Leyton Orient manager Richie Wellens only had one gripe after his side stretched their unbeaten run to eight games with a 1-0 success at struggling Port Vale.

Captain Idris El Mizouni piled on the agony for managerless Vale – whose defeat dropped them into the relegation zone – with the game’s only goal after 60 minutes.

Orient’s latest win pushed the Londoners to within seven points of the League One play-offs.

“We should have walked away winning that game (by) four or five,” said Wellens after serving the second of a three-match touchline ban.

“But there was only one team in it for the majority of the game.

“Their keeper Connor Ripley was the best player on the pitch. He was exceptional but we have got to be taking those chances.”

Ripley produced a succession of outstanding stops in each half, with Ruel Sotiriou suffering more than most.

On his team’s current run of form, Wellens added: “Since the middle of December we have been on an unbelievable run.

“We just keep going and concentrate on ourselves. If we do the basics right, we have got good players.

“We are getting to that stage where we are probably going to be safe. And that was our first thought from where we have come from.

“In the coming weeks we will be going to win every single game. We will evaluate as each game ticks by what we need to do.

“It is a privilege to work with these young players. The biggest thing is they are improving and it is great to watch them grow and learn.”

Vale sacked Andy Crosby on Monday, putting academy trio Will Ryder, Matt Done and Danny Lloyd in temporary charge.

The club will appoint a permanent successor to Crosby while director of football Dave Flitcroft was the subject of chants calling for his resignation at the final whistle.

“We will do the best we can to continue to fight and try to get some points on the board,” said Ryder.

“When I move back into my role in the academy and the next management team come in, they are going to need everybody pulling together.

“That’s our job to try and galvanise that. Are the players behind playing for the club? A million per cent. They are hurting in the changing room.

“It is now an opportunity to get together for the rest of the week to commit to a game plan for Stevenage on Saturday.

“Full credit to everyone for getting on with it and being professional.

“Have we got the result we wanted? No. But they were committed and gave it a good go. And we were still in the game at the end.”

Bristol Rovers manager Matt Taylor bemoaned his side’s inconsistent form as the Pirates lost 2-0 at home to relegation-threatened Fleetwood.

Jayden Stockley and Ronan Coughlan both found the net to secure Fleetwood a second consecutive win, leaving them six points from safety in League One.

The defeat – Rovers’ fourth in their last five home matches in all competitions – ended a run of back-to-back league wins.

“We’re disappointed to lose the game,” said Taylor.

“We’ve fallen into the same pattern that we’ve done too often this season where we’ve had a boost of a couple of good performances and victories to boot and then not been able to follow it up physically and game wise.

“A bit of physicality against our back line and poor defending on two crosses has led to the opposition being ahead. We’ve had the two best chances of the first half and then we’ve had the sucker punch of a set-piece goal.

“As the pressure came onto the game we’ve not been able to handle that and execute in terms of our final third play from that moment on.”

Taylor also explained that defender Jack Hunt had been sick on the pitch before being substituted in the 25th minute with a suspected concussion.

Taylor felt that Chris Martin was harshly shown a second yellow card in the third minute of second half stoppage time as a late melee broke out between the two sides.

“If he’s sent off then several other players should have been too,” added Taylor.

Fleetwood boss Charlie Adam is refusing to get carried away with the upturn in his side’s results.

“We were pleased. To come away from home we knew what Bristol Rovers were going to give us, after their back-to-back wins,” he said.

“They’re in good form. We knew we had to defend the box well the whole night. We’re delighted but it’s just three points and we’ll look forward to Saturday.

“I’m delighted with the clean sheet and I believe our performances will get us the wins. I keep saying that. We’ve been in five or six games, but I’ve felt the performances were getting better and better. The last two-and-a-half games have been really, really good.

“If we keep clean sheets with what we have in the attacking part of the pitch then we’ll keep causing teams problems.”

Steve Evans insisted Stevenage should have been awarded two penalties in their 1-0 defeat against relegation-threatened Reading at The Lamex Stadium.

The hosts controlled the first half but the Royals went into the break ahead thanks to an own-goal from Bradford loanee Vadaine Oliver.

It was a different story after half-time as Reading edged a closely fought encounter to secure just their second away win in the league this season.

The Boro had two penalty appeals waved away by referee Paul Howard and Evans felt his side were hard done by.

He said: “We have two clear penalties in the game that weren’t given.

