Accrington Web - 2016/17 Prediction League; Game 45 v Luton Town (home)

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Luton Town

2016/17 Prediction League; Game 45 v Luton Town (home)

I have to say that my favourite stat of the whole season came from last Friday’s Norwich v Brighton game, which Norwich won 2-0 despite not having a single shot on target .................. They hit the woodwork twice (which doesn’t count), and both times the ball rebounded and hit the Brighton keeper’s back before finishing up in the net (which does) .............. the other very interesting set of numbers came from the Crewe v Leyton Orient game (I see Barry Hearn’s resigned from his role as Honorary President at the Matchbox); Crewe had 25 shots (10 on target) with 9 corners, whereas Orient had 2 shots (1 on target) and one corner ............ so you can’t be surprised at their sporting demise really, can you? ...................... Kirkham and Wesham v Leyton Orient anyone?

Another manager went too – Hartlepool’s Boss Dave Jones, who was cordially invited to sling his hook, apparently (I didn’t see it), by ‘Pools President Jeff Stelling in mid-broadcast ...........probably the most bolted on case of constructive dismissal that any Employment Tribunal has ever seen; “Mutual Consent” my arse ...............get your cheque book out, guys! (except he wasn't there long enough to be able to bring a claim!)

The Hatters, on the other hand, are currently 4th on 71 points with two to play; they could be caught, statistically, by 8th, 9th and/or 10th placed Mansfield, Wycombe or Carlisle, but they’d each have to win both their games while Luton lost twice, and then also overturn a GD which is +22 (Luton) against +5, +4 and -1 respectively, so we can safely say that Jack Hylton and the rest of the Band are into the Playoffs ............ their last 10 games have only yielded 3 wins, 5 draws and 2 defeats, though (2-1 at Colchester and 0-2 at home to Stevenage) – 14 points out of 30; they’ve kept 15 clean sheets during the full season, and failed to score 8 times, but their “goals against” column (League only) shows just 41 in 44 games, bettered only by Pompeii on 39 (mind you, Orient have so far let in 81 just in the League ................) And while I’m about it, congratulations to Lincoln City – welcome back! – and commiserations to Swindon (who mentioned on their website that they’d lost the match last week but completely forgot to mention that because of that they were relegated ................”Sorry, slipped my mind!”)

They’re solid on the road – W8 D10 L4 – although we did, as you’ll remember, dump them out of the FA Cup in Round 3 at our place 2-1 with goals from Sean McConville and Omar Beckles wrapped around one from Gray; in the League back in November we lost at theirs in the League to a Cameron McGeehan goal 15 minutes from time. If we beat them they’re still in the mix regardless, but how nice it may be to go to Stevenage for the last game knowing, as it stands, that we can perhaps put them out of the playoff picture; we’ll see if we can Do Unto Them What They Did Unto Us ..........

Apart from Lincoln, we’ll be joined next season by one from Tranmere, Forest Green, the Daggers and Aldershot ............ Dover are 3 points and 6 goals behind Aldershot, having drawn against Macclesfield when they needed a win, so are unlikely to sneak into the picture ................. Southport and North Ferriby are history, and then it’s two from Braintree, York, Guiseley and Torquay to go down with them – Braintree (having to go to Aldershot) and York (hosting FGR) being at greatest risk; down from Div One have already come Coventry, Chesterfield and Swindon, plus one from Port Vale (who won 1-0 at Walsall midweek with a "stunning" Chris Eagles goal) on 48 points, Gillingham 49 and Bury 50 (Shrews could go down but their GD is +10 better than PV’s); Vale at Fleetwood, Gillingham at the Cobblers, and Bury at Southend – all eminently loseable!

Since we last met in the League they’ve brought in two; Lawson D’Ath (MF, 24) from Northampton and winger Luke Gambin from Barnet, where he’s been since 2009; they’ve also loan-signed GK Stuart Moore from Reading and striker Ollie Palmer (ex Havant and Waterlooville and Mansfield) from the Orient – Arsenal’s keeper Matt Macey having been recalled in early April as cover for Petr Cech (was it Macey who was replaced on the “Bench” by a five year old lad who wrote offering his services, do I recall?) ........ biggest names loaned out during the Transfer Window were Craig Mackail-Smith (back to the Posh yet again, where he scored his 100th goal, nine years after his 99th) and Josh McQuoid, who went to Stevenage

Deadline for entries is, as always, scheduled kick-off time, which is 3.00pm on Saturday 29th April ............ I doubt many would have put money on us finishing 14th or above (that’s the worst we can do) back at Christmas, but one defeat in 16 sort of does that to your season; if we’d gone all season like we did in the 15 game spell (Arsenal went unbeaten for a full season, don’t forget) we’d have reached 101 points ...............now there’s a thought to conjure with!

Good luck to everyone! ................ Keep the Faith! ............. And thanks for playing!

:alright::alright::alright: