Hammer time

Monday, 06/02/2012

by James Beavis

On a weekend where three of the 12 matches were victims of the cold weather, league leaders West Ham extended their advantage at the summit.

The ten-man Hammers beat local rivals Millwall 2-1 at Upton Park despite the early dismissal of skipper Kevin Nolan. Goals from Carlton Cole and Winston Reid moved them four points clear.

In poor conditions at St. Andrews, promotion rivals Birmingham and Southampton, who had Danny Fox red-carded late on, played out a goalless draw which keeps Saints second.

Cardiff missed the chance to move into the automatic promotion places though as they were beaten 3-1 by Blackpool in the Welsh capital. Two goals by Matt Phillips and one by his namesake Kevin moved the Tangerines up to fourth.

Middlesbrough and Crystal Palace played out a goalless draw at the Riverside which sees the Teessiders drop to sixth.

Manager-less Leeds defeated nine-man Bristol City, who had James Wilson and Yannick Bolasie dismissed, 3-0 at Ashton Gate to remain on the fringes of the play-off positions.

In an encounter that saw three red cards, Brighton needed a last-gasp winner against Leicester from Will Buckley to keep them in contention with the chasing pack. Matt Sparrow had earlier been sent off for the Seagulls, while Jermaine Beckford and Neil Danns saw red for the Foxes.

Jay Rodriguez’s late equaliser rescued a 1-1 draw for Burnley at home to Peterborough, for whom Paul Taylor had opened the scoring.

Watford triumphed 2-1 against Barnsley at Vicarage Road with John Eustace’s brace proving the difference between the teams.

Michael Chopra’s injury time winner gave Ipswich a 3-2 win at the Ricoh Arena against Coventry and their second victory of the week.

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