Relegation-threatened Port Vale picked up a point in an uninspiring goalless draw at Leyton Orient whose play-off hopes received a massive dent.

Although the home side were on the front foot for the majority of the first half, they were unable to get past keeper Connor Ripley.

It was the visitors who spurned the best two chances of a drab and goalless first half.

From a set-piece, Funso Ojo cleared the crossbar with a close-range header and then James Wilson blazed over when he met a superb cross from one-time Orient forward Gavin Massey.

Four minutes after the break, Orient keeper Sol Brynn protected his clean sheet when he beat out a fierce shot from Alex Mighten.

Orient’s best chance fell to substitute Ruel Sotiriou when he latched onto a through ball with 12 minutes remaining and raced clear of the opposition defence before delivering a powerful shot that crashed against the bar before rebounding to safety.

The Valiants have now played 13 matches without tasting victory while Orient failed to find the net for the third successive match.

Jack Moylan and Joe Taylor both scored twice as rampant Lincoln stretched their unbeaten Sky Bet League One run to 12 matches as they thrashed Cambridge 6-0 at the LNER Stadium.

Irishman Moylan netted two brilliant goals in Saturday’s 5-1 mauling of Barnsley and scored twice in the opening half hour, before Taylor grabbed his own brace, while substitutes TJ Eyoma and Dylan Duffy also got in on the act.

Moylan fired City into the lead after just three minutes. Sean Roughan’s cross into the box fell to Lasse Sorensen initially, but the ball eventually found its way to Moylan who smashed a shot high into the roof of the net.

Jack Stevens made a flying save to deny Sorensen after he latched on to a terrific Danny Mandroiu pass, who then himself stabbed the corner wide.

Moylan doubled the lead after 25 minutes, confidently slotting a low shot past Stevens after a delightful Ethan Erhahon pass.

Stevens superbly denied Sorensen again in first-half stoppage-time, but it took the Imps just three minutes of the second half to go 3-0 up.

Mandroiu’s sublime ball across Cambridge’s area found an unmarked Taylor, who had the easy job of steering the ball into the net.

James Brophy brought a good save out of Lukas Jensen, before lobbing another effort just over, while Ryan Bennett headed narrowly wide from a corner as Cambridge enjoyed their best spell of the match.

Lincoln, though, added a fourth after 75 minutes when Moylan’s brilliant through ball set up Taylor, who dinked a shot over Stevens and into the net.

Eyoma then fired home after Teddy Bishop’s shot was initially blocked before Duffy rammed a shot through Stevens’ legs to complete the rout.

England wing Immanuel Feyi-Waboso has prioritised his health over the prospect of facing France after self-reporting symptoms of concussion.

Attack coach Richard Wigglesworth revealed Feyi-Waboso has been ruled out of the climax to the Guinness Six Nations in Lyon after he became “groggy” in the wake of Saturday’s 23-22 victory over Ireland.

Although the 21-year-old Exeter University medical student finished the match, it was only afterwards that he felt the effects of a possible concussion that cannot be traced to any one incident on the field.

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It means England’s breakout star of the Six Nations will be unable to take part in the bid to snatch Ireland’s title a week after setting Twickenham alight with a dynamic display on his first start.

“Manny felt a bit groggy so he is unfortunately ruled out of the game, but we don’t take any risks with that sort of stuff,” Wigglesworth said.

“He’s obviously gutted but being the smart lad he is, he reported his symptoms. He did the right thing.”

England have chosen not to replace Feyi-Waboso in their 36-man training squad, with Elliot Daly likely to take his place on the wing against France.

Cardiff-born Feyi-Waboso was persuaded to pledge his national allegiance to England by Steve Borthwick in January and both player and coach have been rewarded by his dynamic displays, two of them coming off the bench.

“It had been building for Manny. You have to integrate these players carefully and I think Steve did that well in how he exposed him to Test rugby so he was ready to fly,” Wigglesworth said.

