Top spot for Cov after Boro's Friday win, Jack Robinson goes over the top as 10-man Blues lose to Hull, Bolton rally for stoppage-time comeback, and Grimsby beat nine men AGAIN to top it all off..
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With another assist in an all-round majestic display in Oxford United’s midfield, this assessment certainly seems prescient.
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Something a little different this weekend. Heading into the slate, each of us predicted where the four biggest stories in each league might come.
What’s that saying, assumption is the mother of all write-ups?
Championship
Sam Parry
🔮 Middlesbrough v Ipswich | Norwich v Bristol City | Sheffield United v Watford | West Brom v Preston
Let’s start with Cov. You know the ones. Now won four and drawn two in their last six. Conceded once in that time. Beat Blackburn 2-0 to go top. Yeah, I didn’t pick ’em.
I picked the team that might be king. Middlesbrough won on Friday night in a match that didn’t merely happen, but crackled with goals, throbbed with chances and broiled with a touch of controversy. They beat Ipswich 2-1 to temporarily top the charts.
Boro looked comfortable in their own skin, unhurried, confident and sharp on the ball. They pressed well and moved it with purpose, creating good chances at 0-0. Ipswich looked dangerous too. More direct danger. They earned a seen-’em-given penalty, but three minutes after George Hirst missed the spot kick, Boro went ahead via a see-it-and-wince Cedric Kipré own goal. After the break, Boro handled Ipswich better. A slick move on 55 saw Morgan Whittaker double the lead with his first for the club. Ipswich pulled one back from a corner, saw a couple of efforts saved, and almost certainly should’ve had another penalty for handball, but 2-1 it finished.
Bully for Boro. But Ipswich, having played only four away, have the joint fewest points on the road in the Championship. Joint with who? Enter: Javi Gracia, the new old Watford manager.
Between them, Messrs Gracia and Wilder have managed either Watford or Sheffield United on six separate occasions, surely some kind of record, if not a predictor of fireworks. Blades hadn’t won at home, Watford hadn’t won away. The first half was cagey. Watford showed flashes, but Blades shaded it.
Early in the second half, on 49, Caleb Wiley dragged wide past Michael Cooper from inside the box. It was Watford’s last shot until the 86th minute. Wilder’s men took control, breaking through when Callum O’Hare bundled home what should’ve been an Andre Brooks tap-in for 1-0. For a Blades side never far from it, disaster didn’t look like striking. A late Louza strike did hit the bar, but when an even later Kevin Keben’s shot struck the hoardings, it brought a huge sigh of relief to a Bramall Lane crowd that had waited an age for their first home win.
Which brings us to Norwich. Same story, different sighs.
If there was a lack of spark at half-time in Sheffield, there was a lack of anything in the first period at Carrow Road. In the second, the Canaries were undone by finishing, good and bad. Emiliano Marcondes missed a big one at 0-0, and Bristol City pounced on 73. They peppered Norwich’s goal between the 80th and 82nd minutes — eight of their 16 second-half shots came in that spell — and won 1-0. Jack Stacey missed a late chance to level, leaving Norwich P5 L5 at home, and leaving this writer searching for an apt canary metaphor.
Oh wait…
At The Hawthorns, on the fringes of the Black Country’s mining heritage, West Brom cut a rich seam of cold, hard shooting to beat Preston. Mikey Johnston’s strike for 1-0 hummed from distance and on the angle, whilst Isaac Price’s effort deflected in (I thought) for 2-0. As Albion dropped deeper to protect the lead, Preston gained a foothold. Michael Smith pulled one back but it wasn’t to be. No bursting of the Preston balloon, just a reminder that West Brom are sharp.
And finally, the one I didn’t see coming. It looked a comfortable home win for Birmingham against a leaky Hull XI. Partly right: Hull did leak. They conceded for 1-1, then again late for 3-2. The important bit: at 1-2, Blues defender Jack Robinson, already guilty of an own goal, was sent off for the second time in six starts. That left his side in a bit of a pickle, one they arranged as follows:
GK
RW-CM-CB-LW
RW-AM
CF-CF-CF
It almost worked… but didn’t. Hull sealed it late, Birmingham nabbed a consolation but lost a 29-game unbeaten home record, and the Championship, on its return after the break, reminded us why it should never change.
League One
Matt Watts
🔮 Huddersfield v Bolton | Lincoln v Stevenage | Luton v Mansfield | Burton v Peterborough.
Thursday night is the new Friday night for fans of Bolton Wanderers, who thoroughly enjoyed their trip to Huddersfield. That said, for much of the night, the travelling fans were frustrated, but a delightful 93rd-minute header from Sam Dalby, who missed some sitters last weekend, and a dramatic 95th-minute winner from Amario Cozier-Duberry sent the away end into raptures. As football fans, we spend our hard-earned money travelling the country following our teams for moments such as these.
