Roker Riches: Two wins on the bounce, and now Gillingham at home... can we secure 3 in a row?

Welcome to another Riches week, and by the standards of footballing weeks across recent months this season and last, this has to be a better one than most for us Mackems, doesn’t it?

Two league games, two wins, at home and then away... 6 points on the board and the rich vein of scoring for Wyke continues. So, all is good and we are heading up the leagues, right?

As is often the case, it isn’t as simple as that with the Black Cats. The Shrewsbury game was a good first half performance followed by a poor second. It was that old adage of “a game of two halves”, and a story of missed opportunities... after his deftly headed opener, had Wyke scored after rounding the keeper, or had Diamond smashed a shot rather than pausing for a possible off side when clear through on goal, we could have been 2 or even 3-0 up inside 30 minutes. We weren’t, but we held on as the Shrews didn’t give up, so credit to the boys for a home win and all three available points, but it was far from a cake walk.

Similarly, away to Ipswich we played against ten men for more than 80 mins, after a rash tackle by the Ipswich striker Jackson saw a red card branded by the ref very early on. We then scored at what many say is the ideal point, just before half time, with the type of football move worthy of the days in the championship or even the premier league. A clever back heel from Winchester freed up O’Brien, who turned the ball out wide to Power, who crossed first time to Wyke, who finished in the bottom corner with a left footed volley.

Cracking stuff. But... we didn’t kick on from there after the break. Ipswich deserve some credit for changing their tactics/using subs effectively and having a go, even with ten players, but we didn’t kill the game off to prevent risk. We held on again, and I would argue more comfortably than we did against Shrewsbury (which makes sense given they had 11 players to the end), but it is another three points that we would have happily accepted before heading down to Portman Rd.

Next we take on Gillingham at home, who sit 12th in the league and have a very mixed record, as do we at the SOL ‘til the recent win. Looking at games they have lost, they seem prone to goals around the half hour point and they rarely let more than one in, so in my view we need to start the game strongly and get ahead in the first 45. If we do, I really think we will be able to either build or hold on. I am not going to dredge the stats to see when SAFC last won 3 league games on the trot or two at home on the bounce, but we all know it’s been a good while.

Let’s hope we can do that and add a fourth and fifth and more, as if we keep winning and allow others to do less of that, we will get the best possible outcome we deserve.

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The Rolling Table : Season 2020-2021

Yellow card update...

No yellows this week...since that weekend when we had a few, the boys have really improved their pre-game discipline, which deserves a mention.

Here is the table as it stands before the Gills visit the SOL:

Some good returns for the Riches lads last Saturday, as can be seen above.

Phil continues to lead the way, adding to his existing lead with the best return of the week, gaining over £70 for his European Acca. Malc shoots from last to 3rd place with a respectable £51.75 return, after both his Sunderland and League Acca bets came in, though his Bonus Bet was admittedly miles from successful. Nominal wins for Gary and Fletch mean Matty, Danny and our Readers are now propping up the table with £100 or less left in the kitty.

Can the predictions this week be as steady as Sunderland’s last couple of results? Only today’s early kick off and the rest of the days play will tell that tale.

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Banker’s Bonus...

After two one-nil wins, the one thing that we need to do more of is score goals to close out games, or at least to prevent draws from late equalisers.

If the lads score more than one goal this weekend, all betting enthusiasts get an extra tenner for the next weekend game. If Charlie Wyke continues his excellent scoring streak and we score more than 1, the generous Riches editor (Malc) is upping the Bankers Bonus for next weekend to 20 quid!

Lets hope the result goes our way, Chaz keeps banging them in, and the betting next weekend is increased as a result.

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This Week’s Bets:

Matty Crichton says...

Charlie Wyke to score first and Sunderland to win 2-0. Let Charles Wyke’s goal-scoring form continue! Gillingham are in good form, but after such a crucial victory against a promotion rival live on Sky, the lads should be well up for it! £5 returns £80.

English Fourfold: Everton to intensify the pressure on Steve Bruce at Newcastle, Brentford to beat struggling Wycombe, Oxford to beat managerless Fleetwood and Hull to beat Swindon - safe choices for low profit. £5 returns £29.43.

Photo by Clive Mason/Getty Images

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Gary Morris says...

Sunderland to lead half and full time... this bet came in for me last time and I’m backing it to repeat. Poor 6-4 odds, but it may well keep my kitty ticking over. Fiver pays £12.50 including stake.

Sunderland, Hull, Accrington and Lincoln all to win. I built this Acca as a three but then saw the odds for Accrington to win away to Plymouth and had to add them in. Hopefully that works. Fiver pays £69.36 inc. stake.

Photo by Alex Dodd - CameraSport via Getty Images

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Phil Butler says...

Charlie Wyke to score first and Sunderland to win to nil.

I’m looking for a repeat of Tuesday night’s performance. Hopefully our strong defence and in form striker can combine once again and keep improving our mediocre home record. £5 returns £40.

EFL Treble. Oxford are the form team in League One as they continue to recover from a poor start to the season, something which is in contrast to their opponents Fleetwood Town. Peterborough also seem a good price to beat Shrewsbury, and in the Championship Swansea City should have enough to get the win against relegation-battling Rotherham United. £5 returns £46.20.

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Photo by Hannah Fountain - CameraSport via Getty Images

Paul Fletcher says...

Both teams to score in both halves – Based on recent form, this is very unlikely to happen as the odds of 22/1 would suggest. However, I think an early kick off today might mean an early goal, which might just blow the game wide open. Then, you never know what might happen. £5 returns £115.

Double chance sixfold – the same bet last week was a winner! (Although it was reduced to a 5 fold due to a late decision to reverse the fixture between Halifax and Bromley). This week, my bet requires Oxford, Northampton, Bradford, Morecambe, Morton and Ayr to all avoid home defeats. £5 returns £24.12

Photo by Lewis Storey/Getty Images

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Malc Dugdale says...

Sunderland to win 2-1 - After winning last week with my 1-0 prediction, I’m hedging my bets here as I have gone for 2-0 in the Roker Report predictions group. There is a chance we will let one in given Gillingham scored 4 last game out, but I am happy to lose this bet if it means we get a win and another clean sheet. Decent odds of 7-1 on Skybet returns £40 for a fiver.

5 way acca - Everton, Man City, Norwich, Blackburn and Brentford all to win. The per match odds are pretty poor but with these in an acca you get just over 6-1, meaning a fiver returns £36.50.

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Danny Roberts says...

Sunderland to lose: We’re at home again, got two wins in a row and Gillingham are in form. It just feels very Sunderland to have another dissapointing loss. £5 returns £30.

Four Fold: Everton, Brentford, Hull and Oxford all have winnable games and offers a nice quadruple for this weekend. £5 returns £33.92

Photo by Dan Mullan/Getty Images

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Riches Readers’ Random Pick...

This weeks random pick for readers is a 3-0 win to the lads. It has been a while since we have scored a lot of goals, but with Wyke on his scoring bike, who knows how many he may bag.

Decent odds of 10-1 return £110 if this comes in.

Lets hope it does.

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Good luck to Sunderland and to all our betting buddies.

Let us know what you will be betting on this weekend, on social media or by email. Cheers and Ha’way the Lads!