Championship
Rarely has that spark which a change in manager can ignite been more clearly exhibited. Russell Slade had already steered his new Cardiff City side to victory over unbea10 Nottingham Forest when Neil Lennon breathed life back into beleaguered Bolton, ending a run of four defeats (three under his predecessor Dougie Freedman) with a 1-0 victory at Birmingham.
Slade’s decision to promote Federico Macheda to the starting lineup was quickly vindicated when the Italian scored the first of Cardiff’s two first-half goals in five minutes, and they held on after Britt Assombalonga’s late reply. Like Forest, Charlton’s unbeaten record fell after Callum Wilson’s close-range finish inside three minutes was enough for Bournemouth to earn three points.
Fulham continued their revival under caretaker manager Kit Symons, who further strengthened his claim for the full-time role with a 1-0 defeat of Norwich at Craven Cottage. The result saw Norwich slip from top to fourth in the table. Middlesbrough held off a late Brighton surge to win 2-1 and climbed to third, while Derby eased to a 3-0 win at Reading in which Chris Martin netted twice as they moved second.
The greatest drama of the day came at The Den, where substitute Ricardo Fuller scored twice in the final 10 minutes to complete Millwall’s stunning comeback from three goals down against Wolves to draw 3-3. Millwall defender Shaun Williams was sent off late on and his goalkeeper, David Forde, had to save acrobatically from Bakary Sako’s free-kick to safeguard the point.
There were plenty of goals at Huddersfield, too, where the home side’s fast start set them on the way to a 4-2 win against bottom-side Blackpool. And another new manager celebrated as Slavisa Jokanovic got off to a winning start in charge of Watford, who saw off Sheffield Wednesday 3-0 with Matej Vydra’s cheeky chip rounding off a comprehensive victory.
League One
Kevin Nugent confirmed he has been appointed as Leyton Orient interim manager after a spell as caretaker, and picked up a useful point against MK Dons in a goalless draw, enough to climb out of the bottom four. Things went with the form book at the Ricoh Arena as unbeaten Bristol City maintained their five-point gap at the top against struggling Coventry, who have picked up only one point from their last six games. Kieran Agard registered his sixth of the season in the 3-0 win.
Swindon lost ground at the top of the league when they could muster only a 1-1 draw at Yeovil, and were forced to hang on after Nathan Thompson was sent of with 10 minutes remaining for a second yellow card.
In a hard-fought Yorkshire derby between Bradford and Sheffield United, referee Simon Hooper issued seven yellow cards and a red to Stephen Darby. The Blades struck twice against 10 men to leapfrog Bradford in the table and climb to seventh, level on points with Notts County and MK Dons above them.
The goals poured in at Meadow Lane where Notts County took a 3-0 lead into half-time against Crawley, only to be quickly pegged back to 3-2. The home side eventually saw out the game 5-3 after Garry Thompson had completed his hat-trick on the hour.
Elsewhere Gillingham struck late against Rochdale through Cody McDonald’s messy goal to pinch a point, while Adam Dugdale’s late close-range blast earned all three for Crewe at Walsall.
League Two
Wycombe proved too strong for Wimbledon and for once their free-scoring duo, Matt Tubbs and Adebayo Akinfenwa, failed to net. Bury returned to form, making short work of Portsmouth with a 3-0 victory and climbed above Burton who fell to two Morecambe goals in two second-half minutes.
At the other end of the table, Oxford secured an important victory against Tranmere to leave the Merseyside club bottom. Oxford climbed clear of York, Hartlepool and Carlisle who all lost by a one-goal margin, York dramatically so when Shrewsbury forward James Collins deflected Jordan Clark’s strike home with three minutes remaining.
