Scunthorpe United 1 - 0 Yeovil Town
Promotion favourites Scunthorpe United moved seven points clear at the top of League One after stretching their unbeaten run to 19 games by beating Yeovil Town.
But it was hard luck on the Glovers as full-back Nathan Jones headed past his own keeper in the 39th minute for the only goal of the game.
The visitors started brightly but struggled to create any clear-cut openings against an Iron defence that has now kept 21 clean sheets this season.
United began to take control towards the end of the first half with on-loan striker Jermaine Beckford twice going close.
First he volleyed a difficult chance just over before being denied by the fingertips of goalkeeper Steve Mildenhall.
It was during a period of fierce Scunthorpe pressure that Jones turned a left-wing cross from Kevan Hurst into his own net.
Scunthorpe should have wrapped the game up in the 61st minute when leading marksman Billy Sharp burst free through the middle and looked set for his 28th goal of the season.
But he was denied by a good save from Mildenhall that kept Yeovil in the game.
The visitors nearly snatched an equaliser in the 79th minute with their best chance of the match when Wayne Gray headed just wide at the near post from Chris Cohen's left-wing cross.
A second successive defeat ends Yeovil's lingering hopes of automatic promotion but manager Russell Slade was upbeat after the game, saying: "We've played well against the best team in this league.
"All I want us to do is to go into the play-offs in some sort of form and I think we showed that tonight."
Scunthorpe manager Nigel Adkins still refuses to accept his team are Championship-bound.
"We're so close now, but we're still not there yet," he insisted.
Blackpool 3 - 2 Tranmere Rovers
Tranmere Rovers' hopes of cementing a play-off place were shattered in a mad minute of sendings off.
On 52 minutes of what had been a keenly-contested game, John Mullin received a straight red card from referee Ray Olivier when he crudely pole-axed Blackpool's Claus Jorgensen.
A melee followed the dismissal and Jason McAteer was always at the centre of the trouble.
First he confronted Jorgensen and then had a face-to-face clash with Blackpool manager Simon Grayson.
The referee then red-carded McAteer despite extensive protests from Rovers boss Ronnie Moore. The referee also yellow-carded Chris Shuker for his part in the scene.
Blackpool had a dream start thanks to a dreadful ninth minute clearance from Rovers keeper Gavin Ward.
His throw hit Blackpool striker Keigan Parker on the back and he turned around and lashed a shot straight past Ward.
Rovers tried hard to put inexperienced Lewis Edge - making his debut in the home goal - under pressure.
Edge could do nothing about Calvin Zola's volleyed equaliser after a neat flick into the box from Gareth Taylor.
The best move of the game ended in Blackpool's second on 36 minutes. The ball was swept out of defence and ended with Wes Hoolahan turning his marker inside out before crashing a shot past Ward from ten yards.
The ever-dangerous Zola struck again in the 47th minute when the Blackpool defence was caught at sea.
Zola's first effort was clawed away by Edge but the striker gave the young keeper no chance from the rebound.
The red card sequence ended with Rovers frantically packing their defence in a bid to grab a draw.
Blackpool piled men forward and in the 73rd minute Ian Evatt crossed into the box and Andy Morrell headed the goal which keeps the Seasiders firmly in promotion contention.
Bournemouth 1 - 1 Bradford City
Substitute Spencer Weir-Daley came off the bench to keep alive Bradford's hopes of avoiding relegation with an injury-time equaliser.
Bradford looked to be heading for their seventh defeat in nine matches until Weir-Daley bundled the ball in at the far post with their first serious attack of the second half.
Bournemouth should have been coasting to their fourth successive victory after taking the lead in the 61st minute.
Former England winger Darren Anderton rolled a free-kick to David McGoldrick who scored with a deflected right-foot shot from 15 yards.
Bournemouth had plenty of chances to guarantee a comfortable win but threw away every opportunity.Josh Walker hit the post after 18 seconds from 20 yards and Bradford goalkeeper Donovan Ricketts turned over a powerful rising drive from McGoldrick.Josh Gowling also headed wide from a good position and Bournemouth should have wrapped up the game with four minutes remaining.
Walker's pass left substitute Luke Summerfield with the goal at his mercy but his weak shot from 15 yards rolled past the post with only Ricketts to beat.
Bradford mustered little threat in the first half and Bournemouth goalkeeper Neil Moss had little to do.
But Moss went full stretch to tip away a dangerous right-wing cross from Joe Colbeck and got down to keep out a low shot from Moses Ashikodi.
Weir-Daley came on in the 66th minute to replace Ashikodi but was perfectly placed two minutes into time added on to make the best of a header back into the danger area by caretaker-manager David Wetherall.
