It's Round and It's White
Liam O’Connor rounds up the action from matchday eleven of the Championship.
The Championship resumed after the international break at Hillsborough on Friday night, where Sheffield Wednesday and Leeds United played out a 1-1 draw in a full-blooded Yorkshire derby. The home side went infront just before the break, Jay Bothroyd heading home his first for the club. However, Michael Tonge’s fierce effort on 77 minutes earnt Leeds a point, condeming Wednesday to their eighth game without a win and leaving them linguishing in the relegation places.
Saturday’s early kick-off saw inform Crystal Palace host Millwall in a South London derby, as the Lions came from two goals down to earn a point against 10-man Palace. Mile Jedinak put the home side ahead with a 30-yard strike on 35 minutes. Four minutes later it was 2-0, as Damien Delaney headed home. Millwall were handed a way back into the game just before the break as Dean Moxey cleared Darius Henderson’s header off the line with his hand. Moxey was then sent off, and Liam Trotter scored from the spot to make it 2-1. Millwall’s second-half pressure eventually paid off 13 minutes from time, as Mark Beevers bundled home an equaliser to deny Palace a sixth straight victory.
Managerless Bolton were given a scare at home to Bristol City, however they eventually recovered from a bad start to win the game 3-2. Two goals from Steve Davies gave the visitors a comfortable lead, his first a volley, his second a spot-kick which put the Robins two goals to the good. A well-struck Chris Eagles free-kick pulled a goal back for Bolton, then second half goals from Jay Spearing and Mark Petrov completed the comeback.
Two goals in two first-half minutes got Nottingham Forest off to a flier against table-toppers Cardiff City, who then fell to second place in the Championship following this 3-1 defeat. Andy Reid opened the scoring on 25 minutes from a free-kick, then a minute later Daniel Ayala’s header doubled Forest’s lead. Cardiff started the second-half badly as well, with Billy Sharp making it 3-0 on 47 minutes. Heidar Helguson did pull a goal back for Cardiff, as Forest were then reduced to 10-men late on following Adlene Guedioura’s second yellow card.
First-half goals from James Vaughan and Jermaine Beckford set Huddersfield on their way to three points against Wolves, moving them up to third in the table with a 2-1 win. Vaughan’s back-post header opened the scoring in this game after 10 minutes, then Beckford’s magnificent volley from Adam Clayton’s cross found the back of the net to make it 2-0. Sylvan Ebanks-Blake pulled a goal back for Wolves just after the hour but Huddersfield held on for the points.
Nick Proschwitz’s double with 15 minutes to go earnt Hull the victory over struggling Ipswich, moving the Tigers into the Championship play-off places. Jay Emmanuel-Thomas put the visitors infront on 29 minutes against the run of play, firing a shot into the far corner. Proschwitz levelled the scores with 15 minutes remaining after converting Ahmed Elmohamady’s cross. The £2.6m summer signing then proved his worth by scoring a 90th-minute winner for Steve Bruce’s side, leaving Ipswich with just one win from 11 league games.
Ben Marshall’s equaliser four minutes from time earnt Leicester a point against Birmingham and sent the Foxes to the top of the Championship after snatching a 1-1 draw. Peter Lovenkrands put Birmingham ahead on the stroke of half-time, but substitute Marshall equalised late on to deny Birmingham their first home win in a month. Derby had Theo Robinson to thank as his 88th-minute equaliser saw the home side snatch a point from under the noses of Blackburn. Jordan Rhodes’ first-half volley had serperated the two sides before Robinson bundled the ball home late on to deny Eric Black his first win as caretaker manager of Blackburn.
Tony Mowbray’s Middlesbrough secured a 1-0 victory on his 100th game in charge of the club, defeating Brighton to secure the clubs fourth successive away win. Marvin Emnes scored the only goal of the game, his effort took a big deflection on it’s way past keeper Tomasz Kuszczak. Middlesbrough had goalkeeper Jason Steele to thank, who saved his side on a number of occassions during the match to ensure the visitors kept up with the top-six.
Charlie Austin bagged his 16th goal of the season to earn a 1-0 win for Burnley over visitors Blackpool. The home side were managerless after Eddie Howe’s recent departure from the club, but they secured their first win in five through Austin’s header after 20 minutes. Tomasz Cywka’s goal just past the hour earnt Barnsley their second away win of the season as they beat Charlton 1-0 at the Valley. Cywka drilled the ball past Ben Hamer from a tight angle to give the Tykes a much deserved victory.
Substitute Matej Vydra’s 90th-minute spot-kick secured a narrow 1-0 for Watford against bottom placed Peterborough United. Daniel Pudil was fouled in the area by Kane Ferdinand, and it was Vydra who stepped up to snatch the points from the Posh.
