Hughton’s Seagulls are flying high

BRIGHTON moved two points clear of Newcastle at the top of the Championship after beating 10-man QPR 3-0 at the Falmer Stadium.

Sam Baldock hit the Seagulls’ opener from 20 yards in the 11th minute and a Glenn Murray penalty eight minutes after the break made it 2-0.

QPR skipper Nedum Onuoha was sent off shortly afterwards and Anthony Knockaert sent a shot past Alex Smithies to end the scoring with just over 20 minutes left.

Brighton boss Chris Hughton, who saw his side narrowly miss promotion last season, said: “We did well last term but we’ve now turned draws into wins.

“I can sense a real determination among the players to get promoted.”

Derby moved into seventh place after a 1-0 home win over Birmingham, courtesy of a 64th-minute Darren Bent penalty kick.

After an evenly-contested first half the hosts dominated following the break and boss Steve McClaren said: “We deserved that on our second-half display.

“We upped the tempo, created chances, got the goal and then defended well.”

SCOTTISH PREMIERSHIP ABERDEEN .......... 2 HAMILTON .............. 1 HEARTS ............... 4 KILMARNOCK ...... 0