Gillingham 1 - 0 Bristol City
Dean McDonald's second-half header moved Gillingham a step closer to League One safety and dented Bristol City's automatic promotion bid.
McDonald, a half-time replacement for Guylain Ndumbu-Nsungu, headed home from close range to ease the home side's relegation fears.
City, who had won their previous five away outings in League One, began strongly and carved out an early opening on 11 minutes, when Enoch Showunmi turned his man and fed Brian Wilson, only for the winger to blaze his effort well over.
Gillingham's play rapidly improved thereafter and, on 27 minutes, Ben Chorley's goalbound header required a goal-line clearance after Ian Cox diverted Nicky Southall's free-kick into his path.
Moments later, it was Cox's turn to perform the goal-line heroics, clearing a Showunmi header away from danger as the Robins searched for the opener.
But a minute before the interval, the Gills wasted arguably the best chance of the half when Danny Spiller cut inside following Andrew Crofts' through ball but saw his shot deflected over.
Gills manager Ronnie Jepson introduced McDonald at half-time and the move proved inspirational.
After narrowly failing to hit the net on 54 minutes, McDonald made no mistake a minute later, defying his lack of height to head home Mark Bentley's cross at the far post.
The Robins poured forward and, in the 79th minute, came desperately close to an equaliser when Gillingham's Clint Easton and Robins substitute Jennison Myrie-Williams contrived to head against the crossbar, before Lee Johnson fired over.
Minutes later, both Spiller and Showunmi missed decent opportunities for their respective sides and, with a minute remaining, Johnson danced through the Gillingham defence only to be denied by a last-ditch tackle by Chorley.
It proved to be the final chance of note for Gary Johnson's men, who were unable to turn their late pressure into an equaliser.
Bradford City 1 - 1 Oldham Athletic
A sensational strike from loan signing Moses Ashikodi looked to have given Bradford a vital three points, but a moment of petulant madness from young winger Joe Colbeck changed the course of a tight match
The tense encounter could have gone either way but it was fiery Watford striker Ashikodi who blasted the Bantams into the lead
He was first to Billy Paynter's knock-on and deftly flicked a bouncing ball over the head of defender Sean Gregan.
Then from 20-yards he rifled an unstoppable shot past Les Pogliacomi into the roof of the net.
But for the second home game in succession, City's momentum was halted by a red card.
Steve Schumacher's sending-off against Blackpool may have been harsh, but the referee had little option but to show Colbeck his second yellow card for needlessly kicking the ball away.
Booked in the first period for a dangerous lunge, Colbeck then belted the ball 30 yards down the pitch after running it out of play and was given his marching orders.
The ten-man Bantams battled hard to hold on to their precarious lead and both Luigi Glombard and Miki Roque missed decent openings.
But just as it looked as though the home side might hold out for a precious three points, Glombard spoilt the
party.
With just seven minutes on the clock a curling cross was flicked on and the striker was on hand to poke the ball past a desperate Donovan Ricketts.
With a man advantage Oldham then pushed for a winner and were only denied deep into stoppage time when Ricketts produced a superb diving stop to thwart Chris Taylor.
The Bantams did manage to hold on to the point but were so close to winning what had been billed as a must-win game.
A point is of little use to David Wetherall's Bantams, who have now not won at home since December and are staring relegation into League Two for the first time in 25 years squarely in the face.
Carlisle United 3 - 1 Bournemouth
Carlisle United edged closer to a play-off position but had substitute Neale McDermott to thank for rubber-stamping their fourth win in a row against Bournemouth.
The Cumbrians had looked in command from the very first minute, but their confidence evaporated when Cherries sub Sam Vokes smashed a goal back with half-an-hour to play.
United had scored with their first attack when the lightning quick Johann Smith was needlessly fouled by Stephen Purches in the box.Danny Graham, on-loan from Middlesbrough, stepped up to send keeper Neil Moss the wrong way for his sixth Carlisle goal.
