West Brom win for the first time in 2026, Stevenage hop into 5th, and Newport leap out of the League Two drop zone
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Championship
Matt Watts
At this stage of the season it is hard to write something that has not already been written, but I will give it a go. A promotion chaser won the weekend by beating lowly Sheffield Wednesday. Ivan Azon’s deft finish and Jack Clarke’s penalty gave Ipswich a 2-0 win at Hillsborough. Results elsewhere saw Kieran McKenna’s side climb to third and move within two points of Middlesbrough, with a game in hand.
Boro were on course for a much-needed 1-0 win over Bristol City, but Adam Randell’s stunning 95th-minute header means it is now four home games without a win for Kim Hellberg’s men. Middlesbrough had 53 shots in their home games against Charlton and Bristol City this week but scored only once and picked up just one point.
Boro dropping points opened the door for Millwall, but they failed to walk through it. Luke Cundle’s acrobatic opener set the Lions on course for their seventh win in eight games, but Zak Sturge’s controversial red card proved to be the turning point. Was he the last man? Was he denying a clear goalscoring opportunity? The referee thought so. The Lions also felt hard done by when Femi Azeez wasn’t awarded a penalty after a coming together with Eiran Cashin. Minutes later, Mathias Jorgensen levelled for Blackburn, before scoring the winner with five minutes of normal time remaining. Rovers move three points clear of the drop.
Even the leaders slipped up this weekend as Coventry fell to a 2-1 defeat at home to Southampton. The Sky Blues, who had racked up six wins in a row heading into this one, conceded a couple of poor goals and ran into an inspired Daniel Peretz in the Saints goal. Despite suffering only their second home defeat of the season, Coventry are still seven points clear of Middlesbrough with eight games to go. As for Tonda Eckert’s Saints, they are unbeaten in 12 games in all competitions, winning nine of them, and remain three points behind Wrexham.
At the other end of the table, West Brom moved out of the bottom three after beating promotion chasers Hull 3-0 at The Hawthorns. Charlie Hughes’ 36th-minute red card helped West Brom’s cause, but James Morrison’s side were already 1-0 up and were good value for the win, with loanee Danny Imray putting in a standout performance. It has taken the Baggies two and a half months to pick up their first win of 2026. On this evidence, the next one should not be too far away.
Oxford’s three-match winning run came to an end as Cameron Brannagan’s 57th-minute penalty was cancelled out by Charlie Kelman’s 93rd-minute spot kick for Charlton. The pressure of a relegation battle does funny things to people. Would Ciaron Brown have grabbed Miles Leaburn’s shirt if Oxford were nine points clear of the bottom three, as Charlton are? Probably not.
Just beneath Oxford you will find Leicester, who capitulated at home to QPR. Jordan James’ long-range effort had given the Foxes the lead before goals from Harvey Vale, a Ben Nelson own goal and Ronnie Edwards turned the game on its head. Prior to Vale’s equaliser, Rangers had gone almost seven hours without scoring. Julien Stéphan’s side also ended a run of four consecutive defeats in which they had conceded 12 goals.
Away from the really important storylines, the Championship always throws up some lighter moments and this weekend was no different. Fans watching the Wrexham v Swansea game on Friday night had the option to listen to commentary from Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney. Yes, really. On Saturday, Birmingham gave away one of the most bizarre penalties you will ever see in their 1-1 draw with Sheffield United. Former Blades defender Jack Robinson took it upon himself to award Birmingham a goal kick, inexplicably putting his hand on the ball. Finally, in-form Norwich beat out-of-form Preston 2-0 at Carrow Road. It would have been unthinkable on 5 January, but the Canaries have reached 50 points before North End.
League One
Ali Maxwell
The League One weekend chucked up key winners at the top, near the bottom and in the play-off picture.
Lincoln City became the first League One team to win six games in a row this season, pulling clear of Stockport County to win 3-1 after a short period in which it seemed their streak was under threat.
Lincoln’s performance level was composed and clinical rather than spectacular, as it has been so often in recent weeks and months. Stockport equalised with 25 minutes to go, and for 10 minutes County had the edge, the energy, the chances, without success. Not for long. A deflected Tendayi Darikwa shot put Michael Skubala’s side back ahead, and Alfie Lloyd turned a long George Wickens kick into an assist by dominating Brad Hills to score.
After this win, it was time to check the league table and then the fixture list, to try and predict when Lincoln’s remarkable promotion may be rubber-stamped. They’re 15 points clear of 3rd with 9 games to go. Their home match on Good Friday against AFC Wimbledon – their 41st of game the season – is blinking on our radar.
Cardiff City will be joining them in the Championship, and ended their brief hangover by wiping the floor with Exeter City, overwhelming them with wide combination play. Rubin Colwill scored twice in the first half with assists from wingers Ollie Tanner and Cian Ashford, then Alex Robertson’s goal was exhibition stuff, involving backheels and improbable curl on his shot from range. It was 4-0 in the end, for an 11-point lead over Bolton.
