Championship Verdict: The Observer fans' network on Saturday's matches

Barnsley 3-1 Nottingham Forest Was it a good match? A cracking game – we played really well. I thought Barnsley played some very good football at times, controlled the midfield and restricted them to long-range attempts. It really was one-sided. Forest were a big, physical team: not the sort of team we used to see under Cloughie. The third goal finished them off. Who played well/who had a nightmare? Nathan Doyle and Hugo Colace were superb: ran the midfield, broke everything down and created countless attacks. I wasn't impressed with the officials, who made some bizarre decisions – it was as if they want football to be a non-contact sport. Owen Scrimshaw, BFCST.org.uk Cardiff City 3-2 Bristol City Was it a good match? It was one of those games that is enjoyable for the neutral but not so great for the fans, because both sides defended very badly. We were 2-0 down inside eight minutes yet we had our own chances in that time, so it felt like there was a lot left in the game, especially as Jay Bothroyd brought it back to 2-1 almost immediately. Had we lost or drawn it would have been more down to our bad play than Bristol City's good play – you can see why they are struggling. Who played well/who had a nightmare? Peter Whittingham scored twice and played well, but our whole defence had an off-day. Matthew Gabb, 1927club.com Crystal Palace 0-1 Millwall Was it a good match? Another home defeat. We dominated the first half but our heads went down after they scored. All season we've struggled to score goals and the one we conceded could have been avoided. The other massive disappointment was the sending off of Claude Davis for violent conduct – that's at least three times now he's seen red while playing for us. I really wasn't that impressed with Millwall, who had one chance. Who played well/who had a nightmare? Wilfried Zaha tore Tony Craig to shreds in the first half. Chris Waters, CPSTrust.org.uk Derby County 3-0 Preston North End Was it a good match? A superb first-half display by Derby gave them a deserved 2-0 half-time lead. At times, the 'tippy-tap' football was sublime. Andy Lonergan pushed Dean Moxey's poor cross into the net and the superb Alberto Bueno headed in Derby's second goal. Preston were more lively in the second half and two fine saves by debutant Frank Fielding kept the lead intact. Who played well/who had a nightmare? Bueno was excellent and linked play together. Robbie Savage was good at hassling their midfield. John Brayford and Shaun Barker were solid. Iain Hume was lively for Preston. Nightmare: D'Urso, stay in the Premier League. George Glover, Observer reader Ipswich Town 1-2 Coventry Was it a good match? There have been calls to the radio station complaining that we played with only one up front. Roy Keane justifies this by saying it shores up the defence. But we've only scored one goal in the first 45 minutes in any game this season and teams are picking up on this, knowing that they don't have to defend in the first half. It's very frustrating because whatever Keane says at half-time has an incredible effect on the team and they play in a much more attacking way as a result. Who played well/who had a nightmare? Clive Platt played well. Marton Fulop was indecisive. Declan Hill, Observer reader Leicester City 1-1 Hull City Was it a good match? If they needed a lesson of what to do at Leicester they got it here. We started brightly but faded as the collective fitness of the players was tested later on. If you can attract the quality of players such as the two brought in, we'll have no problem. The gulf in class between those guys, Curtis Davies and Kyle Naughton, and the others was amazing. Hull were a physical team. It would have been nice if Nigel Pearson had waved back to the fans when they cheered "give us a wave". Who played well/who had a nightmare? Davies was astonishingly composed for someone of his age. Paul Coulson, FansOnline.net/LeicesterCity Middlesbrough 1-2 Leeds United Was it a good match? It was the biggest crowd of the season in front of the TV cameras and it was the game that might have signalled our revival under Gordon Strachan. But it wasn't to be. Boro did equalise through Kris Boyd, at which point the game could have gone either way but, when Luciano Becchio hammered home what proved to be the winner, Boro fans grew increasingly frustrated and the match ended with large sections of the home support calling for the manager's head. Who played well/who had a nightmare? David Wheater played with lots of passion and never gave up. Roberts Nichols, FMTTM.com Portsmouth 3-2 Watford Was it a good match? I can't remember the last time we've gone four games unbeaten but it's a long time. Pompey went 1-0 up with a cracking goal and seemed to be in control. Watford, while skilful and fast, couldn't really get into the game. But it was a completely and utterly different story in the second half as we seemed to be defending a lot. At 1-2 we didn't look like getting back into the game. It was fortunate that Dave Kitson scored but it turned the game round and at 3-2 Pompey held on. Who played well/who had a nightmare? Michael Brown and Dave Nugent had good games. Jamie Ashdown made four key saves in 15 seconds. Rick Jewell, Observer reader QPR 0-0 Norwich Was it a good match? I thought it was a solid if unspectacular performance. Norwich were a tough team to play against. There was a lot of goalmouth action but little in terms of clear-cut opportunities for either team. We played well in spells but lacked a cutting edge in the final third. Both teams defended well, which shows in the final score. Who played well/who had a nightmare? Kyle Walker got forward well for a full-back and was effectively a second winger. The whole of Norwich's back four were collectively strong. Adam Boxer, QPR.VitalFootball.co.uk Reading 0-1 Swansea City Was it a good match? We had periods of play but didn't do anything with it and looked fragile at the back. I tend to forget games this bad. We looked like creating chances once a second striker was introduced after 76 minutes, by which time we were 1-0 down and not looking like finding a way back. Swansea came with a gameplan and stuck to it. They kept the ball on the deck and frustrated us while not doing very much with it. Who played well/who had a nightmare? Shane Long had a nightmare but that was probably down to a lack of service. Andy Griffin knew what his job was and delivered. Ian Frampton, Observer reader Scunthorpe United 1-3 Doncaster Rovers Was it a good match? For the first hour I thought we matched them but Billy Sharp, who used to play for us, was the difference with his two goals. If he had been in our team – he scored 53 goals in two seasons with us – we would have won. Not a bad game and barely a bad foul, which was a nice surprise for a local derby. I can see why Donny are most people's dark horses for promotion. I thought our front two, Chris Dagnall and Jonathan Forte, were appalling, and Dagnall missed a sitter when they were 2-1 up. Who played well/who had a nightmare? Wide man Martyn Woolford scored with a fine header, while Dagnall was hopeless. Max Bell, Scunthorpe.VitalFootball.co.uk Sheffield United 3-3 Burnley Was it a good match? It was an entertaining game but both sides looked weak defensively. United had two chances to score before Burnley took the lead. Mark Yeates hit the woodwork late in the first half and Johnny Ertl had two goal-bound efforts saved by Brian Jensen. All three of Burnley's goals came from defensive errors. A better performance from United than we've seen in recent weeks. Who played well/who had a nightmare? Jensen kept the visitors in the game. Yeates worked hard down both wings and also scored the third goal, deep into stoppage time. Paul Holland, Blades-mad.co.uk