Championship round-up

O'Connor: Late leveller

Click below for match reports:
Cardiff 0-1 Plymouth
Crystal Palace 3-1 Ipswich
Coventry 1-0 Doncaster
Derby 0-2 Blackpool
Leicester 2-1 Sheff Utd
Middlesbrough 3-0 Scunthorpe
Preston P-P Barnsley
QPR 2-1 Bristol City
Reading 1-1 Swansea
Sheff Wed 2-2 Newcastle
Watford 0-0 Nottm Forest
West Brom 2-0 Peterborough

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Teams

• Barnsley
• Blackpool

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  • Bristol City
  • Cardiff City
  • Coventry City
  • Crystal Palace
  • Derby County
  • Doncaster
  • Ipswich Town
  • Leicester City
  • Middlesbrough
  • Newcastle United
  • Nottingham Forest
  • Peterborough United
  • Plymouth Argyle
  • Preston North End
  • Queens Park Rangers
  • Reading
  • Scunthorpe United
  • Sheffield United
  • Sheffield Wednesday
  • Swansea City
  • Watford
  • West Bromwich Albion

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Leaders Newcastle United were held to a 2-2 draw by lowly Sheffield Wednesday at Hillsborough as they saw their lead at the top cut.

Chris Hughton's men started Boxing Day ten points clear and would have been looking for victory in South Yorkshire.

But caretaker manager Sean McAuley saw his Owls side take an early lead through Luke Varney.

Newcastle battled back strongly and levelled through Kevin Nolan before Shola Ameobi hammered them ahead.

But James O'Connor struck on the hour to grab a welcome point for Wednesday.

West Brom took advantage of Newcastle's draw and cut their lead to eight points as they secured a 2-0 win over Peterborough at The Hawthorns.

Luke Moore put the Baggies ahead on the hour mark before Ryan Bennett headed through his own goal to end a sorry day for Mark Cooper's side who find themselves bottom of the table after Cardiff were shocked by Plymouth.

The only goal of the game in South Wales came just six minutes from time as Gary Sawyer saw his effort deflected into the back of the net to seal a huge win for Paul Mariner's side.

Third placed Nottingham Forest extended their unbeaten run to 15 games as they claimed a 0-0 draw at Watford.

The evening match saw Leicester City climb into fourth in the standings following a 2-1 success over in-form Sheffield United. Matt Fryatt's first-half penalty settled the contest.

Gordon Strachan registered his first home win since taking charge of Middlesbrough as they romped to a 3-0 win over Scunthorpe at The Riverside.

Cliff Byrne saw red early on for the visitors and the resulting penalty was finished by Adam Johnson. Rhys Williams and Jeremie Aliadiere also found the back of the net, but Boro were also reduced to 10 men as Leroy Lita was dismissed late on.

Reading came from behind to claim a 1-1 draw with Swansea at the Madejski Stadium.

Darren Pratley put Swansea ahead, but Gylfi Sigurdsson struck on the stroke of half-time to seal a point for the home side.

Blackpool grabbed an excellent 2-0 win against Derby as they returned to winning ways at Pride Park.

Jake Buxton's own goal opened the scoring before Brett Ormerod doubled their lead.

Ipswich Town's good run of form came to an end at Selhurst Park as they were beaten 3-1 by Crystal Palace.

Jaime Peters had given Roy Keane's side the lead, but they then had Jonathan Stead sent off and they could not survive with 10 men.

Jose Fonte levelled before the break and second-half efforts from Neil Danns and the in-demand Victor Moses sealed the win for the Eagles.

Coventry sealed their third successive win as they continue their push away from the bottom end of the table as they beat Doncaster 1-0. Clinton Morrison's late penalty was enough for Chris Coleman's side at the Ricoh Arena.

The only game to be postponed in the Championship was at Deepdale as Preston's clash with Barnsley failed to survive the weather.