Weekend Rewind

Time to catch up on the past weekend and as usual I'll start with my two football teams. Maybe I should keep this brief because it doesn't take much of a summary or an anlysis to come up with bloody miserable!

The Tractorboys have been in gear in recent weeks putting together a nice little run that has seen the Town go unbeaten in 7 games and only 1 defeat in the previous 11. In the always tight Championship standings this allowed the boys in blue to climb quickly to their highest position of the season at 8th, going into this week's matchup at bottom club Doncaster. The team from the Keepmoat Stadium (that's got to have a nomination for best named ground in football) have struggled to adjust to life in the Championship and found themselves propping up the table. With the marked improvement in Ipswich's away form this term another 3 points seemed likely to potentially move the club into the play-off places. But, yet again Jim could not motivate his team to deliver a performance worthy of victory and the Town slumped to a very disappointing 1-0 defeat. I'm not taking anything away from the Rovers but if Ipswich are to be considered serious promotion contenders, these games have to be considered guaranteed wins. Anything less is not good enough.

And so Sunday came and it was time to raise the 12th man flag once again as the NFC West Champions elect Arizona Cardinals came calling. Going into the game at 2-7, with Big Mike's farewell tour in Seattle wrecked by injuries, the season was already a lost cause. The Cardinals with a relentless passing attack and the two best receivers in football in Larry Fitzgerald and Anquan Boldin, looked to put a stanglehold on the division title; their potential first since 1975. Hawk's fans demanded at least one final stand before we relinquished our 4 year reign as the best in the NFC West. Even with the retrun of quarterback Matt Hasselbeck and oft-injured receiver Deion Branch, this was going to be a tall order. As expected, Kurt "38 years young" Warner, with his 2 massive receiving weapons shredded the Seattle secondary. But somehow the 'Hawks stayed alive. The defence tightened up when needed, heeding the call to keep Seattle in the game. The offence obliged by converting 3 Arizona turnovers into 20 points, but in the end with the game on the line and 2 minutes to go, a rusty looking Hasselbeck threw his 3rd interception of the match, and Arizona departed with a 26-20 victory, their first in Seattle in 6 years.

Each week I grade my 2 football teams - if you have a pairing you would like to add please feel free to comment below.

Weekend TractorHawk Grade: D-

Football defeats on both battle fronts with the Town losing to the bottom club. Grade help up ever so slightly by the almost comeback by the 'Hawks on Sunday against a very talented Arizona outfit. The game was exciting and we had a shot at the end.

Weekend Tractor Driver:

Not many candidates on my teams worth mentioning as both clubs ended up with disappointing defeats. So I'm going with the 12th Man - the fans of the Seattle Seahawks. Renowned for their undying devotion to the cause, I am proud to be among them. We fill the stadium each week, rain or shine and that's not just talking about the weather. The noise is deafening regardless of the 'Hawks record and they almost rallied the lads to a victory.

Note-a-Balls:

Premier Football:

With the exception of the magic of Harry, in recent weeks much of the footballing attention has been at the Emirates where Arsenal continued their rollercoaster of a season looking to build on their victory over Manchester United. This week Villa came calling, a team who themselves, have been on a bit of a dodgy run just recently. Smart money was probably on the Arse to fully dispel any notion that their membership as part of the "big four" may be under threat. So when Clichy headed into his own goal on 70 mins in a tight affair and Agbonlahor sealed the deal 10 minutes later, a sorry looking Arsene headed back to the dressing room with his squad trailing the leading pack by an already insurmountable looking 8 points. Villa moved level with the Gooners on 23 points with the 2-0 win.

Elsewhere in the top flight it was for the most part a routine state of affairs. United hammered Stoke 5-0 at Old Trafford with the little winker claiming a pair and putting in a good days work. Chelsea strolled at West Brom with Anelka knocking in 2 more to extend his lead at the top of the EPL scoring chart. Drogba made a brief sub appearence as he prepares to sit out a few games for his missile attack against Barnsley in the Carling Cup a few days earlier. A couple decent games at St James' and the KC saw Newcastle and Hull split entertaining 2-2 decisions with Wigan and Man City respectively. City still cannot seem to garner the form that their payroll would suggest and relied on 2 goals from Steven Ireland to earn their point at the weekend, and by the way send my EPL fantasy team to victory with his midfield goalscoring exploits. Also a good selection of matches on Fox Soccer Channel this weekend for us that have to rely on the American feeds. Maybe WBA and Chelsea wasn't that great but Arse-Villa, Newcastle-Wigan, and Hull-M.City all made for pretty good entertainment.

More on the US football wrap in my next post.

Cheers!