Month: January 2023

Early strikes from Jamie Reid and Jordan Roberts fired second-placed Stevenage towards a 3-0 win over Leyton Orient which moved them to within two points of the League Two leaders.

A bad day at the Lamex Stadium for the table-topping O’s was compounded when they were reduced to 10 men for the third time in four games thanks to Idris El Mizouni’s red card.

Stevenage, who stretched their unbeaten League Two run to 11 matches, were ahead in the sixth minute when Reid got in front of Orient goalkeeper Lawrence Vigouroux to nod in after Carl Piergianni had headed on Terence Vancooten’s free-kick.

The hosts were 2-0 up after 11 minutes when Roberts was allowed to cut inside from the right before beating Vigouroux at his near post.

Things went from bad to worse for Orient as they had El Mizouni sent off just before half-time when a deliberate handball earned him a second yellow card.

Vigouroux made a brilliant save to keep out Piergianni’s header early in the second half, but a perfect afternoon for Stevenage was rounded off by Luke Norris’ calm finish in stoppage time.

Substitute Sam Surridge struck a late leveller to deny former club Bournemouth an overdue Premier League win as Nottingham Forest snatched a 1-1 draw at the Vitality Stadium.

Jaidon Anthony’s first-half finish looked set to end the Cherries’ four-game losing streak in the top flight to ease the pressure on head coach Gary O’Neil.

But striker Surridge, who began his career with the Dorset club, poked home Brennan Johnson’s cross from close range seven minutes from time after replacing debutant Chris Wood.

The dramatic twist pushed Bournemouth into the relegation zone and leaves O’Neil still searching for his first victory since being appointed permanent Bournemouth boss in November.

Meanwhile, in-form Forest maintained their momentum by registering an 11th point from the last 18 available.

Steve Cooper’s side also had a first-half Ryan Yates header disallowed for offside against Willy Boly following VAR intervention.

The visitors handed striker Wood a debut following his arrival from Newcastle on Friday while Bournemouth’s five changes included a first appearance for new signing Dango Ouattara.

Morgan Gibbs-White tested Cherries goalkeeper Neto during a bright start from the visitors before Yates’ 13th-minute header was disallowed on review.

Bournemouth had not registered a top-flight goal or point since November 12 but grew into the game.

Unmarked striker Kieffer Moore somehow directed a close-range header over from a Jordan Zemura cross before Anthony ended their lengthy drought in the 28th minute, aided by the club’s new arrival.

Burkina Faso forward Ouattara, signed from French club Lorient on Thursday for around £20million, burst away from Renan Lodi on the right before crossing for Anthony to take a touch and find the far corner with a confident slot across Wayne Hennessey.

Marauding left-back Zemura was causing the away side constant problems.

He had a goal-bound effort blocked on the line by Forest captain Joe Worrall before delivering another threatening centre which was nodded narrowly wide by Ryan Christie.

Forest were forced into a change in the 45th minute when 21-year-old Brazilian midfielder Danilo came on for his debut in place of the injured Yates.

Cooper’s men pushed for a way back into the game in the second period but were initially struggling to create clear chances.

Gibbs-White fired straight at Neto following a well-worked corner routine before Surridge eventually broke Bournemouth’s resistance.

Johnson worked space on the right and, following another VAR review, Surridge was able to celebrate his first Premier League goal of the season to the detriment of his struggling former employers.

Three pitch invaders briefly halted the game as away-day specialists Preston inflicted a fifth straight league defeat on Birmingham in a 2-1 win at St Andrew’s that saw referee Rebecca Welch make history.

In the first Championship game to be refereed in full by a female official, first league goals of the season from Ryan Ledson and captain Alan Browne in the opening 15 minutes won it for Ryan Lowe’s side.

Substitute Lukas Jutkiewicz made it a nervy finish when he reduced the arrears late on, but North End earned their eighth win on their travels – a record equalled only by second-placed Sheffield United in the division.

But before then, the match was temporarily brought to a standstill when three Birmingham fans ran onto the pitch in the 77th minute to protest against the club’s board.

Welch, 39, was the first woman appointed to referee a men’s Championship match, with Amy Fearn being the first female to referee in the division in 2010 when she stepped in as an injury replacement for the final 20 minutes of a match between Coventry and Nottingham Forest.

Last year, Welch became the first woman to referee an FA Cup third-round tie when Birmingham lost 1-0 to Plymouth at the same venue.

Preston moved into a commanding lead early on as they punished some poor home defending.

Midfielder Ledson drove home a loose ball from the edge of the box after Robbie Brady’s cross had been headed away unconvincingly by Kevin Long then missed by Hannibal Mejbri in the 10th minute. It was the 25-year-old’s first League goal since April 2021.

North End doubled their lead five minutes later when midfielder Browne headed home Brady’s near-post corner from close range.

