Black Cats climb to third

Sunderland moved to third in the Coca-Cola Championship table after claiming the points in an unexpectedly tight match at Barnsley.

Roy Keane’s side were the only one of the top four in action – with Birmingham replacing Derby at the top following last night’s 1-0 win and West Brom playing Wolves tomorrow – and they moved to within three points of the Rams with a 2-0 win.

Barnsley made light of their relegation worries to hold firm for 66 minutes but Grant Leadbitter’s right-footed finish broke their resistance.

David Connolly broke free to score a second in the 90th minute and ensure the Black Cats extended their unbeaten run to 11 games.

Stoke pegged back Southampton’s play-off ambitions – and kept their own afloat - with a 2-1 win at the Britannia Stadium.

The sides went in level after Marek Saganowski put the visitors ahead from close range and Jonathan Fortune claimed the equaliser from a Stoke corner. Lee Martin claimed the winner after 72 minutes, stroking home from Salif Diao’s pass.

At the other end of the table Hull jumped out of the bottom three in resounding fashion, condemning promotion-contenders Preston to a 2-0 defeat.

Hull, trounced 5-2 by Ipswich last time out, showed they have the stomach for a relegation battle and went ahead through Nicky Forster’s header in the 30th minute before David Livermore doubled the lead with a diving header.

Fellow strugglers Southend also found some form, beating Ipswich 2-0.

They took a lucky lead in the 35th minute when Mark Gower’s cross from the left somehow evaded everyone before crossing the line.

But there was no mistake about the second when Peter Clarke converted Kevin Maher’s free-kick to score his first goal for the club. Alan Lee was later dismissed for deliberate handball.

A 1-0 win for Leeds over Luton meant that all three teams in the relegation places at the start of the day won.

Dennis Wise’s side remain bottom with the Hatters dropping two positions to join them in the drop zone.

Richard Cresswell was the scorer for United, converting five minutes after the restart before goalkeeper Casper Ankergren saved Dean Morgan’s penalty to prevent an equaliser.

Former leaders Cardiff saw off Norwich 1-0 to keep the pressure on the play-off pack.

The division’s top-scorer Michael Chopra was the architect for the Bluebirds, cutting the ball back to Paul Parry who netted after three minutes.

QPR kept themselves just above the relegation zone when they came from behind to salvage a point against Sheffield Wednesday.

Chris Brunt followed up last week’s stunning goal against Leeds with his 10th of the campaign after a goalless first period but Richard Wood conceded a penalty for the Owls and Martin Rowlands made no mistake from the spot.

Carl Fletcher’s close-range finish and Ben Watson’s penalty saw Crystal Palace to a 2-0 win over Leicester, while both Colchester and Coventry were unable to find the net in their match.