The72 looks back at some of the weekend’s talking points in League 1
The New York Stadium is the place to watch football right now
Rotherham’s New York stadium is arguably one of the nicest places to watch a match in the Football League, but now it wouldn’t be unfair to say that it’s one of the most entertaining places to watch a match in the Football League. In the last three matches Rotherham have played host to at least 4 goals a game and 13 in total. Their latest result, a 3-2 victory over Oldham was another turnaround following a Daniel Nardiello brace. The Millers have now clawed back an incredible 11 points from losing positions. We definitely recommend a trip to the New York Stadium sometime soon!
The bookies don’t like Leyton Orient
Leyton Orient maintained their perfect start in League 1 following a 3-2 victory over Micky Adams’ Port Vale side. The O’s have now won 6 matches in a row and sit at the top of the table, two points above second place Peterborough. However, even though Orient are now the only team in the country with a 100% record, you can still get a healthy 12/1 price on them winning the league. Wolves and Peterborough are 5/4 and 7/2 respectively. Russell Slade’s men may have been 40/1 at the start of the campaign, but 12/1 at this stage is still quite some price.
Swindon were unlucky
“I’m absolutely delighted with our performance and I feel desperately sorry for the players as they don’t deserve to lose.
Play media. I think they totally bossed it from start to finish. That’s not being disrespectful to Wolves but I thought we totally out-footballed them. We deserved to win the game and there’s not much more you can say about it.”
The words of Swindon Town boss Mark Cooper talking to the BBC after his sides 3-2 loss away at Wolves. A crazy game in League 1 at Molinuex really came to fruition when Dany N’Guessan reduced the deficit to just one, eight minutes from time and although Kevin Foley made it 3-1 on 90 minutes, Swindon managed another consolation in the shape of Ryan Mason.
Wolves by no means played poorly and led throughout the match, but Swindon’s 23 shots to their 11 and 12 corners to their 9 gives some indication of how well Cooper’s side played.
Game of the day might just have been at Deepdale
Whilst Molinuex and the NYS served up a few crackers, Preston and Oldham had 35 shots between in what was possibly a brilliant game at Deepdale In League 1. Although current Stevenage Graham Westley may not agree. Westley, who used to manage Preston had to witness two of his purchases, Paul Huntington and Scott Laird score past his side whilst new signing Kevin Davies rubbed salt into the wounds. Stevenage acquitted themselves well however, creating 13 of the 35 shots. Westley told the BBC:
“I think the team performed brilliantly for 45 minutes. It was a shame to give the goal away that we did.”
Craig Westcarr is proving himself as Walsall’s main striker
When top scorer Will Grigg left Walsall for League 1 rivals Brentford at the end of last season, Saddlers fans may have been a bit apprehensive over his replacement. Craig Westcarr managed just 7 goals last season, spending a majority of his time the shadow of Grigg. But two goals this weekend saw his tally double four in seven. Not a bad start to the season. His first, a deflected shot, was followed after he was fouled in the box, scoring the resulting penalty. So far Walsall are replicating last years solid campaign and will be looking to sneak into the play-offs near the end of the season. Expect Westcarr to be right at the forefront of their promotion push.
