The first half was at a good tempo with both goals coming off poor defending. Watford’s opener was not cleared and lead to a one-two tap in by Henderson that briefly gave Watford hope of a comeback. Despite having a lions share of the possession Watford wasted what it had, and both sides set pieces were poor to say the least. on 43 minutes Hul went back up 3-1 on aggregate when Barmby popped up for Hull on a very poorly Derbyesque clearance and made a lightning run to head the ball into the net right before halftime. Watford were once again down by two goals and Hull had the bit between thier teeth.

In the second half Watford were very fortunate to not go down when the ref missed a handball in the box but unlike the first leg the ref let things go and didn’t draw a lot of attention to himself. In the 58th minute Hull Keeper Boaz Myhill was called on to make his first save of the game and that was really one of Watfords only threats. The long ball Watford played all season wasn’t working and as they pushed up in an attempt to score Hull began to create chance after chance that finally payed off. In the 64th minute Folan came on for Dean Windass and in 6 minutes that substitution would play off when Folan headed in  a goal that all but ended this tie. After that Hull attacked at will and in the 89th minute Garcia got in on the action scoring for Hull making it 5-1 aggregate. Watford had one last chance in the 82nd minute when Hull made a goal line clearance that saved a certain goal but in the 90th minute Doyle got his first senior goal for Hull that gave the Tigers a 4-1 victory on the day and 6-1 overall.

Watford just gave up after Hull went up 2-1 in the match and they were cut to pieces by Hull. Hull attacked at will creating chance after chance and 3 of them went in. Set pieces by both teams were not much better in the second half as well, an improvement is needed there. Hull had the killer instinct and put this tie away when they had the chance at home in front of a very partisan and boisterous crowd. Now they are heading to Wembley in the CCC Playoff Final against cinderella story Bristol City.

Bookmark to:

Congratulations to Hull City and Bristol City for making it to the Coca-Cola Championship Playoff Final. They both won thier respective ties in convincing fashion, Bristol City winning 4-2 and Hull winning 6-1 on aggregate. I was half right when I predicted who would go through, got the Hull City part right, didn’t do so well with the Bristol City one.

Bristol City had a never say die attitude that was apparent over both legs of thier tie with Crystal Palace winning both legs 2-1. They always believed they could and would make it to the final and proved me along with many others wrong all season. Hull dominated thier tie with Watford winning 2-0 in the first leg and 4-1 in the second leg to secure thier trip to Wembely. It will be hard to separate these two teams since they are both flying high with confidence and winning thier ties with gusto. Whoever goes up with be in for a long season and almost certain relegation but for one day they will be kings and as a Derby fan I know the jubilation of winning the CCC playoffs. I am going out on a limb and saying Hull City will win promotion to the EPL by beating Bristol City 2-1.

Bookmark to:

I’m really sorry about the continued recent false alarms of the show starting back up again soon. The lack of new shows is no longer because of my move, which is now complete. This was instead an unexpected change of plans due to personal reasons.

Feel free to continue to visit the new look website here, with recent play-off postings from Shakira.  Additionally, please note there has been a temporary issue with the championshiptalk email addresses not working, which is currently being looked into.

Thank you very much for your support of the the show throughout this season.  –Brian

Bookmark to:

Hull got a fortunate 2-0 win over Watford at Vicarage Road that saw the ref determine the outcome of match sadly. In the 4th minute it appeared the Watford had taken the lead but the goal was called offside, and from my vantage point it was not. That was only the start of a bad day for Watford. On 8 minutes Hull City’s Nick Barmby put the Tigers ahead. It got worse for Watford on the 23rd minute when Dean Windass put Hull up 2-0. Watford did play much better in the second half going close within the first 5 minutes but then on 61 minutes Watford’s John Ustache was given a straight red card that will rule him out of the second leg and the Playoff final if Watford advance. Now down to 10 men Watford were put on the back foot by Hull who were looking for that killer third goal. It never came but Hull take a commanding 2-0 lead into the KC Stadium on May 14th.

Bookmark to:

League Position 4th

Points: 74

Form past 5 matches: W-L-L-D-L

Crystal Palace:

League Position: 5^th

Points: 71

Form Past 5 Matches: W-L-W-W-W

Outlook:

Right now Crystal Palace are by far the hottest team in the Championship. They have won 4 or their past 5 matches and come in with confidence of continued winning. Bristol City while the surprise of the season coming up from League One last season, and a squad that was virtually unchanged from that promotion winning squad, ended the season on a skid that sent them out of the second automatic promotion spot. The two meetings between the teams saw Palace get a 2-0 victory at Bristol City while the match at Selhurst Park ended at 1-1. Credit has to be given to both managers Neil Warnock( Crystal Palace) and Gary Johnson (Bristol City) for the jobs they have done with their clubs. Bristol City was tipped to be relegated at the start of the season and they have been in the top ten since August defying odds makers, at one point they topped the table. When Warnock took over at Palace they were hovering near the relegation zone and looked doomed for the drop at the time, he took over and lead them to a playoff place against the odds. I think this will be a tight affair but Crystal Palace have the momentum and will come out victors in this tie. Aggregate score: Crystal Palace 4 Bristol City 2

Watford v Hull City

Watford:

League Position: 6^th

Points: 70

Form Past 5 matches: D-L-L-D-L

Hull City:

League Position: 3^rd

Points: 75

Form Past 5 Matches: L-W-L-W-D

Outlook:

Both teams are not having the end of the season they would like, Watford especially. At one point Watford topped the Championship but went into a free fall after January. They were fortunate to even make the playoffs and did so only by a goal difference of a single goal over Wolverhampton Wanders. Hull has had a solid season sitting mid-table for most of it, it was really only after Frazier Campbell of Manchester United came on loan that Hull started to pick up momentum and challenge for a playoff spot and that second automatic promotion spot as well. Both teams are struggling for form but I think Hull will advance to Wembley. Watford are in a tailspin and nothing Aide Boothroyd has done seems to stop the bleeding and I don’t see the playoffs being the cure for Watford’s form. Watford have surprised before in the playoffs but I don’t see a repeat of that here. Aggregate score: Hull City 5 Watford 2

Bookmark to:

Points needed for the final (6th table position) playoff berth:

2003-2004: 72
2004-2005: 72
2005-2006: 68
2006-2007: 75

Points needed for automatic promotion (2nd table position):

2003-2004: 80
2004-2005: 86
2005-2006: 82
2006-2007: 85

Bookmark to:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/l/leicester_city/7144144.stm

Bookmark to:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/eng_div_1/7122584.stm

Bookmark to: