We look back at last weekend's action as 66 strikes graced the 33 games from the Championship, League One and League Two in our extensive round up of every single fixture
| CHAMPIONSHIP |
| WEST HAM | 0-0 | CRYSTAL PALACE | COVENTRY | 1-0 | BARNSLEY |
| BIRMINGHAM | 1-2 | NOTTINGHAM F. | DONCASTER | 1-0 | PETERBOROUGH |
| BRIGHTON | 3-0 | IPSWICH | MIDDLESBROUGH | 0-1 | READING |
| BRISTOL CITY |
1-3 | BLACKPOOL | PORTSMOUTH | 0-0 | LEEDS UNITED |
| BURNLEY | 1-3 | MILLWALL | WATFORD | 0-3 | SOUTHAMPTON |
Rickie Lambert’s third hat-trick of the season powered Southampton back to the top of the Championship as they comprehensively demolished Watford 3-0 at Vicarage Road and overtook West Ham, who were stymied by a resilient Crystal Palace though retain a game in hand.
Fellow promotion-chasers Birmingham missed a chance to close the gap on the Hammers as they were sunk at home by lowly Nottingham Forest, Dexter Blackstock’s double securing a shock win to put Steve Cotterill’s strugglers three points clear of the drop.
The Blues’ slip allowed Reading and Blackpool to gain ground in the playoff race with away wins at Middlesbrough and Bristol City respectively. With Cardiff busy at Wembley, Brighton pulled level on points with them in seventh as they beat Ipswich 3-0 to make it nine games unbeaten.
Portsmouth fans were out in force to support their crisis-hit club as they drew 0-0 with Leeds in Neil Warnock’s first match in charge of the visitors, though they were overtaken in the bottom three by Coventry, who recorded a rare win over Barnsley in the 90th minute.
Millwall moved six points clear of danger by overturning Burnley 3-1 but Doncaster were denied a vital victory by a late equaliser from Peterborough’s £1.1 million record signing Tyrone Barnett which keeps Rovers in dead last.
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| LEAGUE ONE |
| BOURNEMOUTH | 0-1 | MK DONS |
NOTTS COUNTY |
1-0 | CHESTERFIELD |
| BURY | 1-1 | LEYTON ORIENT |
OLDHAM | 1-0 | TRANMERE |
| CARLISLE | 3-2 | YEOVIL | PRESTON N.E. | 0-0 | WALSALL |
| CHARLTON | 2-0 | STEVENAGE | SCUNTHORPE | 0-0 | BRENTFORD |
| COLCHESTER | 0-0 | ROCHDALE | SHEFF WEDNESDAY |
1-0 | SHEFF UNITED |
| HUDDERSFIELD | 2-0 | EXETER | WYCOMBE | 5-0 | HARTLEPOOL |
Sheffield Wednesday closed the gap on rivals Sheffield United to two points in the race for second place as Chris O'Grady scored the only goal for the Owls to seal a derby win.
Sheffield United's defeat allowed Charlton to move ten points clear at the top with a 2-0 victory over Stevenage at the Valley.
Gary Smith's Stevenage dropped out of the play-off places as Francois Zoko scored a 90th-minute winner for Carlisle in a 3-2 thriller against Yeovil.
MK Dons further consolidated their place in the top six with a 1-0 win away from home against Bournemouth, while Huddersfield notched a 2-0 victory over Exeter to remain fourth.
At the bottom, Wycombe gave their chances of survival a major boost with an emphatic 5-0 thrashing of Hartlepool, with Paul Hayes scoring two goals on his debut following a loan move from Charlton.
The rest of the bottom four found goals hard to come by though, as Chesterfield suffered a narrow 1-0 loss to Notts County, while Scunthorpe and Rochdale both picked up points with goalless draws against Brentford and Colchester respectively.
Walsall kept out of the relegation zone after a 0-0 draw with Preston, and Leyton Orient picked up a point away at Bury.
Oldham, who have games in hand on every other team in League One, will be hopeful of a surge up the table following a 1-0 victory over Tranmere.
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| LEAGUE TWO |
| ALDERSHOT | 4-1 | BARNET | NORTHAMPTON | 1-2 | PORT VALE |
| BRADFORD CITY | 1-1 | HEREFORD | OXFORD UTD | 1-1 | MACCLESFIELD |
| CHELTENHAM | 2-0 | BURTON | PLYMOUTH ARG. | 0-0 | DAG'HAM & RED' |
| CREWE | 3-3 | AFC WIMBLEDON | ROTHERHAM | 0-1 | BRISTOL ROVERS |
| GILLINGHAM | 2-0 | TORQUAY UTD | SWINDON | 2-0 | ACCRINGTON |
| MORECAMBE | 1-0 | SOUTHEND |
Swindon and Cheltenham extended their lead at the League Two summit on Saturday, with both sides picking up 2-0 victories over Accrington and Burton respectively.
Southend slipped up in the promotion chase after the Roots Hall outfit lost away to Morecambe to remain in fourth, having been leapfrogged by Shrewsbury on Monday after Graham Turner's men beat Crawley 2-1 at the New Meadow.
The game of the weekend took place at the Alexandra Stadium as Steve Davis’ Crewe saw their silm playoff hopes damaged after they threw away a 3-1 lead late on to draw 3-3 with AFC Wimbledon.
The Railwaymen next face local rivals Port Vale, who saw their hopes of a top seven finish boosted with a 2-1 win over struggling Northampton, as well as Oxford’s disappointing 1-1 draw with Macclesfield.
In mid-table, the Mark McGhee-led resurgence at Bristol Rovers continued over the weekend as the Pirates picked up a 1-0 win away to Rotherham.
Dagenham and Redbridge remain rooted to the foot of the table three points off safety after their 0-0 draw with Plymouth, but didn't lose ground on 22nd-placed Hereford, who also picked up a point against Bradford.
Elsewhere, Gillingham beat Torquay 2-0 while Barnet were hammered 4-1 by Aldershot.
