Leicester have had better Sundays. Despite a gallant display, they were knocked out of the FA Cup by Chelsea in the early lunchtime kick-off and, by the evening, they were dethroned at the top of the Championship having led the way since for most of the campaign.
Leeds are the new leaders and Ipswich are hot on Leicester’s heels, too — an emphatic 6-0 win against Sheffield Wednesday involving a wonderful 18-pass goal. The McKenna Way.
Portsmouth continue to march towards the League One title, while Mansfield still lead the way in the fourth tier — their demolition of Bradford involving one of the best goalmouth scrambles of the season.
Today, we look at the Swansea chef delivering a derby recipe of success, Colchester’s reduced pitch dimensions, another crazy week at Reading, Luke Ayling’s Leeds return and the player who is top scorer at two clubs this season. There is some non-League madness added in for fun, too.
Stirring speech from Swansea chef
When Jamal Lowe ran in celebration against Cardiff City on Saturday, the emotion and jubilation at the Swansea.com stadium was palpable.
Head coach Luke Williams fell to his knees before running up the touchline. Swansea’s subs spilt onto the pitch to mob Lowe. The supporters roared in delight. That goal, in stoppage time, sealed South Wales derby victory against their fierce rivals from the Welsh capital.
After the game, Liam Cullen, speaking with UK broadcaster Sky Sports, credited their win to an inspired pre-match team talk from an unlikely source.
“We knew how big it was,” Cullen said. “The chef gave one of the best team talks before the game…” The who?
Club chef Chris Watkins is a lifelong supporter of Swansea and a popular figure around the club and, on matchdays, he swaps the kitchen for the stands to cheer on his side.
But just before Swansea went out for kick-off on Saturday, Williams called him into the dressing room and handed Watkins the utensils. Chef Watkins delivered a stirring speech where he reminded the players of the importance of the fixture and how much it meant to the supporters and the city as a whole.
It was the perfect recipe for success, it seemed, as Swansea dominated proceedings with a high-intensity performance that galvanised the crowd.
🗣️ “We had the chef speak, he is an example of what we call ‘The Swansea Way’. He has so much care, so much passion for the club and he spoke to us from his heart.”
Williams on @kcw70’s pre-match team talk ❤️
— Swansea City AFC (@SwansOfficial) March 16, 2024
Sometimes, in games like these, you just have to ‘get it’ and having Watkins speak was a clever motivational ploy by Williams, at the club for another spell having served as assistant to Russell Martin in the 2021-22 season.
Maybe Williams took a leaf out of his book. Before the derby in April 2023, Martin got kit man Michael Eames to give a rousing speech before their dramatic 3-2 victory at the Cardiff City Stadium.
A far cry, perhaps, from previous incumbent Michael Duff who, before the last game between the sides in September, said the game was “not the be-all and end-all” and he would “rather win promotion and get beat by Cardiff twice”.
They were 22nd at the time and ended up losing the game anyway.
On Saturday, though, Swansea were given the right ingredients for success and chef Watkins helped to cook up a storming victory.
Colchester finally pitch perfect?
Colchester United have had rotten luck with their pitch at the JobServe Community Stadium.
Inclement weather left their pitch waterlogged and resulted in three games — against Doncaster Rovers, Stockport County and Grimsby Town — being postponed in the last four weeks.
They now face a fixture backlog. The three games in hand needed to be played — in addition to the remaining seven fixtures — before the season’s conclusion on April 27. To sprinkle in some added jeopardy, Danny Cowley’s side went into Saturday’s game in the relegation zone.
Colchester have four ground staff and are advertising for a fifth member, but their work is cut out.
🙌 An important strike from Cam McGeehan yesterday. #ColU | #WeAreUnited pic.twitter.com/9iTR42hyms
— Colchester United FC (@ColU_Official) March 17, 2024
Earlier in the week, chairman Robbie Cowling said urgent work on the pitch’s drainage system would be carried out in the summer, but a solution was needed now to prevent further games being cancelled. Independent pitch specialists were called to assess the playing surface and, after seeing that the areas mainly affected were close to the sides and ends of the pitch, the club made an application to the EFL to reduce the pitch dimensions. This was approved by the EFL board on Thursday and was implemented with immediate effect — and in time for Colchester’s home game with Walsall on Saturday.
Cowley’s side now line up on a home pitch four metres narrower (reduced from 68m to 64m; the minimum width allowed) and three metres shorter (reduced from 105m to 102m; the limit is 100m).
The Colchester fans in attendance, who had not seen their team play at home in the league since February 17, saw a team — in the words of Walsall boss Mat Sadler — “fighting for their lives”. They came from behind to secure a 1-1 draw with play-off chasing Walsall; Cameron McGeehan cancelling out Taylor Allen’s first-half strike.
The result saw Colchester leapfrog Forest Green and out of the drop zone on goal difference. Their games in hand will be vital to their Football League survival.
