Championship
• A thrilling first-half display helped Sheffield Wednesday bounce back from two consecutive defeats with a 5-1 hammering of Norwich City at Hillsborough. Ross Wallace pounced on 15 minutes when he caught out a roaming John Ruddy from distance, before Jordan Rhodes and Morgan Fox added headers either side of Cameron Jerome’s reply to leave Wednesday 3-1 up at the break. Rhodes quickly added another headed goal and Fernando Forestieri rounded off the rout with a beautifully placed free-kick. Norwich could have closed the gap on sixth-placed Wednesday with a win but are now nine points off the play-off places.
• Nottingham Forest and Brighton slugged out a disappointing contest for an hour at the City Ground before the hosts came alive when Britt Assombalonga turned in Zach Clough’s attempt. A late Ben Osborn tap-in and Clough penalty sealed a 3-0 win, and Brighton’s second defeat in a week. That result gave Newcastle the chance to open a five-point lead at the top – and they took it with an impressive 3-1 win at Huddersfield who stay third, five points behind Brighton with a game in hand.
• Fulham landed a telling blow in the chasing pack just outside the play-offs, beating Preston North End 3-1 at Craven Cottage, while Reading secured all three points at home to Wolves courtesy of Paul McShane’s second-half winner.
• Wigan made the trip 20 miles north to Blackburn for a game with huge consequences at the foot of the table. They were beaten by a brilliant Marvin Emnes strike which saw Rovers climb out of the relegation zone – the Latics remain one place from bottom.
• The other crucial meeting at the bottom saw Burton Albion visit Bristol City and somehow it ended goalless, but for City in particular it was an opportunity missed. Lloyd Dyer missed a second-half sitter which should have broken the deadlock for Albion, and a few minutes later City failed to take advantage from the spot when Lee Tomlin’s wild effort found the back of the stand.
• Rotherham are heading down and although they proved stubborn opponents for Aston Villa for much of the game, a Will Vaulks own goal and Jonathan Kodjia’s 13th of the season decided a 2-0 win. Derby edged out Barnsley 2-1, Ipswich were held 1-1 by Brentford, and QPR took themselves further clear of danger after coming from behind to down Cardiff City 2-1 at Loftus Road thanks to a Jazz Richards own goal.
League One
• Game of the day in the third tier came at Rochdale, who held the leaders Sheffield United to a 3-3 draw having been two goals down. Fleetwood Town were the side to take advantage of the Blades’ slip and cut the gap at the top to five points, beating Scunthorpe United 2-0 at Glanford Park. Scunthorpe dropped back to third and extended their winless run to seven games, while Fleetwood climbed into the automatic promotion places by extending their unbeaten streak to 18 league games.
• Coventry City’s Australian midfielder Andy Rose was taken to hospital after receiving treatment on the pitch following a clash of heads at Shrewsbury. City later confirmed Rose had been released from hospital, tweeting: “Suffering with concussion, but better than first feared!” The game was delayed by 20 minutes and eventually finished goalless. The side one place above rock-bottom Coventry, Chesterfield, earned a vital boost with three points at Swindon Town after Reece Mitchell’s 93rd-minute goal, a timely moment to put away his first of the season.
• Bristol Rovers climbed above Oxford United to eighth after a 2-0 win at the Kassam Stadium courtesy of goals by Ollie Clarke and Stuart Sinclair, and frustrated United’s chase for a play-off place. Peterborough also slipped off the pace, beaten 1-0 by Alex Jones’s first-half strike at Bradford, while Bolton were held at home by Wimbledon.
League Two
• It has been a turbulent week for Leyton Orient but the players offered some welcome relief on the pitch with a resounding 4-0 victory over the only team below them in the Football League, Newport County. Josh Koroma scored his first O’s goal and by the end he had registered his first hat-trick too. Orient face a winding-up petition over unpaid tax but have at least kept up their chances of avoiding relegation. Newport, on the other hand, surely had to win; they are now 11 points from safety with 12 games to play.
• It was Plymouth’s day at the top of League Two, beating fellow promotion chasers Carlisle 2-0 at Home Park as the leaders Doncaster failed to break down Crawley Town, where both side fired blanks. Fifth-placed Portsmouth also slipped up, undone 1-0 by Crewe on the south coast. Luton are now just a point behind third-placed Carlisle after a 4-0 win at Yeovil, with Danny Hylton scoring twice.
• Sammie Szmodics scored late for Colchester in a 1-1 draw at Cambridge, and Accrington Stanley took an important step away from the drop via Shay McCartan’s wonderfully taken free-kick, which sank Barnet.