“He played really well, got his hands on the ball and did what we asked him to do and brought his talents.

“It’s very disappointing for him as I know how desperate he was to play again and how much he enjoyed his first start.”

England picked themselves up off the canvas after a disappointing defeat by Scotland in round three to end Ireland’s Grand Slam defence when Marcus Smith kicked a last-gasp drop-goal.

Steve Borthwick’s side had been irked by the avalanche of predictions that they would be routed by the favourites, whose former number eight Jamie Heaslip even said their only chance was if Ireland had one or two players sent off.

England back row Ben Earl stated after the win that “apparently we’re the worst England team ever. We’ve done pretty well for that accolade”, but Wigglesworth admits that defiant rage will only take a team so far.

“Every week is different and as a player, a coaching staff and a team, you use different things and you will tap into different emotions,” he said.

“We want to be obsessed with getting better, we want to keep moving on. What is called a disaster, for us is a learning experience so at the end we are moving the dial in the right direction.

“There are emotional buttons the players want to press themselves but at the core is trying to move our game on, trying to get better, having real clarity on what we are going after so we get better.”

Barnsley got back to winning ways as they held on for a 3-2 victory at League One bottom club Carlisle.

Neill Collins’ promotion-chasing side were hammered 5-1 by Lincoln on Saturday and it looked like they may have been suffering a hangover when Carlisle took an early lead through Luke Armstrong.

But Jordan Williams, John McAtee and Jonathan Russell all scored for the visitors before Daniel Butterworth set up a tense finish.

Armstrong started the scoring when he grabbed his second goal in as many games in the 10th minute.

Captain Williams produced a fine 20-yard strike to level in the 33rd minute.

McAtee rattled the crossbar minutes later before Sam Cosgrove forced Carlisle goalkeeper Harry Lewis into a good stop to tip his powerful strike over.

After the break, McAtee poked home the second after Cosgrove dinked the ball over Lewis.

Towering Russell got the third when he nodded home Corey O’Keeffe’s cross at the back post with 14 minutes left.

Butterworth pulled one back with three minutes to go but Barnsley held on for the points as Paul Simpson’s strugglers lost for the 11th time in their last 12 league outings.

Dwight Gayle scored his third goal in as many games to help Derby beat Reading 2-1.

Sam Smith cancelled out Gayle’s opener but Royals skipper Andy Yiadom was sent off before a Conor Hourihane penalty clinched victory.

Derby started strongly and it needed a great save from Joel Pereira to keep out a Joe Ward free-kick in the 11th minute.

Reading grew into the game but Derby twice went close with Pereira making another fine stop to deny Tom Barkhuizen in the 31st minute before Eiran Cashin headed a free-kick against a post two minutes later.

The game burst into life early in the second half with both sides trading goals before Reading were reduced to 10 men.

Gayle latched onto Ward’s pass to put Derby ahead in the 53rd minute, only for Smith to head in Yiadom’s cross three minutes later.

Yiadom was shown a second yellow card in the 59th minute for a foul on Hourihane, who restored Derby’s lead from the spot in the 70th minute after Pereira caught Gayle.

Riley McGree returned to haunt his old loan club Birmingham with a stunning goal as Middlesbrough won 1-0 at St. Andrew’s.

Attacking midfielder McGree, 25, put Boro ahead in the 17th minute after a mistake by Alex Pritchard in a game of few clear-cut chances.

The result heaps pressure on City, who have now gone five games without a win and are only out of the Sky Bet Championship relegation zone by a point after their match in hand.

City have not won since manager Tony Mowbray – a much-loved former Middlesbrough player and manager – has been away from his daily duties for medical treatment.

Both sets of fans chanted his name but Birmingham looked in need of the 60-year-old’s guidance as Boro made it three wins in a row.

Birmingham had the first chance when Pritchard attempted a 40-yard chip over goalkeeper Seny Dieng but his ambitious effort drifted wide.

