Last weekend saw me covering 3 matches – Leicester City vs Watford and Cardiff City vs Bolton Wanderers in the Championship, and Reading vs Queens Park Rangers who are both soon to be in that very league. A long drive up to Leicester on Friday afternoon was made worse when 30 minutes in my radio and satnav went bust meaning a rather boring 2 1/2 hours in silence. Having arrived safely in Leicester I decided to cover automatic promotion chasers Watford and was rewarded when they raced into a 2-0 first half lead, the highlight being a Nathaniel Chalobah screamer from 30 yards. The second half proved to be a more drab affair and Watford won 2-1 to keep their promotion hopes alive and leave Leicester’s play off hopes in tatters.

Next morning it was up nice and early to head to Cardiff where the home side would be presented with the nPower Championship trophy following their match against play-off hopefuls Bolton Wanderers. Bolton took the lead but Cardiff hit back in the 2nd half with a Craig Noone free-kick, which he followed up by celebrating in my direction. Having edited and sent the best ones out it was time to get ready for the post-match celebrations. Us photographers were politely told that we had to stay in one position as the trophy was awarded and if anybody tried anything different they would be ejected. Our position to the left of the podium wasn’t great but as always, TV takes priority. Frustratingly we weren’t allowed on the pitch for the lap of honour but as the players returned to the changing rooms we managed to get owner Tan Sri Vincent Tan and manager Malky Mackay to pose with the trophy. In amongst all the celebrations I noticed Craig Bellamy had his daughter Lexie on his shoulders as he left the pitch and it made for quite a nice picture as she held his winners medal. It was a small consolation after not being able to follow the players around the pitch with the trophy.

Sunday brought a different set of emotions as both Reading and Queens Park Rangers both needing to win to keep their very slim chances of Premier League survival alive. As it turned out the match was a 0-0 bore draw, despite QPR creating the better chances and this meant both teams were relegated to the Championship. At the final whistle it was all about trying to find players and supporters looking dejected. Most didn’t react in the way you’d expect but one QPR fan in the stands couldn’t hide his emotions and I think it sums up the mood of many following a disappointing season for both teams.