Anderton, who was behind most of Bournemouth's best moves, had a shot deflected narrowly wide as Bournemouth dominated without being able to add to McGoldrick's fifth goal since arriving on loan from Southampton
Brentford 0 - 2 Cheltenham Town
Cheltenham proved themselves to be a class above fellow basement dwellers Brentford in a relegation six-pointer at Griffin Park.
Early goals in both halves for the Robins highlighted the gulf in heart and mind between the relegation strugglers.
Brentford started brightly and in the first minute Charlie Ide's acrobatic volley from a Joe Keith free-kick was bravely blocked by Shane Duff.
The early warning stung last season's League Two play-off winners into life and they scored almost at will six minutes later.Kayode Odejayi, who proved to be a handful all afternoon broke, from the midfield and released Damian Spencer.
The winger's cross found John Melligan, but his header was thwarted by Stuart Nelson and in the ensuing scramble Steven Gillespie reacted quickest firing in off the underside of the bar from three yards.
On nine minutes, Melligan broke through and with a clear sight on goal mis-timed his shot to produce another good save from Nelson.
Gillespie and Odejayi were both profligate when a modicum of composure would have ended the contest.
Brentford's best chance fell to the returning Lloyd Owusu but he headed wide from Jo Kuffour's cross.
Cheltenham made their Easter a happy one by finishing the tie in the first minute of the second half.
Melligan's free-kick appeared harmless until it deflected off Gillespie and looped over a hapless Nelson.
Brentford rallied and forced some smart saves from substitute goalkeeper Scott Brown in the 55th minute, but Garry Richards' and Matt Heywood's efforts from inside the penalty box weren't clinical enough.
In the 70th minute Paul Brooker's 25-yard drive crashed against the upright, but Brentford lacked the inclination or character to pull themselves out of the relegation mire
Brighton 0 - 2 Doncaster Rovers
Doncaster Rovers continued Brighton's home horrors with their first win in five League One games. Goals in each half by captain Graeme Lee and striker Danny Cadamarteri mean Brighton have lost nine and won only five of their 21 matches at Withdean this season.
Rovers could have been forgiven for suffering a hangover following their extra-time triumph in the Johnstone's Paint Trophy final against Bristol Rovers in Cardiff last weekend.
But Cadamarteri, on loan from Leicester, and the prolific Paul Heffernan gave the Brighton defence all sorts of problems from the start.
Keeper Scott Flinders denied Cadamarteri twice early on before Rovers took a deserved lead in the 28th minute.
Lee headed their winner from a corner against Bristol Rovers and he struck in similar fashion again.
A corner by James O'Connor was played back to Brian Stock to cross for the unmarked Lee to convert with a downward header.
Brighton's hopes of a second-half revival were dashed two minutes into the restart when a delightful through ball from Heffernan was clipped past the advancing Flinders by Cadamarteri.
Doncaster's first league success since winning at Nottingham Forest could have been even more comprehensive.Lewis Guy hit the top of the bar with a cross which turned into a shot and Flinders foiled both substitute James Coppinger and Sean Thornton in the closing stages.
Brighton offered little as an attacking threat as they failed to score for the sixth time in their last eight home matches.
The closest they came was when substitute Tommy Fraser miscued a volley on to the roof of the net with a minute left
Bristol City 0 - 0 Swansea City
Bristol City's manager Gary Johnson was sent to the stands and five players were booked in a frantic finish in this goalless draw.
Johnson ran on to the pitch to kick the ball away from Swansea's Izzy Iriekpen after the referee had blown for a free-kick to the West Country side.
This was the second goalless meeting between these Bristol Channel rivals this season.
Swansea needed a win to feed their play-off hopes, while a point was enough for second-placed Bristol to open a five-point gap between themselves and Nottingham Forest.
The Swans had come so close to taking the lead after just three minutes when Dennis Lawrence thundered a shot from the edge of the box against Adriano Basso's right post.
The chance was created by Lee Trundle, who took out three defenders on the right before picking out Lawrence.
A competitive game quickly shaped up into a battle for supremacy between Trundle and the sharpness of home centre-back Louis Carey, once the referee had to come between them with a cautionary word.
At the other end the duel between Iriekpen and Bristol's Stephen Brooker came to a premature end when the striker limped off after half an hour with a recurrence of his right thigh injury.
The Swansea man had been well on top, with Brooker restricted to one clear shot which he lifted over.Roberto Martinez, the Swans manager had opted for a more orthodox 4-4-2 line-up after his recent experiments. Eager running by Leon Britton on the right flank provided most of the ammunition for his attack, but after their early near-goal they had to wait until the start of the second half for another close call.
Then Thomas Butler, after beating Bradley Orr wide on the left, sent in a dipping shot which Basso pushed out from under the bar.