“One for handball in the first half and the second for a reckless challenge on Ben Thompson.

“We have just looked it back on the big screen with the boys, we did enough in terms of how we played comfortably to win the game.

“It is a harsh result to take isn’t it? Apart from counter-attacks we have totally dominated the game.

“We have made four big chances in the game, normally our reliable strikers score the chances that are created but they didn’t.

“Listen, we shouldn’t concede the throw-in for their goal, it is a mix-up between Dan Sweeney and the goalkeeper.

“We said at half-time that if we continue to press then we’ll create chances and we did create chances.

“It’s a bitter pill to swallow but we will take it and move on.

“You can see what it means to beat little old Stevenage, World Cup stuff at the end.”

The result leaves Stevenage in sixth while Reading are now a point clear of the relegation zone in 20th and Royals manager Ruben Selles was delighted with the three points.

He said: “We knew it was going to be very difficult, there are not a lot of teams who can come here and win.

“We knew we would have to play well and take our chances in possession.

“The ball came from a throw-in and we have been working on it, I also think we got into some positions where if we’d worked the ball better, we could have scored at least one more goal.

“I think we know that we can perform against any team.

“I think we have talked about learning lessons from games and I think today we learned those lessons.

“I think the boys have been working really hard for it.

“The changes were entirely tactical, it was not a test, I thought especially at left-back we needed to be more dynamic in the build-up.

“We say always that we take it one day at a time, tomorrow the boys have the day off and then on Thursday and Friday we will prepare for the next game.”

Mallorca and Real Sociedad’s Copa del Rey semi-final remains finely poised after a goalless first leg.

LaLiga strugglers Mallorca will be the happier of the two despite being the home side as they failed to register a shot on target against their Champions League opposition.

Imanol Alguacil will be hoping the visitors do not live to regret their stalemate at the Estadi Son Moix when they host the second leg on February 27.

The first half was a forgettable affair as neither side really created an opening that was deserving of breaking the deadlock.

Sociedad should have bagged an away goal but Umar Sadiq missed a golden opportunity to finish from close range.

Abdon Prats shot wide with the hosts’ best chance of the game but there was little for the home fans to shout about as they hoped to upset the odds.

With a number of LaLiga’s big hitters already eliminated, these two will fancy their chances at a rare glimpse of silverware.

Mallorca have won the Copa del Rey just once in their history – back in 2003 – while Sociedad have lifted it on only two occasions, the latter of which came with a 1-0 win over Athletic Bilbao in 2020.

That final could yet be repeated this season with Bilbao facing Atletico Madrid in the other semi-final.

While Mallorca now travel to Sociedad following this stalemate, the pair clash before that in a LaLiga fixture back at the Son Moix on February 18.

Exeter manager Gary Caldwell hailed his side’s comeback as they stunned promotion-chasing Peterborough 2-1 at St James Park.

After Harrison Burrows converted a first-half penalty, Posh missed several chances to increase their lead before they had Michael Olakigbe sent off after picking up a second yellow card.

That galvanised Exeter, with Reece Cole’s free-kick ending up in the back of the net off some combination of goalkeeper Nicholas Bilokapic and Dion Rankine before Jadel Katongo headed a superb Cole cross into his own net to complete a remarkable comeback for the Grecians.

“They are a very good team and asked a lot of questions of us in the first half,” Caldwell said. “I thought defensively we were good and restricted them to little, we had a problem down our right-hand side where we were a bit loose and that led to the goal.

“We didn’t have a lot of shots to defend, we were patient in how we pressed and asked them to build up with lots of passes, which kept them in front of us, so I was happy with that, but I thought we could have been braver in possession and quicker with our passing.

“Too many times we passed back and put each other under pressure, but I think it is a fantastic win and the first time we have won ugly.

“The sending-off had a big impact in the game but in the second half I thought we were a yard quicker, we had more impetus in that second half and that led to the red card, so all credit to the players for changing that mentality at half-time and coming out and making the game different in the second half.”

Posh boss Darren Ferguson was left to rue his side’s profligacy as he said: “The game changed when we didn’t kill them off, we had so many opportunities to kill them off at the start of the second half – and the end of the first half – and even with 10 men, we had the better chances with our pace on the counter attack.

“The sending-off is naive and the young boy is distraught in there because he feels like he’s let his team down – which he hasn’t, we win and lose together. It’s a silly challenge, a naive challenge and I thought it was a soft sending-off but it’s irrelevant, he’s given it.

