What a weekend it has been in the English League system and the FA Cup. There was something for everybody this weekend, and in this blog post, I am going to analyse some of the major going's on in British football this weekend.
I firstly would like to just touch on the remarkable Scottish Cup semi-final that took place at Hampden on Saturday between Scottish First Division side Ross County and one of the most decorated teams in Scottish football history, the giants of Celtic. In what was a stunning Cupset, Ross County took on their far wealthier opponents knowing that the odds were heavily, heavily stacked against them, however, they managed to overcome all the odds and come away with a 2-0 victory given the minnows their biggest ever domestic win, which was heartily celebrated by the 7,000 travelling fans. The question was asked after the match if this was good for Scottish football, and in my opinion, I believe the answer has to be yes everytime. The reson I would say this is that it shows a small team always has a chance and that they can close the gap to the top two (Celtic and Rangers). For a league system to work and for it to be truly enjoyable, one would feel that you need it to be competitive and for any team to get a result against any other team on any given weekend. This is why I believe the English league system is so successful because this is not only true of the Premier League, but also of the Championship, League One and League Two meaning that, although fans get put through the mill with their emotions on most weekends, it is difficult to predict and hence more enjoyable. After all, nobody wants their life or things in their life to be predictable do they?
Another thing I'd like to discuss in this particular blog was the astonishing achievement of Portsmouth FC as they took on Tottenham Hotspurs in an FA Cup semi-final at the new Wembley - a day after they had been relegated from the Premier League. Going into the game, everything pointed to a Spurs win. Indeed some critics were even hailing this as the semi-final that Spurs couldn't lose due to Pompey's ongoing financial crisis which has led to them not only having to sell players OUTSIDE the transfer window, but also the deliberate non-playing of players due to contractual obligations to pay them for further appearances for the club. However, Portsmouth managed to overcome all the odds after a battling display that saw them on the backfoot for most of the game against a wasteful Spurs side. It took Pompey until extra time to find the crucial opening goal though, Frederic Piquionne taking advantage of Michael Dawson's slip to tap home from a Portsmouth free-kick, sending the blue contingent inside Wembley into absolute delirium as they saw a possible FA Cup final looming. 2 minutes later, Spurs should have been back in the game after David James flapped at a Gareth Bale cross from the left and Peter Crouch tapped the ball into the back of the net. Portsmouth were only saved by the referee awarding a free-kick for a supposed foul on David James by Niko Kranjcar although the Croation looked to have done very little wrong. The game was then wrapped up by a Kevin Prince Boateng penalty in the second half of extra time with the player celebrating in front of the bank of madly celebrating Pompey fans who knew they would be back at Wembley in a little over a month's time for an FA Cup final against manager Avram Grant's former team Chelsea, who had beaten Aston Villa 3-0 on Saturday. It is a fantastic achievement, and I take my hat off to them personally for what was a brilliant performance of sheer grit and determination.
The main sporting feature for me this weekend though was the Severnside derby between Bristol City and my team Swansea City at Ashton Gate. For Bristol, it was a nothing game given the fact that they can be fairly confident of little else than a mid-table finish, for the Swans, it was a massive game that, having gotten the winning feeling back on Monday, they wanted to win to take a bit of form into the last 3 games of the season. It was Bristol who eventually ran-out as the winners at Ashton Gate though, thanks to a Nicky Maynard goal in the 86th minute that, as a Swans fan, was vey difficult to take. Swansea then, only maintained their top-six position thanks to a Newcastle victory over play-off rivals Blackpool who remain only 2 points behind the Swans (now in 6th) with 3 games left to play. Swansea and their manager Paulo Sousa will be hoping they can turn the tide of their current run (i.e. 1 win in the last 8 games) at the Liberty Stadium on Saturday against another team who look certain of a mid-table berth at the end of the season in Barnsley. For Swansea, they haven't won at Ashton Gate since 1993, which is another record the Swans would have liked to have broke this season having broken the clean sheet record on Monday against Scunthorpe United with Dorus De Vries' 22nd shutout of the season. Most Swansea fans will now be very nervous for a run-in that contains last season's play-off runner-ups (Sheffield United), and a team that were chasing the final play-off place until a few weeks ago (Doncaster Rovers) but will hopefully be comforted by the fact that two of those games are at home, and that Blackpool host Nottingham Forest on Saturday, possibly the first timem, as a Swansea fan that I will be cheering on Forest who have already beaten us twice this season, and could have another 2 cracks at us in the play-off's. If we get there
I should also just mention the fact that Hull City were beaten, comprehensively, by fellow strugglers Burnley on Saturday which adds a little bit of spice to the end of season relegation battle in the Premier League even though, as we already know, Portsmouth have been relegated to the Championship already. Newcastle and West Bromwich Albion have also been promoted to the Premier League already as a little side-note on the race for promotion TO the Premier League. Let's hope that come the end of the season, the "stuttering Swans" will be joining these two famous teams in the biggest and best league in the world.
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