Ronan Curtis’ last-gasp strike snatched AFC Wimbledon a 2-1 win against nine-man Mansfield in their League Two clash at Plough Lane.

Jordan Bowery was sent off midway through a first half that ended with Omar Bugiel making a goalscoring return to SW17.

Will Swan stunned the home support in the second half, but Curtis had the final say in the sixth minute of stoppage time.

The Stags were reduced to 10 men after 20 minutes when full-back Bowery hauled down Josh Davison as he looked to break free of the last man.

The visitors’ backline was further weakened as captain Aden Flint was forced off with a shoulder injury on the half-hour.

Bugiel, back from Asian Cup duties with Lebanon, made the breakthrough in first-half stoppage time, arrowing a powerful strike into the bottom corner from 18 yards.

Mansfield equalised against the run of play, with Swan nicking the ball inside the area and driving home at the near post.

The Stags had a stoppage-time shout for a penalty turned down – with the replaced Stephen Quinn seeing red for his complaints from the bench.

And deep into added time Curtis tapped home from close range to steal victory for the Dons.

AFC Wimbledon boss Johnnie Jackson said he understands why Jurgen Klopp wants to take a break from management after Ronan Curtis snatched a last-gasp 2-1 win against 10-man Mansfield.

The former Portsmouth winger, making his debut for the Dons, tapped home in the sixth minute of stoppage time to end a three-game winless run.

It had looked as if high-flying Mansfield, playing with 10 men for 70 minutes after Jordan Bowery’s dismissal, would earn a hard-fought draw with Will Swan cancelling out Omar Bugiel’s opener.

But Curtis had the final say, capping a whirlwind of emotions for his new manager Jackson, who referenced Klopp’s decision to leave Liverpool at the end of the season in his press conference.

“I can understand why Klopp wants to have a year out, and I’ve only been doing it two years,” joked Jackson.

“It’s an unbelievable feeling. Honestly, it’s as good as it gets in football when you score a last-minute winner.

“After probably as low as it gets on Tuesday to have that high, that’s football for you. That’s why we love it.”

The hosts suffered a 3-1 defeat to bitter rivals MK Dons in midweek, denting their play-off ambitions, but the win on Saturday moved them up to eighth, two points off Notts County.

“(The play-offs) have always been in sight. We had an opportunity on Tuesday to get into them, but we didn’t take it,” Jackson added.

“But we said, when the dust settled, we’ve just lost a game of football. There’s a chance in three or four days to bounce back and we’ve done that today.”

In the other dugout, Nigel Clough could not fault his players’ efforts in response to Bowery’s red card and Bugiel’s goal in first-half stoppage time.

He said: “If you go to 10 men for 75 minutes and then come out the stronger team, get an equaliser and look to win the game in the manner that we did, I’m unbelievably proud.

“It says an awful lot about the spirit in the camp. With 15 minutes to go there was only one team you could really see winning it.

“I think if the officials do their jobs correctly, we do (win it).”

Clough took issue with the sending off, as well as having a potential penalty for a foul on Davis Keillor-Dunn waved away just before Curtis’ winner.

The substituted Stephen Quinn was also shown red for dissent in a tense final few minutes.

“I think the provocation that we’ve had to deal with today has been extreme,” said Clough. “Right from the first 20 seconds, to the sending off and the penalty denied.

“Then you’ve got a fourth official who is winking and smiling at the technical area and the bench in an act of nothing else but provocation.

“We had to put up with them all afternoon.”

Gavin Gunning was pleased with how his Swindon side prevented “manic” Bradford from playing during their 2-0 win in Sky Bet League Two.

Gunning kicked off his stint as Swindon’s interim manager until the end of the season with all three points.

He said: “It was one of those games when neither side is ever going to have a lot of possession because Bradford are very route-one.

“It is always going to be about the second balls and you are never going to dominate because they will get bodies around the ball and it is manic.

“It is not great to watch but the boys did so well to deal with that and then go and show their quality.

“From one to 11 it was fantastic application, actually all 18 of them really, the subs that came on knew their jobs fantastically well.

“Nobody sulked and that made me very happy, but this was just the start.”

Swindon had a penalty after 16 minutes when Paul Glatzel was brought down in the area. Charlie Austin stepped up and emphatically dispatched his third goal in as many games.

Bradford could have levelled late in the first half as Brad Halliday floated a ball into Andy Cook in the middle, but he could not get enough power behind his header to beat Jack Bycroft, who got down
quickly to save.