“I thought we were comfortable with 10 men and it took a free-kick – a good free-kick – to get them back into the game, but they weren’t hurting us. Our shape was good, we looked the more threatening team with the better chances.

“I am repeating myself because in so many games this season we are missing chance after chance and it is catching up with us now.”

Both managers felt Motherwell could have scored more in their 5-0 victory over Ross County.

Blair Spittal hit two brilliantly-taken goals and both Andy Halliday and Jack Vale netted their first goals for the club, while Theo Bair converted a penalty to make it six goals in five cinch Premiership games.

But Bair also had three one-one-ones, being denied twice by George Wickens and chipping just wide, and County’s two centre-backs were consistently exposed.

After his side moved a point off the top six after just a second win in 20 league games, Motherwell manager Stuart Kettlewell said: “It’s a top-drawer performance. To beat any team in this league 5-0, you’re playing well.

“I felt you saw what was an accumulation of what I feel has been some good performances. Sometimes you feel as if you’re patronising supporters and people in the media but I genuinely do believe we were working towards a win.

“We have been functioning well as a team, six unbeaten now, and that puts a nice finish to it with the five goals. But probably the ruthless side of me says that it could and should have been several more. We had some wonderful opportunities.

“The ruthless side of me says that we still want to work towards a better conversion rate but I have just reminded everyone it’s one game of football.”

Ross County have now collected only two points from eight games since beating Motherwell two months ago and fell six points behind their opponents.

Manager Derek Adams said: “Motherwell were the better side, obviously, scored goals and could have scored a lot more.”

Adams blamed “decision-making on and off the ball” for the heavy scoreline.

“We didn’t deal well enough with the runners,” he added. “It’s the basics of defending, isn’t it? Seeing your man in front of you. As soon as your man is in front of you then you’ve got a problem.

“The Motherwell attacker was on our shoulder a number of times and was able to get in behind. They had some good runs in behind and I thought they were excellent. They picked us off and scored five.

“Our goalkeeper, George Wickens, was very good and kept us in the game.”

Adams admitted getting out of the bottom two would be an uphill task.

“It’s very difficult because we’re five points adrift now,” he said.

“Well, we’re in the same position as we were when I came into the football club 11 games ago.

“Motherwell have had two wins in 20 games, we have had two wins in 11 games. That tells its own story. The problems are continuing.”

Three extra-time goals fired Leeds into the FA Cup fifth round with a 4-1 win at Championship rivals Plymouth.

Substitutes Crysencio Summerville and Georginio Rutter combined to put United 3-1 up before a 117th-minute own goal by Argyle striker Ryan Hardie capped a comprehensive United win.

Leeds will now travel to Premier League Aston Villa or Chelsea on Wednesday February 28.

The replay sparked to life in the 13th minute when a brilliant through-ball from Sam Byram found Mateo Joseph on the run. Joseph beat marker Lewis Gibson in a tussle for the ball but Northern Ireland keeper Conor Hazard got enough glove on a rising shot to turn the ball onto the frame of the goal.

Leeds hit the woodwork again in the 20th minute as Glen Kamara teed up Joel Piroe on the edge of the box. Piroe’s thundering drive took enough of a deflection off Argyle central defender Brendan Galloway to take the ball on to the face of the bar.

Plymouth responded on the counter, with skipper Joe Edwards forcing a routine save from Illan Meslier after being set up by Morgan Whittaker.

Defender Byram made a superb clearance to keep the ball away from Callum Wright as Hardie’s pacy ball from the right beat Meslier in the 25th minute and skimmed across the six-yard box.

Joseph went close with a 55th-minute shot which took the faintest of deflections off central defender Gibson’s heel and flew just past the post, covered by a diving Hazard.

Leeds pressure eventually told as Wilfried Gnonto fired them ahead in the 66th minute with a superb, measured right-foot strike from the edge of the box to beat Hazard at full stretch. Gnonto benefitted from a superb pass from playmaker Kamara from the right.

Substitute Archie Gray announced his arrival with a stinging shot which flew just wide from 20 yards on 73 minutes.

Argyle levelled from a 78th-minute Whittaker free-kick from the left as teenage central defender Ashley Phillips looped the far-post ball over Meslier to Galloway, who chested the ball home.

