Darrell Clarke says his Cheltenham team must maintain the standards shown in their 1-1 draw with Wigan if they are to give themselves a fighting chance of survival in League One.

The Robins recovered from falling behind to an early own goal to level through Liam Sercombe’s penalty and then push for a winner.

Wigan missed a second-half penalty, but Clarke felt it would have been a travesty if his team had not picked up at least a point.

“We started quite slowly for 15 minutes, but after that we were very good and that looked more like a Darrell Clarke team today,” said Clarke, whose side are eight points from safety.

“The fans appreciated it and we appreciated the support they gave us. They were outstanding in getting behind the team.

“They’ve seen a team there that wanted to give everything for the shirt. We got the press right at times and we made a very good technical team go long at times.

“We have done a lot of work to try and do that, get in their faces and we caused many problems. We’ve set a standard today and we don’t want to dip below that now.”

Wigan started well, with Lewis Freestone turning Jordan Jones’ low cross into his own net in the sixth minute after good work from Stephen Humphrys.

It was nearly 2-0 when Martial Godo hit the post in the 12th minute, but Cheltenham then rallied.

Curtis Davies shot just wide and Curtis Thompson lifted an effort over the bar.

Will Goodwin was tripped in the box by Baba Adeeko and Sercombe converted from the penalty spot for his second of the campaign in the 32nd minute.

Cheltenham made the stronger start to the second half, with Goodwin hitting the post after Davies’ flick-on from Luke Southwood’s free-kick.

Humphrys had the chance to win it for Wigan in the 64th minute, but his weak spot-kick was comfortably gathered by Southwood.

Cheltenham held on for a fully deserved share of the spoils, with Davies forcing a diving save from Sam Tickle in the 71st minute.

Wigan boss Shaun Maloney said he could not fault his players’ efforts.

“For the first 20 minutes I was really pleased,” he said.

“We created enough chances to be further ahead. It didn’t feel like a tactical game, it felt more of a battle. We came up with defensive solutions and it’s a point gained.

“In terms of missing the penalty, Stephen’s been so good for us this year. It’s one of those things. He’s been brilliant for us.

“We maybe have to find ways of controlling the game a little more, but I can’t say a negative thing about the players. They battled until the very last minute.

“The players have been very, very good, but I need more. Our mentality has to be the same as today after the international break.”

Under-pressure manager David Wagner felt Norwich’s 3-2 comeback win at Cardiff proved he has the full support of his dressing room.

The Canaries went into the contest in the Welsh capital having collected just one point from their previous six Championship outings.

But Ryan Wintle’s own goal and Adam Idah’s strike, Christian Fassnacht having netted in the first half, earned Norwich a dramatic victory after Josh Bowler and Callum Robinson had put the hosts in front.

“I think it’s a deserved win,” said Wagner. “We have some problems but how the players took it on board and reacted was just great to see.

“It was anything but a surprise for me. I love these players. I know we don’t have a problem in the dressing room, there’s a good togetherness.

“It shows how tight the dressing room is. They were desperate to turn it around and have this winning feeling back.

“We were on a negative run for quite a while, this is never enjoyable.

“But if you still feel the dressing room and everyone else at the club is behind you, you can stand in front of everyone and show the confidence everyone needs from a leader.

“Now hopefully with some players back after the international break, hopefully this is our turning point to continue to at least perform like we did today.”

Following what had been a fairly tame start to proceedings, Norwich stunned the home crowd as Fassnacht tapped home from Kenny McLean’s flick-on to put his side in front with his third goal of the campaign.

But Bowler and Robinson netted before half-time to ensure the Bluebirds led at the break.

Wintle deflected in Fassnacht’s cross eight minutes from time and substitute Idah coolly slotted home from close range just two minutes later as the Canaries won for only the second time in 11 matches in all competitions while bringing an end to Cardiff’s three-game unbeaten run in the process.

Bluebirds boss Erol Bulut was left furious with his side’s set-piece defending.

“You can lose the game but not how we lost it in the last 25 minutes. This makes me angry,” he said.

“We didn’t fight, we didn’t concentrate, we lost balls too quickly and we knew exactly what they would do. Some players were not concentrating enough.