Those two sides are top of the table on merit. They are the only two teams to have truly cracked it this season in League One. Their lack of serious competition was underlined by the fact that only two other teams in the top half won. Bolton fought back from 0-2 down at Rotherham to draw 2-2. Rotherham’s defence more or less gave up in the final minutes, and a second straight 3-2 injury-time win from 0-2 down felt inevitable… except that Bolton’s attackers forgot how to finish.
Bradford could have gone third, but lost 0-2 at Wigan – their seventh away defeat of 2026 already. Huddersfield huffed and puffed in a 0-0 at Port Vale, while play-off chasers Reading and Plymouth shared the points in a 2-2 draw that oscillated nicely for the neutral: Reading led twice, through Randell Williams and Paudie O’Connor, but Argyle responded each time, with goals from Alex Mitchell and Caleb Watts.
Which means that the biggest winners of the play-off battle were Stevenage.
Their 1-0 win at home to Wimbledon came courtesy of a first-half Jamie Reid penalty. If the details of the game contain little of note, the significance of the result contains plenty. Alex Revell’s side jump from 8th to 5th and have a game in hand over all competitors except Stockport, who dropped out of the top six for the first time since autumn.
Wycombe could have been in there with them, had they beaten Luton. Surely they would – ‘Four Straight Home Wins’ vs ‘No Away Wins In 10’? Chalk that down for a home win. But God had other plans. Or, more specifically, Hakeem Odoffin starred in the heart of Luton’s back line, and Kal Naismith and Kasey Palmer both scored close range headers from corners.
There are play-off places are up for grabs. Who wants ‘em?!
At the bottom, we know already about Rotherham’s point against Bolton. It’s one they would have taken pre-match, but still ended up feeling somewhat traumatic.
Wigan were among the big winners, righting the wrongs of a midweek defeat at home to Argyle to beat Bradford 2-0. Caylan Vickers looked bright, making his first league start for Wigan, and grabbed a first-half goal. With 15 minutes to go, Joe Taylor scored a vintage Joe Taylor goal, speeding in behind and finishing smartly. The Latics have beaten three top half teams in six games under Gary Caldwell.
What a week for Leyton Orient, winning back-to-back games for the first time this season with a 2-1 win at home to Peterborough. Equally rare is an Orient win without a Dom Ballard goal to help secure it: this was the first time that’s happened since November, as Jack Simpson and Tyreeq Bakinson did the honours.
Kevin Nolan may be out at Northampton Town, but it was the same old statuesque defending and poor finishing on display in their 0-2 defeat at home to Burton. With the hardest run-in by far among relegation battlers, this was a huge chance to take points off a side above them, but a limp home defeat sums things up. Burton’s strong record against the current bottom four is the reason for their five-point cushion.
Two points separated Doncaster and Blackpool at the start of the day. By 5pm, it was five points. Donny may have been winless in three, but having watched Blackpool in midweek, it was clear that they were lacking style, substance, ideas, confidence and discipline – all on show here in a 1-2 defeat that also saw Fraser Horsfall sent off. They’re odds-on for relegation now, and are three points from safety.
League Two
Huw Davies
The top three in League Two all won, with varying degrees of ease. At one end of the scale: Bromley needing some odd goalkeeping and a daft red card to beat Bristol Rovers 1-0 (though they did spurn golden opportunities to score more). At the other: Cambridge United.
The U’s demolished Gillingham 5-0 without conceding a shot on target. The hosts’ fifth goal (see 5iveLights, #3) showed their confidence but Gills’ defending as early in the second minute, for 1-0, must have had visiting fans checking their watches – not to see how much time had been played but how long was left. True enough, what followed was attack v defence, intent v discontent, Cambridge excellent, Gills execrable. Table-toppers after nine games, they’re 17th after 36 and have just shipped 10 goals in a week. Summer can’t come soon enough.
MK Dons won 2-1 at Swindon to stay in 2nd. Alex Gilbey, deflected; Ollie Clarke corrected; scrambled MK winner confected; Swindon dejected. Their automatic promotion challenge is becoming a challenge to stay in the top seven. Still, they received a boost from 8th-placed Grimsby losing 1-0 at Oldham. Each side had a single shot on target but Oldham scored theirs, substitute Oli Hammond setting up substitute Josh Hawkes for a well-executed breakaway. They’re in this play-off hunt.
Chesterfield replaced Grimsby in the top seven by winning a ding-dong battle 3-2 against Notts County. The first half alone featured an own goal, three regular goals, five yellow cards and a hilarious sending-off.
Inside 20 minutes, with Notts 1-0 down, Ollie Norburn dislodged Armando Dobra’s boot in a tackle and lobbed it really quite far away (knocking a pitchside multiball off its cone, which is a neat trick). It’s a silly thing to do on a booking, for sure, but experience requires precedence and who ever got sent off for throwing a shoe? Notts did well to recover to 2-2 before the break, but they didn’t have a shot after the 52nd minute and the pressure told as Liam Mandeville leapt to nod in Sammy Braybrooke’s chipped pass.
