Saturday was one of those classic English autumn days, where swathes of the country are bathed in warm sunshine… and others are hammered by heavy, relentless rain.
Parts of Lancashire fell into the latter camp at the weekend, with Blackburn just one of the towns in which it rained metaphorical, if not literal, cats and dogs.
That was bad news for fans of Blackburn Rovers, who were leading 1-0 against Ipswich Town in their Championship clash before the rain got so heavy that the game had to be abandoned with just ten minutes of regular time to be played.
Generally, bookmaker rules state that all bets will stand if the game is replayed within three days. But this Blackburn vs Ipswich clash won’t be… so all wagers on Saturday’s action have now been voided.
If you had backed Blackburn to win, you can perhaps consider yourself unfortunate. But if you had bet on any other result, you might just be thanking your lucky stars… one Sky Bet customer certainly is, after the abandonment at Ewood Park enabled them to turn £10 into £25,000 in winnings!
It’s Raining Goals
The punter had backed a nine-fold acca in a market that would be considered niche for many: both teams to score & no draw. So, for the uninitiated, that would require both teams to score and then either of them to win the game for each selection to land.
Given that there was ten minutes plus injury time left in the Blackburn vs Ipswich contest, but with the Tractor Boys losing 0-1 and down to ten men following a red card shown to Jacob Greaves, it’s quite probable that our punter would have lost out on their acca by just one leg.
Until the rain intervened, that is…
The first items on the agenda for our punter were two 3pm kick-offs in the Premier League on Saturday, with Leeds United’s trip to Wolves and West Ham’s date with Crystal Palace under the microscope.
Remember, our punter didn’t care who won these games, as long as there was a victor and that both teams scored. So, they would have been cheering on Leeds at Molineux, as goals from Dominic Calvert-Lewin, Anton Stach and Noah Okafor cancelled out Ladislav Krejci’s opener and enabled the Yorkshiremen to run out 3-1 victors.
It was rather more touch and go at the London Stadium, where West Ham and Crystal Palace were locked at 1-1 early in the second half – the BTTS part was in, but would either side go on to claim victory?
They would… Tyrick Mitchell popping up with the winner for the Eagles in the 68th minute.
Back of the Net
The punter then dropped into the Championship for two of their selections… albeit the Blackburn vs Ipswich ended in soggy chaos, as discussed.
Otherwise, it was a trip to Hull to see the hosts tackle Southampton, who had made the long old trip north.
It looked as though the acca might fall here as Hull, despite being the underdogs, romped into a three-goal lead with just 20 minutes left to play. But, to the cheers of our punter and the hardy Saints fans that had made the long journey, Adam Armstrong netted an injury time consolation goal.
Into League One now, as another 95th minute goal gives the Sky Bet customer an almighty leg up!
That came at Port Vale, where the hosts found themselves locked in a 1-1 draw with Mansfield. However, as the seconds ticked away, the Valiants were awarded a controversial penalty – Ronan Curtis obliging to complete a 2-1 win for the home team.
Elsewhere, Reading would hang onto a 2-1 lead against Leyton Orient, making it five winners – and a voided selection – for our punter.
What would their picks in League Two conjure up? Goals… and lots of them.
Despite being 1/2 favourites to win the game, promotion chasing MK Dons found themselves on the end of a shock 1-2 defeat at home against Accrington Stanley.
Salford City and Swindon Town served up a five-goal thriller, with our punter benefitting once more from an injury time winner – this time courtesy of Salford’s Kallum Cesay in front of a watching-on David Beckham.
Only one selection was left… and nerves would once again have been jangling.
Walsall were 3-1 up against Tranmere after an hour, which left both the BTTS and no draw part of the bet looking like a certainty. But then Tranmere pulled another back in the 89th minute… they weren’t going to poop the party, were they?
Not on this occasion, with Walsall’s Albert Adomah settling matters with a 91st minute goal.
So, after an afternoon of drama, controversy and plenty of late action, the Sky Bet customer’s £10 nine-fold acca had been transformed into a payout of just over £25,000!