Gillingham’s play-off hopes took another dent with a second defeat in five days in Yorkshire.

Easter Monday’s 5-1 thrashing by Harrogate was followed with a 1-0 loss at Bradford.

Jake Turner, who was recalled in Gillingham’s goal after nine games out, made a good early block to deny Andy Cook.

But the visitors must have been wondering how they trailed at half-time.

Sam Walker tipped over Oli Hawkins’ header from Remeao Hutton’s cross before Daniel Oyegoke pulled off a goal-line clearance to deny former Bradford midfielder Timothee Dieng.

Bradford goalkeeper Walker then left Gillingham defender Conor Masterson holding his head in disbelief with a superb reaction save.

The hosts made the most of Walker’s heroics by taking the lead just before half-time as Brad Halliday marked his 100th appearance for the club with a left-footed finish from outside the box that went through the diving Turner.

Tyreik Wright shot wide and then saw another effort beaten out by Turner, who also pushed Cook’s header over the crossbar.

Substitute Josh Andrews had Gillingham’s best chance but they went home pointless.

Paul Glatzel continued his fine recent goalscoring form as Swindon stunned Sky Bet League Two promotion-chasing Barrow with a 2-0 victory at Holker Street.

Williams Kokolo curled a left-footed shot into the top corner to give Town a 35th-minute lead with his first goal for the club and first for more than two years.

In contrast, former Liverpool youngster Glatzel now has six since moving to the County Ground in January.

And his latest effort just before the break was his fourth in as many games.

Barrow went unbeaten in March and a 14-point haul made them serious play-off contenders.

Instead, the Cumbrians have lost their last two outings though Pete Wild’s side was not without chances.

Cole Stockton had a goal disallowed for offside, Stockton and Dom Telford had chances cleared off the line and – as Barrow chased the game late on – substitute Emile Acquah hit the crossbar with a header.

Swindon’s win was only the fourth in 14 games for interim boss Gavin Gunning, while counterpart Wild was booked on a forgettable 100th match in charge.

Grant McCann spoke of his pride in his Doncaster side as they beat promotion-chasing Wrexham to claim a fifth consecutive win in League Two.

Owen Bailey’s header late in the first half was enough to decide the game 1-0 and see Rovers continue their impressive run of form late in the campaign.

“It was a really good performance from us,” McCann said.

“I was really proud of the boys. I thought we were really good as a team defensively. They were always going to have a bit of a spell and in the last 10 or 15 minutes they just kept getting bigger and bigger with the subs they were putting on.

“We wanted to be aggressive against them and I think you saw that over the first 75 minutes. We stepped off it after that and we didn’t get to the ball quick enough so they put a bit of pressure on.

“But apart from that, for 75 minutes I thought we were very, very good. It’s another clean sheet, a good performance, three points and a good win. We had a lot of fans here. I asked them to come out after the last game and they did create a great atmosphere.

“Hopefully they can see a team working very hard for this football club and for them as well.”

Wrexham boss Phil Parkinson bemoaned a lack of ruthlessness from his side as they missed the opportunity to extend their advantage in the automatic-promotion places.

Parkinson felt the Welsh outfit improved in the second half but did not pressure Doncaster enough, leaving them two points clear of fourth-placed MK Dons.

“We had a chance to put a decent gap between ourselves and the chasing pack below but couldn’t take it,” Parkinson said.

“Doncaster are top of the form table and have got their injured players back, so we knew they were a good team, but so are we.

“We just weren’t really at the races in the first half and they were sharper than us and their quality was better. We had patches of good play but we gave the ball away cheaply and we let too many crosses come into our box and got punished for that.

“We then had a real go in the second half and were a bit unlucky with the goal that was disallowed for offside because that was a very borderline decision. Their keeper has also made a great save from Steven Fletcher right at the end but we did not work him enough.

“There were decisive moments when we were not ruthless enough and, if we had have been, that could have got us back into the game.”

Doncaster dented Wrexham’s League Two automatic-promotion hopes with a 1-0 victory at the Eco-Power Stadium.

Owen Bailey headed home his first goal in the English Football League just before the break to secure Rovers a fifth consecutive win and leave Wrexham third, two points above MK Dons.

There was little between the two sides throughout the first half, though Doncaster had the better of the opportunities.