Luke gets an Ale in
The Old Peacock is a popular pre-match haunt for Leeds fans on a matchday at Elland Road, the pub a mere two-minute walk from the stadium.
It’s had some well-known guests in recent times, too, including Larry Nance Jr, the basketball player for New Orleans Pelicans and part of the 49ers investment group at Leeds United.
But Sunday saw its most popular visitor in recent times. Luke Ayling is loved so much by Leeds supporters — and the owners of the pub, it seems — that the venue was temporarily named the Luke Ale Inn when he left the club in January to join Middlesbrough on loan.
As promised. Bill is in the. Peacock. 💙#lufc pic.twitter.com/ZOoRsriBUn
— Lynz H (@heppelltron) March 17, 2024
His new side, for what it’s worth, drew 0-0 with Blackburn, a game in which Ayling played 90 minutes. And, on his day off, he visited some old friends.
There is a feelgood factor at Leeds and maybe Ayling wanted a piece of it, too, as Daniel Farke’s side went top of the Championship with a 2-0 victory thanks to goals from Wilfried Gnonto and Dan James.
Visitors Millwall, very much a foe, did little to change that, despite fans disrupting a choir at Leeds Station as they made their way to the ground.
But they couldn’t halt the Leeds train in their journey to the Premier League — a journey Ayling himself knows all too well.
Dan James sends Leeds to the top of the Championship table 🤩 pic.twitter.com/eg66ZYeHa1
— Sky Sports Football (@SkyFootball) March 17, 2024
How Reading bounced back from (another) tumultuous week
Another week in the history of Reading Football Club.
Sunday: Owner Dai Yongge confirmed he was open to the sale of the club’s training ground, Bearwood Park. He said it was to “secure sufficient funding until new ownership is confirmed”. Others say he is asset-stripping.
Wednesday: The Athletic revealed Yongge agreed to sell the site to local rivals Wycombe Wanderers.
Friday: Reading fans protest at Adams Park, home of Wycombe Wanderers. To their credit, some Wycombe fans joined in, too
Saturday: A football match — Reading vs Cambridge United.
(This is all rather simplistic and further insight into Reading’s situation can be found below.)
GO DEEPER
Players eating microwave meals, staff in coats at desks, redundancies – Reading’s ‘s***show’
But on the pitch, Ruben Selles’ side continue to fight. His side took their frustrations out on Cambridge, thrashing them 4-0 with goals from Sam Smith, Femi Azeez, Lewis Wing and Kelvin Ehibhatiomhan, who took all his anger out on the ball as he rifled a piledriver into the top corner.
Kelvin Ehibhatiomhan stop that! 🛑
One of @ReadingFC’s own producing a moment of magic 🪄
Watch the @EFL Highlights Show on ITV4 from 9pm pic.twitter.com/kWRVALkXEW
— ITV Football (@itvfootball) March 16, 2024
“Continue to fight for us off the pitch and we’ll continue to fight on it,” forward Harvey Knibbs tweeted after the game. Despite everything, the players and fans remain united.
They ended the weekend in 18th, seven points above the relegation zone.
Joe Taylor’s goalscoring feat
As mentioned last week, Lincoln can’t stop scoring and at the forefront of this goal glut is forward Joe Taylor.
The 21-year-old scored a hat-trick as they beat Bristol Rovers 5-0, with Michael Skubala’s side scoring 16 goals in their last three games.
Those goals have put Taylor — on loan from Premier League side Luton Town — in a remarkable position: he is the top scorer for two different teams this season.
With eight goals in 12, Taylor overtook Reeco Hackett-Fairchild to top Lincoln’s scoring charts.
In the first half of the season, he led the line at Colchester, where his 12 goals remain a high for the League Two side.
💪 Another good day at the office!#WeAreImps | @_JTaylor02_ pic.twitter.com/SGhbId78lU
— Lincoln City FC 🇺🇦 (@LincolnCity_FC) March 16, 2024
They often say you should never fall in love with a loan player, but Taylor appears to have captured the hearts of two sets of fans.
He will also give Rob Edwards food for thought at Luton, too.
GO DEEPER
Embracing innovation, U.S. investment, marginal gains – how Lincoln City plan to progress
Goalkeeper’s Rush(den) of blood to the head
Non-League can be a wild place at times and that was encapsulated perfectly at seventh-tier Northern Premier League side AFC Rushden and Diamonds on Saturday.
In the morning, they announced the signing of 22-year-old goalkeeper Lewis Patching ahead of their game against Lye Town. He joined on a dual registration from Southern League side St Ives, with regular goalkeeper Ben Heath unavailable.
To say his debut didn’t go to plan was an understatement. After an 85-mile trip, he conceded four goals in a 4-0 thrashing and, afterwards, was involved in an incident with a supporter in the bar which resulted in his registration being terminated.
Twenty-four hours to forget.
(Top photo: George Wood/Getty Images; by Eddie Keogh/Getty Images)