Blues were at sixes and sevens defensively and Ben Woodburn’s shot was deflected just wide as Preston pushed for a third goal.

With the visitors exerting such authority, Blues did not reappear as an attacking force until the 26th minute when Maxime Colin’s cross was met by a firm header from Scott Hogan which flew over.

Preston returned to the attack through the dangerous Woodburn, who surged down the right before unleashing a drive that was smothered by goalkeeper John Ruddy at his near post.

Following the restart, Blues looked to get a foothold back in the game.

A cross-field pass from Mejbri saw Troy Deeney head the ball back into the danger area, but instead of shooting first time Hogan opted to take a touch and was crowded out by Browne and a defender, who collided in the process.

Blues head coach John Eustace made a triple substitution in the 63rd minute in a bid to get his side back into the game. On came George Friend, Juninho Bacuna and Jutkiewicz for Long, Mejbri and Tahith Chong.

But it initially made little initial difference as the hosts struggled to break down a determined Preston rearguard.

Jutkiewicz headed home in the 83rd minute, meeting Colin’s cross to quieten the protesters and give Blues hope, but it was too little, too late.

Three goals inside the first 20 minutes eased Barnsley to a 3-1 win at home to Accrington.

Early pressure paid off for the Tykes as they took the lead in the fifth minute.

Adam Phillips’ cross found the head of debutant Bobby Thomas and he teed up James Norwood to fire a bicycle-kick past goalkeeper Toby Savin from close range.

Barnsley doubled their lead three minutes later. Luca Connell’s long ball was dealt with by Savin but his touch allowed Jack Aitchison to slot home the rebound.

Despite their early two-goal advantage, Michael Duff’s side did not let up and made it 3-0 in the 19th minute.

Connell’s defence-splitting pass found Adam Phillips on the right and he put the ball on a plate for Jordan Williams to tap home.

Accrington were awarded a stoppage-time penalty when Ziyad Larkeche fouled Michael Nottingham. Tommy Leigh made it 3-1 from the spot to deny the home side a clean sheet.

Luke Leahy stole the show as Shrewsbury got back to winning ways at home with a thumping 5-1 victory over relegation-threatened Cambridge.

The Shrews skipper bookended a brilliant win and set up two others in their first victory at home since December 10, while visitors Cambridge sunk deeper into trouble with a fourth straight defeat.

Town started strongly but the U’s held firm until Paul Digby gifted the hosts a penalty when he felled Matthew Pennington.

Leahy got the party started from the spot as he scored for a second game running in the 31st minute.

Jordan Shipley sent the hosts into the break with a two-goal cushion as he chalked up a first league goal since October with a stunning 20-yard strike in first-half stoppage time.

Defender Pennington powered home his sixth goal of the season from Leahy’s corner just before the hour.

Joe Ironside clawed back a consolation for the downbeat visitors before Christian Saydee completed a dazzling run with a neat finish 20 minutes from time.

Leahy completed a brilliant performance with a fifth at the end.

Cameron Brannagan hit a long-range screamer in the thickening fog to earn Oxford a 2-1 victory over third-placed Ipswich.

The result was a blow to Town’s hopes of closing the gap on the top two Plymouth and Sheffield Wednesday in the League One promotion race.

But Oxford were delighted as they avenged a 3-0 pummelling at Portman Road on Boxing Day to stay within eight points of the play-off places.

Suriname international Yanic Wildschut scored his first Oxford goal in the 34th minute, dribbling past two defenders before prodding a shot under goalkeeper Christian Walton.

Town responded quickly, with left-back Leif Davis heading Marcus Harness’ cross down past Simon Eastwood and into the bottom corner just four minutes later for his first professional goal.

Ipswich had good chances. Wes Burns drove against the top of the crossbar and George Hirst shot wide from a great position.

The fog worsened in the second half and spectators were left guessing at what was happening on the opposite side of the ground.

And the contest was settled when Brannagan hammered in a right-footed winner from outside the box with seven minutes to go.

Michael Cheek bagged a brace to earn Bromley a 2-2 draw at home to Aldershot in the National League.

Having gone five games without a goal, the 31-year-old striker struck for the sixth time this season, heading in on the line following a scramble in the 36th minute.

It cancelled out Aldershot’s 16th-minute opener through on-loan Colchester striker Jake Hutchinson, who finished well beyond Reice Charles-Cook from Tyler Cordner’s through-ball.

Aldershot went back in front 20 minutes from time when Ollie Harfield’s free-kick was deflected into his own goal by Billy Bingham.

But three minutes later, Cheek notched his second with a close-range finish from Corey Whitely’s pass before he missed a glorious opportunity in the closing stages.

Dundee United advanced to the fifth round of the Scottish Cup but they were made to fight all the way by Lowland League outfit University of Stirling in a 3-0 victory at Tannadice.

