Ipswich mark Royle’s milestone with battling draw

IPSWICH frustrated Reading in their bid to break clear of the Coca-Cola Championship pack as Steve Coppell’s men had to settle for a 1-1 draw.

The Suffolk side were celebrating Joe Royle’s 1,000th game in management, and the leaders were caught out in the 10th minute when Shefki Kuqi latched on to a long ball to curl home Ipswich’s first - the Finn’s third goal in two games.

However, Dave Kitson equalised for Reading with his seventh goal of the season after 25 minutes - beating Kelvin Davis with a well-placed shot.

The top four all drew - meaning it was as you were, with second-placed Wigan held goalless at Watford.

Leeds claimed their seventh clean sheet of the season to hold fourth-placed Stoke at Elland Road - while Sunderland, who beat Leeds last Friday, came unstuck in South Yorkshire against Sheffield United.

Both sides were reduced to 10 men in the first half when Gary Breen and Andy Gray were sent off following an off-the-ball altercation, and the only goal came midway through the second half.

The Black Cats defence hesitated, and Paul Shaw nipped in to steer the ball past Mart Poom.

Leicester have made a sluggish start on their return to life outside the top flight but claimed a 2-0 win at Gillingham.

Matt Heath scored for the Foxes when he was on hand to divert Dion Dublin’s header into the net with four minutes of the second half played.

Dublin added a second with 19 minutes left when he smashed home Trevor Benjamin’s cross from the byline.

Honours were even at Deepdale as Preston earned a 1-1 draw against Plymouth in Billy Davies’ first match since being confirmed as full-time manager of the Lancashire club.

The visitors grabbed the lead in the 19th minute when Mathias Doumbe stooped to head home a corner, but the home side’s equaliser came from the same route as Richard Cresswell met a flag-kick powerfully with his head after 65 minutes.

Rotherham remain bottom of the division after a 3-2 defeat at home to Crewe, who started the night one place above them.

On-loan striker Mark Burchill scored his first goal for the Millers with a header from Chris Sedgwick’s 17th-minute cross - but within 90 seconds Crewe drew level thanks to a Dean Ashton penalty.

Alex went ahead on the hour through Kenny Lunt.

Dario Gradi’s side secured victory in the 71st minute when David Vaughan played in Ashton, who lobbed Pollitt for his ninth goal of the season. Shaun Barker’s late header was mere consolation for Ronnie Moore’s men.

Burnley secured their second home league win of the season by beating Cardiff 1-0.