The Cherries' David McGoldrick then went close with a neat hooked volley before Carlisle full-back David Raven was booked for a wild lunge.
Centre-back Danny Livesey doubled the home side's lead after 29 minutes, heading in unmarked from Jeff Smith's perfect free-kick delivery.Peter Murphy almost made it three with a rasping drive that flew just past Moss' post, as Carlisle dominated.
A double substitution at half-time by Bournemouth brought them back into the game, but it was the Cumbrians, with Joe Garner and Graham lively, who always posed more of a threat.
Bournemouth sub Brett Pitman stung Keiren Westwood's hand with a fierce shot, but Carlisle didn't heed the warning and the visitors snatched a goal back on the hour.
Pitman again fired in a low show, but Westwood couldn't hold it and Welsh Under-21 international Vokes rammed the ball in from six yards.
Having looked unbeatable, the home side began making simple mistakes, with McGoldrick twice failing to capitalise on good openings.
But, with five minutes left, the Bournemouth fightback was killed off when Graham, seemingly offside, picked up Garner's pass on the right wing.
Graham squared the ball for McDermott, who held off a defender and calmly lifted the ball over Moss to settle the Cumbrians' nerves.
Cheltenham Town 0 - 0 Chesterfield
Honours were shared in this basement battle but home side Cheltenham Town will be happier with the point than visitors Chesterfield.
The result keeps the Robins three points above the relegation zone with four games to play, while Chesterfield missed out on an opportunity to close the gap.
Both sides displayed visible nerves in a game of few chances that was stop-start in nature, with both sets of midfield players battling to gain an advantage.
The best chances of the opening 45 minutes fell to the visitors with small, nippy forward Jamie Ward looking the most likely source of a goal.
Ward turned sharply on to an Alex Bailey pass in the box, but dragged his shot across the face of goal then, in first-half injury-time, the former Aston Villa trainee sprinted forward and shot just wide of goal having collected a loose pass from Town's David Bird.
The best chance, however, arrived after 20 minutes when Paul Shaw headed down a corner kick from Gareth Davies at the far post and Hungarian defender Janos Kovacs spun and shot over the crossbar from less than six yards out.
Cheltenham's best chance came three minutes after the break when midfielder Bird let go a fearsome volley from the edge of the box that goalkeeper Barry Roche did well to parry.
The Robins applied heavy pressure to the visitors' goal at times in the second half, but the Spireites backline held firm with central defenders Reuben Hazell and Aaron Downes on top of their game.
Despite their dominance in the last half hour the best Cheltenham had to show for it in front of goal was one header from Kayode Odejayi which Roche got across to hold comfortably.
Crewe Alexandra 3 - 1 Brentford
Brentford were relegated to League Two after what Manager Scott Fitzgerald described as a "desperate" performance at Crewe.
The Railwaymen won comfortably with goals from David Vaughan, Ryan Lowe and Nicky Maynard as the Bees miserable season came to a sorry conclusion at Gresty Road.
Fitzgerald's team are stranded 13 points from safety with only four games to play. But the former Wimbledon player, who replaced Leroy Rosenior in the Griffin Park hotseat last November, promised his under-achieving troops would be put through their paces in the remaining weeks of the season.
"I don't think these players are good enough and I take some of the responsibility as I brought some of those players into the club," revealed Fitzgerald.
"This is the first time I have been relegated in my career and I am gutted. But if the players think they can just come in and go through the motions in the last month then they are mistaken.
"They are going to work as hard as they have ever done in their lives and I will have them in tomorrow."
Brentford's players looked like they had almost thrown the towel in long before the final whistle as they allowed Crewe to steam forward. Vaughan turned and curled in the opener in the 17th minute after some good play by Rodney Jack.
