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West Brom surged to the top of the Championship with a 4-1 mauling of Bristol City.

With Newcastle not in action until Monday, the Baggies cashed in to head to the top of the pile.

Jerome Thomas started the ball rolling with a fine run and shot on three minutes and Chris Brunt showed his class with a fine second.

City regrouped and went in two down at the interval, but two goals in a minute, the first an own goal from Carey and the second a neat finish from Simon Cox, sealed the win for West Brom.

Paul Hartley grabbed the best goal of the game, a superb free-kick from 30 yards, but it was a mere consolation on 87 minutes.

Heidar Helguson continued to write his second chapter in Watford folklore after his brace sank Scunthorpe.

The striker is already a Hornets legend after scoring 64 goals in five successful years at Vicarage Road before moving to Fulham in 2006.

And the 32-year-old took his tally to five goals in only his second start since returning to Hertfordshire on loan from QPR with trademark headers in two first-half minutes.

Strike partner Danny Graham bagged the third to extinguish any hopes of a Scunthorpe comeback three minutes into the second half as Malky Mackay's side secured their third successive home win.

Grzegorz Rasiak stepped off the bench to head a late winner for Reading - and finally end their wait for a home Championship win against Blackpool.

The Royals had not won in front of their own fans at the Madejski Stadium since January - a run of 17 matches - but were rewarded for a much-improved performance which lifts them out of the relegation zone.

Gylfi Sigurdsson put them ahead with a cool finish but Brett Ormerod struck before the hour mark to leave Brendan Rodgers' side looking at yet another draw.

But Rasiak met Marek Matejovsky's cross to steer a header home and give the home fans a long-awaited win.

Middlesbrough are still searching for their first win under Gordon Strachan after Nottingham Forest fought back to claim a deserved draw at the Riverside Stadium.

Forest went into the game as the only side in all four English divisions without an away defeat, but looked set to lose that record following Leroy Lita's early strike.

The former England U21 international was on hand to fire home a rebound after Julio Arca's shot had been parried by Lee Camp.

But Forest responded well after the interval and levelled when substitute Rob Earnshaw curled home a delightful free-kick with 17 minutes remaining.

Billy Sharp scored his fourth goal in his last five games as Doncaster beat QPR at the Keepmoat.

The on-loan striker put Rovers in front early in the second half against a QPR side who were riding in high in fourth place ahead of their trip to the Keepmoat Stadium.

And Dean Shiels added a second goal to secure a deserved victory which moves them away from the relegation zone as Rangers missed a chance to go third in the Championship table.

Leon Best grabbed his eighth goal of the season to earn Coventry a draw with Crystal Palace in their clash at the Ricoh Arena.

Darren Ambrose had put Palace in front midway through the first half when he got on the end of Freddie Sears' low cross to score his 11th goal of the season which equalled the former Charlton midfielder's career-best tally.

However just two minutes after the break Michael McIndoe's cross found Best who headed home to draw the Sky Blues level.

Clinton Morrison and Jose Fonte both had chances to win it for either side but the spoils were shared.

Carl Dickinson struck a late winner with virtually the last kick of the game as Barnsley dealt a blow to high-flying Cardiff's Championship promotion bid.

The on-loan Stoke defender drove a fierce left-footed free-kick from 25 yards through a wall of players and into the corner of the net in the 90th minute.

Henri Camara's goal eased the pressure on manager Kevin Blackwell as Sheffield United clung on for their Championship win in nine matches, beating Peterborough 1-0.

Blackwell's side have fallen way off the pace in recent weeks with a string of injuries a major factor in their slide down the table.

And there were more groans than cheers at Bramall Lane after former Celtic and Wigan striker Camara had fired the home side ahead three minutes before half-time.

Andy King bundled home from a corner in the 90th minute as Leicester beat Plymouth 1-0.

Alex CHICK / Eurosport