Hull City 1-2 Portsmouth: Report

23 October 2010 18:31

Portsmouth rallied to the encouraging news about their future with a 2-1 away win at Hull to consolidate their mid-table position in the npower Championship.

David Nugent, with a breakaway goal in first-half injury time, and a Greg Halford free-kick put Pompey in front before Nicky Barmby gave the Tigers some hope.

Portsmouth held out though and with news coming through that the club were close to agreeing a deal with former owner Sacha Gaydamak that should secure their future, it made for a happy journey home for the away fans, who have seen their team pick up 16 points out of the most recent 18 available.

Sven-Goran Eriksson had to endure a miserable afternoon in Swansea as his Leicester side went down 2-0 to find themselves one place above the relegation zone. Swansea substitute Marvin Emnes cracked the ball home shortly after the restart and then turned provider in injury time as Scott Sinclair made it 2-0 to send his side third.

There was a thrilling match at Deepdale as Preston just held off a Crystal Palace fightback to edge a 4-3 nail-biter and move out of the bottom three.

Jon Parkin struck either side of a 30-yard thunderbolt from Owen Garvan before Keith Treacy increased the lead from long range. Callum Davidson made it 4-1 from the spot before Andy Dorman and a penalty from James Vaughan gave Palace hope but Preston held out.

There was more misery for managerless Middlesbrough, who lost 1-0 at Norwich. Simeon Jackson struck from close range for the only goal to lift the Canaries up to fourth.

Reading made a nonsense of Burnley's unbeaten record at Turf Moor with a 4-0 triumph. Shane Long put the Royals ahead from the spot after Leon Cort, who was later sent off, brought him down. Jobi McAnuff, Michael Antonio and Simon Church ensured Reading claimed their first away win for two months.

Watford slipped to a 2-0 home defeat at Scunthorpe, whose goals were scored by Cliff Byrne and Martyn Woolford, while there was more gloom for Roy Keane as his Ipswich side went down 2-0 at Nottingham Forest. David McGoldrick struck first before Lewis McGugan hit a stunning 35-yard shot to secure an impressive victory.

Millwall had little problem seeing off Derby, as goals from Steve Morison and a diving header by on-loan Huddersfield striker Theo Robinson gave the Lions a 2-0 win. Coventry saw off Barnsley 3-0 at the Ricoh Arena with Gary McSheffrey opening the scoring, before Carl Baker and Jordan Clarke clinched the result late on, each scoring their first senior goals.

Source: PA