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Fan protests did not stop Newcastle United beating Peterborough 3-1 at the sportsdirect.com@St James' Park Stadium to stay top of the Championship.

Supporters protested at Mike Ashley's renaming of St James' Park with banners and chanting before and during the match, but goals from Jonas Gutierrez (pictured), Andy Carroll and Danny Simpson helped them to victory with Dean Keates hitting a late consolation for the visitors.

Gutierrez opened the scoring on the quarter-hour mark with a run and finish for his first goal for Toon, with Carroll flicking a near-post header three minutes later.

Argentina winger Gutierrez limped off soon afterwards though, but Simpson increased their lead with a 53rd-minute curler, his first for the club.

Keates struck from close range on 80 minutes.

West Brom kept the pressure on Newcastle after a 2-1 win at high-flying Leicester City, which extended a four-point cushion from the chasing pack.

Quickfire goals from Graham Dorrans and Gonzalo Jara late in the first half did the damage, with an injury-time strike from Bruno Berner setting up a tense finish.

Reading's long wait for a home Championship win continued with a 1-1 draw against Ipswich. The hosts fell behind to a scrappy goal from Jon Stead before Simon Church deservedly levelled after the break.

Brendan Rodgers's side have now gone 17 games without a win at the Madejski Stadium, a sequence which goes back to late January.

Scunthorpe keeper Joe Murphy was sent off as Blackpool turned around a one-goal deficit to win 4-1 and maintain their unbeaten home record.

Paul Hayes' 51st-minute opener put The Iron ahead, before Ian Evatt levelled for the home side. Murphy was then sent off for deliberate handball, with the decision paving the way for Charlie Adam, Ben Burgess and Alex Baptiste to seal the win for Ian Holloway's men, leaving Scunthorpe without a win at Bloomfield Road since April 2000.

Plymouth moved out of the relegation zone following a hard-fought 2-1 win over 10-man Doncaster. The Pilgrims went in front on 26 minutes when Alan Gow crossed for Alan Judge to poke home but Dean Shiels equalised for the visitors three minutes later.

Doncaster were reduced to 10 men early in the second half when Martin Woods was shown a second yellow card and, with 19 minutes remaining, Rory Fallon finished well after Jamie Mackie's shot had been saved to give Plymouth back-to-back wins.

A frantic last five minutes saw Bristol City snatch a 1-1 draw at Nottingham Forest. Wes Morgan lashed home an 85th-minute opener for a lacklustre Forest side to seemingly secure a win.

But Danny Haynes's 90th-minute finish ensured the scoreline did in fact finish level and extended the Robins' unbeaten run to seven games, while Forest are now unbeaten in eight.

Heidar Helguson marked his return to the Watford starting line-up with an early headed goal to put the hosts on course for a 2-0 victory over Preston.

On-loan Manchester United midfielder Tom Cleverley doubled the hosts' advantage just after the hour mark.

PA Sport