Thompson keeps Burnley dream alive

SOCCER ROUND-UP:Steven Thompson struck twice as Burnleywrote another glorious chapter into their fairytale campaign, beating West Brom3-1 to book an FA Cup fifth-round trip to Cardiff or Arsenal.

Winger Wade Elliott opened the scoring on the stroke of half-time with a superb 20-yard volley and Thompson rifled in a second seven minutes after the restart at a bitterly cold Turf Moor.

Under-strength Albion were given hope by Gianni Zuiverloon’s sweet 60th-minute strike, but in-form Thompson netted again late on for his fourth goal in two games to seal Burnley’s fourth Premier League scalp of the season.

Owen Coyle’s impressive Championship outfit bundled Fulham, Chelsea and Arsenal out of the Carling Cup and came agonisingly close to overcoming Tottenham in an epic semi-final encounter.

With one Wembley dream having died, another remains firmly alive after this latest success which left Albion to focus solely on their grim fight to avoid relegation.

Wolvesfailed to pull clear of their promotion rivals at the top of the Coca-Cola Championship after they were held to a thrilling 3-3 draw by plucky Norwichat Molineux.

Sylvan Ebanks-Blake’s hat-trick, thanks to three assists from the impressive Matt Jarvis, should have been enough for the hosts against their relegation-threatened rivals.

But the Canaries, who showed plenty of courage and determination throughout the encounter, earned a deserved share of the spoils thanks to captain Gary Doherty’s 65th-minute equaliser.

Lee Croft and former Wolves striker Carl Cort had earlier found the net for Bryan Gunn’s team who picked up a vital point in their battle to climb away from the drop zone.

But it was two dropped points for a Wolves side who were punished for their poor defending and wasteful finishing.

Nevertheless, Mick McCarthy’s side now stand five points clear of Reading and seven ahead of Birmingham, although their rivals each have a game in hand.

Jamie Ward pounced deep into injury time to earn 10-man Sheffield Uniteda vital 2-1 victory over relegation-threatened Southamptonat St Mary's.

Andrew Surman appeared to have earned the Saints a precious point when he notched a 90th-minute equaliser but Ward, a recent signing from League Two Chesterfield, claimed his first goal for the club to stun the hosts.

Greg Halford had scored his first league goal for more than five months to put the promotion-chasing Blades on the way to a victory that puts them ahead of Cardiff City into fourth spot.

Dele Adebola scored twice as Bristol Cityfought back to defeat beleaguered Charlton2-1 at Ashton Gate.

Tom Soares gave the division’s bottom club a fully-deserved lead after 29 minutes when he beat Adriano Basso to nod home Nick Bailey’s excellent cross from the left.

However, the hosts came roaring back after the interval, with Adebola notching twice in four minutes to secure a valuable three points.

Play-off chasing Prestonsaw their progress stalled after running into in-form Plymouth Argylegoalkeeper Romain Larrieu as his impressive second-half display earned the visitors a point in a 1-1 draw.

Larrieu, man of the match against Ipswich on Saturday, was at it again at Deepdale, pulling off a string of fine stops.

The Greens had threatened a shock early on when Jamie Mackie fired them into a 13th-minute lead, with Jon Parkin levelling before the break.

But Larrieu was in no mood to surrender as his side scrapped for a share of the spoils in their battle to stay away from the relegation scrap.