Maxime Biamou twice turned narrowly wide from Luke Molyneux deliveries with a scuffed header from Ollie Palmer the best chance for Wrexham.

The hosts took the lead after 44 minutes when former Newcastle youth-team player Bailey met a James Maxwell cross and headed home at the back post.

The tempo of the game upped in the second half, with both teams exchanging opportunities.

Both Biamou and Maxwell saw shots blocked on the line for Doncaster while Arthur Okonkwo pushed a curling Molyneux strike away from goal.

Wrexham looked to have found an equaliser in the 77th minute when Paul Mullin turned in from close range, only to be flagged offside.

Rovers keeper Thimothee Lo-Tutala produced a brilliant save deep into added time to keep out Steven Fletcher’s header.

Colchester boss Danny Cowley insisted he was only interested in his own team’s results after seeing them slip into the League Two drop zone following a 1-1 draw at Tranmere.

Kieron Morris and Alistair Smith traded goals in the early stages and the point means that, with Sutton and Forest Green both picking up victories, Colchester drop into the bottom two, a point from safety, albeit with three games in hand.

Cowley said: “I think it was a good point and that means we take four from the weekend.

“Since Nigel Adkins took over, Tranmere have got one of the best home records in the division and we tried to win the game, anyone who was here could see that.

“It wasn’t an easy first half an hour and we lost the ball too often and it was all a bit untidy, so that didn’t make it easy, but in the second half I thought we were the better team.

“That goal from Alistair Smith was one hell of a strike, he looked like he was going to score on Friday and it just didn’t happen, so what a fantastic strike.

“We have three games in hand on Sutton and Forest Green but we can’t control any of that, so why would I put any energy looking at the other teams around us?

“It’s all about the focus on us and what we can do. We now have a run of home games that we will be looking forward to and I’m going to put every minute of every day into trying to help us get better.”

Rovers took the lead in the seventh minute when Morris headed home from close range after some nice work from Rob Apter down the right.

But with the home fans still celebrating, United were level when Smith’s strike from the edge of the area beat Luke McGee in the Tranmere goal and found the bottom corner.

Rovers came close to restoring the lead through Apter, Jennings and Regan Hendry, while Bradley Ihionvien was denied by McGee on the stroke of half time.

Cameron McGeehan and Arthur Read both came close for the visitors after the break, with Owen Goodman denying Morris a second at the other end before substitute Josh Hawkes almost won it for Tranmere at the death.

Tranmere manager Adkins said: “On another day we could have scored five or six, Kieron Morris alone could have scored five but he scored a good goal as it was and their goalkeeper was exceptional.

“We certainly gave it a good go today and at a time of the season when some people question the mentality of the players, we were up for it all the way through.

“We started brightly, got on the front foot and scored, but the biggest annoyance for me is conceding straight from kick-off.

“It was a good strike from the lad to be fair, but we were in there, made some good chances and played some good football, it’s just a shame we didn’t capitalise on that first goal.

“From my point of view, I know I’ve got a group of players who are trying and working and grafting for each other.”

Gillingham manager Stephen Clemence admitted he was “very angry” following his side’s error-strewn 5-1 hammering at Harrogate.

The Gills started the afternoon in League Two’s final play-off place but, despite taking a half-time lead through George Lapslie’s header, succumbed to second-half replies from Anthony O’Connor, Matty Daly (two), Jack Muldoon and Abaraham Odoh.

It was the first time the Kent outfit had lost a game after scoring first since January 2022 and saw the club drop to ninth in the standings, with Clemence fuming: “I want to apologise to all of our fans because what I saw in the second half from the players was not acceptable one little bit.

“We put ourselves in a really good position, but the individual errors that we made in the second half were disturbing and I don’t normally say that. We made a couple of mistakes and then got rattled.

“I don’t want to swear, so I’ll just say we were not very good at all after that and we need a reaction now in the next game, because I’m very angry. People’s heads went and we left too much space on the pitch and I don’t ever want to see that again and the players have been told that.

“I accept that people make mistakes, but you can’t follow one mistake with another and another and another, because you end up with a result like that. The plan was to give the players two days off, but they will be in now for both of them.”

In contrast, home boss Simon Weaver confirmed his players would be given a two-day break as the Sulphurites moved to within four points of a top-seven spot.

