Rae stings Derby as Midlands teams lead way

The Midlands remain a major player in the Nationwide First Division promotion race, despite the elevation of Birmingham City and West Bromwich Albion in May, with four clubs likely to be involved. Eternal bridesmaids Wolves passed their first real test of the season when Alex Rae scored twice in a 4-1 win in their Midlands meeting with Derby County at Pride Park to go top of the table.

Midfielder Rae got Wolves off to a fine start with a low drive in the 19th minute. Malcolm Christie equalised on the stroke of halftime, but midway through the second half a deflected Kevin Cooper shot put Wolves ahead again, Rae scored his second and, late on, Nathan Blake broke free, Andy Oakes parried his shot, Kenny Miller tapped in. "We are stronger than last season and primarily that's because of the players I have brought in," Dave Jones, the Wolves manager, said. "Once we went a gear up I thought some of our football was awesome."

Coventry's third win of the season, 1-0 over Crystal Palace at Highfield Road, was as hard won as the scoreline suggests. A Lee Hughes penalty after five minutes was all that separated the teams. The Sky Blues, down to 10 men for the final 26 minutes when Youssef Safri was sent off, are fourth, level on 10 points with Wolves.

Still in the Midlands, Leicester City beat Reading 2-1, racing into a 2-0 lead in five minutes as Brian Deane and a Paul Dickov penalty put them in charge. Jamie Cureton's 22nd-minute penalty got Reading back into the match but, after the shock of discovering that breaking a team-mate's cheekbone was not sufficient grounds for sacking Dennis Wise, according to the Football League, there were no more surprises for Leicester.

Middlesbrough's Gianluca Festa is the latest loan addition to Harry Redknapp's reconstructed Portsmouth squad and its quality is beginning to tell. Paul Merson orchestrated the 3-0 defeat of Watford to maintain their positive start. "Merson was different class," Ray Lewington, the Watford manager, admitted, "better than anything we will face this season and he will do a great job for them." Pompey are also on 10 points at the top.

A third consecutive defeat left Burnley marooned at the bottom without a point. Sheffield United's 1-0 win at Turf Moor came from a deflected Iffy Onuora shot, his first goal for them. Neil Warnock, his manager, said, "It was a bit like Dunkirk in the second-half." "It's obviously better to be born lucky than skilful," Burnley's Stan Ternent, grumbled.

Five other sides playing at home were chasing a first win of the season and Preston North End, Walsall and Wimbledon sent their fans home happy. Neil Shipperley scored the only goal of the game as The Dons, in front of a 2,522 crowd mostly made up of away fans, beat Brighton 1-0.

Preston got off the mark in an incident packed 4-3 win over Stoke City. David Healy scored twice and Ricardo Fuller's strike seemed to have won the game for Craig Brown's side on the hour but as the final whistle approached Andy Cooke made it 3-3, Clive Clarke having scored two penalties. But Richard Cresswell charged through for an emphatic winner. "There's a lot of relief, a lot of pressure off the guys," Brown said of the first win.

Darren Wrack struck in the last minute for Walsall's first win, 2-1 over Nottingham Forest, and there was a late winner at Hillsborough, too, as Rotherham won the Yorkshire derby with Sheffield Wednesday, Darren Garner made it 2-1. The Owls await their first win. Bradford City drew their third game in four, 0-0 with visitors Grimsby Town.

Wigan kept intact the only 100 per cent record in the Second Division when they won 2-0 at Notts County. Rushden & Diamonds drew 1-1 at Shrewsbury to stay top of the Third. At the bottom, Boston United's points total is in the black at last after a 2-0 win in their derby with Lincoln. wiped out the last of the points deducted. The Pilgrims now have one point.