Then Bees keeper Stuart Nelson woefully allowed Lowe's angled drive to flash through his hands after the Crewe centre-forward had followed in with his own corner kick.Darren Moss was harshly adjudged to have hand-balled as he attempted a back-pass to his keeper Ben Williams, Kevin O'Connor fired the resulting spot-kick high into the net to hand the Londoners a life-line of sorts.
But Maynard quickly restored Crewe's two-goal advantage with a super looping header from a pinpoint cross from Lowe.
Doncaster Rovers 1 - 2 Millwall
Danish striker Poul Hubertz sent Doncaster Rovers crashing to their third successive home defeat and maintained Millwall's outside hopes of a play-off place.
Hubertz volleyed home from close range with Rovers appealing in vain for offside after he latched on to a right-wing cross from Neil Harris seven minutes from time.
It was rough luck on Doncaster, who deserved at least a point, but the goal rounded off a hard-working display by the Lions, who had to come from behind.
The teams were level on points before the game but Rovers looked by far the better side at the start.Paul Green had a shot deflected over the bar following a free-kick in the seventh minute and Doncaster went ahead six minutes later.James Coppinger fired home a well-directed shot from an angle after Paul Heffernan and Danny Cadamarteri had both seen efforts blocked.
Heffernan was inches away from adding a second with a splendid curling shot in the 26th minute before Millwall began to get a foothold in the game.
The visitors worked hard throughout and were rewarded when Marvin Williams equalised in the 38th minute with a close-range volley after Hubertz had crossed from the left.
Coppinger had an angled drive parried and after beating two men just before the interval, but it was Millwall who looked the more threatening after the interval.
Hubertz fired home only to have the effort disallowed after brushing aside teenage defender Harry Worley in the 49th minute and Rovers suffered a blow when top-scorer Heffernan limped off soon afterwards.
Doncaster were denied a penalty when Tony Craig brought down Cadamarteri in the 61st minute, but worse was to follow for the home side.
Hubertz looked offside when he raced on to Harris's right-wing cross in the 83rd minute, but the flag stayed down and he volleyed home to the delight of the visiting fans
Huddersfield Town 0 - 2 Blackpool
Keeper Joe Hart pulled off three superb saves on his debut as Blackpool moved closer to the play-offs with a third straight win.
Hart, an emergency loan signing from Manchester City on Sunday, made saves from Mark Hudson, Luke Beckett and Frank Sinclair to end Huddersfield's unbeaten run.
Goals from Claus Jorgensen and Robbie Williams condemned Town to a first defeat in caretaker boss Gerry Murphy's six-match reign.
This looks certain to be Murphy's last game in charge, with former Barnsley manager Andy Ritchie set to be appointed ahead of Saturday's trip to Scunthorpe.
Blackpool, backed by 2,463 supporters, were at Huddersfield right from the start with Keigan Parker forcing Matt Glennon into an early tip-over.
From the resulting corner striker Andy Morrell just failed to connect with a point-blank overhead kick.
Hudson's flicker header from Jon Worthington's free-kick brought a superb reflex save from the wrong-footed Hart and he kept Huddersfield at bay throughout.
Jorgensen's goal came just before the half-hour and again Parker was the man to cause problems for the Huddersfield defence.
Parker collected the ball and fired at goal only for David Mirfin to hook off the line. The rebound fell perfectly for Jorgensen who steadied himself and finished hard and low into the bottom left corner.Andy Booth headed straight at Hart early in the second half, but the Seasiders sealed it on the hour when Williams fired home after Glennon had blocked Ian Evatt's header.
Hart was the hero with two first-class saves to preserve the points. First he denied Beckett, who was put clear by Adnan Ahmed and then he flung himself to turn Sinclair's powerful header round the post in stoppage time.
Northampton Town 2 - 1 Scunthorpe United
Bradley Johnson grabbed a stoppage-time winner as leaders Scunthorpe United lost their long unbeaten run at Northampton Town.