“We just want to be fighting until the last ball is kicked,” Weaver declared. “We’ve only gone up one place but we’ve also made up a point and, at this stage of the season, that’s huge for us.

“We’ll have two days off now to rest minds, as well as bodies, to come back refreshed and looking forward to another big game at a big ground against Notts County.

“Hopefully, we can have a repeat performance. I can’t promise the same scoreline, but I’ll be looking for another whole-hearted and positive display.”

Praising his players’ response to trailing at the interval, Weaver added: “I really enjoyed the second half after the first had been a bit of a struggle.

“At half-time, we just asked for a positive reaction and that’s what the lads delivered. We got straight on to the front foot and the subs then gave us fresh legs.

“We got some good momentum going and scored some good goals. Everybody stepped up and, while I don’t think the win was as easy as the scoreline suggests, we were very clinical.”

Steve Cotterill praised the resilience of Forest Green’s players as the EFL’s bottom club won 3-0 at Crewe.

The Sky Bet League Two strugglers swept into a three-goal lead before the half-hour mark at Gresty Road and then defended the lead impressively in the second half, helped by some outstanding goalkeeping by Vicente Reyes.

Jordan Garrick netted twice and Jamie Robson added the third in a purple patch for the visitors during which Emmanuel Osadebe also hit a post.

“I am pleased with the win; we kept a clean sheet and scored three good goals,” said Cotterill.

“At the moment we’d be thankful for any win, so to win 3-0 at a team near the top is very good.

“We’ve had an incredibly difficult run since I have been here, but the lads were fantastic today.

“They were really determined and, while confidence is a word that hasn’t been high on the agenda this season, the determination and resilience we showed today was excellent.

“We’d won four games when I came in and now in a couple of months we’ve won five, so that is a huge upturn. It has taken a lot of hard work and I’m delighted for everyone at the club as there’s not been a lot to cheer this season.

“For Jordan Garrick to get on the scoresheet was good and I thought Christian Doidge and Jamie Robson were outstanding. Jamie set the tempo for us, so much so the boys gave him a round of applause in the dressing room afterwards.”

Garrick finished in the 13th-minute after Dodge capitalised on a mistake by Ed Turns and broke to slip clear his strike partner.

Forest Green then stunned the home crowd into boos and howling at their own players with two goals in as many minutes. Dominic Thompson’s corner was headed downwards by Ryan Inniss and Garrick bundled the ball over the line.

Robson then applied a glancing header to Charlie McCann’s cross to find the far corner for the third.

Crewe hit back after the interval and Reyes kept out an Elliott Nevitt volley at close range.

Charlie Kirk’s side-footed effort came back off the woodwork and looked to be over the line, but the officials waved away home appeals.

Crewe boss Lee Bell urged his players to respond to the setback as the Railwaymen’s barren run continued – they have won only won one of their last six games to hit their hopes of securing automatic promotion.

“I want to apologise to Crewe fans for the manner of that defeat,” said Bell.

“The first half was totally unacceptable. We had a really good crowd of over 5,000 and the club worked hard to get more supporters in, but what they saw in the first half was not was what we have been like this season.

“If we want to stay in the play-offs that’s got to stop quickly. The players were down on the floor afterwards and it is my job to pick them up.

“We’ve got to embrace it and not shrink and disappear. This should galvanise the players as their pride should be hurt after that 30 minutes of football we showed in the first half.

“There’s four weeks of the season left and we’ve got to everything right to get in a position the fans expect us to be in.”

Walsall boss Mat Sadler believes Mo Faal’s late winner could be “gold dust” in the race for the League Two play-offs after his side revived their top-seven hopes by beating Salford 2-1.

The on-loan West Brom striker cut inside to lash the ball home in the third minute of second-half stoppage-time for his fourth goal since his January loan move, ending a four-game winless run for the Saddlers.

Salford midfielder Matty Lund had nodded home Ryan Watson’s cross to cancel out Jamille Matt’s early bullet header for the hosts before Faal popped up to win it at the death.

The victory ensured an immediate response to a 5-0 thrashing at MK Dons on Good Friday, putting Walsall three points off the play-off spots with games in hand on most of their rivals.

“It’s fair to say, it wasn’t vintage us,” said Sadler. “But the response was the most important thing. The game on Friday was sobering and the lads were desperate to put that right.