Paddy McNair fired over a long-range rising effort for Middlesbrough after Emmanuel Latte Lath was denied from point-blank range by goalkeeper John Ruddy.

But a mistake by Pritchard led to Boro taking a 17th-minute lead.

The former Brentford and Sunderland midfielder’s pass was easily cut out by Luke Ayling. He found McGree, who lashed an unstoppable left-foot drive into the top corner of the net from 25 yards.

McGree, who spent 15 months on loan at Blues from October 2020 to the end of 2021, celebrated in understated fashion against his old club.

Things went from bad to worse for City two minutes later when centre-back Marc Roberts went off injured to be replaced by Cody Drameh.

Ayling tried to make it 2-0 after cutting inside and curling goalwards but his attempt was straight at Ruddy.

Pritchard sliced horribly wide on the angle as neither he nor Koji Miyoshi seemed to want to take responsibility to shoot.

If Birmingham’s struggles were not summed up by that lack of confidence, they were underlined when no one challenged Latte Lath from Lukas Engel’s throw-in and the striker fired just wide.

Matt Clarke sent a bullet header wide from a corner as the visitors continued to look the more dangerous side.

Birmingham replaced the out-of-sorts Miyoshi with Juninho Bacuna at half-time but they continued to look unconvincing.

There was a four-minute stoppage before the hour mark after referee Andy Davies went off injured, with fourth official Jeremy Simpson taking over the whistle.

The lively Latte Lath only just failed to get enough contact on an up-and-under, with the sliced effort flying over.

Kusini Yengi’s double saw Portsmouth take another step closer to the Championship with a 2-1 win against Burton.

The victory moved leaders Pompey five points clear of second-placed Derby and six in front of Bolton in third.

Although Pompey dominated most of the first half, Burton had opportunities without troubling Will Norris.

Albion had the first effort at goal, with Rekeem Harper rattling the Pompey bar in the first minute.

Pompey found life difficult in the final third, but had a superb chance after 37 minutes when Yengi somehow shot wide of an open goal from two yards.

But he made amends in added time, when after having been brought down in the area, got up to score the penalty.

Pompey kept the pressure on in the second half, and despite Abu Kamara blasting high over the bar in the 57th minute, Yengi scored his second six minutes later when he tapped in from a hard low Kamara cross.

Burton pulled one back after 80 minutes when captain John Brayford fired home.

An own goal by Wigan goalkeeper Sam Tickle decided a low-key encounter as Wycombe claimed a 1-0 win at Adams Park.

The game may not live long in the memory, but the Chairboys celebrated a third win in four games that moved them level on points with their visitors.

Wycombe were gifted the lead after 19 minutes when Josh Scowen’s mishit low cross from the right was fumbled into his own net by Tickle at his near post.

The Chairboys almost doubled their advantage in the second minute of the second half as Beryly Lubala headed a peach of a free-kick from Luke Leahy just wide.

Wigan improved and pressed hard for an equaliser, with Thelo Aasgaard and Charlie Kelman both sending presentable headed chances off-target.

The closest Latics came to snatching a point was in the first minute of stoppage time when Jordan Jones teed up Aasgaard, whose header was brilliantly saved by Franco Ravizzoli.

Fleetwood remain six points from safety after holding mid-table Bristol Rovers to a 0-0 draw at Highbury Stadium.

Danny Mayor should have put the hosts 1-0 up after Promise Omochere showed his strength to square to his midfield partner, who was denied by a desperate block from Luca Hoole.

With the best chance of the game, Antony Evans had a one-on-one opportunity to break the deadlock on the stroke of the break. The Gas midfielder could only hit straight at home goalkeeper Jay Lynch.

Scott Sinclair fired low three minutes into the second half, which was smartly stopped by Lynch as the away side pressed, while former Rovers man Ryan Broom acrobatically volleyed wide for Fleetwood.