The students frustrated the home side for large periods of the first half but conceded right before the break with Aziz Behich producing a fine finish.

Further goals in the second half from Jamie McGrath and substitute Glenn Middleton sealed the victory but the students can take great credit for their performance against the Premiership team.

Early on, every touch by the University was greeted with wild cheers by their 1,000-strong travelling support and they were off their seats in the third minute as James Stokes played in Jason Jarvis with his shot being well saved by home keeper Mark Birighitti diving to his right.

United finally sparked into life when Dylan Levitt tried his luck from outside the box but his shot was deflected just wide of UoS keeper Ben Fry’s left-hand post.

The students were shouting for a penalty in the 18th minute as Stokes tumbled in the box under a challenge from Behich but referee Chris Graham saw no offence.

It looked like Stirling would deservedly head down the tunnel with the scores still level but their resistance was finally broken in the 45th minute.

McGrath’s cross was headed on by Steven Fletcher to Behich, who swivelled and fired high past Fry to give United the lead at half-time.

The home side doubled their advantage in the 68th minute when McGrath produced a stunning overhead kick that flew into the back of the net.

The Tangerines put the icing on the cake in the 81st minute when Middleton dinked the ball over Fry.

After the final whistle, the students went to their support to lap up a deserved standing ovation.

Peterhead moved off the bottom of the cinch League One table with a 1-0 win over fellow strugglers Clyde at Balmoor Stadium.

Kieran Shanks broke the deadlock six minutes into the second half when he backheeled the ball into the net following a corner for his first goal since arriving on loan from Arbroath.

Peterhead move a point ahead of the Bully Wee – who replace them at the foot of the table – but are still well adrift of safety.

In League Two, Annan kept up their promotion push with a 4-0 win over bottom club Bonnyrigg Rose at Galabank.

Aidan Smith put the hosts in front in the 24th minute and Tommy Goss doubled the lead early in the second half following a free-kick.

Defender Max Kilsby made it 3-0 with 15 minutes left before striker Goss slotted in another from the penalty spot to leave Annan in fourth place.

Stranraer pulled further clear of the bottom and closed up to within a point of the promotion places with a 3-1 win at East Fife.

Josh Walker put the visitors ahead from a 14th-minute penalty, with midfielder James Hilton doubling the lead just before half-time.

Defender Scott Mercer pulled a goal back for East Fife in the 64th minute, but teenager Aaron Brown – making his debut on loan from Kilmarnock – soon restored the Blues’ advantage with a neat finish to wrap up the points.

Second-placed Stirling saw their match against Forfar postponed because of a frozen pitch at Forthbank Stadium.

Ollie Watkins’ late winner secured all three points for Aston Villa after Southampton had two goals ruled out at St Mary’s.

Watkins’ header in the 77th minute proved enough for the visitors to win 1-0 and move up to 11th in the Premier League, just one point behind Chelsea and Liverpool.

VAR had intervened twice, once in the first half to rule Kyle Walker-Peters’ final touch offside, and again in the second to overturn James Ward-Prowse’s strike.

Ward-Prowse’s effort was slightly controversial, with a lengthy delay while a potential foul in the build-up was analysed by VAR before the final decision was made.

There was also a delay of several minutes just before half-time when all players were forced back to the dressing room for safety reasons due to a drone flying over the stadium.

The result brought an end to Southampton’s three-game winning run in all competitions and they remain at the bottom of the table.

The match started in cagey fashion, as both sides looked to test each other out in the middle of the field, without any chances at either end.

The first shot came in the 17th minute, after the ball came back out to Aston Villa’s Alex Moreno, but his strike from the edge of the box flew far wide of the target.

Southampton thought they had broken the deadlock in the 25th minute when Walker-Peters got the final touch on a ball headed towards goal by Che Adams, but it was flagged for offside.

That did invigorate the home support after a subdued opening, but just before the half-hour mark, Gavin Bazunu had to be alert at the other end to palm away a shot from Leon Bailey.

The second half followed the same pattern as the first with a lack of clear-cut chances, with both sides continuously jostling for possession in the middle of the pitch.

Saints boss Nathan Jones made three substitutes in the 62nd minute in an attempt to inject life into his side and they were almost instantly rewarded when Ward-Prowse thought he had broken the deadlock.

Villa were unable to clear the ball, which was eventually played out to Ward-Prowse who fired goalwards, and it went in over the keeper after a deflection off Douglas Luiz.

But again to the disappointment of the home support it was ruled out, this time for a foul by Mohamed Elyounoussi on Jacob Ramsey.

The winner then arrived with less than quarter of an hour left when Watkins headed the ball past Bazunu from a Luiz free-kick.

The striker was checked by VAR for potentially being in an offside position, but the goal was allowed to stand.