“We trained for it (set-pieces). We showed the team how Norwich are doing their corner kicks, at the front post, and they scored the first goal from the front post.

“And at the far post we conceded. The second goal was the same. Two easy goals.”

He added: “Also, our substitution players didn’t really help us. In previous weeks that was different, they brought us points.

“That was also the key to how we lost the game 3-2.”

Exeter manager Gary Caldwell admits he is looking forward to an international break after witnessing his side’s 3-0 defeat at Fleetwood.

The visitors shipped three goals in a disastrous first half, never really looked like salvaging anything from their long trip north and left the field to a chorus of boos from their travelling fans.

Caldwell held his hands up and is prepared to carry the can for his team, who have not tasted victory in Sky Bet League One since mid-September.

“We gave ourselves a mountain to climb and although we improved in the second half we were 3-0 down so that was the least you’d expect,” he said. “There’s a lot of work to do and we need to stand up and be counted, but at this moment in time we’re not doing that.

“Ultimately I pick the team and I have to take responsibility for that. We have a bit of respite now with the international break and we can do a lot of work on the training ground because so many things need to be better.

“I understand that the fans are frustrated, we’re all frustrated. They come a long way to watch us and in the first half that wasn’t good enough. They are well within their rights to boo and criticise and we all have to work hard on the training pitch to change that momentum at the moment.

“The window doesn’t open until January and then we will look at it so we have to work with the players we’ve got, and they were fantastic early season.

“We have a few injuries that we have to get back but as individuals we have to look at ourselves and be better.”

Fleetwood boss Lee Johnson admitted things could hardly have gone better for his team in that first period, when Ryan Broom, Brendan Wiredu and Phoenix Patterson all found the net.

Patterson’s strike came after he had been sent tumbling in the box by Pierce Sweeney, referee Thomas Kirk awarding a free-kick just outside.

Patterson sent it perfectly into the near corner, leaving Johnson delighted with his young winger.

“Phoenix has been on it for the last two or three weeks,” he said. “He’s had to ‘unlearn’ some things, I wasn’t fully happy with his application, not in terms of his effort, work rate and professionalism, but his attitude to turn and drive at people, and I say that lovingly because I know how good he is.

“He’s got a great centre of gravity, a great end product and a little shift of pace and dynamism in the final third and he’s got real quality. If he was timid like I’d seen earlier in my tenure it wasn’t enough, but he’s deserved his chance and he’s taken it, he’s been excellent.

“It was a very satisfying win, I thought the first half in particular was excellent, we had a 15-minute spell where we stopped working hard early enough but we could have been 5-0 up at half-time, I think that would have probably been a fair assessment of the first half.

“Key for us is that we know what good looks like now and we know when we’re not playing well what that looks like as well and that allows the players to self-coach and manage each other, so I was really pleased to see that. It’s a really positive sign for us.

“As a general rule we feel like we’re going in the right direction.”

Proud Middlesbrough boss Michael Carrick hailed his players for executing their game plan to perfection in a “big win” over Championship leaders Leicester.

Boro usually play possession football but had to change their approach for the visit of the Foxes, who dominated the ball at the Riverside but failed to find a breakthrough against Carrick’s stubborn and organised side.

And after frustrating Enzo Maresca’s visitors, Boro snatched the win late on thanks to Sam Greenwood’s moment of magic. The Leeds loanee scored his fourth goal in six games with a stunning free-kick.

“It was a big win,” said delighted Carrick. “They are a really good team and we knew that.

“Individually, collectively, how they’re coached, they’re a very good team and it’s not an accident that they are where they are in the league.

“We showed a different side to ourselves today with a lot of the out-of-possession work. It was really good pressing and really good defensively. They test you, you have to close certain spaces for the whole game, you have to concentrate for the whole game and that was a major factor.

“The boys got the game plan off to a tee and actually, the few chances we did give away were from us giving the ball away, which we don’t normally do. That’s one of those things though.

“It was an immense effort and I’m so proud of the boys.”

Greenwood is proving himself to be a key player for Middlesbrough and Carrick said of his match winner: “I kind of had a feeling as he stepped up, I fancied him because it looked like it was set up just at the right spot for him.

