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James Collins celebrates after scoring for Luton Town on a night when fans returned to Kenilworth Road. PA
The joy of six

Ireland striker's sixth goal of the season helps inflict shock defeat on Championship leaders

James Collins scored in Luton Town’s win over Norwich City.

CHAMPIONSHIP LEADERS NORWICH City had their 10-game unbeaten run ended with a 3-1 defeat at Luton Town this evening.

The hosts earned a first home win since 3 October as they welcomed back fans to Kenilworth Road in style.

The 1,000 supporters in attendance got to celebrate goals from George Moncur, Matty Pearson and Ireland international James Collins in an impressive Hatters display.

Collins, who took his tally for the season to six in all competitions, scored his side’s third goal when he converted from the penalty spot early in the second half.

Despite being under increasing pressure, Luton held on for a first win in five games and moved to within four points of the play-offs.

A resolute defensive display helped Nottingham Forest end a run of three straight defeats as they held promotion-chasing Watford to a 0-0 draw at the City Ground.

Chris Hughton’s side looked the more likely to break the deadlock, with Lyle Taylor flicking a header narrowly over and almost setting up Cafu for a debut goal.

Forest ensured Vladimir Ivic’s team had only rare sights of goal, as they defended solidly to claim their first clean sheet since they beat Wycombe Wanderers 2-0 at the start of November.

Tony Pulis remains without a win as Sheffield Wednesday manager but his players held high-flying Reading to a 1-1 draw despite playing for an hour with 10 men.

After Callum Paterson gave the Owls an early lead at Hillsborough, teenage midfielder Liam Shaw became the club’s fifth player in nine games to be shown a red card following a crude challenge on Omar Richards.

Lucas Joao went on to level matters on the stroke of half-time with a 13th goal of the season against his old club, but a reorganised Wednesday refused to be breached during a determined second-half display.

Duncan Watmore’s double ensured Neil Warnock was able to celebrate his 72nd birthday in style as his Middlesbrough side claimed a 2-1 win over Swansea City.

Warnock turned 72 on Tuesday, and his players handed him the perfect present a day later as Watmore’s brace banished the memories of Saturday’s defeat to Huddersfield Town.

The former Sunderland forward, who only signed as a free agent three weeks ago, claimed his first two goals in a Boro shirt, and while Yan Dhanda pulled a goal back for Swansea, Boro held on to secure a deserved three points.

Nick Powell’s header – assisted by a cross from Ireland winger James McClean – secured Stoke City a 1-0 win at Wycombe Wanderers to dampen the return of supporters at Adams Park.

The 1,000 fans spread around the stadium created the sort of atmosphere players have been missing for close to nine months and it was the first time they had ever seen the Chairboys in action in the Championship.

But in what was a tight contest, they were edged out by the Potters, who moved themselves to within a point of the play-off places.

Elsewhere tonight, Adam Armstrong’s deflected late strike snatched Blackburn Rovers a 2-1 win over Millwall.

It looked almost certain that two well-matched teams would cancel each other out after the advantage Harvey Elliott’s sumptuous curling effort provided for Rovers in the 25th minute was wiped out by Scott Malone’s thunderbolt nine minutes later.

The Lions thought they had done enough for what would have been a hard-fought point, but Armstrong popped up to take his Championship tally for the season to 14 after his shot found the net in the first minute of stoppage time.

– Additional reporting by Paul Dollery

Tonight’s Championship results

  • Blackburn Rovers 2-1 Millwall
  • Luton Town 3-1 Norwich City
  • Middlesbrough 2-1 Swansea City
  • Nottingham Forest 0-0 Watford
  • Sheffield Wednesday 1-1 Reading
  • Wycombe Wanderers 0-1 Stoke City
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