Substitute Joe Gelhardt smashed a half-volley off the post in stoppage time, while Hardie forced a last-minute save from Meslier as Argyle responded positively.

Seven minutes into extra time Rutter put Summerville on his way to a brilliant individual goal as he cut in from the left before beating Hazard with a soaring strike.

As Plymouth pressed for an extra-time leveller, Summerville teed up Rutter to sweep home Leeds’ third goal in the 111th minute.

Argyle’s misery was completed when Ilia Gruev’s corner glanced off Hardie and skidded past his own keeper.

Mauricio Pochettino has called for perspective on the struggles of his Chelsea team, insisting “I cannot lose my hair” over recent poor results.

Sunday’s 4-2 loss at home to Wolves was the 10th in the league since the 51-year-old arrived in the summer and triggered the first audible signs of discontent from fans towards the manager.

Afterwards Pochettino appeared to suggest he believed the players were not good enough to arrest the club’s slide, though he has since clarified he was referring only to the performance in the defeat to Gary O’Neil’s side.

Chelsea were outrun and out-thought by Wolves who, despite seeing their hosts enjoy greater ball possession, were conformably the more threatening team and they cut through the Blues with relative ease en route to a first win at Stamford Bridge since 1979.

It drew an angry response from supporters near the dugout who booed the players off at half-time and again at the final whistle as the Blues dropped into the bottom half of the Premier League table.

It followed a meek 4-1 collapse away to Liverpool in their previous fixture.

However, Pochettino insisted it was important for a coach in his position to retain a sense of enjoyment in the job even in trying times.

“Football is my passion, not my job,” he said. “Sometimes we say ‘job’ but it’s the wrong word. Football is entertainment.

“If I don’t think like this, I need to go in another position, being a sporting director or CEO or president.

“Being coach, I need to keep a sense of why I am here. We cannot suffer because of business and other things. We need to be focused to play football.

“To be focused in football, you need to feel free in your mind. You cannot be affected because the stock in New York or Tokyo, or the weather or because the farm doesn’t grow.

“That’s why I keep my hair like this, because I don’t suffer from things that I am not in charge of. I only suffer for football, to try to improve the players, to provide them a good platform to win games.

“If there is no rain on my farm, you kill the business of my farm. That is a stress. You can lose your hair. But I cannot lose my hair because we’re not winning because the opponent was better than us.”

With 15 league games to go, Chelsea are just one place higher in the table than they finished last season in what was wildly acknowledged to be an appalling campaign.

They travel to Aston Villa on Wednesday for an FA Cup fourth-round replay.

“I didn’t finish 12th last year, Chelsea did,” said Pochettino. “It is a different squad to last year, many changes. If you want to compare to damage us, to compare things I think is impossible.

“You can compare to try to damage, if you want to make a problem. But to analyse and put all the circumstances, I don’t think that before was better or was worse. It’s difficult to compare because we are in another project.”

Rangers moved level on points with cinch Premiership leaders Celtic as Neil Warnock’s first game as Aberdeen boss ended with a 2-1 defeat at Ibrox.

The 75-year-old’s appointment until the end of the season had captured interest UK-wide but, in a turbo-charged start to the game by the home side, winger Rabbi Matondo capitalised on a mistake by Dons keeper Kelle Roos to give Gers the lead.

However, Dons striker Bojan Miovski levelled as the first-half entered three added minutes with his 20th goal of the season.

Rangers piled on the pressure in the second half and in the 73rd minute, when Roos palmed away a Tom Lawrence thunderbolt, Todd Cantwell followed up to finish it off.

Rangers second-half substitute Dujon Sterling was shown a straight red card by referee Don Robertson in the 88th minute for a tackle on Jack MacKenzie – the official stuck with his decision despite the VAR asking him to check his pitchside monitor – and the 10-man home side played out eight added minutes before victory was confirmed.

Rangers and Celtic are now on 58 points with the Hoops boasting a superior goal difference of just one.

Celtic play at Hibernian on Wednesday, which will again leave the Light Blues with a game in hand as the title race heats up further.

Gers boss Philippe Clement brought in John Souttar, Ridvan Yilmaz, Lawrence and Cyriel Dessers with Mohamed Diomande, the 22-year-old midfielder signed on a loan from Nordsjaelland with an obligation for the Light Blues to buy, on the bench.