There were close calls for both sides ending with sub Richard Duffy, who had replaced the injured Kevin Amankwaah, ensuring a draw when he headed out a vicious hook from Carey.
Chesterfield 2 - 1 Crewe Alexandra
Paul Shaw rescued relegation threatened Chesterfield with his first league goal since September to boost their hopes of staying in League One.
Shaw scored three minutes after coming on for the out-of-form Colin Larkin and the result was the Spireites' first victory in nine games.
Crewe had taken an eighth minute lead through Shaun Miller, but once Aaron Downes had equalised, the home side were always on top.
This was a vital win for Chesterfield who now play one of their relegation rivals, Cheltenham, on Easter Monday and this performance will have boosted their confidence.
The passing and movement of the front players gave Crewe problems throughout the match and with better finishing they could have had the game sewn up by half-time.
Crewe lacked their usual composure on the ball although they started brightly with Miller getting behind the Chesterfield defence on their left to fire a low shot just inside Barry Roche's right-hand post.
But Chesterfield responded well to that set-back and Larkin should have done better when Jamie Ward robbed Julien Baudet and fired in a low cross which his strike partner failed to make contact with.
But Downes made no mistake in the 29th minute when Nicky Rizzo swung over a corner and the centre-half out-jumped his markers to beat Ben Williams with an unstoppable header.
The second half was dominated by the home side, although Roche had to react quickly to keep out a fierce shot from Gary Roberts in the 52nd minute, but most of the action was in the visitors' penalty area.
Rizzo was only inches away with curling shot and Crewe were struggling to cope with Chesterfield's lively forwards.
Ward in particular was a handful and in the 67th minute he played the ball in from the left and Shaw turned away from his marker to fire a low shot inside Williams' right-hand post from ten yards.
Chesterfield had some anxious moments in the closing stages, but they deservedly hung on to claim a victory that gives them a chance of avoiding the drop.
Leyton Orient 0 - 2 Northampton Town
Two first-half strikes saw Northampton Town win this relegation battle and virtually assure themselves of League One football next season.
An opportunist effort from Simon Cox after just 12 minutes and an own goal by the luckless Aiden Palmer just before the break, pushed lifeless Orient nearer the drop zone.
Ironically, the home had made a bright start when Shane Tudor skipped down the right and sent in a cross that stand-in skipper Craig Easton just failed to reach.
But Northampton struck a deadly early blow when Justin Miller lost possession and allowed Ryan Gilligan to thread the ball neatly through to Cox, who fired home left-footed from 16 yards.
Apart from a couple of glancing headers from Gary Alexander and a fierce drive from Ryan Jarvis, Orient rarely looked like breaking down Town's stubborn defence.
Indeed, the visitors, with an impressive away record, threatened on the break as Cox sent in a snapshot, before the visitors stretched their lead on 40 minutes.
Cox was the architect with a cross shot that found Jason Crowe and his shot hit a post and went in off the unfortunate Palmer.
After the break Orient threw caution to the wind as substitute Jabo Ibehre replaced Palmer and Orient played with three out and out strikers.
The home side had a penalty appeal turned down when Jarvis was tugged by Alex Pearce and then the same player rattled the bar with an acrobatic overhead kick.
But Northampton weathered the storm and comfortably saw out six minutes of stoppage time to emerge as worthy winners with a thoroughly professional performance.
Millwall 1 - 0 Nottingham Forest
Neil Harris proved the old adage about ex-players coming back to haunt their former clubs as Millwall's second successive win against more fancied opposition dealt a blow to Nottingham Forest's automatic promotion hopes.
Harris, who left Millwall to join Forest in 2004 before returning to the Den in January, headed home the opener for Millwall shortly after the interval to give Forest manager Colin Calderwood a painful reminder of what he is missing.
Harris scored only once during his time at the City Ground, but after scoring his fifth goal since returning to Millwall, the in-form striker is just eight short of Teddy Sheringham's club record haul of 111.
Inspired by the continuing good form of Ryan Smith, the fleet-footed winger on loan from Derby, Millwall began in confident fashion and might have gone ahead as early as the third minute.
In a move identical in all but outcome to the one that created Millwall's opener against Swansea last week, Smith's teasing cross ricocheted off the bar before bouncing to safety.
It was an early warning for Forest, and when David Brammer's solid long-range effort then sent Paul Smith sprawling to his left to palm over, it looked like Calderwood's men could be in for a long afternoon.
But after an eventful opening there was a prolonged lull before the game exploded into life again just after the break.
Smith blasted narrowly wide and Marvin Elliott hit the woodwork with a deflected shot before Hubertz crossed for Harris to head home at the far post.Kris Commons lead the Forest fightback, firing a quartet of well-struck shots at Lenny Pidgeley's goal, the pick of which beat the Millwall goalkeeper only to cannon off the post.