“It’s a hell of a free-kick. There are not many people who can pull that off, but he’s got that in his locker consistently. It’s a real threat and a real weapon for us.”

Despite a second successive Championship defeat, with Ipswich now level on points, Leicester boss Maresca was not overly concerned and said his players paid the price for missed chances.

Jannik Vestergaard went close in the first half but was denied by a brilliant save from Seny Dieng, before City tried to turn the screw after the break. The closest they came to breaking the deadlock was when Kelechi Iheanacho hit a post 10 minutes from time, before Greenwood claimed the winner three minutes later.

Maresca said: “I think I have been quite clear, we created many chances and many situations where we should score but when you miss, miss, miss and they score a fantastic goal, that’s football.

“It’s a moment where you create but don’t take your chance and the opposite, they score a fantastic goal. It is what it is.

“To be honest I thought we were in control of the game, created five or six clear chances and many situations where we missed the last pass. The players are annoyed because we lost and it’s normal to be like that.”

Leicester will be without Harry Winks for their first game back after the international break against Watford after the midfielder picked up his fifth yellow card of the season.

Maresca said: “For sure Harry will be a big miss but for many games he’s been waiting for one more yellow.”

QPR boss Marti Cifuentes insists he is “very confident” he will lead the club away from trouble in the Championship despite their winless run continuing with a goalless draw against Bristol City at Loftus Road.

City defended well in their first match under Liam Manning following his recent arrival from Oxford as successor to Nigel Pearson.

Cifuentes can take some encouragement from his team’s display in his first home game at the helm.

But the west London side have now gone 11 matches without a win, continue to struggle to create clear-cut chances and remain one off the bottom of the table, having won only once at home in more than a year.

Cifuentes has employed a radically different style of play to the route-one tactics of his predecessor Gareth Ainsworth, who presided over six consecutive defeats prior to his recent sacking.

QPR have returned to a passing style and Cifuentes is convinced that will pay off.

Cifuentes said: “There are mixed feelings. Unfortunately we couldn’t deliver the victory. It was not the result we wanted but I am looking forward to building the togetherness I saw today. I think we can be really strong in the future.

“Despite the result, my job is to make sure that we start to win games. I do think it’s a step in the right direction.

“I see a stable team and one that is striving to have a clear identity – how they want to play from the back and have the courage to pass the ball.

“The identity of the team is starting to show. I feel we are taking steps but we have to be critical and say it hasn’t been enough to win games.

“Over time I’m very confident that this style of play can give us the results we’re looking for,” said the Spaniard.

“I do think that we have the tools inside the squad to play the football we want to and I’m very confident that this will give us the results we want.”

Meanwhile, Manning also saw reasons to feel optimistic after seeing the Robins make a solid start to his reign.

“There was some really positive stuff,” Manning said.

“We’ve worked on our shape out of possession and we saw that come out. There were a lot of positives with the out-of-possession stuff.

“We didn’t concede a shot on target, so when you look from the defensive side of it there were a lot of good things.

“In possession, we know that can improve. But we finished the stronger side in the last 20 minutes and got in some terrific areas.

“It’s been a whirlwind week but I have to give the players a huge amount of credit for how they’ve adapted to the work we’ve asked them to do.

“A pleasing aspect is the clean sheet and also the behaviours you saw – there were people there who maxed out and were running on empty at the end.

“If we want to be the best team that we can be, then that’s going to be important.”

Darren Moore defended Huddersfield’s cautious approach after Hull left it late to win 1-0 at the MKM Stadium.

Town rarely threatened inside the final third and were seemingly content to leave East Yorkshire with a point.

But their gameplan backfired in stoppage time when Liam Delap scored the winning goal two minutes in.

Moore, whose side are one place above the Sky Bet Championship relegation zone, said: “There’s always an emotional element to a result and I can understand that.

“You have to strike the balance right and we are working towards that.

“But as a group we were working extremely hard to correct those wrongs to make them right.

“We created two or three half-opportunities on counter-attacks.

“When the chances came our way, could we have used the ball more effectively and get bodies up the pitch?

“I thought we did that really well; it was just that the opportunities that we created just didn’t come our way.”

Huddersfield at least defensively improved upon their last two away games, in which they conceded a total of eight goals.

