Its That Pendulum Again
Tuesday, 26th Apr 2011 09:07

The pendulum inched a little further towards Saints on a tense day in League 1

That pendulum has been swinging a lot of late especially on Saturday when it almost swung off its hinges as Saints rallied late on, on a sunny Bank Holiday Monday though it didnt move much as both Saints and Huddersfield both won, but it inched a little closer towards the South Coast in both Saints and Bournemouth's direction.

For Saints all they have to do now is win two out of the last three games, the win against Hartlepool merely reflected Huddersfield's victory over Dagenham, but games are now starting to run out for the yorkshire side and Saints gaining another goal in the goal difference stakes means that quite simply Huddersfield have to go to Brighton next Saturday and win, if they lose and Saints win at Brentford then Saints will be 99.9% certain of promotion, the difference betwen the two sides on goals will be at least 15 and it would be a minor miracle if Hudderfield could turn that round on the final day assuming that Saints also lost at Plymouth on the monday.

So it could be celebration time for Saints in London on Saturday but we hardly dare to hope at the moment.

Elsewhere Bournemouth were seeing their play off hopes slipping fast, but then two goals in the final six minutes gained them three points and they now can only be caught by Orient, the only one of the chasing three to win, it will be tight for the Cherries as they have two difficult fixtures left travelling to Hartlepool and then home to Rochdale whilst Orient face Tranmere whose win against Exeter now puts them safe from relegation and then travel to Plymouth on the last day, this win over Bristol Rovers was big for Bournemouth effectively three points will secure them a play off spot due to goal difference currently standing 13 better than Orient.

At the bottom Swindon were relegated and its now three from five for the remaining relegation places, amazingly it could be virtually all sorted this coming Saturday if the results go in the favour of a couple of teams which would see the final three places filled. Plymouth though could still mathematically overtake the fifth from bottom side given they would have two games left, but this would depend on the margins of their defeat and Walsall's win over Charlton.

In fact it could be that all the promotion and relegation issues are sorted before the final day in League 1 if Saints can clinch promotion either at Brentford or Plymouth added to Cherries getting a result at Hartlepool whilst Orient dropped points, the final day in League 1 would be very short on tension with not even any jostling in the play off zone for position.

So on to Saturday with a grand total of nine clubs all fighting for much needed points, the pendulum will be very busy between three and Five pm, but when the last game has finished will it have finished its business or will it still have to swing on Bank Holiday monday and the following Saturday ? we shall see !

Photo: Action Images

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Andylad63 added 11:01 - Apr 26 Being life long Saints fans we all know they will put us through the emotional mangle. Yes if we win two of our three games we are home and dried but I do believe we will lose the other and that will probably be Brentford! God I hope not.
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bstokesaint added 13:17 - Apr 26

Nick, I presume now you've changed your mind regarding 85 points being the automatic promotion spot?!! To be fair, this could go all the way. It's not inconceivable that we'll end up on 92 points and the average of 2 points a game, that looked virtually impossible not so long ago. Realistically it was the Brighton game which was pivotal. I don't think anyone saw that coming. I can see Huddersfield beating Brighton this week given the current form of both, so that Brentford game is vital. It will go a long way to stemming some of the momentum if the Terriers get 3 points if we do too. That'll allow us the opportunity to wrap things up down in Plymouth and avenge our opening day defeat. Tense times, I just hope the players don't choke under the pressure.

schatfield added 13:19 - Apr 26

Agree with Andylad, being a Saints fan its never quite as simple as it seems and I still think it will go to the last day of the season to make it definite (although i do think we will finish 2nd).

Am worried about this Saturday though, Brentford away is a tough game, especially for us. My memory might be wrong, but I was thinking, like Tranmere, we seem to like losing up there. Here's hoping I am wrong anyway...

saintjeff added 14:14 - Apr 26

Congratulations Brighton on winning the League, but regrettably they are already on the beach. It is a certainty that Huddersfield will beat them on Saturday. We have to beat Brtentford, though I fear a draw is the likely result. Should Plymouth win on Saturday then our game with them will be more difficult on the Monday as they will be desparate to get at least a point and they will win their final game and probably stay up ( I hope they do but NOT at our expense )