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League round-up: Norris late strike stuns the Saints

 

Geoff Brown
Sunday 08 April 2012 00:49 BST
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David Norris's equaliser in the fourth minute of injury time at St Mary's Stadium earned Portsmouth a 2-2 draw in a tense South Coast derby with Championship leaders Southampton, slowing the Saints' title drive. Billy Sharp gave the hosts a 27th-minute lead, but Chris Maguire soon levelled. When Sharp added Saints' second in the 89th minute – a goal initially ruled out for offside – they seemed to have won the match, but Norris fired in from just outside the penalty area. Southampton are top on goal difference. "We were not defeated and it puts us back top of the League," Saints' manager, Nigel Adkins, said.

Two goals in as many minutes midway through the first half at St Andrews from Chris Burke and Keith Fahey set fourth-placed Birmingham City on their way to a 3-1 win over Crystal Palace.

Two play-off hopefuls met at the Riverside, where Ben Turner's early header and a Joe Mason strike saw Cardiff City beat Middlesbrough 2-0 to lift them back into the top six, while a thumping 4-0 win over bottom club Doncaster Rovers confirmed that Leicester City still harbour ambitions of a top-six finish.

Coventry City continue to inch towards safety, taking another point from the 2-2 home draw with Peterborough United, but Millwall are looking much safer after Harry Kane and Andy Keogh, from a penalty, scored in the 2-0 defeat of Hull City, a fitting tribute to Lions legend Barry Kitchener, who died last week. "I think Barry would have approved," the Lions manager, Kenny Jackett, said. Derby County and Ipswich Town drew 0-0 at Pride Park.

League One

Sheffield Wednesday triumphed 2-0 in a fiery Yorkshire derby at Huddersfield Town, their second-half goals coming from Miguel Llera, direct from a free-kick, and Nile Ranger. The Owls are third, but fourth-placed Terriers are facing the play-offs again.

After leaders Charlton Athletic and Oldham Athletic had both been reduced to 10 men in the first half at Boundary Park, the former's Danny Holland and latter's Jean Yves Mvoto the culprits, a Yann Kermorgant header four minutes into the second gave the south London side a 1-0 win. Ched Evans's 32nd goal of the season set second-placed Sheffield United on their way to a 2-1 win over Bournemouth at Bramall Lane.

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