They also had Hull at arm’s length for most of the game – even though the hosts dominated possession.

The Tigers might have lacked attacking nous, but the mood inside the stadium changed once Delap struck the crossbar after 81 minutes.

Hull then scored the goal their efforts deserved when Delap’s low strike hit the inside of the right post and squirmed into the net.

Moore, whose side have won just once in 10 games, said: “It’s a tough one to swallow in terms of going that long into the game (without conceding).

“In terms of the performance, it was another team performance in the right direction.

“As a group we are looking at the positives – you have to look at the overall performance.

“We have to accept what’s happened and move forward.

“The gameplan was to nullify them in spaces we know they can hit you on the break – I thought we did that on the balance of the game.

“I thought apart from a couple of incidents, we limited to them to long-range efforts.”

Counterpart Liam Rosenior was adamant Hull were good value for the victory – even if it was achieved so late in the game.

He said: “I’m really proud because sometimes teams can lose faith in what they are doing.

“This method of (possession-based) play ties the opposition up – I think we had about 80 per cent of the ball – and, normally, chances to come towards the end of the game.

‘I think from minute one to minute 100 we showed our quality and were dominant all game.

“My team, with his group of players, have not lost two games in a row. They are learning as they go which is exciting for me.

“There wasn’t anyone in the stadium who would argue we didn’t deserve three points.”

Hull struggled at home earlier in the season, but they have now won back-to-back games at the MKM Stadium and are only outside the top six on goal difference.

Rosenior added: “Liam got his just rewards – he probably could have scored three or four.

“I’m very proud of the group, but I just want to see more goals. The intent is there – I think everyone can see that.

“But when you have that much control you can be a little bit more risky and make positive changes.

“Fair play to Darren. His side were so resilient and difficult to break down and, in time, he will get the results the club needs.

“For us to break them down in the manner that we did gives us a lot of confidence.”

Dundee boss Tony Docherty is refusing to get carried away despite the thumping 4-0 cinch Premiership win over St Mirren at Dens Park.

The Dark Blues beat the Buddies thanks to an Amadou Bakayoko double, with Zak Rudden and Zach Robinson also on the scoresheet.

The emphatic win moved Dundee up to fifth in the table, just two points behind third-top St Mirren.

However, Docherty insists everyone at Dens will be keeping their feet firmly planted on the ground.

The 52-year-old said: “I thought it was an overall fantastic team performance. It doesn’t surprise me, we’ve been showing levels of real quality.

“We picked them off and the real pleasing aspect for me is that teams are always going on about us scoring from set plays. But we scored two goals from open play.

“To get all your strikers on the scoresheet and to get a clean sheet is particularly pleasing.

“As a squad and as a staff we will never get carried away. It’s always about your next game and it’s always about improvement.

“We’ll dust ourselves down, it’s just one game and we’ll take the three points and look forward to another game here at home to Hibs.”

St Mirren had been affected by a sickness bug with skipper Mark O’Hara missing the game but boss Stephen Robinson insisted it was just a very bad day at the office.

He said: “I think I would be making excuses. As a collective and myself included, it wasn’t good enough.

“We started really poorly and we got a wake-up call when Rudden hit the post – we were sleeping.

“But we didn’t respond to it. Probably the biggest disappointment is we made it very clear as a group that set plays were their biggest threat.

“Every single player had an off day outwith Scott Tanser who got pass marks just.

“We haven’t become a bad team overnight. We will get criticised for the performance and rightly so.

“I maintain we need to stay in the division. That hasn’t changed.

“We are a good side with good players and good characters who will respond.

“We have had a very good start to the season, the league table doesn’t lie overall and we deserve to be where we are.

“But certainly on the performance today it is a reset – it needs to be reset and we need to get back to doing what we were doing before.”

Craig Short experienced a wave of emotion as he witnessed his Oxford side record a 3-2 away win at Leyton Orient.

Appointed on an interim basis after boss Liam Manning resigned earlier in the week before joining Bristol City, he saw the U’s take a three-goal lead with a double from Ruben Rodrigues and a goal by Billy Bodin before a Fin Stevens own goal and a strike by leading scorer Ruel Sotiriou gave Orient a lifeline.