“We took a knockback by conceding but we kept on ploughing forward to try to get that win so I was delighted we all got that moment at the end. We got our rewards today.

“We’re getting to that time of the season where these late goals can be gold dust and mean a hell of a lot.

“Nothing was ever going to be decided today but, on the face of it, with the other results, it was important that we won.

“There will be loads of twists and turns to come but we are in the mix, we’re in the fight – we haven’t been in the fight for a few years as a football club.

“I don’t remember the last time we were in the fight for these play-off places so with six games to go, we’ve given ourselves a chance.”

Salford, meanwhile, are not safe from relegation as they sit nine points above the bottom two in 20th place but with sides below them picking up.

“No one likes losing but there are ways to lose,” said frustrated boss Karl Robinson.

“It’s a bitter one to take but it’s a learning process still, just trying to find that balance. I’ve seen more parts of our game that I liked than what I didn’t like.

“We dominated the football with some lovely moves. I thought we were very good and in the second half I thought we were the only team that was going to show any impetus to get a win.

“But then it’s silly, silly defending that’s cost us.

“If you looked at the game, I thought we dominated large parts of it and our energy levels looked incredible so I’m very proud from that point of view but I’m furious with the individual stupidity.”

Crawley manager Scott Lindsey believes his side can shock automatic promotion hopefuls Mansfield and Wrexham after a thumping 4-0 win at Newport.

First-half goals from Dion Conroy and Ronan Darcy and second-half strikes from Laurence Maguire and Adam Campbell saw the visitors cruise to victory at Rodney Parade.

The three points lifted Crawley to seventh in the table ahead of away trips to Mansfield and Wrexham over the next week and Lindsey hailed a perfect response to Friday’s 2-0 home defeat by Doncaster.

“We were disappointed with Friday’s result and performance – it was a missed opportunity and we wanted to put it right and we certainly did that,” said Lindsey.

“It’s a good performance away from home. It’s a tough place to come against a team who really press you hard, and we took the sting out of them by being good on the ball.

“I thought we didn’t really settle into the game for the first 25 minutes. But after that, I thought we performed really well.”

Lindsey insists he is not looking at other results as his side look to seal a top-seven spot.

“I’m not bothered about sending messages out; we just keep doing what we do, and we don’t care about what anybody else thinks,” he added.

“I don’t suppose it matters where we are now; it’s where we are on April 27 that really counts. Hopefully we’ll be in that spot then and we can look forward to an extended season, but we’ve just got to keep winning as many games as we can.

“We know we’ve got two really tough away games coming up against teams who are looking for automatic promotion, but my boys are really confident – we’ll take anyone on at the moment.”

A third straight defeat leaves County in 13th – seven points below Crawley – and manager Graham Coughlan admitted their faint play-off hopes are now over.

“I’ve let a lot of people down because I wanted to make the play-offs and I have failed,” said Coughlan.

“The fans have been brilliant and so have the players, they are a great group of lads.

“I feel for them because they are running on fumes, and we can’t turn to the bench. We don’t have the bodies to cope with the situation we’re in.

“Deep down I was desperate to make that type of challenge because there is no point in being in football if you are not winning, achieving and progressing.

“I wanted to try and keep the pressure off the lads and keep the expectations levels away. Deep down I always knew that we would come up short because of our [lack of] depth.”

Morecambe boss Ged Brannan hailed a “fantastic weekend” after his side sealed a second successive win to keep their play-off hopes very much alive.

The Shrimps followed up a 2-1 win over Accrington on Good Friday with a similar success against Barrow, with early goals from David Tutonda and Gwion Edwards giving them the advantage before Ben Whitfield’s 89th-minute strike ensured a frantic finale.

Brannan said: “It was a fantastic win for us and a fantastic weekend with two derby wins that keeps us right in there.

“I can’t praise the lads enough today because they showed what massive hearts they have. We started the game superbly and got two goals but they had us pinned in our half after the break and we had to show great character to seal the win.

“We said we would press them right from the start and it worked well for us and we got the two early goals. Our set-pieces were excellent today and put us in a good place but we had to show the other side of our game at the end to keep them at arm’s length and keep hold of the three points.”

Tutonda gave Morecambe the lead in the fourth minute when he got the final touch to a Charlie Brown corner.

