Sunderland promotion chase inches forward

Daryl Murphy ensured Sunderland’s push for automatic promotion remained on track with an 89th-minute equaliser against promotion rivals Stoke at the Stadium of Light.

Sunderland remain third after the 2-2 draw at home, as the Coca-Cola Championship's four leading lights all failed to win on a night of shocks.

Leaders Birmingham suffered a 1-0 defeat away to Norwich as Darren Huckerby broke from deep, evaded a series of challenges and drilled a shot past Colin Doyle in the 47th minute.

Derby pulled level with Blues on 70 points as Darren Moore's 87th-minute header rescued a point for them at home to struggling QPR.

The Londoners took the lead when Paul Furlong turned and fired in a shot which rebounded off the post to Martin Rowlands, who headed home in the 14th minute.

Darel Russell's low shot seemed comfortable for Darren Ward, but the goalkeeper somehow fumbled it into the net on 22 minutes. The lead was short-lived though as Dean Whitehead steered in a shot after Grant Leadbitter's cross from the right was controlled by David Connolly.

Tony Pulis' men restored their advantage in first-half stoppage time thanks to Carl Hoefkens' volley but the Wearsiders clawed back level courtesy of a cool finish by Daryl Murphy in the last minute of normal time.

Wolves dropped to fifth as they lost 2-1 at midlands rivals Coventry.

Dele Adebola's route one goal after 25 minutes put the Sky Blues in front at the Ricoh Arena and the sending-off of Jackie McNamara seemed set to kill off Wolves.

The dismissal had the opposite effect as Michael Kightly turned in a rebound in first-half injury time after Andy Marshall saved Seyi George Olofinjana's header.

However, Elliott Ward grabbed a winner for Coventry when he fired in from close range following a Stephen Hughes corner.

Preston replaced Mick McCarthy's side in fourth thanks to their 1-0 win over Ipswich at Deepdale. Michael Ricketts headed in Danny Pugh's cross after five minutes for the only goal with England boss Steve McClaren in attendance.

In the relegation scrap, Southend were the big victors as Richie Foran's injury-time strike secured three points against Burnley at Roots Hall.

A goalless draw looked on the cards until a weak back-header allowed Foran in to score. QPR slipped into the bottom three despite their encouraging draw at Derby, and Luton are now second-bottom after a 2-1 home defeat by Hull.

The Tigers forged ahead midway through the first half when David Livermore nodded in a Sam Ricketts cross and the second came from Michael Turner (62).

Drew Talbot was credited with the goal which brought the Hatters back into the game with 20 minutes to go but Hull held on.

Their Yorkshire neighbours Leeds remain bottom after a 1-1 draw at Leicester.

Robbie Blake blasted in after his initial free-kick was blocked, but the lead lasted only a few seconds as Levi Porter's cross was helped in by Iain Hume as the half ended explosively.

Southampton missed the chance to move into the play-off places as they let slip a 2-0 lead to draw 2-2 with Cardiff at St Mary's.

Full-back Chris Baird blasted in a shot from 25 yards after half an hour and Bradley Wright-Phillips added a close-range second for Saints a minute before the break. Steven Thompson pulled one back for the Bluebirds after an hour and Peter Whittingham levelled things up (85).

Sheffield Wednesday beat Colchester 2-0 in a mid-table clash at Hillsborough.

In League One, Bristol City missed the chance to cut the gap to leaders Scunthorpe to three points as they lost 3-2 to Bradford.

The Bantams moved out of the relegation with the win, which came courtesy of goals from Billy Paynter, Moses Ashikodi and Steven Schumacher.

The mid-table clash between Millwall and Crewe finished 2-2, while in League Two MK Dons moved level on points with Swindon in third thanks to a 3-0 win over Macclesfield.