It’s now one win in seven games in all competitions for Huddersfield, who led for much of the game after Leo Castledine’s early header. The pressure is mounting on Terriers’ boss Lee Grant who is still refusing to play Alfie May, the best League One No.9 in recent years, as a No.9.
Next up: a song…
Our house, in the middle of our street. Ben House, with the assist for Rob Street.
In a contest dominated by Michael Skubala’s Imps, it was the Postcode Lottery duo who combined to score the only goal of the game. It finished Lincoln 1-0 Stevenage. The home side returned to winning ways after that sucker-punch defeat at the hands of Exeter a fortnight ago. In fact, Lincoln have now won four of their last five league games. As for Stevenage, they stay 2nd after their first defeat in League One since August.
To Luton, and let’s just say, welcome to the madhouse, Jack Wilshere.
The former Arsenal man suffered a 2-0 defeat in his first game in charge Luton, but it could have been oh so different. Jordon Clark’s curled effort was tipped onto the post by Liam Roberts, before the Stags’ stopper saved Nahki Wells’ tame penalty. The cruel irony was that Rhys Oates’ curled effort found the top corner (after a stray pass from Wells) and Tyler Roberts tucked away his second half penalty. Nigel Clough’s Stags leapfrog the Hatters, who are still only four points clear of the bottom four.
Now, insert quote about a goal worthy of winning any game. An Archie Collins pile-driver was the difference between the two sides as Peterborough beat Burton to climb off the bottom. Gary Bowyer’s Brewers made most of the running at 0-0 and 0-1, but they couldn’t break the visitors down and back up last weekend’s 3-0 victory over Bolton. Tom Lees’ late red card is a blow for Posh who face the new basement boys, Blackpool, next Saturday.
Elsewhere, Cardiff returned to the summit, coming from behind to beat Reading 2-1. AFC Wimbledon made it 16 points from the last 18 available, also coming from behind to beat Plymouth 2-1.
And finally, Reyes Cleary scored a Goal of the Season contender in Barnsley’s 2-2 draw with Bradford at Valley Parade. If you had to rank goals scored by a player inside their own half, it’s certainly up there.
League Two
Huw Davies
🔮 Grimsby v Gillingham | Barnet v Notts County | Newport v Cheltenham | Shrewsbury v Crawley
Well, I didn’t pick the goaliest games. I did get some drama, though.
Grimsby replaced Gillingham in the top three by beating them 1-0. The referee was Zac Kennard-Kettle, and if you’re wondering why I’m bringing that up, it’s because a) he’s referee Trevor Kettle’s 24-year-old son, b) I’m childishly nicknaming him Teapot, and c) he had a big impact on the result. Whether his three big calls were debatable or disgraceful depends partly on your club colours, but the facts are that Remeao Hutton was sent off on the half-hour mark and Jonny Williams on the hour, with Charles Vernam scoring a hotly contested penalty in between. For the second time this season, Grimsby played most of the second half against nine men, but whereas against Cheltenham they turned 2-1 into 7-1, here it remained 1-0.
It was a mardy League Two weekend, as the 12 away sides collected 6 red cards between them. In Crawley’s 1-0 defeat at Shrewsbury, which sent them into the relegation zone, Harry McKirdy had a goal wrongly ruled out for offside and responded by getting himself dismissed later on – two decisions labelled “really, really bad” by Scott Lindsey afterwards, while admitting faults in his own side. Will Boyle scored another header and that was that; Shrewsbury have taken seven points and three clean sheets from their last three games, despite looking pretty unconvincing in all of them.
Newport are keeping Crawley off the bottom, having allowed Cheltenham to leapfrog the pair with a 2-0 win at Rodney Parade. County’s defending was/is very poor, giving Luke Young the opportunity to put away two succulent volleys. David Hughes is on the brink: his side did hit the post but rarely threatened otherwise at home to a relegation rival, and fans are unimpressed with his management as well as Huw Jenkins’ ownership.
Notts County burgled Barnet 1-0 away. Smashy and grabby? Just a touch – going into the 94th minute, they’d had two shots to Barnet’s 16. Lee Ndlovu forced one particularly brilliant save from Kelle Roos in the first half. However, a stoppage-time deflection fell at the feet of Tyrese Hall and he scored, then disappeared under a pile of happy Magpies.
Elsewhere, 10-man Barrow had 10-save Wyll Stanway to thank for a 2-1 win at league leaders Walsall, though three points did reward the team’s performance as a whole. Some of Stanway’s saves were routine, but not the match-winning parry to Daniel Kanu in the 87th minute – superb. When Aaron Pressley’s header did get past him in stoppage time, the ball bobbled back off the upright.