Warnock’s first team selection showed two changes from the side which started in the draw against Celtic at weekend with Jonny Hayes and Leighton Clarkson in for Dante Polvara and Killian Phillips.

The home supporters were up for the game and soon had something to cheer with a goal initiated by Matondo’s pass to Cantwell.

The Gers player moved the ball on to winger Ross McCausland whose low drive from the edge of the box seemed to lack real power to trouble Roos but he spilled the shot to the on-rushing Matondo who blasted it into the net from close range.

It was mostly all Rangers.

Matondo hesitated before getting a shot away after he had carved open the Aberdeen defence and his effort was blocked for a corner which Lawrence headed over.

Rangers appeared in control but when midfielder Connor Barron lobbed the ball forward it caught the Light Blues napping and Miovski fended off defender Connor Goldson and slipped the ball past Butland with assurance.

The goal turned the Ibrox crowd into critics and there was a different feel to the start of the second half.

Roos made saves from Matondo and Dessers but the flag was up for offside. That was enough for Clement.

Matondo made way for new boy Oscar Cortes, the Colombian winger on loan from Lens, with Fabio Silva replacing Dessers.

Aberdeen were pinned back in their own half but a well-organised and determined defence kept an increasingly frantic Rangers at bay.

The Dons repelled a series of corners with Roos blocking a Lawrence shot with his foot following one of Yilmaz’s deliveries.

However, Lawrence’s next effort from distance was venomous and although the Pittodrie keeper made a decent save, the ball fell to Cantwell who slid the ball back into the net for his fifth goal in eight games.

Amid more substitutions, Diomande replaced Cantwell in the 85th minute to make his debut and took part in a frantic finale where Sterling, on for Lawrence, was dismissed with referee Robertson asked to check his pitchside monitor by the VAR only to stick to his guns.

It was quite an introduction to Scottish football for Warnock but Rangers continue their chase of Celtic.

Freddie Steward has called on England to win back the support of Twickenham as they launch a new era with Saturday’s Guinness Six Nations clash against Wales.

In their most recent home fixture, Steve Borthwick’s side were booed by fans after falling 30-22 to Fiji in the build-up to the 2023 World Cup – the first time they had ever lost to the Islanders.

Keen to dispel the funeral atmosphere last seen at Twickenham, Jamie George’s England are determined to reconnect with their support by delivering results and displaying ambition and passion.

Fans rallied behind the team during their march to third place at the World Cup and flocked to Rome for Saturday’s narrow win against Italy, but Steward knows it is the backing they receive in south west London that is critical.

“Being back at home is also synonymous with us being a new group,” said the Leicester full-back.

“This is essentially a fresh start. We have had our World Cup and we are on the start of a new cycle with fresh faces, new coaches. This is our chance to draw a line in the sand.

“As players when you play for England you are expected to win and when you don’t win, understandably you don’t have the fans on your side and there was a bit of that in the warm-ups to the World Cup.

“I would never blame the fans and say they need to lift us. They do that on the back of what we do, so the responsibility is ours.

“During the World Cup when we got to the semi-final it felt like that is what it can be like. As players we want that all the time but we have to put the performances on the field to earn that.

“The fans are the heartbeat of what we do. We want Twickenham to erupt and we want it to be a place we want to go and play in front of our fans and represent them.”

England’s tactics during the first year of Borthwick’s reign were conservative as he tried to shape a side that could challenge at the World Cup just nine months after replacing Eddie Jones as head coach.

The focus on kicking and stats-based approach turned off many supporters, but at the Stadio Olimpico there was greater enterprise and a willingness to attack from their own half.

“There’s the mentality side of it in terms of being braver by attacking further from the line and trying to challenge the opposition, giving them something to think about,” Steward said.

“We were probably guilty early doors of being too one-dimensional in terms of teams knowing what we were going to do.

“But hopefully by evolving the attack it will ask a few more questions of the opposition. The more time we’ve had together, it helps.

“For us as players, we want to play winning rugby. Whatever style that is, we want to win Test matches, we want to win tournaments and have successful campaigns.”

Exeter staged a rousing comeback to beat the 10 men of promotion-chasing Peterborough 2-1 and ease their League One relegation fears in the process.

Posh went in front on 32 minutes when Will Aimson’s clumsy tackle on Ephron Mason-Clark gifted Posh a penalty, which Harrison Burrows stroked home.

