Fulham gained three valuable points on
Saturday when they won a rematch of last season's Division One Champions
and runnersup. It has to be said that the current Blackburn lack the commitment
that got them to the runnersup spot last season and if they don't rediscover
it they will be back in the 1st tout de suite.
Despite a truly inexplicable performance by Ref Halsey from Welwyn Garden
City the Fulham faithful were in far better mood once the goals started
to go in and despite the inconvenient rain squall as the crowd was streaming
out conversation turned once again to the possibility of European soccer
next year.
Blackburn had started quite well with their 8m pound man Andy Cole, a Fulham
reject as the crowd were quick to remind him, being put through in the 4th
minute but Fulham's super keeper Edwin van der Sar was up to it and saved
well. After that Rovers started to show why they deserve to be in the relegation
zone. Their Turkish midfielder Tuguy had had a go at his team mates during
the week for being happy with defeat but they either didn't hear him or
they could not be bothered. To their credit Rovers were trying to play football
but it was poor. That well known football judge and soon to be 1st Division
Manager Mr Souness tried to get his team back in the game by taking off
defenders and bringing on attackers but his team just got worse. The Blackburn
fans just got quieter and quieter until the Fulham fans felt they deserved
some help and started to sing Souness out, Souness out.
The overall performance of Fulham appeared good apart from a series of mistakes
by Andy Melville at the start of the game after Mr Halsey had cautioned
him. Fulham's attacking play seemed a bit more focused with Steed helping
considerably. Steve Marlet worked hard throughout the game and provided
a lot of the ammunition for others in the box. The difference the first
goal made to Fulham's confidence was incredible from a timid and at times
ramshackled approach we saw flashes of the play seen earlier in the season
with breathtaking passing moves from end to end and side to side. A pleasure
to see.
Ref Halsey from Welwyn Garden City made himself busy very early in the game
booking Steed Malbranque at 2 mins when he blocked Lucas Neill's apparent
quick free-kick attempt just a yard from the ball. As the ball had not come
to a standstill after being placed on the ground and the Ref was busy with
getting to the scene of the freekick Steeds block was more like helping
Neill not to make a mistake. The Ref then booked Andy Melville at 3 mins
for seeming to block Andy Cole as they ran down the wing. Suffice to say
that Fulham strikers have been booked for diving with more reason to go
down than Cole had. Mr Halsey continued with the yellow confetti when he
booked Neill at 7 mins for a foul but after that must have realised that
his Sunday lunch would be ruined with the length of his report and went
the other way ignoring a series of strong challenges on Rufus by the previously
booked Neill choosing to verbal him instead. It was a shame that Mr Halsey
had not thought of that with Steed and Melville. As the game went on Mr
Halsey seemed intent on giving decision after decision to Blackburn and
nothing to Fulham. At one point in the game Mr Halsey decided that a clear
hand ball in the penalty area by Blackburn's Berg, flagged by the linesman,
should be ignored in favour of playing the advantage rule! What would he
have done if Bazza had missed the goal, given Fulham a second chance with
a penalty? Weird. The final moments were chaos as a 50 50 ball between Steve
Marley and Short lead to an alleged elbow in Steve's face and a straight
red for Short. Short had to be held back from a Ref who had made sure that
Short misses the Worthington Cup Final perhaps the biggest day in his footballing
life. After Short had left the pitch Ref Halsey gave a free kick to Blackburn
and a yellow to Steve!! Not a good day for Mr Halsey or referees
in general.
Fulhamweb's prediction was 2-1 to Fulham in front of 20059. (Prediction
League)
Other games
Leicester were not able to help themselves or us very much, apart from goal
difference, and went down 2-1 at Spurs only allowing us to move up to 9th
spot albeit still with the Middlesbrough away game in hand. Charlton lost
2-0 at home to Man Utd on Sunday so could not retake the 9th spot from us.
As we did win we did not need the 6-0 thrashing of Ipswich by Liverpool
or the 3-1 beating of Southampton by Newcastle or the 1-0 home victory of
Bolton over West Ham but they were nice to see and gave us more of a breathing
space.
