952/53 remains our best ever Tier 2 season. (We should, of course, remember that we have suffered a 2-point deduction this year)
Graphs 1&2:
So, our first playoff opponents will be Bristol City. We won 2-1 away at their place in November. A tight game was level until Cooper gave away a penalty in the 75th minute. One headed the equalizer after 87 minutes and Burrows’ superb finish took the points for us in the last minute. The return game was 1-1 at Bramall Lane in March. A well-worked and brilliantly-finished Ty Campbell goal put us ahead, but Bristol City equalized in the 90th minute. However, with 23 shots and a world-class save from Cooper they certainly deserved at least a point. Overall, you would say that both games were very evenly contested, and both games went right to the end to be decided.
Blades v Bristol City looks too close to call, and could go all the way to the second-leg whistle and beyond on May 12th.
Anticipate a late night!
UTB & Slava Ukraini!