The Cobblers midfielder crashed home the winner deep into stoppage time to earn a deserved success against the long-time leaders, who looked to have earned a point through Billy Sharp, who cancelled out Alex Pearce's opener.
The Northampton defender shot his side into a 16th-minute lead, converting a David Hunt corner at the near post.Kenny Deuchar should have doubled Northampton's lead in the 24th minute but he mis-kicked from close range from a Simon Cox cross.
Deuchar then headed over and saw Steve Foster clear another header off the line as Northampton continued to dominate.
Sharp produced Scunthorpe's only real chance of the half, his shot on the turn going over the bar as his side struggled to make an impression.
Scunthorpe keeper Joe Murphy made a superb save seven minutes after the re-start, tipping over a Cox header, and then had to be alert to keep out a fierce free-kick from Johnson.
Sharp equalised in the 57th minute, capitalising on a rare moment of hesitancy in the Northampton defence to score at the near post - his 28th goal of the season.
But it was Northampton that went in search of a winner late on and Murphy pulled off another great save to keep out an Andy Holt header.
Deuchar missed another great chance, heading wide, before some concerted pressure from Northampton ended with Johnson crashing home the winner only to be dismissed for a second booking following his celebration
Nottingham Forest 1 - 1 Rotherham United
Battling Rotherham held Nottingham Forest to a hard-fought draw at the City Ground - but it was still enough to edge Colin Calderwood's side a point closer to promotion rivals Bristol City.
Forest needed a Grant Holt penalty to earn them a 1-1 draw, after Chris O'Grady had fired doomed Rotherham into a tenth minute lead.
Mark Robins' side lived to fight another day in the lower reaches of League One, as Forest were repeatedly frustrated by goalkeeper Neil Cutler.
But Forest also still have their sights firmly set on second-placed City, who were defeated at Gillingham and now lead them by four points.
Forest almost drew first blood as David Prutton started and finished a move that saw him prod a James Perch cross narrowly wide and again as Grant Holt glanced a header narrowly off-target, in a frantic start to the match.
But Reds keeper Paul Smith had also endured a nervous start as he twice fumbled set-pieces from Rotherham's Martin Woods, including a corner that skipper Ian Breckin had to head clear off the line.
And the Forest stopper could do little as former Notts County man O'Grady hammered the visitors into the lead with a stunning 20-yard drive that fizzed into the top right corner of the net on ten minutes.
The end-to-end action continued as Nathan Tyson was denied by a fine save from Cutler, after being sent clear by Prutton. But it was almost 2-0 to Rotherham as a firm downward header from Ian Henderson forced a sprawling save from Smith at his near post.
Forest drew level in the 21st minute as Fleming's clumsy challenge on Tyson as he burst into the box from the left earned them a penalty, which Grant Holt duly dispatched confidently into the bottom right corner of the net.
Smith was at his best again to deny Rotherham as he flung himself low to his left to palm away a Delroy Facey header at the far post - but was also grateful to see Henderson fire badly wide when sent clear.
It took a clearance off the line from Stephen Brogan to deny Grant Holt a second, with a far-post header, as the first half finished with a flourish.
Chances were fewer in number after the interval, although O'Grady shot badly into the side netting only yards from goal for Rotherham and Kris Commons forced a spectacular stop from Cutler with a bending free-kick.
Grant Holt saw yet another header saved by Cutler, this time as he connected with a cross from substitute Julian Bennett.
While Commons saw David Worrell clear off the line after Cutler had saved bravely at Jack Lester's feet. But there was to be no way through for Forest
Swansea City 3 - 0 Port Vale
A Darryl Duffy brace either side of half-time and an opener from Lee Trundle gave Swansea City a deserved victory against Port Vale that improved their play-off hopes.
There were four changes in the Swans starting line-up with Richard Duffy and Kevin Austin coming into defence, Tom Williams in midfield and Darryl Duffy up front.
Port Vale included former Cardiff City players Rhys Weston and Malvin Kamara.
