Championship round-up: Parkin plunders hat-trick as shocked Leeds fall apart

Jon Parkin grabbed a hat-trick as Preston North End came from 4-1 down at Leeds last night to win 6-4 in an incredible match the visitors' manager Darren Ferguson described as the "most amazing of my career".

Leeds looked to be cruising to victory when Davide Somma put them 4-1 up in the 39th minute with his second goal of the night. However, Parkin, who had given Preston a fifth-minute lead, hit a second a minute later and Leeds fell apart in the second half, Keith Treacy, a Callum Davidson penalty, Parkin's third and an Iain Hume strike sealing a famous win for the struggling side.

"I have never been involved in such an amazing game," Ferguson said. "The spirit and character was remarkable, the boys were magnificent and I am incredibly proud of the team."

Cardiff in second place in the table missed the chance to close the gap on leaders QPR when they were held to a 0-0 draw at home by Crystal Palace, who bounced back from their five-goal mauling at Derby on Saturday. Fresh from that 5-0 win, Derby made it two wins in a row by heaping more pressure on the Middlesbrough manager Gordon Strachan with a 3-1 victory at Pride Park. Kris Commons missed a penalty but made amends with two goals as the Rams recovered from Kris Boyd's early goal.

Burnley thrashed Hull City 4-0 at Turf Moor to move into the play-off places, Chris Iwelumo and Chris Eagles both scoring twice for the hosts. Meanwhile, Portsmouth got their second successive win, beating Bristol City 3-1 at Fratton Park, a result which lifts Pompey out of the bottom three at City's expense. John Utaka, reputed to be on £80,000 a week, at least gave some value for money this week by getting one of Pompey's goals.

Swansea recovered from defeat at Nottingham Forest at the weekend to earn a fine 3-2 win at high-flying Watford, Scott Sinclair, Stephen Dobbie and Frank Nouble getting their goals, while Reading saw off 10-man Ipswich 1-0.

A day after receiving a vote of confidence from chairman Milan Mandaric, Leicester manager Paulo Sousa watched his side concede four goals at Norwich to go with the six they shipped at Portsmouth on Friday. Leicester lost 4-3, had two-goal striker Matty Fryatt sent off and remain rooted to the bottom.