Championship round-up

22 August 2009 16:59
Middlesbrough moved to the top of the Championship table on Saturday, while Newcastle are hot on their heels. Leicester's eye-catching start to the season shows no sign of abating and Preston remain among the frontrunners. At the opposite end of the table, Peterborough and Barnsley continue to struggle after suffering further setbacks this weekend. It is, however, Middlesbrough who lead the way after goals from Tuncay Sanli and Leroy Lita were enough to see off plucky Doncaster. Boro's North East neighbours Newcastle are right on their tail, though, with Kevin Nolan and Ryan Taylor handing the Magpies a 2-0 win at Crystal Palace. Preston are the closest challengers to the Tyne-Tees duo at the summit, with the Lilywhites proving too strong for struggling Peterborough in a 2-0 win at Deepdale. Coventry's explosive start has stagnated of late and they were left to rue a missed penalty from Sammy Clingan in their latest outing as they slipped to a 1-0 defeat at home to Swansea. Leicester have adapted to life in the second tier with consummate ease and collected another three points on Saturday as a Matty Fryatt effort helped them past rock-bottom Barnsley. Sheffield United, last season's beaten play-off finalists, are on the march once again and they came from a goal down to overcome Reading 3-1 at the Madejski Stadium. Their local rivals Sheffield Wednesday are also showing positive signs this term and they swept aside Scunthorpe 4-0 at Hillsborough. Watford have seen Tommy Smith and new boy Tom Cleverley find form of late and they were on target again for the Hornets in a 2-2 draw with Blackpool. Nottingham Forest and Queens Park Rangers remain winless this season, but can at least console themselves with a hard-fought point taken from a 1-1 draw at Loftus Road. Derby and Plymouth appeared set to produce the same scoreline at Pride Park, but the Rams took the spoils 2-1 courtesy of a late winner from Miles Addison.

Source: SKY_Sports