It’s been 68 days since Kevin Phillips’ penalty sent Crystal Palace into the Premier League at Watford’s expense, and now the football league has returned, with 72 clubs in action over this weekend.
There have been exactly 100 goals since Sheffield United’s 2-1 win over Notts County yesterday evening with 7 red cards to boot. All things considered, it’s hardly been a quiet start to the League’s 125th anniversary season.
All 3 of the relegated Premier League sides from last season managed to win their opening game; Wigan thrashed a 10 man Barnsley 4-0 at Oakwell whilst QPR and Reading had to come from behind in their home fixtures versus Sheffield Wednesday and Ipswich respectively.
The Hoops were impressive despite the small margin of victory with a host of chances created yet squandered as Owl’s keeper Chris Kirkland pulled off a string of fine saves, meaning they were always in contention despite the visitor’s early goal against the run of play.
Hotly tipped Nottingham Forest beat Huddersfield 1-0 whilst Bolton had to settle for a 1-1 draw against Burnley, an acceptable result for the Trotters as the home side were dominant for large parts of the game.
The newly promoted sides endured mixed fortunes with Doncaster suffering a late home defeat to Blackpool whilst Yeovil and Bournemouth both notched up impressive wins with the Hatters being especially significant, away from home against potential strugglers Millwall.
Leyton Orient surprisingly replaced Sheffield United at the top of the League 1 table this evening with an emphatic 5-1 away win against Carlisle whilst Wolves, the favourites for the title faltered away to Preston with a goalless draw ensuing for the club playing in the third tier of English football for the first time since 1989.
Peterborough beat Swindon 1-0 whilst Bristol City drew at home to Bradford ensuring there were no defeats for the 3 relegated sides, although the Robins may have fancied their chances as they led the Bantams 2-1 in the second half.
There were plenty of goals spread around the other games with Oldham winning a 4-3 thriller away to Stevenage whilst Rotherham scored twice late on to salvage a 3-3 draw away to Crewe.
Coventry too suffered an early set back as they lost 3-2 away to Crawley ensuring they remain on -10 points in what will be a tough season for the club, as they seek to stay afloat and move back into their regular home of the Ricoh Arena after having to relocate to Sixfields due to financial difficulty.
Portsmouth started their League 2 campaign in a disappointing pattern as they squandered an early 1-0 lead to lose by a 3 goal margin at home to Oxford United in front of a sell-out Fratton Park crowd. The result will be a reality check for the south coast side who are one of the favourites for promotion.
Fleetwood Town unsurprisingly beat Dagenham and Redbridge 3-1 with the East London club being tipped for relegation after just avoiding the drop last season. Morecambe and Accrington Stanley who are also widely considered to struggle both lost away from home, with the latter losing to newly promoted Newport.
Last season’s Conference champions Mansfield suffered differing fortunes to the Welsh club with a 2-0 defeat away to Scunthorpe with two first half goals killing the game off for the home side.
There were also home wins for Rochdale, Exeter, Southend and York whilst Chesterfield’s 2-0 success at Bury was one of only two away wins in the division today.
The Sunderland Supporter 