Wolves moved level with Manchester City at the top of the Division One table courtesy of a 3-1 victory over struggling Bradford at Molineux today. In a match which kicked off at midday, Dave Jones' men did things the hard way, coming from behind to sink the Bantams. Ashley Ward gave Bradford a 31st-minute advantage, and they went into the last 15 minutes with the lead intact. But the prolific Dean Sturridge levelled the scores in the 76th-minute and wrapped up the win from the penalty spot in the last minute, after Shaun Newton had bagged Wolves' second in the 83rd minute.
Stern John netted on his debut six minutes into the second half to keep Birmingham in touch with the play-off hopefuls. The Trinidad and Tobago striker, a recent £100,000 recruit from Nottingham Forest, sank Barnsley to lift Steve Bruce's men above Preston and into ninth position. Burnley missed the chance to move above Millwall and into fourth, managing only a 1-1 draw with Nottingham Forest at Turf Moor. Marlon Harewood gave the visitors the lead with a 69th-minute penalty, and it needed Arthur Gnohere's 88th-minute goal to give Stan Ternent's men anything from the game.
Wimbledon and Crystal Palace drew 1-1 at Selhurst Park - in a game watched by 13,564, the Dons' biggest `home' crowd of the campaign. Damien Francis headed them into a seventh-minute lead but Republic of Ireland striker Clinton Morrison evened things up ten minutes from time to nudge Palace back into the play-off positions - at the expense of Coventry. Morrison celebrated his call-up for the friendly win over Russia in midweek with his 19th league goal of the season for below-par Palace.
At the other end, Grimsby and Sheffield Wednesday picked up valuable home victories to improve their chances of avoiding the drop to Division Two. Stuart Campbell got the only goal of the game at Blundell Park 13 minutes from time, sinking Sheffield United. Campbell headed home at the far post - his team's first home goal of 2002 – to give The Mariners an important three points. Wednesday moved six points clear of the relegation zone with a come-from-behind 2-1 defeat of erratic Watford at Hillsborough. The Hornets led through Gifton Noel-Williams' 43rd-minute goal - and the advantage could have been more. But Wednesday emerged from the tunnel for the second half a different side, and goals from Efan Ekoku (penalty) and Shefki Kuqi secured a vital win for the Owls. The remaining game, between Portsmouth and Rotherham at Fratton Park, ended scoreless.
Filed by Shane Murray