“It was a fantastic game for the neutral but awful emotionally for us in the dugout,” Short admitted. “You always feel like that but for them to score so soon after we got the third goal put them on the front foot.

“I said to the lads after the game if you’re playing against a football-playing side it can be more predictable but because they were so for direct and overloaded the box it created problems and that’s the way it happens sometime.

“But we managed it fairly well and the subs made a difference for us.

“Just because we started well the first then minutes you can’t expect to come away from home and win the game. They came back and we weathered the storm in the first half and then got the two goals and the third in the second half which we needed.

“It wasn’t pretty but Orient have had one defeat in nine so it’s a scalp for us away from home.”

Asked about his prospects of keeping the job on a permanent basis, he responded: “Personally I’m just getting on with it. I’ve enjoyed the responsibility and am lucky to have great people around me who care about the club.”

O’s boss Richie Wellens said: “For the first 50 minutes it was very reminiscent of the Portsmouth league game where we played well in parts but conceded just before half-time.

“We just didn’t affect the game and looked like we were a team feeling sorry for ourselves. I am proud we responded when we were 3-0 down. We got a response straight away but I am disappointed we didn’t stick to the game plan so it was frustrating.

“We thought they had certain weaknesses where we could play forward and dominate them physically and when we had patches where we stuck to that it caused problems.

“We found ourselves 2-0 down but it was only because of our own mistakes and they could have had a couple more but I never felt like they would cause us problems or cut us open on the counter-attack.

“We showed a little bit of lack of experience but I was proud of the players and we have still got a lot of improvement in us.”

Deflated boss Andy Crosby criticised Port Vale’s naivety after Olamide Shodipo’s last-gasp equaliser for Lincoln saw his side’s winless run stretch to nine Sky Bet League One games with a 1-1 draw.

The Valiants looked set to land an elusive win after Ben Garrity’s first-half effort, but substitute Shodipo slid in late on to steal a share of the spoils at Sincil Bank.

Both sides ended with 10 men after Oliver Arblaster and Paudie O’Connor both saw red in an eventful second half.

“It feels like a defeat,” said Crosby. “It was naive defending at a crucial moment trying to win a ball you can’t win.

“The one clear-cut chance they have in the game and they score.

“It’s very raw and it’s tough to take at this moment in time.

“We lose a player in the second half and that’s naivety again. You’re on a yellow card and you give the referee a decision to make.

“The referee then evens the game up and we go 10-v-10 and they were in the ascendency then.

“A little lapse of concentration and we conceded late on. It’s frustrating.

“For all our good play we still missed chances. We’ve got to become more ruthless.

“This game is unforgiving, just like life sometimes. When you’ve got a team on the rack like then then you’ve got to score and take the game away from them.

“We’re 16 games in and we’re a really nice team to look at and from box to box but we lack that clinical edge. They’re got to find it themselves and we’ve got to find it collectively.”

The Imps recovered from a slow start, which frustrated the home fans, to seal a late point.

Interim boss Tom Shaw said: “It wasn’t a good start, but good sides and good players come through that and we’ve shown that with how strongly we’ve finished in the end.

“I thought we were outstanding with the ball 10-v-10. I thought we were bold with every tactical change we made.

“We’ve had 70 per cent of the ball in the second half and nine opportunities. It felt like we had an extra man.

“We were really pleased with how the lads went about it. There are two ways to try and chase it; you can either lump it into the box or play with more control. We challenged them to do that and they did.

“If the fans were frustrated then that’s something we’re trying to improve and evolve. But we don’t have the profile of a number nine so we have to try and find other ways to get into the box.

“I hope the supporters can see how well we executed that in the second half.

“We finished the game strong and ran out of time to win it.”

Daniel Farke admitted his Leeds side made life complicated in a 2-1 win over Plymouth at Elland Road which keeps them in the automatic promotion race.

Leeds controlled the first half but were nearly caught out after the Pilgrims grabbed a late goal.

Dan James gave Leeds an early lead as he curled in, and Joel Piroe doubled the advantage in another dominant first-half display which the home side failed to build on after the interval.

Substitute Ben Waine’s late consolation ensured a nervous finish for the home fans.

Farke said: “I take the three points all day long. If you would have offered me a 2-1 win before the game, I would have taken it.