Gavin Kilkenny rattled the woodwork on the hour when the ball fell kindly to the Bournemouth loanee from the edge of the box, with Jed Ward beaten all ends up.

Elkan Baggott scrambled a trickling effort off the line as Fleetwood dominated in second-half spells without breakthrough.

Rovers hit the post in the closing stages after a deflected Evans free-kick ricocheted wide.

Exeter secured their first win in six League One games with a 3-0 victory over 10-man Shrewsbury.

Referee David Rock showed a red card to Shrewsbury winger Jordan Shipley for a two-footed challenge on Ryan Woods in the sixth minute.

And the Grecians took full advantage with Will Aimson, Luke Harris and Jack Aitchison all scoring before half-time.

Exeter’s Reece Cole was played through in the 33rd minute but his goalbound effort was blocked for a corner.

From the resultant set piece, Aimson put the Grecians ahead by flicking in at the near post.

Exeter doubled their advantage in the 41st minute. Aitchison drilled a cross into Harris in the middle of the box and after Marko Marosi parried away the midfielder’s first attempt, he reacted quickly and fired home from close range.

Aitchison was in the thick of the action again in the fifth minute of first-half added time and the forward hit a fantastic strike from just inside the box which rippled the back of the net.

Shrewsbury substitute Aiden O’Brien went through one-on-one with Viljami Sinisalo with just over 10 minutes remaining, but the goalkeeper parried it clear as the visitors completed a comprehensive victory.

Blackpool moved to within a point of the League One play-offs with a 1-0 victory at Northampton on Tuesday.

Matt Pennington’s scrappy second-half strike was the difference as the Seasiders closed the gap on the teams above them.

The Cobblers were first to threaten at Sixfields when Kieron Bowie set his sights from the edge of the box but his shot was straight down the throat of Dan Grimshaw.

Chances were at a premium in the first half but Blackpool thought they had opened the scoring through Marvin Ekpiteta, whose effort hit the underside of the crossbar and seemingly bounced over the line only for the officials not to award a goal.

Pennington headed another chance over for the visitors but it was not until the second half when the game opened up.

After Jordan Rhodes shot into the side-netting, Blackpool made the breakthrough 10 minutes after the restart when Karamoko Dembele’s free-kick led to an almighty scramble in the box with Pennington stabbing in the loose ball.

Northampton had struggled to create anything of note all game and that continued after the goal, with the visitors comfortably seeing out victory.

Jaylen Brown is counting his lucky stars as the Boston Celtics man feels blessed with another chance at achieving "something special".

Brown posted 27 points, one more than teammate Jayson Tatum, as the Celtics overcame the Portland Trail Blazers 121-99, despite the absence of injured stars Jrue Holiday and Kristaps Porzingis.

That victory over Portland marked the Eastern Conference-leading Boston's 50th of the season for a third straight campaign.

"All the guys laugh because, around this time of year, I say the same thing – how much of an honor it is to be on this team," Brown said.

"I'm grateful to be on a team that's winning, that's been playing the right way, has another opportunity to do something special. That's a blessing."

With a mammoth 18 games remaining, the Celtics have already secured a playoff spot after becoming the first team to hit the 50-win mark this year.

Boston lost the NBA Finals to the Golden State Warriors in 2022 before Conference Finals defeat against the Miami Heat the following year, though Tatum remains buoyant.

"At this point of the season, to have 50 wins, it means we're doing something right," Tatum added. "The scary part is, we can get better."

Sam Hauser also finished with a season-high six 3-pointers and 22 points for Boston, who have won an NBA-leading 21 games on the road this season.

"We don't really look at a team's record," Hauser said. "It's the NBA, everybody has talented players.

"You can lose any given night, so we just try to take it one day at a time, once game at a time, and find things that we can get better at each and every day."

The Celtics will hope to keep up their winning run on the road when they visit the Utah Jazz on Tuesday.