COME ON YOU WHITES
WE ARE FULHAM CHAMPIONS OF THE NATIONWIDE AND THE PRIDE OF LONDON
Premiership match details
| Barclaycard
Premiership |
FT |
|
HT |
Saturday
09/02/02 |
| Pos |
Home |
Pos |
Away |
H |
A |
|
H |
A |
KO |
Att |
T.V. |
Info |
| 07 |
Aston Villa |
05 |
Chelsea |
1 |
1 |
|
1 |
0 |
FT |
41137 |
- |
Details |
| 18 |
Bolton |
11 |
West Ham |
1 |
0 |
|
1 |
0 |
FT |
24342 |
- |
Details |
| 19 |
Derby |
15 |
Sunderland |
0 |
1 |
|
0 |
0 |
FT |
31771 |
- |
Details |
| 10 |
Fulham |
17 |
Blackburn |
2 |
0 |
|
1 |
0 |
FT |
19580 |
- |
Details |
| 12 |
Ipswich |
03 |
Liverpool |
0 |
6 |
|
0 |
2 |
FT |
25608 |
- |
Details |
| 16 |
Middlesbrough |
06 |
Leeds |
2 |
2 |
|
0 |
1 |
FT |
30221 |
- |
Details |
| 02 |
Newcastle |
13 |
Southampton |
3 |
1 |
|
3 |
1 |
FT |
51857 |
- |
Details |
| 09 |
Tottenham |
20 |
Leicester |
2 |
1 |
|
1 |
0 |
FT |
35973 |
- |
Details |
| Barclaycard
Premiership |
FT |
|
HT |
Sunday
10/02/02 |
| Pos |
Home |
Pos |
Away |
H |
A |
|
H |
A |
KO |
Att |
T.V. |
Info |
| 08 |
Charlton |
01 |
Man Utd |
0 |
2 |
|
0 |
1 |
FT |
26475 |
ppv |
Details |
| 14 |
Everton |
04 |
Arsenal |
0 |
1 |
|
0 |
0 |
FT |
30859 |
sky1 |
Details |
Page top
Saturday 09 Feb 2002 - Barclaycard Premiership
|
|
Aston Villa (07) |
(1)
1-1 (0) |
Chelsea
(05) |
|
|
|
|
Aston Villa: Enckelman, Delaney, Mellberg (Barry 45), Staunton,
Samuel, Hadji, Hendrie (Stone 57), Boateng, Merson, Vassell (Dublin
87), Angel.
Subs Not Used: Myhill, Balaban.
Booked: Samuel.
Goals: Merson 28.
Chelsea: Cudicini, Ferrer (Zola 63), Desailly, Terry (Keenan
76), Le Saux, Dalla Bona, Petit, Lampard, Stanic, Gudjohnsen (Forssell
63), Hasselbaink.
Subs Not Used: de Goey, Jokanovic.
Booked: Dalla Bona.
Goals: Lampard 65.
Att: 41,137
Ref: P Durkin (Dorset).
|
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fixtures |
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Saturday 09 Feb 2002 - Barclaycard Premiership
|
|
Bolton (17) |
(1)
1-0 (0) |
West
Ham (12) |
|
|
|
|
Bolton: Jaaskelainen, N'Gotty, Bergsson, Whitlow, Charlton,
Tofting, Warhurst (Southall 45), Nolan, Gardner, Ricketts (Holdsworth
83), Bobic (Hansen 86).
Subs Not Used: Poole, Wallace.
Booked: Warhurst.
Goals: Gardner 38.
West Ham: James, Schemmel, Dailly, Foxe, Minto, Cole, Lomas,
Labant, Kanoute, Defoe, Garcia (Kitson 77).
Subs Not Used: Andersson, Potts, Courtois, McCann.
Booked: Foxe, Kanoute, Lomas.
Att: 24,342
Ref: D Pugh (Bebington).
|
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fixtures |
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top |
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Saturday 09 Feb 2002 - Barclaycard Premiership
|
|
Derby (19) |
(0)
0-1 (0) |
Sunderland
(11) |
|
|
|
|
Derby: Oakes, Barton, Riggott, Higginbotham, Zavagno, Powell
(Boertien 54), Lee, Ducrocq, Morris (Burton 77), Ravanelli, Christie.
Subs Not Used: O'Neil, Kinkladze, Grant.
Sunderland: Sorensen, Haas, Bjorklund (Williams 75), Craddock,
Gray, McAteer, Reyna, Schwarz, Arca (Bellion 79), Quinn (Kyle 86),
Phillips.
Subs Not Used: Macho, Kilbane.
Booked: Phillips.
Goals: Quinn 80.
Att: 31,771
Ref: G Poll (Tring).
|
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fixtures |
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Saturday 09 Feb 2002 - Barclaycard Premiership
|
|
Fulham (09) |
(1)
2-0 (0) |
Blackburn
(18) |
|
|
|
|
Fulham: Van der Sar, Finnan, Brevett, Melville, Goma, Collins,
Malbranque, Legwinski, Davis, Marlet (Willock 90), Hayles.
Subs Not Used: Taylor, Harley, Saha, Ouaddou.
Booked: Malbranque, Melville, Marlet.
Goals: Hayles 31, Malbranque 63.
Blackburn: Friedel, Tugay, Berg, Short, Curtis (Hignett 68),
Taylor, Duff, Dunn, Jansen (Johansson 90), Cole, Neill (Gillespie
69).
Subs Not Used: Kelly, Hughes.
Sent Off: Short (90).
Booked: Neill, Tugay.
Att: 19,580
Ref: M Halsey (Welwyn Garden City).
|
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fixtures |
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Saturday 09 Feb 2002 - Barclaycard Premiership
|
|
Ipswich (13) |
(0)
0-6 (2) |
Liverpool
(01) |
|
|
|
|
Ipswich: Marshall, Makin, McGreal, Hreidarsson, Venus, Holland,
Clapham, Wright (Stewart 38), Peralta, Armstrong (Magilton 71), Marcus
Bent.