Swindon doubled their lead in first-half stoppage time as Glatzel ran through down the right and got away from his marker before giving Dawson Devoy a tap-in at the far post.

Graham Alexander was frustrated with the lack of cutting edge in his side’s performance as they once again drew a blank.

The Bradford boss said: “We’ve been blunt, we haven’t had an edge and intensity to our game.

“We’ve let the fans down today. I feel we have anyway. You know they’ve come down in numbers again and given great support.

“But we are nowhere near the level that they expect or we expect. There’s no players in there now thinking that was anywhere near good enough.

“We know where we have to improve. We’ll have a chat on Monday.

“We haven’t gone overboard today because I know they are a good bunch of guys. We just need to help each other improve.

“Bradford City fans want to see a team that’s really aggressive and on the front foot and wants to attack and wants to create pressure on the opponent.

“And that’s what we’ve been giving them for a long, long time until the last two weeks.”

Karl Robinson feels Salford are still underachieving despite recording an impressive win at in-form Crewe.

The Ammies are unbeaten in four games since Robinson replaced Neil Wood and they proved too strong for an Alex side chasing a fifth consecutive win to maintain their promotion push in League Two.

The Railwaymen found Matt Smith almost unplayable on a day when the giant striker claimed the matchball, sealing his hat-trick with an 85th-minute winner to add to his second-half equaliser and an early opener.

But despite Robinson’s promising start to life in charge, the Salford boss let his players know he and the club have high standards.

He said: “Crewe are a really hard team to play against and we made changes at half-time that made a difference.

“I thought we dominated most of the game in the second half. If we can keep this going forward then we can make an impact.

“It’s about players playing at the level of performance we expect as we know we’ve got good players.

“But we are still underachieving and our league position shows that. The players have been good since I’ve come in and we have to carry that on.

“For us to come from behind and win here was good, a large part of our performance was very, very good.

“Salford came here last season and were 3-2 up and ended up losing 4-3.

“We didn’t come here to draw. Salford should be winning games and it is all about winning.”

Crewe led at half-time as goals from Aaron Rowe and Elliott Nevitt wiped out Smith’s fourth-minute opener.

But Smith responded with two more goals in the second half to take his tally for the campaign to 19.

Robinson said: “Matt has got to score goals. That is his job as it is the keeper’s to keep out goals.

“But when I spoke to the owners when I came in I knew I had a striker who was capable of scoring that many goals.

“He is that much of a threat and he’s shown that again and he’s paying the club back with the goals he gets.”

Crewe manager Lee Bell says his players quickly need to move on after a below-par display.

He said: “We were below our usual standards and this league can bite you if you are not at it.

“This has really got to sting us. I can’t fault the lads for what they were trying to achieve and they have outstanding character and belief, which we showed getting ourselves 2-1 ahead.

“But Matt Smith is hard to stop and while we did the work to do that he was the difference today.

“You expect us to cope with a game like this better, but you have to credit Salford for slowing the game down. We’ve had a really good run of results and we can’t let this knock us off track.

“It’s hard to take positives and I’m looking more at areas where we need to improve.

“But Elliott Nevitt was a real threat again and his overall attacking performance is getting better week in and week out.”

Danny Cowley likened Arthur Read’s match-winning free-kick to a Paul Gascoigne special as the new Colchester boss picked up his first win since taking charge of the League Two strugglers as they edged a 1-0 victory at Morecambe.

Read produced the game’s telling moment with a 27th-minute free-kick that flew into the top left-hand corner of the Morecambe goal with Cowley likening it to a Gazza effort at his peak.

Cowley said: “I’m delighted with the three points and they came from a goal worthy of winning any game at any level.

“When Arthur stepped forward to take it, I said ‘Gazza only scores from here’ and he nailed it with a brilliant execution that took us to a really good place in the game.

“Owen Goodman made a fantastic penalty save early in the second half and it was a brilliant outcome for us.

“I’m delighted with the performance and I’m delighted with the process for us from a team that is coming together and growing.

“There were times in the game when we had real control and it was a good day for us with some incredible performances.”

Morecambe boss Ged Brannan was left fuming with his side’s performance, saying the first half was “unacceptable” and bemoaning Ged Gardner’s penalty miss.

He said: “It was very disappointing today, especially the first-half because we weren’t at the races.

“We have got a few injuries and we missed a few players and it showed because we were nowhere near the levels we need to be, before the break.

“We had players just jogging around the pitch which was unacceptable and we will go through the match on Monday with the players.

