📈 EFL Review: Martin's Saints miracle; feisty Welsh derby; Pompey play up | OneFootball

The Football League served up its usual helping of brilliant goals and astonishing late drama this weekend.

Here are our highlights.

Championship

Moment of the weekend

Birmingham are Championship winners at last.

The last time the Blues claimed three points in the league was on 25 November as a bullish Wayne Rooney claimed his bad start to life in the Midlands was about to turn a corner.

That corner did not get turned but things seem to be slowly on the mend under the stewardship of Tony Mowbray.

Mowbray’s men beat high-flying Hull in the FA Cup last weekend and went two from two this time out with a brilliant win at Stoke.

Committed runners, defensive solidarity and showing composure in front of goal – this was everything that those horror three months under Rooney was not.

Notable mentions: Hull shine at Sunderland; QPR win London derby with Millwall; Saints win again

Player of the weekend

It was fitting that on Russell Martin’s return to Swansea, Southampton would win again and beat a 103-year-old club record.

Martin was sacked by the Swans last year but the former defender returned to south Wales this weekend and inflicted a 3-1 win on his old side.

Southampton have now gone unbeaten 21 games and are up to second in the table, leapfrogging Ipswich.

Flynn Downes was the star as he netted their third just before half time in what was a truly stunning 45 minute display.

Notable mentions: Ryan Hardie (Plymouth); Jon Rowe (Norwich); Jon Ruddy (Birmingham)

League One

Moment of the weekend

The weather played havoc with almost half of this weekend’s League One games but one standout moment came from Highbury Stadium.

Portsmouth had hit an unexpected patch of bad form in recent weeks with John Mousinho’s side losing two games in a row for the first time this term.

With Peterborough hot on their tails, Pompey knew that only a win would do on a tricky trip to face Charlie Adam’s Fleetwood.

And a win is exactly what they got as Abu Kamara’s first half goal ensured a vital win in the north west.

The south coast club lead League One and are now one point ahead of the Posh.

Notable mentions: Orient shock Bolton; Blackpool win at Bristol Rovers; Lincoln hold Derby to hard-fought draw

Player of the weekend

Dan Agyei is having the time of his life at Leyton Orient right now.

The Leyton Orient striker has been something of a lower league journeyman up to this point but the 26-year-old has now netted three goals in his last three games.

All three have come in wins for the O’s with the east London side having shot up from 16th place to ninth in the space of just a month.

Long may it continue.

Notable mentions: Mark Helm (Burton); Karamoko Dembélé (Blackpool); Joe Randall (Peterborough)

League Two

Moment of the weekend

Storm Isha and previous frost postponed a lot of this weekend’s games in League Two but the headline occasion in Wales held strong.

Newport and Wrexham are historically the ‘other’ two teams in the Celtic kingdom with Cardiff and Swansea hogging most of the headlines for the last century.

But it was the former pair who met at Rodney Parade on Saturday in what turned out to be one of the feistier encounters this season.

Wrexham ended the game with 10 men as they missed the chance to go top of the fourth division thanks to Seb Palmer-Houlden’s first half strike.

Newport, set to take on Manchester United in the fourth round of the FA Cup at the end of the month, are now unbeaten in six.

Notable mentions: Morecambe surprise MK Dons; Forest Green claim a shock point; Crewe beat Barrow in top six battle

Player of the weekend

Forest Green Rovers have been gathering up column inches for all the wrong reasons over this past season.

The vegan club are looking for their fifth manager in just over 12 months having sacked Troy Deeney after only six games last week.

Deeney got the boot after failing to win any of his games in charge and then publicly calling his players “babies” in the press.

Owner Dale Vince admitted hiring a man with no previous coaching experience was a mistake but under the stewardship of caretaker Dan Connor, Rovers got a surprise point at promotion hopefuls Gillingham.

Hull loanee Callum Graham Jones was the most impressive man on the pitch, with his neat finish late on securing only their seventh draw of the season.

Notable mentions: Seb Palmer-Houlden (Newport); Max Dean (MK Dons); Yann Song’o (Morecambe)