Relegation-battling Burton secured their first away league win since October by beating Bristol Rovers 2-1 at the Memorial Stadium.

Goals from Ciaran Gilligan and Mark Helm were enough to move the Brewers five points clear of the League One relegation zone.

Ciaran Gilligan put the visitors ahead two minutes before half-time with his first senior goal. The Albion academy product’s looping shot beat Gas goalkeeper Jed Ward.

Martin Paterson’s side strengthened their grip on the contest in the 57th minute when midfielder Helm coolly drove a shot beyond Ward following good work by Crystal Palace loanee Ademola Ola-Adebomi.

That sparked the hosts into life and Rovers skipper Antony Evans gave his side hope on the hour mark when he beat goalkeeper Max Crocombe with low shot from outside the penalty box after being teed up by substitute Jevani Brown.

Evans went close to equalising with a long-range effort but the Albion defence looked comfortable as they saw the game out and the contest ended with Rovers fans booing Matt Taylor’s side.

Funso Ojo’s last-gasp penalty rescued a point for Port Vale in a 2-2 draw at home to Stevenage.

Terence Vancooten had scored a goal at each end as Stevenage came from behind to lead into stoppage time.

Jamie Reid had cancelled out Vancooten’s own goal, and the Guyana international made amends for his earlier error with a second goal.

But a handball by Dan Butler late on gave Ojo the chance to snatch a point, which he took from 12 yards.

Vancooten’s own goal came just six minutes in, when Vale striker James Wilson sent Gavin Massey clear on the right and his low ball across the area was turned in by the defender.

Vale almost doubled the lead six minutes later, with Massey slipping the ball inside to Wilson and he drilled a low shot that keeper Craig MacGillivray did well to push wide.

Ethan Chislett was guilty of a glaring miss on 20 minutes. Ghosting between two Boro defenders he met Conor Grant’s cross but mistimed his header and sent it high over the bar.

Stevenage drew level six minutes after the restart. Nick Freeman’s cross was met by Carl Piergianni, whose downward header bounced off the bar. Reid reacted first and tapped in his 15th of the season.

Just before the hour mark Stevenage led through Vancooten. Freeman pulled the ball back and, though surrounded by defenders, he was able to roll it inside the far post.

Boro’s Finley Burns had a fine chance to settle the match five minutes from time but he blazed over and then came the late drama as Vale grabbed a draw with Ojo’s spot-kick.

Slumping Oxford missed the chance to climb back into the League One play-off places as they were held to a 1-1 draw at top-six rivals Blackpool.

The Tangerines led through a goal from Matt Pennington in the first half but Mark Harris got the visitors back level three minutes later.

United could not find a second as their winless run extended to five games, leaving them a point behind sixth-placed Stevenage and five clear of their opponents in eighth.

A header from Pennington opened the scoring in the 18th minute after Blackpool captain Ollie Norburn found the centre-back from an Albie Morgan corner.

Oxford were quickly level when Elliot Moore set up Harris to finish from close range following a scramble in the Blackpool box.

The U’s continued their pressure and Harris was denied a second after his goal-bound shot was impressively blocked by defender Marvin Ekpiteta.

Oxford went within inches of an 87th-minute winner but Billy Bodin’s header struck the woodwork as their wait for a victory extended to a month.

Paddy Lane cemented Portsmouth’s place at the Sky Bet League One summit with the game’s only goal as the leaders defeated bottom side Carlisle 1-0 at Brunton Park.

Lane scored his 10th goal of the campaign – and third in two games – to break the Cumbrians’ stubborn resistance after 62 minutes.

But the scorer was indebted to substitute Abu Kamara’s surging run and incisive through-ball minutes after coming off the bench.

Portsmouth’s victory completed a league double over Paul Simpson’s side and condemned their hosts to a sixth successive defeat.

That is Carlisle’s worst run in the league for more than two decades and they also set an unwanted club record of 25 league games without a clean sheet.

The now 46-point gulf between the teams was not, however, always evident.

Portsmouth were not at their best, notably in the first half when Carlisle’s Jordan Lane went close several times.

Tom Lowery almost broke the stalemate for Pompey, roared on by 1,848 travelling fans, only to hit a post after 34 minutes, leaving Lane to finally settle the contest.

Lincoln secured a long-awaited first home league win since October with a comeback 2-1 victory against 10-man Fleetwood.

Promise Omochere fired the Cod Army in front, but the game was turned on its head when Bosun Lawal was sent off for a second bookable offence in first-half stoppage time at Sincil Bank.

And the Imps ended a painful eight-game wait for a win in front of their home fans through second-half goals from Ben House and Lasse Sorensen.

The game sprung into live when Omochere nipped between the defence and Lukas Jensen to poke the visitors ahead.

Lawal was booked twice in seven minutes to be shown a red card. First he felled Ed Bishop and was then sent for an early bath for his part in a melee.

Lincoln took full advantage as House rose highest to head home Reeco Hackett-Fairchild’s cross.

And four minutes later Hackett-Fairchild stood up another cross which fell kindly for Sorensen to smash home.

Conor McGrandles could have put the game to bed but was denied by a super Jay Lynch save.

Aaron Pierre scored late on to cancel out a Max Bird strike and earn Shrewsbury a 1-1 draw at Derby.

Shrewsbury closed Derby down at every opportunity and denied the home side a clear sight at goal until the 25th minute when James Collins just failed to connect with a free-kick.

Derby had another chance in the 34th minute with Nathaniel Mendez-Laing cutting in from the left and unleashing a shot which Marko Marosi pushed away.

The visitors had done a good job of stifling Derby but their resistance was broken in the 54th minute when a corner picked out Bird who fired a low shot under Marosi from 15 yards.