And the home side doubled their lead seven minutes later when Barrow gave the ball away just outside their own area and Edwards was given a free run on goal to round Paul Farman and slot the ball home.

Barrow looked to hit back, with Archie Mair saving well from Cole Stockton in the first half and getting down to block a late Emile Acquah header.

The Bluebirds set up a frantic final when Whitfield scored from close range after Mair had saved from Sam Foley but the Shrimps held on to clinch the victory.

Barrow boss Pete Wild felt his side dominated possession but were undone by the two early goals.

He said: “It was a frustrating afternoon because we completely dominated but we conceded a poor set-piece early on and then gifted them a chance for a second.

“That was so unlike us and when you give away a two-goal lead you find it hard to get back in the game.

“We tried something different in the second half and it worked a dream and had them pinned in their own penalty box for most of the half but we just couldn’t get the ball over the line.

“I’ve had to tell the players that it was just one of those days and to put the result to the back of their minds and get back to it on Saturday.”

Mike Williamson insisted lessons would be learned from MK Dons’ 3-3 draw with Notts County after being unimpressed with what he saw at Meadow Lane.

Substitute Ellis Harrison thought he had won the contest after scoring seven minutes from time with a fine finish, only for Aaron Nemane to net late on to share the spoils.

“I thought we started slow,” Dons boss Williamson said. “But we must give credit as to how good they are and how they set up and the courage they play with.

“It took us a while to get into the game and you could see flashes where we were us.”

The result keeps the Dons two points outside of the automatic promotion places having played two more games than the three sides above them, with Williamson saying he would take the result on the chin.

“I expected us to start better like we always do but the boys have given us everything since we have come in,” he added.

“But I’ve learned a lot today. There are a few things and I take responsibility for a lot of that.

“We didn’t lose the game, which is one thing, I am not standing here and taking responsibility for the defeat, but there are things out there I saw which I wasn’t pleased about and that reflects on me.

“I think I am going to take that performance on the chin and move on.”

The result puts an end to the Magpies’ poor home form having failed to win at Meadow Lane since the turn of the year, with boss Stuart Maynard having lost nine of his 14 games since arriving from Wealdstone.

Prior to Nemane’s leveller, a section of the stadium paraded a banner which read ‘Enough is Enough, Stuart Maynard out’.

“I didn’t see it to be honest,” Maynard explained. “The reception that they gave me and the players at the end of the game was incredible.

“We have a fan base here that really gets behind the team and I am proud to be managing this football club.

“When they boo at the end of some games, I get the frustrations because I am frustrated so I don’t take it personally. I just have to make sure I keep working hard to win games of football for this football club.

“You can look at it in two ways. If you go back and analyse the performances within those games, we haven’t deserved to lose many of them.

“Have we deserved to win a lot of them? Probably not. But we have deserved to get points, and sometimes those points turn into wins if you keep working hard.”

Dave Challinor felt Stockport “stunk the place out” in their 1-0 win over AFC Wimbledon but admitted he will take more of the same if it results in promotion.

The play-off chasing Dons could have gone ahead but James Tilley missed from the penalty spot before substitute Odin Bailey netted as full-time neared to put League Two leaders County four points clear despite a below-par performance.

County have now won their last three games in a row and Challinor admits the result was all that mattered.

“I’ve said the same to the players, I’m not going to sugar coat it in any way, shape or form, we stunk the place out, we were awful and we won 1-0,” he said.

“A horrible watch for us on the side, not a great watch for the supporters, but without doubt the most important (win of the last three). These back-to-back games, whether it be Saturday-Monday or Friday-Monday, the Monday games aren’t normally great and that was the case.

“We toiled away with lots and lots of frustration but at the end of it, the result matters and as much as I might not like it, if we stink the place out for the next four games and win them, then I’ll take it.

“We’ve won the game, we are in a good position in terms of how the table will look and other results have semi gone in our favour.”

Dons boss Johnnie Jackson felt his side had the game’s best chance with the penalty and the one moment of quality from Bailey proved decisive.

He said: “For them to score so late having been in the game and having frustrated them for so long and given so much, to come here and frustrate and make it difficult for the home side who are just full of quality all over.

“To limit them to what we did, we were really pleased with that and how it was going but the frustrating moment of quality on their part has been the difference in the game. That one real moment of quality has been the decider.

