Robins flying high as Palace lose their gleam

If it had not been for the success of Tony Mowbray guiding West Bromwich Albion to the Championship title in his first full season in charge, then surely Bristol City gaffer Gary Johnson would surely have been a shoe-in for the divisional manager of the year award.

Having led the Robins to promotion from League One, a season of consolidation would have been deemed a success at Ashton Gate. But Johnson has masterminded a remarkable campaign, where they have spent their time challenging at the top of the league. They had spent time in the top two but eventually had to settle for a place in the play offs, which is no mean feat when you consider clubs such as Wolverhampton Wanderers, Ipswich Town and Charlton Athletic, who were relegated from the Premiership last term, missed out.

On Saturday, they travelled to London to take on Neil Warnock’s Crystal Palace side in their play off semi final first leg, and returned with a crucial 2-1 victory. A last gasp strike from David Noble sealed it for the Robins, and Warnock was not happy at the end of the match.

“”I think you could see from their celebrations that they were already at Wembley,” he commented. Warnock is always forthright in his views and he cranked up the tension ahead of last night’s second meeting. 

And Palace gave as good as they got. Ben Watson opened the scoring for the visitors after 24 minutes, but had a second half penalty saved which would have sent them through. So the score was level at 2-2 on aggregate, so it went to extra time and City went in front through former Swansea man Lee Trundle, with a beautiful curling shot into the top corner.

Palace had to go for it but a free-kick 10 minutes from the end of extra time from Scot Michael McIndone ended Warnock’s dreams as he suffered his first play off semi final defeat and sent Johnson’s team to Wembley.

They have an excellent chance of going up again and it is ample reward for a fine season. There, they will meet the winner of tonight’s second semi final between Hull and Watford at the KC Stadium, with Hull 2-0 up from the first leg. I’d tip Hull to go through to meet Bristol City, with one of them earning Premier League football for the first time.

If Johnson’s team go up, then he deserves a lot of recognition.