Championship roundup: fast-rising Hull turn up heat on Portsmouth

Joe Gelhardt scored his fifth goal in six games as in-form Hull defeated struggling Portsmouth 3-2.

The Leeds loan signing showed supreme calmness to dink the ball over goalkeeper Josef Bursik after he latched on to Charlie Hughes’s long ball in the 79th minute to settle the match.

Hull have now lost once in eight games, but looked up against it after Terry Devlin opened the scoring during a breathless first half. Enis Destan cancelled out Devlin’s deflected goal and Kyle Joseph put Hull ahead, but Portsmouth restored parity when Devlin headed in Josh Murphy’s brilliant cross just before the break.

An awful error from goalkeeper Daniel Iversen was costly for Preston at Millwall as they came away from the Den with a 1-1 draw.

In a clash between two teams who began Saturday in the top six, Preston scored first when Michael Smith pounced on a mistake by Camiel Neghli in the 15th minute. Having been presented with the opening goal, Preston returned the favour in the 36th minute when Iversen kicked fresh air from Liam Lindsay’s throw back to him, giving Ivanovic an open net to equalise into.

Joe Ward celebrates Derby’s fifth successive win. Photograph: Martin Rickett/PA

John Eustace’s first return to Blackburn saw his Derby side hold on to earn a 2-1 victory at Ewood Park.

Carlton Morris deftly nodded the Rams into a 19th-minute lead – his sixth in four games – before Patrick Agyemang powered in a header on the stroke of half-time. Yuki Ohashi’s 66th-minute penalty reduced the arrears and Derby had to survive an onslaught of long throws and corners but held firm to record their fifth successive win, moving to the fringes of the playoffs.

On Friday, Scott Twine’s free-kick earned Bristol City a 1-1 draw at Watford. Marc Bola’s first Watford goal put the hosts ahead after six minutes but Twine ensured injury-hit City avoided losing for a third time in six days by denying Watford a fifth straight home win.

Imran Louza was the architect of Watford’s opening goal with a 70-yard pass from his own half that enabled Bola to sprint in behind the City defence, take a fine first touch, then slot calmly past Radek Vitek. City drew level in the 29th minute after Jeremy Petris brought Sinclair Armstrong down on the edge of the box and Twine hammered the free-kick past the wall to beat Egil Selvik at his near post.

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