“We had a right go in the second half and missed a penalty which was vital because I’m sure that if we had scored that, we would have gone on to win the game.

“We are going through a bit of a bad run at home at the minute and we are looking a bit nervous in front of our own fans for some reason and we need to change that sooner rather than later.”

Walsall boss Mat Sadler believes his side have the armoury to chase down a League Two play-off spot despite being held 1-1 at home by relegation-threatened Sutton United.

Saddlers captain Donervon Daniels curled home a fantastic solo goal to put Walsall ahead but Sutton equalised almost immediately as Craig Eastmond’s deflected shot was enough to secure a point.

Both sides had chances to win it with Charlie Lakin missing from six yards for the U’s while Tom Knowles and Josh Gordon went close for Walsall.

The hosts moved up to 13th with the draw, just seven points off the play-offs after an encouraging run of form since the start of December.

“We’ve gone up two places with that draw so psychologically we are looking up again,” said Sadler.

“We’ve got a couple of games in hand on the teams above us as well.

“So we’re chasing. We’re working as hard as we can to get ourselves in that area of the table – there’s work to be done and momentum to be found and when we find it we want to hold on to it.

“There are plenty of games in February, March and April which we are looking forward to attacking with the options we’ve got.

“When the key moments came today, we didn’t take them.

“On three or four occasions we worked some great openings, and then didn’t quite find the final ball that we wanted or the final bit of execution and that meant we didn’t get our noses in front again.

“We huffed and puffed and gave it our all but it wasn’t to be today.”

Sutton, meanwhile, are seven points from safety after a third successive draw under new boss Steve Morison and they now face two big home games against Harrogate and fellow strugglers Doncaster.

“I’m disappointed we didn’t win,” Morison said. “I thought we played really well. The team were excellent.

“Hopefully we can put a good performance on again against Harrogate on Tuesday and get that first win.

“The lads wore their heart on their sleeves and I’m really proud of their performance.

“We’ve given them lots and lots of information and asked them to do lots and lots of things and they carried it out excellently.

“We are a work in progress but we are going in the right direction.

“We are asking a lot of them, lots of new ideas all the time and they are trying to learn, and I think we are getting better.

“Seeing them work every day and the performances they have put in on the pitch the last three games, I’m extremely confident and the most important thing is that the players believe, and I think they do.”

MK Dons manager Mike Williamson said he would not complain at his side winning ugly as they edged out Gillingham 2-1 in League Two.

The Gills set up in a low block at Stadium MK, keeping just over 30 per cent of possession and frustrating Williamson’s play-off chasers for 79 minutes.

MJ Williams broke through the rearguard 10 minutes from time before Alex Gilbey thumped in a second. Gills debutant Josh Walker got one back late on but it was not enough to avert a first league loss in five.

Williamson said: “I think everyone would like to stroke the ball around for 90 minutes and win comfortably, but we’ve got to respect the opposition and how good they are.

“I think we’ve rode our luck. They (Gillingham) missed a couple of chances today, but credit goes to how good the opposition is and the quality. You can see they’ve got a way of playing – and so have we.

“We had to be really patient and resilient in our focus and concentration and had to keep plugging away. If it didn’t come, it didn’t come, but we’ve got to make sure we do everything we possibly can.

“I thought for large portions of that, we controlled and looked comfortable. We’ve got belief in the boys and have got game changers and game winners.”

Despite MK Dons dominating possession, the best early chance came when Gillingham’s Oliver Hawkins was denied by home goalkeeper Filip Marschall.

Away goalkeeper Jake Turner made a strong save from MK’s Dan Kemp less than 20 seconds into the second half.

Gillingham then came close as debutant Walker saw a shot deflected over and Scott Malone headed over from close range.

But MK struck when the visitors were unable to clear and the ball fell for Williams to fire home from just outside the box.

Gilbey extended the hosts’ lead when he converted from Stephen Wearne’s cross, while Gillingham pulled a goal back when Walker bundled the ball home at a corner moments after the hosts’ second, but the visitors ran out of time to equalise.

Gills boss Stephen Clemence said: “I just felt in the technical area that we’ve just got to go and take one, two or three of those moments.

“I was really proud of large parts of the play, as we had to work really hard on how we were going to try and stop MK Dons and then how we were going to counter them and have an effect on the game.

“We’ve done so much of it really well. It’s just that final bit. I’m pleased with some parts of it but disappointed not to get the result. I want to win.”

Steve Cotterill warned he is “not a magician” after Forest Green slipped nine points from safety with a 1-0 home defeat to Accrington.

