An exciting weekend of Championship action saw Queens Park Rangers take top spot with a 3-1 home win over Reading. Cardiff City fell to second place as they were beaten 1-0 at home by bitter rivals Swansea City. The Swans are in third place and move to within three points of Cardiff.

Derby County moved into fourth place as they picked up their fifth consecutive win against in-form Portsmouth.

At the other end of the table, Middlesbrough picked up a 2-1 home win to leave Crystal Palace rock bottom. Bristol City remain in the relegation zone after a 1-1 tie with fellow strugglers Preston North End, who remain one spot above the drop zone on goal difference.

Norwich remain in playoff contention as a late Andrew Crofts equalizer earned them a share of the spoils at Carrow Road. Crofts enjoyed a roller coaster end to the game as he scored to level matters in the 92nd minute, before being sent off less than a minute later.





Two first half goals from Martin Paterson gave Burnley a 2-0 lead, but Chris Martin halved the deficit in the 71st minute. Crofts completed the comeback with a close range strike deep into injury time.





Burnley started brightly, and Norwich goalkeeper John Ruddy produced two good saves to keep the game scoreless, from Simeon Jackson and Simon Lappin respectively.





Paterson then scored twice on seven minutes to put the Clarets in the driver’s seat. Paterson first turned in a Tyrone Mears cross, and then finished past Ruddy after collecting a Dean Marney through ball.





Norwich came flying out of the blocks in the second half and Leon Barnett had a header well saved by Lee Grant. City upped the pressure and got their rewards at the 71 minute mark. Good work from Crofts resulted in a cut back that was smartly finished off by Martin.





Anthony McNamee hit the post for the Canaries before they found an equalizer. Martin had a shot deflected and Crofts rifled in the rebound to earn a point. Crofts was red carded less than a minute later when he earned a second yellow card, but left the field to a standing ovation from the home fans.



Queens Park Rangers moved into top spot with a comfortable 3 – 1 home win over Reading. Adel Taarabt opened the scoring with a penalty before Alejandro Faurlin doubled the lead in the 61st minute.





Shane Long briefly got the Royals back into the game with a long range strike, before Tommy Smith sealed the win for the Hoops from close range.





QPR started well but striker Rob Hulse missed an excellent chance to open the scoring. A Faurlin strike hit the bar but Hulse squandered the gilt edged chance from the rebound.





In the 27th minute Adel Taarabt was fouled in the area by Matt Mills, and the Moroccan international got up to coolly dispatch the resulting penalty for a 1-0 lead. Taarabt was also involved in the buildup for the soncd goal when he released Jamie Mackie down the right wing. Mackie’s cross resulted in a loose ball that was fired home by Faurlin.





Long halved the deficit when he beat Paddy Kenny from 25 yards, but only three minutes later the game was wrapped up for QPR. Taarabt was again instrumental as his free kick was saved by Adam Federici, only for the rebound to fall to Smith who finished off the 3-1 victory.



Ipswich moved into the playoff spots as they handed struggling Sheffield United their third consecutive defeat. Tamas Priskin’s early strike was cancelled out by a Stephen Quinn equalizer. Gareth McAuley netted the decisive goal in the first half from a Grant Leadbitter cross.





The visitors stared well and Jake Livermore set up Priskin to open the scoring from close range. United were level before the half hour mark when a Mark Yeates cross resulted in a scramble that Quinn finished off by driving home from 12 yards.





Priskin hit the post for the Tractor Boys before Lesadbitters cross was turned home by McAuley to send Ipswich in at the break with the decisive lead.





The Blades but Ipswich under a lot of pressure in the second half. Martin Fulop saved well from Kyle Bartley, while first Yeates and then Ched Evans failed to hit the target. Evans broke through on goal in injury time but his disappointing finish failed to trouble Fulop.



Watford and Nottingham Forest shared the points with a 1-1 tie at Vicarage Road. Jordan Mutch nodded Watford into an early lead before Lewis McGugan equalized for the visitors.





Birmingham loanee Mutch gave Watford a 3rd minute lead when he headed home from a Danny Graham assist. Forest equalized at the 20 minute mark when the prolific McGugan fired home from outside the area. The goal was McGugan’s 8th strike in his last games.





Both sides went looking in vain for a winning goal in the second half. Dexter Blackstock had his volley blocked by Watford goalkeeper Scott Loach before John Eustace headed onto the bar for the Hornets.





Nathan Tyson failed to trouble Loach with a late header, before Troy Deeney wasted a late chance to win it for the home side when his shot was too high.



Tony Mowbray registered his first win as Middlesbrough boss as Boro won 2-1 to leave Crystal Palace rock bottom. Things were looking bleak for the Teessiders when Pablo Counago gave the visitors the lead. However, Boro managed to hit back through an excellent Tarmo Kink strike and a Patrick McCarthy own goal.





Palace enjoyed an excellent start as James Vaughan forced Jason Steele into a good save after only 12 seconds. Soon afterwards, Darren Ambrose found space only to fire his shot wide. Palace took a deserved lead just before the half hour mark, Alex Marrow finished off a good run by setting up Counago to score the opener from close range.





Things got worse for Boro six minutes before half time when Captain Stephen McManus was forced off due to injury. At half time Mowbray used another substitute when Leroy Lita replaced the largely ineffective Kris Boyd.





Lita almost made an immediate impact when he headed over the bar, before a Julio Arco volley forced an excellent save from Julian Speroni. Boro’s third and final substitution was used when Tarmo Kink was introduced at the 71 minute mark. The move paid off when Kink produced an angled drive that beat Speroni via a deflection.





The goal spurred Middlesbrough on, and a Tony McMahon foray down the right paid off when his center was deflected past Speroni by a hapless McCarthy.



