Crystal Palace and Watford held on to play-off spots on a thrilling final day of the Coca-Cola Championship season.

The duo started the day in the two remaining places to be decided and they managed to book their berths in the end-of-season battle in contrasting style.

Palace's position was rarely in doubt as they thrashed Burnley 5-0 at Selhurst Park.

The Clarets had Clarke Carlisle sent off for a foul on Scott Sinclair after just eight minutes which paved the way for the hosts' win. Ben Watson converted the resulting spot-kick and from then on the goals flowed with Victor Moses (10), Tom Soares (37), Sinclair (61) and Clinton Morrison (65) all finding the net.

By contrast, Watford were made to sweat but in the end a 1-1 draw away to Blackpool proved good enough.

Ben Burgess put the hosts ahead after just two minutes and Watford's plight looked difficult after Darius Henderson was sent off in the 60th minute for a second bookable offence.

But Tommy Smith's equaliser two minutes later ensured Adrian Boothroyd's side finished sixth.

The Hornets knew Wolves could catch them if they didn't win, but the midlands outfit could only beat Plymouth 1-0 - Seyi Olofinjana scoring in the 87th minute - meaning they missed out on a place in the top six by a single goal; they finished with a goal differece of +5 to Watford's +6.

Watford will play Hull in the play-off semi-finals - the Yorkshire side had to settle for a play-off spot after they were pipped by Stoke to the final automatic promotion place.

Hull went down 1-0 at Ipswich - Alan Lee scoring the winner on 70 minutes - although even a win wouldn't have ben good enough as Stoke picked up the point they needed by drawing 0-0 with Leicester.

In the other semi, Palace will take on Bristol City.

City eased to a 3-0 win over Preston to ensure they finished fourth in the final table. Lee Trundle, Michael McIndoe and David Noble scored the goals at Ashton Gate.

At the bottom of the table, Sheffield Wednesday made sure of their survivial with a 4-1 victory over Norwich in what was the final game of Dion Dublin's career.

Darren Huckerby had given the Canaries a ninth-minute lead but a brace from Deon Burton, including a 23rd-minute penalty, and a goal apiece from Ben Sahar (76) and Leon Clarke (87) saw the Owls home.

Coventry had to rely on other results to keep them up as they slumped 4-1 at Charlton.

But boss Chris Coleman breathed a huge sigh of relief after learning that Leicester had failed to beat Stoke - a result which meant the Sky Blues survived by a single point and a single place.

Luke Varney (four), Andy Gray (19), Grant Basey (48) and Chris Powell (86) were on target for the Addicks while Michael Mifsud (20) netted a consolation for the visitors.

Two games had nothing riding on them.

Cardiff warmed up for the FA Cup final with a 3-0 win over Barnsley, thanks to goals from Paul Parry (44), Kevin McNaughton (49) and Joe Ledley (63), while relegated Scunthorpe and Colchester played out a 3-3 draw at Glandford Park.

Sporting Life / Eurosport