But despite finishing strongly Forest could not conjure an equaliser and the Lions claimed another notable scalp at The Den
Oldham Athletic 1 - 1 Huddersfield Town
Oldham were forced to settle for a point at Boundary Park after being hit by a sucker punch from Luke Beckett.
The ex-Latics striker snatched a 78th minute equaliser to cancel out Chris Porter's goal in the first half.
Beckett, who scored 18 times on loan for Oldham last season, almost joined the club on a permanent deal in July but instead ended up with their West Yorkshire rivals.
And Huddersfield were grateful as they dented Oldham's promotion bid as well as stretching their own unbeaten run to five matches.
Oldham made the brighter start and both Andy Liddell and Paul Warne blasted off target from the edge of the box.Gary Taylor-Fletcher wasted a good chance for Huddersfield before the home side went in front on 23 minutes.
Warne flicked on a ball from defence and Porter chased it down before advancing into the Huddersfield penalty box.
He produced a well-struck finish into the far corner from 12 yards to celebrate his comeback from injury and make it 21 goals for the season.
Warne almost added a second but Huddersfield got back on equal terms in the second half after changing their system to 4-4-2.Martin McIntosh headed over before Oldham squandered two opportunities to double the lead through Porter and Warne.
The visitors punished those misses when young substitute James Berrett headed down a cross and Beckett stooped at the far post to convert at close range.
Huddersfield could have grabbed another when Jon Worthington broke into the box but his shot was tipped over by Australian keeper Les Pogliacomi.
Port Vale 0 - 2 Carlisle United
Port Vale failed to halt Carlisle United's late surge for a play-off place after a 2-0 defeat at Vale Park.
A no-nonsense start saw both sides adopting a physical approach to the game with heavy tackles resulting in both Luke Joyce and Michael Walsh earning themselves yellow cards.
After little action at either end, the visitors took the lead in the 27th minute when Joe Anyon was forced to parry a close-range shot from Joyce leaving him unable to save Danny Graham's tap-in.
Jeff Smith was out to embarrass his former employers and almost did just that in the 32nd minute when he struck a curling effort from distance that Anyon had to tip over the crossbar.
Vale's best effort of the first half came a minute before the break when Robin Hulbert produced a snap-shot from 20 yards that flew inches clear of Kieren Westwood's right post.
Martin Foyle's men almost grabbed themselves an equaliser only seconds after the restart when Malvin Kamara turned in the box to squeeze a deflected shot towards goal that fell into the side-netting.
Westwood was kept busy once more in the 56th minute when Paul Harsley stole in at the front post with a looping header that the goalkeeper managed to turn over his own crossbar.
It looked like it wasn't going to be Port Vale's afternoon when Akpo Sodje was gifted a prime opportunity to slot the ball into the net from six yards but the striker poked it past the post.
The introduction of Luke Rodgers and Nathan Lowndes meant the home side now had four strikers on the pitch, but even the sending off of Joyce in the 81st minute didn't seem to help Vale's cause.
Carlisle completed a smash-and-grab away performance when Joe Garner fizzed a 25-yard stunner off the underside of the crossbar and just inside Anyon's top left corner.
Rotherham United 3 - 2 Gillingham
Late strikes from Chris O'Grady and Marc Newsham earned Rotherham the three points that keep their hopes of survival alive.
The hosts, under the permanent guidance of new manager Mark Robins for the first time, trailed 2-0 with 15 minutes to go before the young strike duo earned them the points.
The result leaves Gillingham still needing at least a win to ensure their own survival.
Robins' reign got off to the perfect start when on seven minutes Delroy Facey headed home Martin Woods' left-wing cross.Felix Bastians levelled for Gillingham on 22 minutes when he cut in from the left and unleashed a curling 20-yard shot into the top corner.
Bastians turned the game on its head two minutes later when he set up the second with a corner that was powerfully headed home by Andrew Crofts.
Gillingham defended deep in the second half and were forced on to the back foot as Rotherham sought an equaliser.
Woods, Newsham and Ian Henderson all went close, while at the other end Guylain Ndumbu-Nsungu went close to stretching Gillingham's lead.
Rotherham got the equaliser they deserved on 75 minutes when Facey headed into the path of O'Grady who rolled his marker and hooked the ball beyond Kelvin Jack with a clever shot with the outside of his foot.
Rotherham continued to look for the winner knowing that a draw would be no good in their plight.
And they were rewarded four minutes from the end when Woods burst down the right wing.
His cross was met with a downward header from Newsham at the front post who celebrated his first league goal for the club.
football.co.uk
CC League One - 6/7th April
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