Bristol City 1 (Maynard 76) Doncaster Rovers 0
Attendance: 13,726 David James showed the sort of form that made his claim that promotion is not beyond City look more plausible. The 40-year-old goalkeeper made four one-on-one saves to help City to record their sixth win in seven matches and said: “There are seven games to go and seven points between us and the play-offs. Granted there are a lot of teams between us and the top six, but we have to look at it that if we win all our remaining games, we will have a chance.”
Nicky Maynard’s fifth goal in seven starts since returning to the side after knee surgery was enough to heap more misery on Doncaster and according to Sean O’Driscoll, the losing manager, his presence was pivotal. “Maynard’s finishing was the difference,” he said.
Burnley 1 (Rodriguez 68) Ipswich Town 2 (Norris 17, Wickham 24)
Attendance: 14,483 Connor Wickham, the forward, admitted that promotion is out of reach for Ipswich despite a win that leaves them eight points off sixth place. “Promotion is probably a bit too far away but we’re playing for pride now,” he said. “The manager [Paul Jewell] has got momentum going and we’re taking confidence and belief into every game.”
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The 18-year-old scored a fortunate winner when he met a cross from David Norris, the midfield player, and headed the ball into the ground only for it to bounce up and loop over Lee Grant, the Burnley goalkeeper. Ipswich had already gone a goal in front through Norris’s low finish. Jay Rodriguez, the Burnley forward, pulled one back with a 25-yard strike.
Cardiff City 4 (Bothroyd 7pen, Keinan 48, Quinn 56, Whittingham 68) Derby County 1 (Savage 90+5pen)
Attendance: 22,254 Jay Bothroyd claimed that he had not worried about his failure to score in two months after the Cardiff striker converted a penalty. Bothroyd took the spot-kick because Peter Whittingham did not want the responsibility after missing four this season and the 28-year-old said: “I was glad to get on the scoresheet again but I see myself more as a link-up player and a target man.”
Dekel Keinan, Paul Quinn and Whittingham struck in the second half as Cardiff reignited their automatic promotion charge. Robbie Savage, the Derby captain, scored a consolation goal with a penalty but the visiting team lost Paul Green and Gareth Roberts with suspected knee ligament damage.
Coventry City 2 (McSheffrey 27, Jutkiewicz 66) Watford 0
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Attendance: 16,519 Gary McSheffrey believes that confidence is returning to Coventry thanks to Andy Thorn and Steve Harrison, the joint caretaker managers who were appointed after Adrian Boothroyd’s dismissal. McSheffrey put City in front when he lashed David Bell’s pass into the far corner and Lukas Jutkiewicz, a substitute, latched on to Aron Gunnarsson’s through-ball to score. “Things are changing under Andy and Steve,” McSheffrey said. “The confidence to try things and shoot on sight has been instilled in us.”
John Eustace, the Watford captain, did not pin any blame on Danny Graham, who missed a pair of chances. “Danny is the best striker in the league at the moment,” he said. “It is not his fault we lost.”
Crystal Palace 2 (Danns 29, Vaughan 75pen) Barnsley 1 (Harewood 43)
Attendance: 19,344 Dougie Freedman knows that he will lose his best players if Palace are relegated. Saturday’s victory sent them seven points clear of the bottom three but the manager is unable to plan beyond the next week’s fixture, even though he would prefer to put contracts in place for his key men. Neil Danns, the midfield player, is out of contract in the summer, while Anthony Gardner, the defender, and James Vaughan, the striker, are on loan from Hull City and Everton respectively and will stay on only if Palace remain in the Championship. Freedman said: “We don’t know which division we will be in next year and it is very difficult to plan.”
Marlon Harewood equalised for Barnsley after Danns’s strike before Vaughan’s penalty settled the game.
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Hull City 0 Millwall 1 (Morison 33)
Attendance: 19,852 Tamika Mkandawire, the midfield player, says that Millwall are driven towards the top flight by a “hunger” forged in the lower reaches. His side moved to within three points of the top six with Steve Morison, the striker who has gone from non-League player with Bishop’s Stortford to international level with Wales in five years, scoring.
Mkandawire, who played in the Conference for Hereford United, said: “A lot of players have had to work hard to get where we are. That makes you hungrier. I’ve been there on a Tuesday night, at Leigh RMI, scrapping for a point. Everyone fancies the Emirates next season.”
Jack Hobbs, the Hull defender, said: “We’re still looking forward to getting a play-off spot.”
Middlesbrough 3 (Emnes 14, R Williams 55, McManus 90+4) Leicester City 3 (Yakubu 5, 45+3, 49)
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Attendance: 14,500 Yakubu Ayegbeni, the on-loan Leicester forward, plundered a hat-trick at the home of his one-time employers. “I was desperate to score back at the Riverside, but disappointed we didn’t get all three points,” he said.
Marvin Emnes levelled for the Teesside club before Rhys Williams halved the deficit after Yakubu had given the visiting team a two-goal advantage.
Stephen McManus, a substitute, headed the equaliser deep into stoppage time, much to the relief of Julio Arca, whose late penalty was saved by Chris Weale shortly before Jeffrey Bruma was sent off for Leicester. “It wasn’t the best penalty,” Arca, the midfield player, said. “It was probably a bit too close to the goalkeeper.”
Norwich City 6 (Holt 10, 32pen, 61, Jackson 75, 77, 90+4) Scunthorpe United 0
Attendance: 26,512 The gourmet cooking of Delia Smith, the major shareholder, is often a big Norwich talking point and the fare served up by Paul Lambert’s side was at its most appetising in this victory. If Grant Holt’s hat-trick was the main course, Simeon Jackson’s 19-minute treble after going on as a substitute was a mouthwatering dessert. “That was almost a complete performance,” said Holt, who has 51 goals in 85 games for Norwich. “We knew some team was going to get hurt and it was unfortunate it was against my pal Michael Nelson.”
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Nelson, the former Norwich defender, hopes that Alan Knill, the new manager, can turn around Scunthorpe’s fortunes, saying: “We need three points every game so we must go out and attack it.”
Preston North End 2 (Hume 3pen, 83) Swansea City 1 (Williams 24)
Attendance: 11,791 Iain Hume, the Preston forward, scored a superb late goal to grab a crucial three points and Barry Nicholson is delighted that he plays for the same team. The Canada international scored an early penalty before Ashley Williams, the Swansea defender, equalised. Then he grabbed the winner after waltzing through the defence. Nicholson said: “I would hate to play against him. Every day he works his socks off. We need more of that if we’re going to get out of the position we’re in.”
Preston are still eight points off safety but moved off the bottom of the table for the first time in five months. For Swansea, the defeat means that they trail second-placed Norwich City by four points. De Vries said: “We have to pick ourselves up.”
Reading 2 (Long 30, 37pen) Portsmouth 0
Attendance: 21,896 Shane Long, the Reading forward, believes that automatic promotion is a possibility after this victory. Reading moved above Nottingham Forest into the final play-off slot but the Ireland international is also hopeful of closing a ten-point gap on Norwich City, who are second. “We are going the right way about it and all of a sudden second doesn’t look so far away,” he said.
Having put his side ahead after half an hour, Long won and converted a penalty seven minutes later, Kevin Friend also showing a red card to Ricardo Rocha, the Portsmouth defender. Jonathan Hogg, the Portsmouth midfield player, felt that the official had got it wrong. “The sending-off was a massive moment,” he said. “I thought it was harsh.”