Championship round-up: Bristol boss hails 'monster' Armstrong after Irish striker's winner

MATCHWINNER: Sinclair Armstrong of Bristol celebrates victory Pic: by Dan Istitene/Getty Images

Gerhard Struber praised matchwinner Sinclair Armstrong's work on the training ground after the Ireland international striker's first-half goal had clinched Bristol City's third Sky Bet Championship victory in a week.

A match of few clear chances was settled in the 42nd minute when Armstrong used his pace to break clear of the Blues defence onto a Rob Atkinson through-ball and slot a low shot past James Beadle.

But it was the home defence who took the honours in the 1-0 success, particularly in the second half when Birmingham dominated without ever seriously troubling home goalkeeper Radek Vitek.

Having seen his side retain fourth place, head coach Struber said: "Sinclair Armstrong's goal came from a situation we have worked on again and again in training.

"He is always ready and eager to work and learn. We let him run free with his pace on the training ground and repeatedly work on his finishing in that position. I am super happy with the way he is developing but today is just the first step for him.

"He is a monster for defenders to cope with. But he has one goal so far this season and we need him to be an important player for us over the remaining fixtures.

"It has been a great week for us. Today our football was not as sexy as I like but the togetherness of the team and the commitment to defending our box was tremendous.

"We have won three games, each with a different picture and a different way of earning the points. I have a group full of players with a fantastically professional attitude and with an outstanding team spirit."

Elsewhere Coventry, the leaders, recorded their sixth win in a row with a 3-1 victory over 10-man Watford, which proved enough to extend their lead at the top to three points.

Frank Lampard’s side got off to a flying start when Brandon Thomas-Asante and Jamie Allen scored within the first seven minutes. Tatsuhiro Sakamoto made it 3-0 on 42 minutes before James Abankwah was sent off for the visitors. Imran Louza’s second-half penalty proved nothing more than a consolation for Javi Gracia’s side.

It could have been a very different start to the afternoon but for Carl Rushworth in Coventry’s goal, who denied Rocco Vata when the Watford winger was put through one-on-one a minute before Thomas-Asante’s opener. Abankwah’s red card was for hacking down Haji Wright as the American bore down on goal.

Lampard said: “It was a challenging game today because Watford are a good team, and pound for pound that squad’s a strong team in this league. There’s no doubt they’ve got a really good coach there and I think they’ll move up the league. It was a tricky game for us and I thought we did the job and we did it well.”

Hayden Hackney’s first goal since mid-August preserved Middlesbrough’s unbeaten home record by securing a 1-1 draw with Wrexham on their first visit to the Riverside Stadium, but Boro, sitting second, thereby let Coventry pull clear of them. The hosts were forced to battle all the way to deliver a positive result and were thankful to the head of Hackney for finding the net with 10 minutes remaining.

That goal cancelled out Josh Windass’s deflected fourth goal of the season in the seventh minute as Wrexham looked like making it back-to-back wins.

Sheffield Wednesday’s 2-1 defeat to Oxford did little to spoil the atmosphere at Hillsborough despite the home side slipping further adrift at the foot of the table after receiving a 12-point deduction as a result of going into administration this week. Goals from Will Lankshear and Cameron Brannagan gave Oxford a two-goal lead at the break before Sean Fusire pulled one back for Wednesday early in the second half.

The game was played amid a backdrop of renewed optimism among the home supporters following the news that the appointment of administrators had seen the controversial owner, Dejphon Chansiri, relinquish control of the club.

Millwall have now their last four league games after beating Leicester 1-0 and Femi Azeez has scored in all of those after his well-taken goal just before half-time decided the contest at the Den. The win could have been more comfortable had Mihailo Ivanovic not had a penalty saved.

Carlton Morris grabbed his fifth goal of the season to give Derby a 1-0 victory over QPR. It was his first goal in eight games but it was enough to send QPR to their first away defeat since they were thrashed at Coventry in August.

Blackburn came from behind to defeat 10-man Southampton 2-1. A run of five defeats in six home games in all competitions this season was in danger of being extended after Leo Scienza’s smart 23rd-minute finish. Rovers had struck the goal frame before going behind, spurned two one-on-one chances, and survived themselves when former striker Adam Armstrong was twice clean through, including hitting a post.

But the hosts eventually themselves back into the game when Ryan Alebiosu’s 76th-minute cross deceived everyone, and Andri Gudjohnsen slammed home from close range 10 minutes later – both their first strikes for the club. Welington’s senseless stoppage-time dismissal compounded Saints’ misery.

Swansea piled the pressure on the beleaguered Liam Manning as Zan Vipotnik’s double secured a 2-1 home win over Norwich. The Slovenia striker not scored in his six previous games for club and country but Vipotnik rediscovered his goal touch with two superb strikes, taking his season’s tally to eight and lifting the pressure off Alan Sheehan with a first win in four games.

Jovon Makama equalised from close-range before half-time, but the Canaries are in freefall after five successive defeats with further question marks over whether Manning can turn around their fortunes.

The former Bristol City boss had to endure chants of “We want Manning out” and “Sacked in the morning” from fans making a 600-mile round trip from Norfolk as the contest drifted towards its conclusion.

The substitute Luke Berry secured Charlton a dramatic 1-1 draw at Hull. Berry’s stoppage-time header earned his side a share of the points after Joe Gelhardt’s early second-half strike had put the Tigers ahead.

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