Scunthorpe plunged Hull into further trouble with a 1-0 road win, the Tigers played well in a heated affair but fell to a defeat that will increase the pressure on under fire manager Nigel Pearson. Michael O’Connor snatched victory for the Irons with a dramatic 89th minute winner.





Hull created early pressure with Liam Rosenior and Andy Dawson providing some dangerous crosses from out wide. Scunthorpe remained a threat on the break, the best chance coming when Niall Canavan headed an O’Connor free kick over the bar.





In the second half Freddie Sears saw his attempted cross bounce back off the woodwork, the rebound fell to Chris Dagnall who could only blast over the bar for the Irons. The visitors went even closer when Martyn Woolford cut in from the right before firing against a goalpost.





The home side had a glorious chance when Nick Barmby squared to James Harper, but the midfielder had his shot comfortably saved by Joe Murphy.





With the game seemingly heading towards a goalless draw, O’Connor finished off a counter attack to spark manic celebrations among the visiting fans.



Leeds snatched a crucial away victory over Coventry in an entertaining affair at Highfield Road. Leeds moved into a 2-0 half time lead courtesy of a Jonny Howson header, and an excellent goal from Robert Snodgrass.





Coventry pulled a goal back through Lukas Jutkiewicz before a Max Gradel penalty restored United’s two goal advantage. Ben Turner retaliated for Coventry in the 64th minute but Leeds held on for a win that moves them to within one point of the playoff spots.





Howson headed Leeds into a fourth minute lead from a Snodgrass cross, and Snodgrass doubled the lead with a wonderful curling 20 yard strike.





Coventry pulled a goal back seven minutes into the second half. Ben Turner nodded a Gary McSheffrey cross back across goal and Jutkiewicz headed home from close range.





Leeds went 3-1 up in the 61st minute when Max Gradel was brought down in the area by Richard Keogh, and got up to convert the resulting penalty.





Turner hit back for the Sky Blues only three minutes later, scoring from close range after collecting a Sammy Clingan pass. Richard Wood had Coventry’s best chance to equalize, but his header was saved by goalkeeper Jason Brown.



Leicester pulled away from the bottom three and leapfrogged Barnsley with a 2-0 away win at Oakwell. Angelo Miguel Vitor opened the scoring, and Andy King wrapped up the victory five minutes from time.





Hugo Colace conceded a free kick with a reckless tackle he was perhaps lucky only to receive a yellow card for. Martyn Waghorn ensured Colace and the Tykes paid a heavier price when his dangerous free kick was headed home by Portugese defender Vitor.





Leicester were a consistent threat from set pieces but some good saves from Luke Steele ensured the teams went in level at half time.





Barnsley threatened to equalize in the 60th minute when Jim O’Brien’s long distance shot was saved by Chris Weale. Five minutes later Nathan Doyle beat Weale from 30 yards only to see his shot cannon back off the crossbar.





Leicester iced the game in the 85th minute when Paul Gallacher broke free down the right and squared for King to wrap up the three points.



Northern Ireland international David Healy marked his Doncaster debut with a winning goal as Donny climbed to within two points of the playoff zone.





Things started well for Millwall when Steve Morison fired home after a Kevin Lisbie knock down. The first half continued without another goal, the best chances for either side coming from long distance shots.





Rovers started second half brightly and found a 56th minute equalizer when James Hayter headed home from a Joseph Mills corner. Two minutes later Healy capped his dream debut with the winning goal. Dean Shiels tried a shot from distance which deflected off a defender, only for Healy to pounce on the loose ball and send the home fans into raptures.



Bristol City and Preston North End shared a draw that sees both teams still in trouble at the wrong end of the table. The result means Bristol are on a four game unbeaten streak but remain in the relegation zone, one place behind Preston.





Ian Hume gave Preston a dream start when he headed in a Sean St Ledger cross in only the 2nd minute. Hume had a chance to double the lead after half time but hit the woodwork, before Jon Parkin forced a good save from England international goalkeeper David James.





Bristol gained a foothold in the game with Brett Pitman and Marvin Elliott coming close to an equalizer. City got the equalizer they deserved in the 71st minute when Billy Jones headed a Jamie McAllister free kick past his own goalkeeper.



Derby picked up their fifth consecutive home win with a 2-0 victory over in-form Portsmouth. Captain Robbie Savage opened the scoring with a 23rd minute penalty, and Paul Green completed the scoring after swapping passes with Tomasz Cywka.





Dave Kitson almost opened the scoring for the visitors but Derby soon went up the other end and seized the upper hand. Cywka was felled in the area by Aaron Mokoena, and Savage coolly dispatched the resulting spot kick.





Green doubled the lead after working a one-two with Cywka and firing past Jamie Ashdown from six yards out. Shefki Kuqi had chance to score but nodded wide, while at the other end Nwankwo Kanu blazed over when presented with a chance to get Pompey back into the game.



Swansea gained an impressive away win against their bitter South Wales rivals Cardiff thanks to a superb individual goal from Marvin Emnes. The win knocks Cardiff out of first place, while moving Swansea within three points of the automatic promotion spots.





Swansea started brightly in the first 20 minutes, with best chances coming when Scott Sinclair and Emnes had shots deflected wide and over respectively. Cardiff responded through a long range Peter Whittingham strike whistled just wide of the goal post.





Sinclair had a second half shot tipped onto the post by Tom Heaton, while Mark Gower also had a free kick saved. Swanea’s pressure paid off with 15 minutes remaining thanks to Middlesbrough loanee Emnes. The Dutch forward turned Gabor Gyepes and fired a wonderful finish beyond Heaton.





Wales international Craig Bellamy had two chances to equalize, but he squandered a chance after breaking clean through, and also could not convert a free header during injury time.