Just outside the play-off places, Walsall got back on the saddle without Mat Sadler and drew level with Crewe by beating them 3-0 at Gresty Road. Albert Adomah scoring two goals 87 minutes apart is impressive at 38, but the skill outshone the stamina – a handsome flick for the first and sexy dink for the second, with an outside-of-the-boot assist in between. Phwoar, Unc.
Further down, Newport are up to 20th, the highest they’ve been since 6th September dawned. They beat Barnet 2-1 and, even more impressively, came from behind to win away.
Barnet scored a Sunday League goal against hungover defending, but whether it was with a tactical tweak or a tactical chunder, half-time revitalised County. Ben Lloyd had one of his five shots cleared off the line. Jordan Wright brilliantly saved a close-range header. Bobby Kamwa turned in Cameron Evans’ superb assist – yet Newport wanted more. Lee Jenkins, six yards out, got his feet in a tangle; Lloyd, 18 yards out, hit the bar. Chances, chances, chances. At last, Harrison Biggins found Tanatswa Nyakuhwa, who found fellow sub James Crole, who found three vital points hidden in the back of the net.
What a difference it makes. Barrow fell into the relegation zone thanks to this result and their 0-0 home draw with Accrington. They joined Harrogate, who held out for 85 minutes before losing 1-0 to promotion-chasing Salford. Crawley’s goalless draw at Colchester didn’t do a lot of good for either side.
🎦 Our Top 5 clips from the EFL weekend
Imply Red: the injury-time goal that made it two – and promotion a formality – arrived to a roar that said everything.
Not far behind: Cardiff keep up the pace, and are we sure this ain’t Brazil?
A good old hoot with the outside of the boot: Shayne Lavery for Cambridge.
Free-kick o’clock: Who did it better? Kenny McLean for Norwich… or Marvin Ducksch for Birmingham?
A little wonder from Irankunda.
📊 Your Monday morning cheat sheet
📊 Boro frustration — Middlesbrough have produced 53 shots and 4.8 xG across their last two games, yet scored just once and collected one point.
📉 Foxes famine — Leicester’s open-play xG across their last five games reads 0.41, 0.27, 0.13, 0.40 and 0.31 — 1.5 in total, underlining their recent attacking struggles.
🎯 Gilbey guarantee — Alex Gilbey scored his 10th league goal of the season for MK Dons and is now the only player to reach 10+ goals in each of the last three League Two campaigns.
🌟 Adomah evergreen — At 38y 91d, Albert Adomah became the oldest non-British/Irish player to record 3+ goal involvements in an EFL match since at least 2013/14.
🔥 Imp-ervious — Lincoln have won six consecutive league games, their longest winning run above the fourth tier since August 1958.
🏟️ Lampard pattern — Coventry City’s four home defeats under Frank Lampard have all come against sides either promoted to the Premier League last season or relegated from it (Leeds, Burnley, Ipswich and Southampton).
🐤 No clemency for Norwich opponents — No side has won more Championship matches than Norwich City (13) since Philippe Clement took charge in November.
🤏 Beg, steal and Boro — Stevenage have won 16 league games in 2025/26, and 13 were by a single goal; the others were 2-0 (vs Northampton in August), 2-0 (vs Luton in October) and 3-1 (vs Stockport in December). Tight.
🍺 Rovers’ Returns at the Den — In all league away games since the start of the 2020/21 season, Blackburn have won from behind on three occasions – and all three times were against Millwall (May 2023, October 2023, March 2026).
📬 Didzy still delivering — David McGoldrick has 14 League One goals this season; only Dean Windass (16) and Adebayo Akinfenwa (15) have scored more aged 37+ since 2004-05.
SkyBet Championship
Birmingham 1-1 Sheffield United
Coventry 1-2 Southampton
Leicester 1-3 QPR
Middlesbrough 1-1 Bristol City
Millwall 1-2 Blackburn
Norwich 2-0 Preston
Oxford 1-1 Charlton
Sheffield Wednesday 0-2 Ipswich
Stoke 3-1 Watford
West Brom 3-0 Hull
Wrexham 2-0 Swansea
Sky Bet League One
Doncaster 2-1 Blackpool
Exeter 0-4 Cardiff
Leyton Orient 2-1 Peterborough
Lincoln 3-1 Stockport
Mansfield 2-2 Barnsley
Northampton 0-2 Burton Albion
Port Vale 0-0 Huddersfield
Reading 2-2 Plymouth Argyle
Rotherham 2-2 Bolton
Stevenage 1-0 AFC Wimbledon
Wigan 2-0 Bradford
Wycombe 1-2 Luton
Sky Bet League Two
Barnet 1-2 Newport
Barrow 0-0 Accrington
Bromley 1-0 Bristol Rovers
Cambridge 5-0 Gillingham
Colchester 0-0 Crawley
Crewe 0-3 Walsall
Fleetwood 0-0 Tranmere
Harrogate 0-1 Salford
Notts County 2-3 Chesterfield
Oldham 1-0 Grimsby
Shrewsbury 0-2 Cheltenham
Swindon 1-2 MK Dons
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