It was a huge day in the nPower Championship today as the league wrapped up, and there was plenty of Irish interest
By Adrian Collins
Paul McShane was celebrating a goal today as he helped Hull to get back up to the Pmerier League, along with fellow Irish David Meyler and Robbie Brady, all of whom have seen some good game time recently under Giovanni Trapattoni.
McShane grabbed his goal from a set piece after the ball was whipped in from the corner, and one man who wasn’t surprised to see him scoring was his former manager Phil Brown: “When the pressure is on, when the boots are flying and the fists are flying you know Paul McShane is going to be there.” High praise indeed.
Hull were promoted in the most dramatic of styles, after they saw their 2-1 lead against Cardiff lost in the very last minute of the game from the penalty spot, after they themselves had missed a penalty just seconds earlier.
They had an agonising wait at the end as Leeds and Watford were drawing, and although the two games should have been played at the same time, there was a fifteen minute delay after a very serious injury to second choice goalkeeper Jonathan Bond, who was taken to hospital for x-rays after suffering a facial injury.
Watford held on, even despite going down to ten men, until close to the very end, when third choice keeper Jack Bonham was chipped by Ross McCormack, as the Leeds fans sang “we’re only here to spoil the party”.
Ahmed Elmohamady was a particular fan of being promoted, as he showed with this dance. In the words of Marge Simpson, he’s quite the little dancer.
Wolves, down the other end of the table, needed a nearly impossible series of results to go their way as they were 1/100 to be relegated this morning.
It turns out the bookies were right, and Kevin Doyle along with Stephen Hunt and Stephen Ward, have suffered their second successive relegation and now sit in the third tier of English football.
The signs were on the wall for Wolves before today, and away to Gus Poyet’s Brighton Hove Albion was never going to be an easy game, which they ended up losing 2-0.
They are, of course, favourites to come straight back up with their current squad, but it’s hard to imagine players of the calibre of Doyle, Ward and Hunt sticking around through the summer to end up playing in League One.
Kane Ferdinand, who’s eligible for Ireland also saw his Peterborough team relegated today, managed by Alex Ferguson’s son Darren.
Hat-tip to Morgan Young for the quote
