Round-up: Ledley's strike gives Bluebirds something to sing about

Players and staff unpaid and the captain sold on Friday for £600,000 to ease their financial plight; Cardiff City's preparation for the visit of a Sheffield United tired from FA Cup extra time and a penalty shoot-out defeat against the Premiership champions, Arsenal, was less than perfect.

Players and staff unpaid and the captain sold on Friday for £600,000 to ease their financial plight; Cardiff City's preparation for the visit of a Sheffield United tired from FA Cup extra time and a penalty shoot-out defeat against the Premiership champions, Arsenal, was less than perfect.

But the Bluebirds were able to overcome the loss of Graham Kavanagh and the delay of their wages when Joe Ledley's late strike was enough to beat a Blades side unable to conjure an equaliser.

"I cannot say no more players will be sold, but I will work with [owner] Sam Hamman and the directors to resolve this difficult situation as soon as possible," the Cardiff manager, Lennie Lawrence, said. "We had a derisory offer from West Ham for James Collins which was instantly refused and no player will be leaving unless we receive a fair fee."

In fact Cardiff were one of three relegation-haunted sides to win yesterday. Gillingham's 3-1 win at Rotherham United, who are all but mathematically sure to be relegated, did not lift them out of the bottom three but has dragged a few more clubs into the equation.

"A massive three points for us," Ronnie Jepson, the Gills' assistant manager, said, "and good to get back-to-back wins after our victory over Wigan." Coventry City's perilous plummet was halted at Vicarage Road, where they beat Watford 3-2. Trevor Benjamin scored his first goal for the Sky Blues since arriving from Northampton Town to set up the 3-2 win. "The results mean it's no longer just a four-horse race in the relegation fight; perhaps six or seven clubs are now involved," Micky Adams, the Coventry manager, reasoned.

Coventry are still only two points above the bottom three but other sides are falling fast to join them, notably Crewe and Plymouth Argyle. The former were humbled 4-1 at home by Wolves, Carl Cort and Kenny Miller scoring two each, and have not won since selling striker Dean Ashton to Norwich City. "He certainly wouldn't have been able to stop the goals going in at the other end, so we can't put it down to him," Dario Gradi, the Crewe manager, said.

Meanwhile, fourth-placed Derby County consolidated their grip on a play-off place and increased Plymouth nerves thanks to a 1-0 win at Pride Park. The Rams' breakthrough came after 24 minutes when Inigo Idiakez's free-kick flashed in from 30 yards. Argyle's captain, Paul Wotton, squandered a penalty, thumping it high over the bar. The Stoke City manager, Tony Pulis, broke the manager-of- the-month curse by winning the match immediately after his award. Gifton Noel-Williams scored both goals as they beat Brighton 2-0. "A few weeks ago people were talking about us being dragged into a relegation fight," Pulis recalled. Now they are three points off the play-offs.

There were hefty scoring achievements in League One, where leaders Luton Town responded to last week's 3-1 defeat at Port Vale by thrashing play-off aspirants Bristol City 5-0 at Kenilworth Road, Ahmet Brkovic scoring twice. Hull, second, won 3-1 at third-placed Tranmere, opening up a seven-point gap over them.

But the real scoring feat was by Wrexham's Juan Ugarte, who scored five, a club record, in his side's 6-4 win at Hartlepool United. Ugarte has netted 15 times in nine games.

At the top of League Two, Phil Jevons scored his 26th goal of the season to earn the leaders, Yeovil, a 1-0 win over Leyton Orient, maintaining their six-point advantage. Southend United drew 2-2 at Chester City but it was enough to lift them into the third automatic promotion spot, because Macclesfield and Swansea City both lost.