The results weren't without their big shocks either and none more so that Scunthorpe beating Swansea at Glanford Park. Swansea had only dropped four points since a defeat to Reading on New Year's Day but even with Scunthorpe's recently improved home form this was a shock.
Scunthorpe won it with a penalty and the only down side for them was suffering referee Keith Hill who managed to yellow card no less than six of their players whilst Swansea received none, not even Alan Tate for giving away the spot kick. Manager Ian Baraclough described it as a big win against the best footballing side in the division.
Their South Wales rivals were also on the wrong end of a scoreline, losing at home against Ipswich who certainly had Hungary's second choice goalkeeper Marton Fulop to thank before Jimmy Bullard stole the points with a brace.
Bullard's parent club Hull won at Nottingham Forest. Maybe that's not a surprise given Hull's away form but they were facing the best home record in English football. Forest's last home league defeat was against Blackpool in September 2009. That run was 36 games; 27 wins and 9 draws.
The best moment of the weekend had to be the penalty at Norwich. Preston, against the odds, taken the lead at Carrow Road through former Canary Chris Brown with his first goal of the season but the home side quickly levelled with a Grant Holt goal.
Then Norwich won a penalty to win the game. I'm not sure what Wes Hoolahan was doing but goalkeeper Iain Turner had time to dive to his left, twist round and wait for the ball before catching it. Brilliant viewing.
With QPR beating Leicester to allow us to go seventh, the only disappointment was Leeds' win over Doncaster. It was easy in the end but just for a short time in the second half it was 2-1 to Doncaster and an almost perfect weekend was on the cards (the perfect weekend would, of course, also have to include one Premier League result from Fulham).
Some things aren't changing in the Championship. Despite the point, Preston boss Phil Brown is still looking for his first win; Micky Adams is wondering whether he'll ever enjoy a win as Sheffield United boss; Portsmouth manager Steve Cotterill saw his side's run of wins become six without conceding a goal but this week Derby boss Nigel Clough didn't turn on his players for failing to beat Barnsley. I bet Jamie Ward was delighted about that having missed a sitter in the 0-0 draw.
The weekend results and stats are below along with the leading scorers, each club's disciplinary record and tomorrow's full fixture list.
The Weekend Results | |
Saturday 5th March | |
Burnley 1 Crystal Palace 0 | Nottingham Forest 0 Hull 1 |
Cardiff 0 Ipswich 2 | Portsmouth 1 Sheffield United 0 |
Coventry 1 Bristol City 4 | QPR 1 Leicester 0 |
Derby 0 Barnsley 0 | Reading 5 Middlesbrough 2 |
Leeds 5 Doncaster 2 | Scunthorpe 1 Swansea 0 |
Norwich 1 Preston 1 | Watford 1 Millwall 0 |
The Weekend Stats | |
Biggest win | Bristol City 4-1 v Coventry (away) |
Total goals scored | 29 (17 home - 12 away) |
Player scoring most goals | Jimmy Bullard (Ipswich) |
Highest Attendance | 27,027 - Leeds v Doncaster |
Lowest Attendance | 4,608 - Scunthorpe v Swansea |
Total Yellow Cards | 25 |
Total Red Cards | 1 |
Most cards in a game | Norwich v Preston (6Y) - Craig Pawson |
The leading scorers (league only) | |
18 | Danny Graham (Watford) - includes 1 penalty |
17 | Shane Long (Reading) - includes 5 penalties |
16 | Luciano Becchio (Leeds) |
15 | Jay Bothroyd (Cardiff) Bill Sharp (Doncaster) - includes 4 penalties Scott Sinclair (Swansea) - includes 5 penalties Adel Taarabt (QPR) - includes 6 penalties |
14 | Max Gradel (Leeds) - includes 2 penalties Grant Holt (Norwich) |
13 | Kris Commons (Derby) - includes 2 penalties Andy King (Leicester) |
11 | Chris Iwelumo (Burnley) Lewis McGugan (Nottingham Forest) - includes 2 penalties Steve Morison (Millwall) - includes 1 penalty Davide Somma (Leeds) |
10 | Heidar Helguson (QPR) - includes 4 penalties Leroy Lita (Middlesbrough) - includes 2 penalties David Nugent (Portsmouth) Brett Pitman (Bristol City) - includes 3 penalties Marvin Sordell (Watford) |
Hat Tricks (league only) | |
11th Sep | 3 - Chris Iwelumo - BURNLEY v Preston |
14th Sep | 3 - James Coppinger - DONCASTER v Norwich |
14th Sep | 3 - James Vaughan - CRYSTAL PALACE v Portsmouth |
28th Sep | 3 - Jon Parkin - Leeds v PRESTON |
30th Oct | 3 - Jonny Howson - Scunthorpe v LEEDS |
13th Nov | 3 - Luciano Becchio - LEEDS v Bristol City |
27th Nov | 3 - Grant Holt - NORWICH v Leeds |
28th Dec | 3 - Wes Hoolahan - NORWICH v Sheffield United |
1st Jan | 3 - Jason Puncheon - MILLWALL v Crystal Palace |
5th Feb | 3 - Matt Fryatt - Scunthorpe v HULL |
15th Feb | 3 - Connor Wickham - Doncaster v IPSWICH |
Disciplinary Record (all domestic games) | |||||
Club | Y | R | Club | Y | R |
Barnsley | 51 | 2 | Middlesbrough | 50 | 1 |
Bristol City | 44 | 2 | Millwall | 54 | 4 |
Burnley | 61 | 4 | Norwich | 61 | 3 |
Cardiff | 46 | 1 | Nottingham Forest | 51 | 1 |
Coventry | 52 | 5 | Portsmouth | 61 | 6 |
Crystal Palace | 64 | 5 | Preston | 75 | 5 |
Derby | 61 | 2 | QPR | 57 | 5 |
Doncaster | 40 | 3 | Reading | 57 | 4 |
Hull | 64 | 2 | Scunthorpe | 42 | 2 |
Ipswich | 52 | 4 | Sheffield United | 57 | 8 |
Leeds | 70 | 3 | Swansea | 54 | 2 |
Leicester | 39 | 2 | Watford | 37 | 1 |
The Next Fixtures | |
Tuesday 8th March | |
Barnsley v Scunthorpe | Leicester v Norwich |
Bristol City v Portsmouth | Middlesbrough v Derby |
Crystal Palace v Cardiff (20:00) | Millwall v QPR |
Doncaster v Coventry | Preston v Leeds |
Hull v Burnley | Sheffield United v Nottingham Forest |
Ipswich v Reading | Swansea v Watford |