“It was an outstanding win at Leicester and the training week was too easy. I was waiting for a sucker punch.

“The result was perfect and obviously when you are so dominant like we were in the first half and the chances we had in the second half, if you don’t score the goals in the second half there is a good and brave opponent who plays with freedom and goes for it.

“Our defending was excellent, in the second half they had one chance and they scored a goal. I was pleased we didn’t allow them one more chance to score. We made our life more complicated that it should have been.”

Leeds created plenty of early pressure and took the lead when James curled home from the edge of the area after Kaine Kesler-Hayden gave the ball away with 20 minutes gone.

Crysencio Summerville played in Piroe behind the Plymouth back line, and he slid the ball between goalkeeper Michael Cooper’s legs just before the half hour to make it 2-0.

Plymouth proved more of a threat in the second half and scored with five minutes remaining as Luke Cundle chased a ball down the right and crossed low for Waine to turn home from close range.

Steven Schumacher felt his side had acquitted themselves well against a team pushing for promotion to the Premier League.

He said: “For 20 minutes in the first half I thought we did OK. We limited Leeds to a few chances on goal.

“The only disappointing thing in the first half was the two errors in front of our own box.
Against a top team with quality players, we got punished.

“Second half obviously we were a bit better. We had nothing to lose with 25 minutes, half an hour to go. I am really pleased with the effort against a top team.”

Schumacher was happy with the impact of his substitutes.

He said: “We always say it whether you start a game or come off the bench it’s important you know your role. I thought Ben Waine gave us a focal point at the top end of the pitch.”

Schumacher also felt his side should have had a first-half penalty.

“The one when Bali (Mumba) went into the box you could hear the contact. I asked why that wasn’t a foul and was told it was a coming together. If we had gone in 2-1 at half time it would have given us confidence.

“Our lads give us absolutely everything they have got. When we got that goal, we had a great chance to get an equaliser. I’m proud of the lads that we kept going.”

Falkirk consolidated their place at the top of cinch League One with a 2-1 win over bottom club Edinburgh City.

Innes Murray had given the visitors an unexpected lead in the ninth minute.

Aidan Nesbitt, though, hauled the Bairns level just before half-time and Ross Maciver struck in the 66th minute to complete the turnaround.

Second-placed Hamilton kept up the pressure with a 5-0 win over Stirling at New Douglas Park, where Kevin O’Hara scored a hat-trick.

O’Hara opened the scoring in the 14th minute, with Euan Henderson doubling the lead ahead of half-time.

It was 3-0 when O’Hara struck again just before the hour, with Henderson then getting his second before O’Hara completed his treble with 12 minutes left.

Stirling finished with 10 men after a late red card for substitute Dale Hilson.

In-form Cove Rangers sit fourth after Rumarn Burrell’s early goal gave them a 1-0 win at Kelty Hearts, which was a fourth straight league victory.

Montrose were held to a 1-1 draw at home by strugglers Annan.

Tommy Goss put the visitors ahead from a first-half penalty, but Kerr Waddell had the Gable Endies level with 20 minutes left.

Alloa beat Queen of the South 1-0 with a goal from Alistair Roy just after the hour.

In League Two, Joe McKee’s late goal gave leaders Peterhead a 3-2 win over Stranraer.

Second-placed Dumbarton won 1-0 at East Fife with an early strike from Kalvin Orsi.

Matthew Aitken struck twice in the space of three minutes midway through the second half as Stenhousemuir battled to a 3-2 win over Spartans at Ochilview Park.

Elgin City climbed off the bottom with a 2-0 win over Bonnyrigg Rose, with goals either side of half-time from Rory MacEwan and Connal Ewan.

Clyde dropped to the foot of the table after a 1-1 draw at Forfar.

Connor Young put the Bully Wee ahead in the 71st minute which looked enough for a crucial win, only for Stuart Morrison to score an 89th-minute equaliser.

Jamie Reid scored the only goal of the game but Stevenage’s 1-0 win at Wycombe was overshadowed by serious injuries to two home players.

An aerial challenge between Boro captain Carl Piergianni and Wycombe forward Brandon Hanlan resulted in the latter being stretchered off with a shoulder injury.