“We’ve had the best chance in the game because we got a free hit from 12 yards that we don’t take. I don’t remember our goalkeeper having to do too much work, which is a rarity when teams come here.

“That makes it probably even more difficult because we were so close to getting a well deserved point, hard earned but we leave with nothing.”

Steve Morison hailed his Sutton players after they fired themselves out of the League Two relegation zone for the first time in 2024 with a 3-1 victory over Swindon.

A Jack Bycroft own-goal was sandwiched between strikes from Charlie Lakin and Harry Smith at Gander Green Lane.

Paul Glatzel’s stoppage-time free-kick was the one bright spark of an otherwise poor afternoon for Swindon.

Morison’s side made it four wins on the spin as they went a point clear in the relegation dogfight, although Colchester below them have three games in hand.

“It was a really good performance and I’m really pleased with the way the players played,” said Morison. “They got the result they deserved and we live to fight another day.

“It was an excellent performance, excellent goals. The disappointment is not getting a clean sheet and we probably should have scored a few more.

“I told them at half-time that it would be an absolute disgrace if we didn’t come away from this game with all three points because we were by far the superior team.

“We keep grinding, we keep working and on to the next one.

“We’ve started getting the results the last four games, but we know there’s still a hell of a long way to go.

“Being out of the relegation zone is certainly better than being at the bottom. Emotionally, it will be good to look at the table and see us not in there.

“We’ll keep focusing on our performances and we can only control our destiny by trying to win as many matches as we can.”

The Robins slumped to a fourth defeat in five and boss Gavin Gunning said: “When you come to Sutton you know what you’re going to get, you know their style.

“We didn’t deal with it at all. We didn’t have that appetite that it takes to get a result here.

“Listen, they’re on a good run. But we’ve worked on it. You know the ball’s coming, it’s going to come down the channels. It’s going to be relentless.

“We didn’t stand up to it, it’s really disappointing.

“We need experience in the team, you can see it there. That’s what we needed. I’ve been there myself where you get your head on everything, you get a broken nose, you get yourself in the way.

“League Two, to be successful, requires the spine to be experienced and solid. That’s how you do well at this level.

“When you come to Sutton it’s not tactical, it’s about whether you’ve got a big heart, have you got what it takes to stay in the battle? Balls are always on top of you and we lacked that. It’s very disappointing.”

Colchester dropped into the League Two relegation zone after an entertaining 1-1 draw with Tranmere at Prenton Park.

Rovers took the lead in the seventh minute when Kieron Morris nodded home Rob Apter’s perfectly flighted cross from six yards out.

But their joy was short lived as just 60 seconds later the visitors equalised through Alistair Smith’s effort from the edge of the area, which beat Luke McGee and found the bottom corner.

Tranmere almost retook the lead in the 17th minute when Apter once again delivered a wicked ball from the right-hand side, only for Morris’ header to be cleared off the line.

Further chances fell to the home side through Apter, Connor Jennings and Regan Hendry, while United’s Bradley Ihionvien saw his close-range effort saved by McGee in first-half stoppage-time.

Cameron McGeehan and Arthur Read were both thwarted by McGee after the break, while Morris was denied a second by a fine Owen Goodman save at the other end.

Tranmere almost won it at the death, only for substitute Josh Hawkes’ drive to go wide of the post with Goodman helpless.

Sutton moved out of the League Two relegation zone for the first time this year with a convincing 3-1 victory over Swindon.

United secured a vital fourth league win in a row to go a point clear of Colchester, who have three games in hand.

Sutton went in front when goalkeeper Jack Bycroft’s poor clearance resulted in Harry Smith’s cross being headed powerfully home by Charlie Lakin in the ninth minute.

Bycroft redeemed himself by denying Lakin a second when he dived to turn away a superb 20-yard volley.

But the stopper was again at fault for the second as he fumbled Josh Coley’s low cross into his own net three minutes after the restart.

Bycroft’s mixed afternoon continued as he made a smart close range stop to keep out Smith’s shot following a corner, but he was helpless to prevent the Sutton striker scoring with 20 minutes to go as he headed in Coley’s cross at the far post.

Steve Arnold was beaten by Paul Glatzel’s stoppage-time free kick as the visitors netted a consolation.