[Chief Rum]

Thursday, September 12, 2002

London Times

Seven Division One Sides Fall In English League Cup First Round

LONDON-- There are few things big club fans hate more than being eliminated from cup competitions by smaller clubs.

So this year's English League Cup First Round will not be a fond memory for fans of Watford, Reading, Bradford Coty and Portsmouth. All four Division One clubs lost to smaller clubs yesterday.

Counting three more Division One clubs--the Wolves, Stoke City, and Walsall--which lost in matches featuring two D-1 sides, seven total clubs from the highest English league in action lost their matches yesterday, along with 28 other English clubs.

The winners of the Wednesday's 35 matches will move on to the second round, in which they will either play each other or an English Premier club. The EPL first joins the competition in the later round.

The second round will be played on October 2 at various grounds across the nation.

The top matchup Wednesday was one of three Division One meetings. The Wolves of Wolverhampton fell in a close match to Burton & Albion, 2-1. Milwall overcame Stoke City's home crowd to win a high-scoring 3-2 affair, and Wimbledon likewise took a road match from Walsall, winning on penalties in a 1-1 match that may have been the most exciting of the day.

Few remember if you win in the first round, though--at least not if you're a Division One side. And they never forget if you lose.

Watford was upset on penalty kicks by Division Two Colchester City. The home team won the match on kicks after a scoreless 0-0 full time.

Bradford City, currently fifth in Division One, may have eben the upset of the day. Division Two Oldhman Athletic, which is on the verge of a relegation slot, stunned the bigger club at home, shutting them out 2-0.

Division Two Plymouth Argyle defeated Division One Reading at home, 3-2, as did Division Two Wigan Athletic over Division Portsmouth. The latter wasn't much of an upset, however--Portsmouth is dead last in Division One, and Wigan is third in Division Two.

There were a handful of Division One teams that squeaked into the second round with a scare.

Division Three Wrexham nearly had the upset of the day when they went into Leicester City, one of the best sides in Division One, and forced them to extra time. Unfortunately, they fell short on penalty kicks in the 2-2 match.

Division Sheffield Wednesday required extra time to defeat Division Three Macclesfield, 3-2, on the road, and Preston North End needed similar measures to top Division Two side Alexandra Crewe, a club they might be facing in Division One next season, in a 2-1 match.

Even table-topping Derby County had its problems with visiting Division Two side Cheltenham Town. The match went to extra time before Derby scored two goals to seal it.

Fellow Division One leader Crystal Palace coasted to an easy 3-0 home victory over Division Three Rochdale, table-wise the worst ranked side in the entire field.