Championship round-up

Cardiff City extended their lead at the top of the Championship table as Peterborough United got the better of fellow strugglers Barnsley.

Cardiff City extended their lead at the top of the Championship table as Peterborough United got the better of fellow strugglers Barnsley. Huddersfield Town manager Simon Grayson endured an afternoon to forget at former club Leicester City, while Hull City and Middlesbrough suffered frustration on their travels. Brighton & Hove Albion and Blackburn Rovers were impressive winners, Leeds United battled past Bolton Wanderers and Charlton Athletic beat Watford in a seven-goal thriller. Joe Mason's 41st minute goal was enough for Cardiff to beat Birmingham City 1-0 at St Andrew's to cement their position at the head of the standings. Hull City lost ground on the leaders after being held to a 0-0 draw by Blackpool at Bloomfield Road. Chris Wood enjoyed a dream debut for Leicester as he scored twice inside the opening half-hour during a 6-1 rout of Huddersfield at the King Power Stadium. Middlesbrough missed out on the chance to move into the automatic promotion spots after suffering a 3-1 defeat at Derby County. Crystal Palace intensified the pressure on Wolves manager Stale Solbakken as Andre Moritz scored a goal in each half during a 3-1 win at Selhurst Park. Blackburn made it back-to-back wins since the sacking of Henning Berg after inflicting a 3-0 defeat on new Nottingham Forest boss Alex McLeish at Ewood Park. Ipswich Town's resurgence under Mick McCarthy was given a jolt as the in-demand Craig Mackail-Smith was among the scorers in Brighton's 3-0 success at Portman Road. Luciano Becchio converted a 66th minute penalty as Leeds beat Bolton 1-0 at Elland Road to close to within two points of the play-off places. Tommy Rowe scored an 87th minute winner as Peterborough beat managerless Barnsley 2-1 at London Road to climb out of the bottom three. Charlton edged a topsy-turvy game at Vicarage Road as Yann Kermorgant scored a goal in each half during the 4-3 victory over Watford. Adam Smith pounced 15 minutes from time to hand Millwall a 2-1 home win over Bristol City, who are off the bottom of the table only on goal difference. Sheffield Wednesday slipped back into the relegation zone after second-half goals from Keith Treacy and Ross Wallace earned Burnley a 2-0 triumph at Hillsborough.