Watford will be wondering how they didn't extend their lead
to 11 points after dominating the attacking exchanges, but resilient Colchester United held out for a 2-2 draw and on another day might even have claimed a shock win.
In a cracking advert for the second tier of English football, the Hornets produced 26 attempts on goal, but had to rely on Marlon King's ninth of the season to earn them a point after Clive Platt and Kevin Lisbie had more than cancelled out Adam Johnson's early opener.
However, King's equaliser could have been the winner because the ace marksman had seen a penalty saved by Dean Gerken moments earlier, while Lee Williamson was also denied by the woodwork.
Jon Walters scored his first hat-trick for Ipswich Town as they handed out an embarrassing hiding to fellow promotion hopefuls Bristol City.
The visitors were reduced to ten men early in the second half, at which point it was only 2-0, and from then on Ipswich almost scored at will, before taking pity on their opponents in the final 15 minutes.
Walters and David Wright put Ipswich in charge at the break, and the game was over three minutes into the second period when substitute Danny Haynes was felled by Bradley Orr for a penalty which saw the Bristol man sent off and Tommy Miller buried the spot-kick.
Walters then bagged two more either side of a Pablo Counago strike and in the end Ipswich could have reached double figures, such was their dominance.
Charlton Athletic moved back into the second Championship promotion place with a 3-0 victory over Cardiff City at The Valley, to record their biggest win of the season and notch up their third successive victory in a week.Neill Collins extended Wolves' impressive run of form at Molineux as his second goal of the season was enough to see off the challenge of Barnsley.
Wolves made it four wins and a draw from their last five home games thanks to a 13th minute header from former Scotland Under-21 international defender Collins.
Norwich City stay firmly rooted to the bottom of the Championship after taking a comprehensive 3-0 beating by a rampant Plymouth Argyle side at Home Park.
Glenn Whelan and Akpo Sodje both grabbed doubles as Brian Laws' improving Sheffield Wednesday side went goal crazy to haul themselves clear of the relegation zone.
Southampton, chasing their first win at Hillsborough for nine years, were hit by a four-goal blitz in 13 crazy minutes, as the Owls secured their third victory in four games. Burton O'Brien also scored in the 5-0 victory.
Burnley added to Leicester's awful record at the Walkers Stadium, where they have now won just three times since the turn of the year.
In a game between two sides in search of a manager, it was the Clarets' prolific striker Andy Gray who did the damage in the 23rd minute when he was fed by Wade Elliott and turned Patrick Kisnorbo before beating Marton Fulop with a crisp angled drive for his tenth strike of the season.
Hull moved up to 11th as they cruised to a 3-0 victory against a disappointing and struggling Preston side.
First-half goals from Dean Windass and Fraizer Campbell gave the home side a comfortable lead, with substitute Andy Dawson sealing the win on 63 minutes with a curling free-kick.
Clinton Morrison's late header rescued a point for Crystal Palace at home to Queens Park Rangers, but Eagles boss Neil Warnock is still waiting for his first win.
It was a point Palace hardly deserved as they created very little against a much better Rangers side.
But Luigi De Canio's outfit have only themselves to blame as they missed three clear chances to rack up three points after on-loan Scott Sinclair had given Rangers the lead on the stroke of half-time.
Gary Cahill's first-half header secured Sheffield United's second win on the bounce and inflicted misfiring Stoke City's third successive home defeat.