Subs Not Used: Salmon, Counago, Reuser.
Liverpool: Dudek (Arphexad 55), Wright, Henchoz, Hyypia, Xavier,
Murphy, Hamann, Gerrard (McAllister 81), Riise (Anelka 73), Heskey,
Owen.
Subs Not Used: Smicer, Litmanen.
Goals: Xavier 16, Heskey 43, Hyypia 52, Owen 62, 71, Heskey 90.
Att: 25,608
Ref: S Bennett (Kent).
|
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fixtures |
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Saturday 09 Feb 2002 - Barclaycard Premiership
|
|
Middlesbrough (16) |
(0)
2-2 (1) |
Leeds
(06) |
|
|
|
|
Middlesbrough: Crossley, Festa, Southgate, Ehiogu, Queudrue,
Gavin (Mustoe 45), Ince, Greening (Windass 79), Stamp (Boksic 45),
Whelan, Carbone.
Subs Not Used: Murphy, Jones.
Booked: Ince.
Goals: Ince 51, Windass 88.
Leeds: Martyn, Kelly, Ferdinand, Matteo, Harte, Dacourt (Wilcox
86), Bakke, Batty, Kewell, Viduka, Fowler.
Subs Not Used: Keane, Robinson, McPhail, Duberry.
Booked: Bakke.
Goals: Bakke 19, Fowler 54.
Att: 30,221
Ref: N Barry (Scunthorpe).
|
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fixtures |
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Saturday 09 Feb 2002 - Barclaycard Premiership
|
|
Newcastle (02) |
(3)
3-1 (1) |
Southampton
(14) |
|
|
|
|
Newcastle: Given, Hughes, O'Brien, Dabizas, Distin (Elliott
82), Solano, McClen (Jenas 76), Speed, Robert, Bellamy, Shearer.
Subs Not Used: Acuna, Harper, Ameobi.
Goals: Robert 24, Shearer 29, 45 pen.
Southampton: Jones, Dodd, Lundekvam, Williams, Bridge, Svensson,
Oakley (Tessem 74), Telfer (Delap 48), Marsden, Davies, Pahars.
Subs Not Used: Moss, Monk, Fernandes.
Booked: Davies.
Goals: Pahars 39.
Att: 51,857
Ref: B Knight (Orpington).
|
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fixtures |
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Saturday 09 Feb 2002 - Barclaycard Premiership
|
|
Tottenham (08) |
(1)
2-1 (0) |
Leicester
(20) |
|
|
|
|
Tottenham: Sullivan, Thatcher (Thelwell 65), King, Richards,
Taricco, Anderton, Sherwood, Etherington, Davies, Ferdinand (Rebrov
83), Iversen.
Subs Not Used: Keller, Sheringham, Leonhardsen.
Goals: Anderton 37, Davies 61.
Leicester: Walker, Sinclair, Davidson, Elliott, Laursen, Savage,
Oakes, Stewart, Impey, Scowcroft, Piper.
Subs Not Used: Royce, Marshall, Heath, Stevenson, Reeves.
Booked: Impey.
Goals: Oakes 79.
Att: 35,973
Ref: A D'Urso (Billericay).
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fixtures |
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top |
source=sportinglife |
Sunday 10 Feb 2002 - Barclaycard Premiership
|
|
Charlton (10) |
(0)
0-2 (1) |
Man
Utd (03) |
|
|
|
|
Charlton: Kiely, Young, Costa, Fish, Powell, Robinson, Bart-Williams,
Parker, Stuart (Svensson 72), Euell (Johansson 82), Lisbie (Konchesky
82).
Subs Not Used: Ilic, Fortune.
Man Utd: Carroll, Phil Neville, Blanc, Gary Neville, Silvestre,
Beckham, Keane, Scholes, Giggs (Butt 88), van Nistelrooy (Veron
66), Solskjaer (Forlan 78).
Subs Not Used: Van Der Gouw, Irwin.
Booked: Phil Neville.
Goals: Solskjaer 33, 74.
Att: 26,475
Ref: A Wiley (Burntwood).
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fixtures |
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Sunday 10 Feb 2002 - Barclaycard Premiership
|
|
Everton (15) |
(0)
0-1 (0) |
Arsenal
(04) |
|
|
|
|
Everton: Simonsen, Clarke (Moore 86), Weir, Stubbs, Unsworth
(Gascoigne 70), Blomqvist (Pembridge 77), Carsley, Linderoth, Naysmith,
Campbell, Ginola.
Subs Not Used: Gerrard, Cleland.
Arsenal: Wright, Luzhny, Stepanovs, Campbell, Upson (Dixon
31), Parlour, Vieira, Grimandi, van Bronckhorst, Wiltord, Henry.
Subs Not Used: Seaman, Jeffers, Edu, Inamoto.
Booked: Campbell, Stepanovs, Parlour, Luzhny, Henry.
Goals: Wiltord 62.
Att: 30,859
Ref: J Winter (Stockton-on-Tees).
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fixtures |
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|