Hull City go marching on in their quest for promotion to the Premier League, while Barnsley and Sheffield Wednesday missed out on helping their fight against Championship relegation.
Barnsley 0 Sheffield United 1BILLY Sharp's second half goal was enough to give Sheffield United victory over Barnsley in the South Yorkshire derby at Oakwell.
Sharp, who had also scored in the Blades's last two games, drilled a low shot past goalkeeper Luke Steele on 77 minutes to secure a fourth consecutive win for his side.
The result maintains the Blades slim hopes of play-off qualification but keeps FA Cup semi-finalists Barnsley entrenched in the battle for Championship survival.
Leicester City 0 Hull City 2Hull City moved to within touching distance of automatic promotion after cruising to victory at hapless Leicester City.
Goals in each half from Dean Marney and Caleb Folan were enough to make it three wins in a week for the Tigers.
So dominant were City that even a second half missed penalty by Marney could not de-rail their bid for the Premier League.
And with several other results going their way, Phil Brown's side now sit just two points behind second placed Bristol City with six games remaining.
Sheffield Wednesday 2 Crystal Palace 2Sheffield Wednesday threw away two points after Palace grabbed a late equaliser in the third minute of stoppage time.
Israeli international Ben Sahar, on loan from Chelsea, made his first start for the Owls and it took him just minutes to open his Owls account, after a sublme pass from Deon Burton.
Ben Watson levelled for Palace with a superb 25-yard free kick five minutes before the break.
Wade Small capped some impressive Owls pressure in the second half to regain the lead but Matt Lawrence popped up with a late equaliser.
Leeds United 2 Walsall 0 Jermaine Beckford netted twice to give Leeds United a comfortable 2-0 win over promotion rivals Walsall at Elland Road.
Beckford put United in front on 29 minutes when he latched on to Neil Kilkenny's through ball, took the ball around goalkeeper Clayton Ince and fired home left-footed from the tightest of angles.
And the Leeds striker capped a memorable afternoon when he seized on another through pass from Kilkenny and dinked the ball over Ince to seal the points 10 minutes from time.
Bristol Rovers 2 Huddersfield Town 3An 87th-minute goal from Michael Collins gave Town all three points at Bristol Rovers as the Terriers came from behind twice to win.
James Berrett scored the first goal of his career in the early stages to send Town in level at half-time before Chris Brandon's second equaliser and the winner from Collins.
Rotherham United 1 Bradford City 1ROTHERHAM showed the fighting qualities they will need to regain a place in the play-offs following a 10-point deduction for going into administration by hitting back from a goal
behind against a Bradford side who also had Jamaican international Omar Daley sent off.
Joe Colbeck put the Bantams ahead just after the break, but Chris O'Grady equalised for the Millers.
Blue Square PremierFarsley Celtic were plunged back into the relegation dogfight after losing 4-0 to fellow strugglers Northwich Victoria.
The home side took the lead on 39 minutes, Darryn Stamp finishing from close range and doubled the lead when Matt Crowell netted from distance. Michael Byrne took advantage of Lee Steele's assist to score the third, with Steele adding the fourth late on.
Halifax Town were left looking over their shoulders at the relegation places after losing 3-0 to Oxford United. Adam Murray, Justin Richards and a Santos Gaia own goal gave Oxford a resounding away victory.
Richards was brought down by Adam Legzdins and Murray slotted home from the penalty spot, Matthew Green set up Richards for Oxford's second goal, before Halifax's fate was sealed when Gaia turned the ball into his own net.
York City, the only one of Yorkshire's trio of Conference sides able to breathe easily in the final few weeks, took the lead at Rushden & Diamonds via Richard Brodie (55) when he met Ben Purkiss's cross. Chris Hope equalised five minutes later, heading home Marcus Kelly's free-kick.
The visitors could have won it had David McGurk's close-range header not been saved by Diamonds goalkeeper Dale Roberts.
Results
Barclays Premier LeagueAston Villa 0-1 Sunderland
Blackburn 3-1 Wigan
Bolton 0-0 Man City
Middlesbrough 1-0 Derby
Newcastle 2-0 Fulham
Reading 2-1 Birmingham
Tottenham 2-0 Portsmouth
Coca-Cola ChampionshipBarnsley 0-1 Sheff Utd
Cardiff 2-1 Bristol City
Leicester 0-2 Hull
Norwich 5-1 Colchester
Plymouth 1-1 Watford
Preston 2-1 Burnley
Scunthorpe 1-2 Ipswich
Sheff Wed 2-2 Crystal Palace
Southampton 0-0 Coventry
Wolverhampton 3-3 QPR
League OneBrighton 2-1 Swindon
Bristol Rovers 2-3 Huddersfield
Crewe 3-1 Hartlepool
Gillingham 2-1 Bournemouth
Leyton Orient 0-3 Carlisle
Luton 1-1 Cheltenham
Oldham 1-1 Millwall
League TwoBarnet 5-2 Lincoln City
Brentford 2-0 Wrexham
Chester 2-1 Darlington
Chesterfield 4-2 Accrington Stanley
Dag & Red 1-1 Shrewsbury
Hereford 0-0 Bury
Mansfield 1-2 Grimsby
Morecambe 0-1 Wycombe
Notts County 1-0 Rochdale
Rotherham 1-1 Bradford
Blue Square Premier
Aldershot 2-1 Altrincham
Burton Albion 1-0 Crawley Town
Cambridge Utd 0-0 Weymouth
Exeter 1-0 Kidderminster
Halifax 0-3 Oxford Utd
Northwich 4-0 Farsley Celtic
Rushden & D'monds 1-1 York
Stafford Rangers 0-2 Torquay
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