Ten-man Millwall return to the top

Millwall returned to the top of the Endsleigh League First Division by coming from behind to beat Swindon 2-1 in a fiery encounter at Elm Park last night.They extended their unbeaten start to the season in a match which saw nine bookings and a sending off.

Reading took the lead after 34 minutes when their joint-player-manager Mick Gooding rifled a powerful drive past Kasey Keller from 30 yards, but the game changed shortly after the break with five bookings inside seven minutes.

Tempers flared and referee Paul Rejer awarded the visitors a 64th-minute penalty when Reading's Polish international defender, Dariusz Wdowczyk, appeared to elbow Alex Rae as they went for a high ball. Rae scored the penalty and four minutes later the former Reading favourite Kerry Dixon had netted the winner from close range following a superb low cross from Ben Thatcher.

However, after another four minutes, Rae was sent off for violent conduct after a bruising clash with Gooding, but Millwall hung on to take over top spot in the division from Tranmere. They lost 2-1 at Barnsley, who moved up to second.

Crystal Palace took over fourth place after a dramatic 3-2 victory at Sheffield United, who are still without a point at the bottom. The Blades looked set to lift themselves up the table when leading 2-1 with five minutes to go thanks to goals from Jostein Flo and Dane Whitehouse.

However, the full-back Dean Gordon and Bruce Dyer, who had opened the scoring three minutes after the interval, netted the goals that gave Palace a last-gasp triumph.