Marosi kept his side in it by turning a Conor Hourihane free-kick behind and that proved crucial when Shrewsbury equalised in the 87th minute.

Mal Benning got behind Derby on the left and pulled the ball back for Pierre to drive a low shot past Joe Wildsmith.

In a frantic finish, Wildsmith denied Carl Winchester before Curtis Nelson struck the Shrewsbury bar.

New Charlton boss Nathan Jones suffered a 2-0 defeat at fellow strugglers Reading on his return to management after almost a year out.

Jones, sacked by Southampton on February 12 last year after just 95 days in charge, saw his side fortunate to still be level at the break at the SCL Stadium.

The Addicks were indebted to goalkeeper Harry Isted for making fine saves to deny Lewis Wing and Sam Smith twice, but Reading finally broke the deadlock in the second half, with Femi Azeez hitting a double in 10 minutes to ensure that Jones endured an unhappy return.

Jones took over a faltering Charlton side that had not won in 12 league games but, in contrast, Reading had lost only twice in 14 outings.

The visitors started the better but Reading created the first opening when Isted did well to tip over a fierce angled drive from Wing.

Isted also kept out a precise volley from Smith and then another goalbound Smith effort after the striker had cut in from the left flank.

Charlton showed more adventure in the second half but, after Lloyd Jones and Tyreeq Bakinson had missed half-chances, Azeez hooked in his first goal in the 66th minute.

The Addicks then failed to clear an Amadou Mbengue long throw 10 minutes later and Azeez thundered home a volley to secure the victory.

Former Wigan captain and manager Gary Caldwell enjoyed his first return to the DW Stadium as an opposition boss after his Exeter side recorded a 2-1 victory in Sky Bet League One.

Wigan came flying out of the traps and Thelo Aasgaard could have had a brace inside the opening 10 minutes.

First, the Norway Under-21 international saw a header well saved by Viljami Sinisalo before he saw a free-kick tipped round the post by the goalkeeper.

However, it was the visitors who took the lead with their first effort after 10 minutes when Mo Eisa’s long-range strike took a huge deflection off Charlie Goode which gave Sam Tickle no chance.

Luke Harris then fired just wide of the far post as Exeter continued to press before Martial Godo sent a free header for Wigan straight at Sinisalo.

Spurred on by a triple substitution at the break, Wigan threatened as on-loan QPR striker Charlie Kelman – one of the new January signings – saw a shot well saved by Sinisalo.

Stephen Humphrys then took over from Godo, but Wigan’s task looked forlorn when Jack Aitchison’s shot took another huge diversion off Scott Smith on its way past Tickle with 24 minutes to go.

Wigan pulled one back after 71 minutes when Kelman followed up well after Humphrys’ shot was parried by Sinisalo, but the visitors held on.

Cheltenham won 1-0 at Cambridge in League One to secure their first away win of 2024.

They made the decisive breakthrough on 65 minutes when Jordan Cousins lost possession, allowing Will Ferry to feed Matty Taylor who fired past Jack Stevens via the far post.

In the first half the Robins had seen a goal disallowed when Taylor’s shot was diverted in by George Lloyd on 12 minutes, only for the offside flag to go up.

Cambridge had three good chances in the first half, with keeper Luke Southwood doing well to deny both Lyle Taylor and Jack Lankester. Lyle Taylor also pulled back for Elias Kachunga to fire over.

On the hour Lankester was played in on goal and rounded Southwood, but chose to square the ball and failed to find a team-mate.

Matty Taylor then opened the scoring but the Us pressed to get back into the game, missing a great chance 10 minutes from the end when Lyle Taylor centred for sub Macauley Bonne who miscued wide from close range.

Carlos Mendes Gomes scored late on to rescue a point for 10-man Bolton from a 1-1 draw at Northampton.

Kieron Bowie struck early to put the Cobblers on course for all three points but Mendes Gomes’ header kept Bolton within a point of the top two in Sky Bet League One.

Northampton took the lead inside just two minutes when Marc Leonard’s free-kick hit the goal frame and rebounded to Bowie, who beat Joel Coleman at his near post.

Jon Guthrie’s vital clearance denied Bolton an immediate leveller and Dion Charles dragged a shot wide, but Bolton’s hopes were dealt a major blow in the 28th minute when George Thomason was shown a straight red card after a strong challenge on Aaron McGowan.

Coleman was at full stretch to deny Will Hondermarck late in the first half before Bolton boss Ian Evatt was sent off for an incident in the tunnel at half-time.

Bolton upped the tempo in the second half and eventually found an equaliser with 16 minutes left to play when Northampton only half cleared a corner and Mendes Gomes headed in via the frame of the goal.

The home side came closest to winning it when Guthrie’s stoppage-time header dropped just wide.

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.”

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.”

Ronan Coughlan and Jayden Stockley were again on target as Fleetwood continued their League One survival mission with a 2-0 win at Bristol Rovers.

Coughlan grabbed his second goal in two games and Jayden Stockley his third in three as Charlie Adam’s side claimed a second consecutive victory, leaving them six points from safety.

Former Rovers academy player Ryan Broom swung over a deep cross in the 20th minute that eventually fell to Carl Johnston on the opposite flank, for the Northern Irishman to centre again. Stockley then cleverly headed back for Coughlan to swivel in the area and give the visitors a deserved lead.

Stockley doubled the lead when he headed in a Gavin Kilkenny corner, rising unmarked in the area after 52 minutes.

Chris Martin might have converted a low Antony Evans cross after 10 minutes for the home side, but Jay Lynch saved at close range, while winger Luke Thomas spurned a good chance when he collected an Evans back-heel but could not convert after half an hour.

Lynch saved from substitute John Marquis with seven minutes remaining to extinguish any late hope for the hosts, as Martin was sent off for a second yellow card in second-half stoppage time to add to Rovers’ woes.