Ah football, how we’ve missed you.
The World Cup is always a welcome addition to the summer, of course, but there’s just something about the domestic campaign – especially that opening weekend of the season.
While we’ll have to wait until Friday evening for champions Arsenal to welcome Coventry City back to the Premier League, the EFL campaign has already begun in earnest – and it was as chaotic and unpredictable as ever.
And it was somewhat ironic, given that the English Football League pyramid is sponsored by Sky Bet, that it was with that firm that one punter got their season up and running in the best possible way.
They placed a six-fold acca of Match Result & Both Teams to Score selections, taking in games from the Championship to the National League.
And they would have watched on in joy/disbelief as all six of their picks landed, albeit courtesy of an injury time goal from Middlesbrough… resulting in the handiest of near 7,000/1 payouts.
Let’s dive into the tale of the tape…
Six of the Best
A Championship clash, two forays into League Two, a pair of National League encounters and even a trip into Scottish League One made up our plunky punter’s Saturday half-dozen.
- Middlesbrough vs Lincoln City
- York City vs Bristol Rovers
- Barnet vs Salford City
- Barrow vs Hornchurch
- Halifax Town vs Boreham Wood
- Peterhead vs East Fife
The course of an acca containing what is, effectively, 12 different selections rarely runs smoothly – the Sky Bet punter needing to predict the match winner remember as well as landing the BTTS part as well.
And this particular coupon looked dead and buried at various times on Saturday afternoon… until Middlesbrough struck the crucial blow late on against Championship new boys Lincoln City.
Leaving It Late
Lincoln were highly impressive last season in winning League One, but head coach Michael Skubala has since left – the Imps deciding to go with an eyebrow-raising managerial duo instead.
Middlesbrough, meanwhile, were one of the very best sides in the Championship after Christmas, so in theory our punter’s selection – backing the Boro to prevail in a goal-laden contest – looked solid enough.
Lincoln taking the lead through Adam Reach was not very high on the agenda, then…
The good news for Boro fans is that they have plenty of attacking talent and a swashbuckling head coach in Kim Hellberg, so all was not lost. And they’ve got a shiny new striker, too.
Will Lankshear, formerly of Tottenham, was signed for £10 million in the summer, and he got his Championship career off to the best possible start by drawing the Boro level after an hour.
That set up a grandstand finish at the Riverside Stadium, with both teams creating chances. But it was that man Lankshear that nudged home at the near post in the 91st minute to send the home fans into raptures.
Although not quite as dramatic, York City also needed a late goal to seal victory on their return to the EFL ranks.
The Minstermen trailed Bristol Rovers after half an hour, but goals from Alex Newby and Harry Boyes got them back in front.
The Gas equalised via a Tommy Leigh penalty, but the double-act of Newby and Boyes came to the fore once again – the former assisting the latter with an 80th minute winner for York.
Goals Galore
There was something of a shock in Barnet, where the hosts downed title favourites Salford City in their League Two clash.
The Bees were buzzing to be up 3-0 heading into the last few minutes; a situation that once again left our Sky Bet punter on tenterhooks.
But Adebola Owuyo showed his aerial prowess to nod home a 90th minute consolation for Salford and get our punter over the line.
In the National League, the irresistible attacking play of Boreham Wood once again came to the fore – Matt Rush at the double again as they landed a 3-1 win at Halifax.
Hornchurch were promoted from the National League South last season, and they’ve taken rather nicely to life in the fifth tier – two games, two wins, with the most recent victory coming via a 2-1 triumph at Barrow.
The biggest question mark on our punter’s coupon was undoubtedly Peterhead vs East Fife, which was still 0-0 after 78 minutes. But three goals in 12 minutes – the most decisive being Zak To’s 90th minute penalty for Peterhead – got the job done.
Cue celebrations wherever this anonymous Sky Bet customer was stationed: £1.85 on, £14, 639 back on an opening day of the season that dreams are made of.