The delay saw 14 minutes of additional time in the first half, during which Wanderers hit the crossbar after a Luke Leahy free-kick was flicked towards his own goal by Piergianni.

Max Stryjek was then forced into a low save from an Alex MacDonald effort before Kane Hemmings’ low cross was stabbed home by Reid in the final minute of stoppage time for his 13th of the season and fourth in as many games.

Wycombe huffed and puffed to find an equaliser as Tjay De Barr headed wide while David Wheeler smashed the bar with a first-time drive.

And with 10 minutes to go, the game entered another lengthy stoppage as Leahy received medical assistance before going off on a stretcher.

Stevenage saw out the remainder of the game to stay in the play-off places as Wycombe dropped to 12th.

Katie Boulter pulled Great Britain level in their Billie Jean King Cup play-off against Sweden after a nervous Jodie Burrage suffered a nightmare debut.

The 24-year-old appeared to have settled well when she opened up a 4-0 lead on Kajsa Rinaldo Persson, ranked nearly 300 places lower, in the first match at London’s Copper Box but she then lost eight games in a row and fell to a 6-4 6-1 defeat.

Britain were overwhelming favourites going into the tie to win it and stay at the elite level of the competition, with Sweden missing their two highest-ranked players through injury.

And they should yet find a way through after Boulter again proved a steady pair of hands, defeating 532nd-ranked Caijsa Hennemann 6-2 6-1 to leave the tie level at 1-1 heading into Sunday’s concluding day, where two more wins are needed to secure overall victory.

Whether Burrage gets another chance must be highly questionable, with captain Anne Keothavong also able to call upon the more experienced Harriet Dart or Heather Watson.

Rankings often are not a great indicator of success in this competition and Burrage is far from the first player to fail to handle the occasion, but even by those standards this was some collapse.

She made 23 unforced errors in the first set alone, often missing by feet rather than inches as Persson’s comeback gathered pace, and lost 12 of the last 13 games.

The occasion has been a long time in coming for Burrage, who was unhappy to be overlooked for the last two teams, and she fought back tears as she said: “This event is nothing like (anything else) in tennis.

“I’m very proud to represent my country, I’m very disappointed that I didn’t get everyone a win today. That is going to stick with me for a while.

“It’s tough to take. I have not felt like this, and even the nerves before, ever, even stepping out onto Centre Court doesn’t compare to this.

“It’s so different when you’re playing for a team. That type of pressure I’ve never really understood before, and I don’t think you ever do until you do it. That’s why it hurts even more because I’m hurting for other people.”

Boulter spoke about a full-circle moment on Friday after finally making it back into the top 100 this season, four years after the back injury she suffered in leading Britain to victory over Kazakhstan at the same venue, which ruled her out for more than six months.

There have never been any concerns about the 27-year-old’s ability to produce on the big stage and although, like Persson, Hennemann played well above her ranking, Boulter was able to overpower her from the back of the court.

The world number 58 opened up early leads in both sets and saved all five break points she faced.

Conor McGrandles scored a stoppage-time equaliser to earn Charlton a 2-2 draw at League One leaders Portsmouth in a pulsating game at Fratton Park.

Abu Kamara put Pompey ahead at the break and, after Alfie May levelled in the 71st minute, Colby Bishop quickly restored the lead from the spot.

But McGrandles struck in the third minute of added time to earn the Addicks a point.

Pompey’s early bombardment bore little fruit, with just an Alex Robertson effort to show for it.

Charlton grew more into the game and could have gone ahead with efforts from Miles Leaburn and May.

But in the 32nd minute Kamara fired beyond Ashley Maynard-Brewer from 20 yards to put Pompey ahead after a half-cleared corner.

Pompey were close to a second in the 57th minute when a Bishop header was pushed brilliantly over the crossbar by Maynard-Brewer.

Kamara and Bishop both hit the bar before Charlton equalised when May drove a shot between Will Norris’ legs.

Pompey regained the lead with a 76th-minute penalty after Maynard-Brewer clattered into Paddy Lane and Bishop scored the spot-kick.

But Charlton refused to lay down and McGrandles headed home to salvage a point.

© 2024 SportsMaxTV All Rights Reserved.