Trundle beat the offside trap in the 11th minute but, with only Joe Anyon in the Vale goal to beat, he rolled his shot well wide of the far post.
Swansea's leading marksman finally broke the deadlock with his 17th goal of the season in the 19th minute. Vale failed to clear a long throw into the danger area and the unmarked Trundle was waiting to pick up the loose ball and rifle it into the net.
They doubled their lead seven minutes later with a delightful move involving Dennis Lawrence. He started it in his own half before laying the ball into the path of Darryl Duffy who had the easy task of side-footing into the corner of the net from close range.
The Swans had to defend at the start of the second half but a superb run from Leon Britton led to the third goal in the 59th minute.
He slipped a pass down the centre to Darryl Duffy who jinked past Anyon before sliding in his second of the afternoon.Roberto Martinez used all three substitutes and both Pawel Abbott and Tom Butler missed goal-scoring opportunities but the match was already won to leave the Swans well and truly in the play-off race.
Tranmere Rovers 2 - 1 Brighton
Tranmere Rovers snatched a dramatic late victory at Prenton Park to keep alive their fading hopes of a play-off place.
The game was into the 94th minute when Chris Greenacre was tripped on the edge of the box by Joel Lynch. Referee Tony Bates pointed to the spot and Greenacre netted into the left-hand corner, with keeper Scott Flinders getting a touch but being unable to keep the ball out.
Brighton had dominated the proceedings for the first hour. They were gifted an 11th minute lead when home defender Ian Goodison turned a Doug Loft shot into his own net.
They should have added to their lead but Adam El-Abd flashed a header just wide. Home keeper Gavin Ward made excellent saves from Sam Rents and Dean Cox, with the latter also hitting the bar on the half hour.
Tranmere looked a deflated side although Chris Shuker missed a great chance to level things out in first-half added time.
Rovers gradually got back in the picture in the last half hour and young substitute Craig Curran threw them a lifeline in the 76th minute. He was on hand to convert a cross by Shane Sherriff within 60 seconds of joining the action.
It was then all Tranmere. Robbie Stockdale brought a finger-tip save from Flinders and then Calvin Zola and substitute Steve Davies both went close before the penalty drama.John Thompson made an impressive comeback after injury for the Merseysiders and there was also some good work from Zola and Paul McLaren.
Cox was outstanding in the Seagulls midfield and there was a great defensive display by the impressive Guy Butters, but Brighton will wonder just how they lost this game.
Yeovil Town 2 - 1 Leyton Orient
Yeovil Town had been given 21 penalties in the previous two seasons, but when referee Keith Stroud pointed to the spot in the 77th minute at Huish Park it was their first penalty of the current season.
It could not have come at a better time as the Glovers were trailing to the struggling O's with time running out and, despite dominating the second half, had failed to put keeper Glyn Garner under a great deal of pressure.
Orient dominated the first half and fully deserved their 31st-minute goal from Ryan Jarvis that threatened the play-off hopes of the home team.
Soon after his goal, Craig Easton missed a golden opportunity to make it 2-0 and Yeovil boss Russell Slade admitted: "I had probably eight players who weren't really at the races in the first half and we had to do something about it.
"I made some changes at half-time but several of the others who stayed on upped their performance to turn things around."
Yeovil have two former Premiership strikers in Marcus Stewart and Lee Morris, and they were the men who were taken off at the break to be replaced by the younger legs of Anthony Barry and Darryl Knights.
Their pace put Orient under much more pressure and, with 13 minutes left, their constant attacking paid off when Nathan Jones was brought down in the box by Adam Tann and man-of-the-match Wayne Gray scored from the spot.
Yeovil were now in full cry and, in the 83rd minute, they got the winner.Arron Davies crossed from the right and the ball skidded off the foot of John Mackie as he attempted to clear, for the own goal that won the game and cemented Yeovil's place in the play-off positions
football.co.uk
CC League One: 9th April