Yet Walsall remain top, as Swindon lost 4-0 at 20th-placed Accrington Stanley, or HAT-TRICK-TON STANLEY as everyone’s now calling them. Paddy Madden nabbed his first treble in… not that long, actually, because he scored four of the buggers with Stockport in 2023/24. His first goal here, a half-volleyed lob following some head tennis, was worthy of Federer. Ian Holloway’s Robins went down to 10 in the first half, due to Ollie Clarke’s red card, then nine men at the end of the second, due to running out of substitutions. In a show of Ollie-darity, Bristol Rovers shipped four goals at home for the second week in a row, with Tranmere romping home 4-1.
🎦 Our Top 5 clips from the EFL weekend
Scream 1 - Mikey Johnston (WBA)
Scream 2 - Archie Collins (Peterborough)
Scream 3 - Paddy Madden (Accrington Stanley)
Scream 4 - Luke Young (Cheltenham)
Scream 5 - Reyes Cleary (Barnsley)
📊 Your Monday morning cheat sheet
🏆 Weave your own tapestry — Harrogate boss Simon Weaver took charge of his 700th league match for the club on Saturday.
🍽️ No crack in the pottery — Stoke’s 1-0 win over Wrexham took them to 18 points from their opening 10 games, only the second time in 20 seasons they’ve started this well in the EFL.
🔵 Clear blue sky — Coventry’s +22 goal difference (29F, 7A) after 10 games is the best in the second tier since Fulham’s +23 in 2000-01.
⬆️ Dons Drive Thru — MK Dons have 24 points from 13 — their best start since 2018-19 and 2014-15, both seasons ending in promotion.
🚨 Mr Robinson, you’re trying to seduce me — Birmingham’s Jack Robinson has 5 own goals since 2021-22 (more than anyone else in that time!) and on Saturday is the first Championship player since 2019 to score one and see red in the same match.
🏰 Drawing a fortress — Bradford’s 2-2 draw with Barnsley was just their third home game without a win in 2025 (W15 D2 L1) and their first this season.
🫎 Stag’s compound Luton rut — Mansfield’s 2-0 win at Luton was their first clean sheet and away victory of 2025 and their first at Kenilworth Road since 2002.
💫 Nor would he — Stockport’s Ollie Norwood has scored (3) or assisted (2) in five of seven League One games since September, totalling 11 goal involvements in his last 16 EFL matches, as many as his previous 112.
🎯 Ritchie’s riches— Signed late on a free late in summer, Reading’s Matt Ritchie already has 3 assists in 5 League One games, his best season return since 2018-19 with Newcastle.
🪄 Pinnock Point — Bromley’s Mitch Pinnock has created 38 chances this season — nine more than any player in England’s top four tiers.
🎩 Hat-Trick Habit — Harry Anderson’s treble for Colchester means a U’s player has scored a hat-trick in back-to-back home games for the first time ever.
🚍 Robins Relief — Cheltenham ended a 7-game away win drought (D2 L5) with their first clean sheet on the road this season and their second in 2025, where on both occasions the opposition was Newport.
SkyBet Championship
Birmingham 2-3 Hull
Charlton 2-1 Sheff Wed
Coventry 2-0 Blackburn
Leicester 1-1 Portsmouth
Middlesbrough 2-1 Ipswich
Norwich 0-1 Bristol City
Oxford Utd 1-0 Derby
QPR 1-2 Millwall
Sheffield Utd 1-0 Watford
Southampton 0-0 Swansea
Stoke 1-0 Wrexham
West Brom 2-1 Preston
Sky Bet League One
Blackpool 1-1 Wycombe
Bradford 2-2 Barnsley
Burton Albion 0-1 Peterborough
Cardiff 2-1 Reading
Doncaster 1-2 Northampton
Huddersfield 1-2 Bolton
Lincoln City 1-0 Stevenage
Luton 0-2 Mansfield
Plymouth 1-2 AFC Wimbledon
Rotherham 1-0 Leyton Orient
Stockport 1-0 Exeter
Wigan 1-0 Port Vale
Sky Bet League Two
Accrington Stanley 4-0 Swindon
Barnet 0-1 Notts County
Bristol Rovers 1-4 Tranmere
Cambridge Utd 2-1 Bromley
Chesterfield 1-1 Fleetwood Town
Colchester 3-1 Harrogate Town
Grimsby 1-0 Gillingham
MK Dons 3-1 Crewe
Newport County 0-2 Cheltenham
Salford 1-0 Oldham
Shrewsbury 1-0 Crawley Town
Walsall 1-2 Barrow
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