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OWLS SPOOKED BY WOOD

Once again, City underperform at home, having to settle for just a point against a side struggling against relegation, and the season is starting to turn into something of a damp squibette, just as happened a year ago.

We almost lost this game, and Richard Wood's inevitable strike against his former club is a treat, but there's a real 'end of term' feel about us now, and with an Easter weekend of games against much-improved Derby and in-form Reading, the rut could well continue.

BATTLING SKY BLUES UNLUCKY TO LOSE

it's a defeat, and it's even more unlikely that we'll make the play-offs now, but a sterling performance against one of the top teams in the division allowed us to leave The Hawthorns with pride intact.

In the two games this season against West Brom - the divisions top scorers - we've conceded only one goal, which is a testimont to the way we've really firmed up our defence this season with players like Wood, McPake and Cranie.

There are seven games remaining now this season, all of them against sides currently outside of the top six. If we took the maximum 21 points, we could well make it, but that's a tall order with a tall side order of tall fries.

DRAMATIC POINT TOO LITTLE TOO LATE

it's dramatic and exciting coming from two goals down to draw, and the kind of result that we'd normally take, given that we've lost on every previous visit to the Crisp Bowl, but the fact is that a point, coupled with Cardiff's win over Watford today, just isn't enough to sustain a play-off push.

We're now a full seven points short of sixth-place, having played a game more and with an inferior goal-difference. Let's face it, the 'march to the arch' is just about over.

We needed to beat Plymouth really, and We definitely needed to beat Cardiff. If those results had gone our way, we would be in the top six right now, albeit very precariously.

So let's enjoy the end of the season and try to get some surprise results in the run-in, starting with West Brom on Wednesday, even if thoughts of promotion can probably be put to bed for another year.

GOALLINE TECHNOLOGY: WHY NOT?

Let's face it; Today's game was an all-too-rare example of two wrongs making a right.

When Leicester took a 2-0 lead, the ball almost certainly didn't cross the line, yet the linesman awarded a goal.

And when Gary Deegan tapped in our equaliser. there must surely have been somebody offside during the move, but the flag never went up. So those things evened themselves out.

But very often they don't, and why should football, in the 21st century, still be relying on the discretion of officials to turn a blind eye to a second controversial incident just because there was a first controversial incident?

Surely we can use technology to our advantage as other sports do?

FIFA routinely oppose goalline cameras/sensors and video referees. Why?

We're not ranting today because we're hard done by on this occasion (unlike Cardiff's penalty in midweek). But that doesn't change that the game should be made fairer and less depended on a second wrong to make things right.

CONTROVERSY AS CARDIFF EDGE CRUNCH CLASH

If the wheels started to come off against Plymouth, they trundled down the dirt road with sickening inevitability tonight, after much of our recent good work was undone by a deeply controversial result.

A must-win game, a six-point, a crunch clash. And we probably deserved to win, but the demons of old are still with us and Cardiff are the beneficiaries in a big way.

If we could just write off this week and storm to a series of wins during the run-in we could still make the play-offs, but everybody knows that it won't happen like that.

Now that we've lost here, we'll be beaten by Leicester in front of the TV cameras on Sunday, and then a thrashing at West Brom will leave us a lot more than just five points short, and we'll stutter towards a lower-mid-table finish by the end of the season.

Thanks a lot, ref. You don't know how much damage you've done. Cunt.

PLYMOUTH HOLD OUT FOR POINT

The banana skin had to slip into our path sooner or later, and it happens here - though with Cardiff losing to Leicester today, we're now just two points off sixth place, so we've actually moved up slightly.

Nonetheless it's disappointing because we've drawn at home to a side second from bottom, and could really be out of the play-offs on goal-difference alone.

Tuesday night's home game against Cardiff is one of the most important matches we've played since we've been competing at this level - winning it will probably put us into 6th place. But the feeling today is that the wheels might just have started to come off.

McIndoe's first goal for the club is long overdue and a real positive to take from the game, and hopefully he'll be able to bang in a few more and win over a few more supporters before the season is through.

POSH OUTCLASSED BY STEAD

Banana skins? Pfft, we're stepping over them carefully every week these days, and the 'March to the Arch' is becoming ever more of a reality for the Sky Blues.

The defence, whoever plays in it, is keeping clean sheets now and we're scoring the odd goal here and there, with Jon Stead looking like a useful acquisition indeed.

All we can do is win our own games, and it's true that Cardiff's win today keeps us three points off the play-offs with no hope of making up the goal-difference. But we're keeping in touch with only a quarter of the season remaining, and at the very least we'll have no relegation worries this season.

We don't play in midweek, but lots of teams do, and if those results go our way, we could inch closer to the play-offs without even kicking a ball, and our game next weekend is against second-bottom Plymouth - another banana skin, but another chance to get three points on the board before a crunch contest with Cardiff.

INTERNATIONAL ROUND-UP

It's been a relatively quiet week for our International stars, with Sammy Clingan missing Northern Ireland's 1-0 defeat in Albania due to illness, and Keiren Westwood being an unused sub for the Republic as they lost 2-0 to Brazil.

But Aron Gunnarsson was back in action for Iceland, as they drew 0-0 in Cyprus.