Championship round-up

Burnley 2 Sunderland 2

Sunderland staged a late rally to grab a point after Kyle Lafferty's two goals seemed to have earned the Clarets a comfortable home win. "You never give up a game of football," Roy Keane, the Wearsiders' manager, said. He certainly didn't as a player and his side scored two goals in the final 10 minutes from Grant Leadbitter and David Connolly to earn a draw. "Two mistakes cost us," Steve Cotterill, Burnley's manager said. "The game was going nowhere."

Hull City 4 Cardiff City 1

Lowly Hull, still under caretaker manager Phil Brown, swept aside the club who had led the Championship in the first months of the season in this crushing defeat. Damien Delaney scored the first after six minutes, Dean Marney added the second three minutes later and Craig Fagan made it 3-0 before the break. Michael Chopra pulled a goal back for Cardiff but substitute Michael Bridges added the Tigers' fourth. Hull could even afford to miss a penalty, Steve McPhee chipping against the bar.

Leicester City 2 Barnsley 0

Leicester celebrated their 100th League match at the Walkers Stadium by beating fellow strugglers Barnsley and edging closer to safety. "In my time in charge that was the best we've played," Rob Kelly, the Leicester manager, said. On the stroke of half-time Nick Colgan could only parry Danny Tiatto's shot and Elvis Hammond prodded in the loose ball. Seven minutes into the second half, Leicester's winger Levi Porter scored a fine solo goal to seal the win.

Preston NE 3 Plymouth 0

"Last week we had something like 15 or 16 attempts on goal and got one goal, today we had four attempts on target and got three." Paul Simpson, the Preston manager, said, trying to make sense of the game. Danny Pugh rifled in a fine 25-yard volley in the 12th minute, Brett Ormerod, possibly offside, scored the second, and Graham Alexander converted a penalty after a foul on Paul McKenna. "He went down like an Elton John song - 'Candle In The Wind'," Argyle boss Ian Holloway said.

QPR 0 Wolves 1

A goal by Michael Kightly, signed on loan from Conference side Grays Athletic with a permanent move likely next month, earned Wolves a reward for their improved second-half performance. But why so bad in the first period? "I wish I had the answer," manager Mick McCarthy said, "then I would not have had to watch such poor stuff for 45 minutes on the last three occasions." This fifth consecutive defeat has left Rangers perilously perched above the relegation zone.

Southampton 2 Norwich City 1

The Saints moved up to fourth after they came from a goal down to beat Norwich. Robert Earnshaw put the Canaries ahead, his 14th goal of the season, but a trademark free-kick from 17-year-old Gareth Bale levelled four minutes before half-time and just after the hour the Saints big striker, Kenwyne Jones, headed the winner. "We've got a good young squad," Saints manager George Burley said. "We might get a couple of loans in but we're under no pressure to sell key players."

West Bromwich 5 Coventry City 0

Diomansy Kamara scored twice in the first half, the opener coming after just 28 seconds, as Albion humbled their Midlands neighbours. His second came from a penalty before Jason Koumas made it 3-0. In the second half, Kevin Phillips added the fourth and Paul Robinson completed the rout. "When a game is as open as that I would back us to outgun most teams," Albion boss Tony Mowbray admitted. "The second half was a long 45 minutes," Sky Blues' Micky Adams said.