Jack Aitchison then missed a glorious chance to equalise when Josh Knight’s pass went straight to him, but he inexplicably shot straight at the floored Peterborough goalkeeper from 10 yards.

In the second half, Exeter’s Vili Sinisalo made a brilliant stop to deny Michael Olakigbe in a one-on-one, then another to keep out Ricky-Jade Jones before Posh were reduced to 10 men when Olakigbe picked up a second yellow card for a foul on Vinnie Harper on 56 minutes.

Exeter upped the tempo with Harper striking the post from 25 yards before Reece Cole’s superb free-kick on 75 minutes brought about the opener – his shot also struck the post and looked to have crossed the line off unfortunate keeper Nicholas Bilokapic, with Dion Rankine on hand to make sure.

Five minutes later, it was 2-1 as Cole’s superb cross from the right was headed into his own net by Jadel Katongo.

Posh rarely threatened thereafter with the defeat denting their promotion hopes, but Exeter are up to 14th with the win.

Idris El Mizouni piled on the pressure for managerless Port Vale, scoring the only goal in Leyton Orient’s 1-0 win at Vale Park.

Valiants goalkeeper Connor Ripley kept the visitors at bay with a string of saves until the 60th minute of this Sky Bet League One contest, when captain El Mizouni raced onto Tom James’ pass to net his first league goal in almost a year.

Orient’s win was their fifth in an eight-game unbeaten run and keeps them pushing for a play-off spot after last season’s promotion from tier four.

In contrast, Vale, who briefly topped the division in September, are now without a win in five matches and fall into the bottom four.

They axed manager Andy Crosby on Monday, putting academy director Will Ryder and staff Matt Done and Danny Lloyd in interim charge.

Busy Ripley produced a string of saves in the opening half before Jack Shorrock retaliated with a shot beaten away by Sol Brynn.

Ruel Sotiriou had a frustrating night in front of goal, denied by the crossbar and Ripley in quick succession.

But skipper El Mizouni produced a fine low finish to earn Richie Wellens’ team a deserved victory.

Sekou Mara’s first brace in English football fired Southampton to a 3-0 FA Cup replay victory over Watford and a fifth-round meeting with Liverpool.

Mara smashed two strikes into the near post to score his fourth and fifth goals of the season.

Che Adams added gloss to the victory to take Saints to a 24th game undefeated and set up potentially Jurgen Klopp’s last FA Cup tie before he leaves the Reds in the summer.

Both sides made seven changes a piece from their weekend exploits in the Championship and that showed in an opening 20 minutes devoid of quality.

Hornets defender Wesley Hoedt, against his former club, and winger Matheus Martins had off-target efforts at one end, and Saints teenager Tyler Dibling dragged wide at the other as the rain swirled around St Mary’s.

The deluged pitch meant Saints’ usually slick passing was impacted, although midfielder Flynn Downes forced a tricky moment for Daniel Bachmann after slipping in behind.

The game livened up when Southampton goalkeeper Joe Lumley was left rooted as Ismael Kone’s long-range drive deflected up and skidded onto the cross bar.

Lumley was equal to Kone a little later when the Ivorian midfielder diverted Martins’ cross towards goal.

And at the other end, Bachmann’s feet improbably denied Adams from five yards in the 28th minute before Mara fired an effort wide from a corner.

The hosts continued to dominate the ball without much cutting edge, although Joe Rothwell swung a shot wide and Bachmann smothered at Will Smallbone’s feet.

Adams and Mara switched positions in the second half and it proved the perfect alteration seven minutes after the restart.

Adams, now on the left, diverted the ball through to the central Mara and the Frenchman sent Bachmann the wrong way to finish into the near post.

Adams reverted to the middle after the goal and controlled over his shoulder and then volleyed over the bar as Saints pushed for a second.

And it came six minutes after the first as Mara emphatically finished a counter-attack by thumping into the near post again, this time from outside the box.

Bachmann walked straight off following the goal, having felt his head in the first half and pointed to his eye as he was replaced by Ben Hamer.

Samuel Edozie came off the bench and should have firmly put the game to bed when brilliantly threaded through by Rothwell but he stumbled and eventually scuffed a shot straight at Hamer.

Adams finally got the goal his persistence deserved when he calmly diverted Rothwell’s sumptuous free-kick from the left flank past Hamer.

Mara curled a late effort wide but could not add the match ball as a reward for his sparkling performance, while Edozie and Sam Amo-Ameyaw both struck the post.