It's Round and It's White
Liam O’Connor rounds up the action from matchday four of the Championship.
It was goals galore on the third weekend of the nPower Championship season, thirty-seven of them in total. The action began at the Den on Saturday in the league’s only early kick-off, as Millwall brushed aside Tony Mowbray’s Middlesbrough to record a 3-1 win. A quality strike from Liam Trotter and Andy Keogh’s brace secured the three points for the Lions, despite Marvin Emnes pulling a goal back for Boro just before half-time from the spot.
Elsewhere in the Championship, Crystal Palace played host to Sheffield Wednesday, who remained unbeaten under Dave Jones at the start of play. Having lost their previous three league games this season, the Eagles picked up their first three points of the campaign to end Wednesday’s unbeaten run under Jones. Glenn Murray’s opener after just a minute set Palace on their way. Despite Michail Antonio’s scrambled equaliser in the second half, Murray doubled his tally for the day on 83 minutes to secure the win.
The game of the day came at Elland Road, as Leeds United and Blackburn shared six goals in a 3-3 draw. Blackburn found themselves two goals up inside half an hour, courtesy of Martin Olsson and Nuno Gomes. El-Hadji Diouf pulled a goal back before the break for Leeds, who then went 3-2 up in the second half thanks to goals from Ross McCormack and Luciano Becchio. A clever back-heel from Ruben Rochina with five minutes earnt Blackburn a point in what was a highly-contested affair.
Six goals were also shared at Pride Park, five of them in Derby’s favour as they thumped Watford 5-1. Two first-half headed goals from Richard Keogh and Jeff Hendrick set the Rams on their way, as Connor Sammon made it 3-0 with his chip just before half-time. Seventeen year-old Will Hughes scored his first senior goal to make it four, then Jamie Ward made it five after 67 minutes. Matej Vydra’s third goal of the season was the only positive on what was a bad day at the office for Watford.
Craig Mackail-Smith stole the show at Turf Moor as his fantastic double helped the Seagulls on their way to an impressive 3-1 away win. His first came on 18 minutes, a fine effort from the edge of the area. Gordon Greer then gave Burnley a route back into the game, as he put the ball into his own net. Mackail-Smith bagged his second on 77 minutes, a spectacular over-head kick to restore Brighton’s lead. Greer then redeemed himself two minutes from the end, this time scoring at the right end.
Huddersfield travelled to Portman Road without Jordan Rhodes for the first time, following his move to Blackburn. They took the lead against Ipswich through Adam Clayton on 36 minutes. Second-half goals from Luke Chambers and a fine Michael Chopra finish put the Tractor boys ahead, only to be pulled level. James Vaughan got the equaliser for Huddersfield with 10 minutes remaining, who then had the chance to bag all three points from the spot three minutes later, but he was denied by a fine save from Scott Loach.
Stephen Quinn had a debut to remember for Hull City, scoring and helping his team come from behind to see of Bolton at the KC Stadium. Chris Eagles gave Bolton the lead on 17 minutes, only to see Sone Aluko reply 12 minutes later. Former Bolton man Abdoulaye Faye put Hull infront just a minute after the re-start, then Quinn’s debut goal three minutes later secured all three points.
Nottingham Forest recorded a 2-1 win against Charlton at the City Ground thanks to Lewis McGugan’s free-kick and Sam Hutchinson’s neat finish. Lee Camp couldn’t keep out substitute Ricardo Fuller’s header, which eventually went down as an own-goal from the keeper. There were three 1-0 home wins in the Championship this weekend. Barnsley recorded a narrow victory against Bristol City as Jacob Mellis got the game’s only goal, despite the Tykes being reduced to ten men following the dismissal of Bobby Hassell.
Steve Clark’s Birmingham recorded their first league win of the campaign as they saw off Peterborough by a goal to nil. They had the unfortunate Posh keeper Robert Olejnik to thank, who punched the ball into his own net following Wade Elliott’s free-kick. Peterborough are currently rooted to the foot of the table with four defeats from four. The televised evening kick-off between Leicester and Blackpool also finished 1-0 as Ben Marshall scored from the spot to bag three points for the Foxes.
The Championship’s only game on Sunday took place at the Cardiff City Stadium, where Peter Whittingham’s impressive hattrick earnt Cardiff a 3-1 win over Wolves, despite Bakary Sako opening the scoring for the visitors after 10 minutes.