Jack Nolan scored the only goal of the game from the penalty spot to leave Accrington 10th and firmly in play-off contention.

Rovers remain winless in the league since October and rooted to the foot of the Sky Bet League Two table.

Despite creating the better chances, the hosts failed to change their fortunes in Cotterill’s first match at the helm since replacing Troy Deeney.

Cotterill said: “I was pleasantly surprised by what I saw today.

“I didn’t know what to expect. We didn’t deserve to lose the game – if there is a criticism of us today it is that we could’ve hit the target a bit more.”

Forest Green started the better with forward Matty Stevens denied by Stanley goalkeeper Radek Vitek following a Callum Jones cross.

It was the same pairing who created Rovers’ best chance of the half as Stevens slid Jones’ low delivery narrowly wide.

The visitors were given a penalty when Ryan Inniss upended Alex Henderson inside the area.

Winger Nolan made no mistake and hammered his effort straight down the middle after 22 minutes.

Emmanuel Osadebe’s left-footed drive from a tight angle bounced just beyond the far post minutes before the break.

The hosts made a flying start to the second half when Fankaty Dabo found Osadebe inside the area but his turn and shot went off target.

Full-back Jamie Robson delivered an inviting low ball for Stevens but he couldn’t divert his effort goalwards.

Stanley captain Joe Pritchard found a half-yard of space but his curling effort from the edge of the area was well-saved by Luke Daniels and Stanley held on for all three points.

Cotterill continued: “I felt the substitutions disrupted our rhythm a little bit. We probably lost our way on those substitutions but I needed to see those players.

“There has to be players who want to come here. My focus will be strengthening the squad between now and Thursday.

“What you can’t do is make poor decisions for the football club.

“I’m not a magician. I can’t turn it around by myself.

“I can make them better as a team but I can’t make them better if they don’t want to be better as a team. As it stands, I think they’re all in.”

Accrington boss John Coleman admitted his side were not at their best.

He said: “It’s given me a new lease of life working with these players. They’re like sponges for knowledge.

“We were nowhere near the attacking force we normally are and we were a bit rusty.

“The last time we won 1-0 here, we got promoted, but there’s still a long way to go. It was all about winning today and we found a way to win.”

Nigel Adkins lauded Tranmere for displaying resilience to overcome League Two strugglers Grimsby in their 2-1 win.

A goal from Rob Apter and Toby Mullarkey’s own goal settled the scores for Tranmere on their trip to Blundell Park, with Doug Tharme marking his Grimsby debut with a goal that, ultimately, proved to be in vain.

Apter was the key man – scoring in the first half and providing the cross that led to the decisive own goal – with his team-mates putting in a workmanlike display to win for the third time on the road this season.

“It was an excellent away victory,” Adkins said.

“We started the game ever so well and were really bright at the start. I thought we were dominant and got on the front foot.

“We played some lovely football and we got into some dangerous positions.

“It was a great goal from Robbie [Apter] and we are trying to get him isolated there, one-on-one, and that is exactly what happened.

“Their goal was a sucker punch and one of our players left his man.

“Games are about fine little margins, but we responded and won the game.

“We have to give them some credit as they fought back, but we weathered that and showed a little bit of resilience to get the result.”

Grimsby head coach David Artell was unhappy with almost every element of his side’s performance.

“Everything [wasn’t good enough],” he said.

“Their lad [Apter] walked into our box and scored. That was reflective of our performance.

“I said to the players that was our worst performance by a distance.

“Why? On the ball we were just whacking it everywhere and up in the air. It was like kids football, and we got bullied off the ball by a Tranmere side who are surviving on that and that’s credit to Nigel and his players.

“You have got to stand up to that and we didn’t, not many if any of them did.

“We were bullied and I couldn’t figure out how we were trying to score.”

Chances were at a premium in the opening 45 minutes and it looked as though the deadlock would not be broken before half-time.

However, in a three-minute spell, Tranmere went in front when Apter curled home before debutant Tharme hit straight back from a Grimsby set-piece.

Tranmere restored their advantage in the 55th minute when Mullarkey turned into his own net from Apter’s low delivery.

Grimsby pushed and probed for a way back into the game, but Tranmere were able to keep them at arm’s length while posing a threat on the counter.

Danny Rose came closest to finding an equaliser as the Grimsby captain struck on-target and drew Luke McGee into a fingertip save in the 82nd minute.

Notts County boss Stuart Maynard said he would respect the point earned in his first game in charge of the Magpies after a 1-1 League Two draw with Barrow.

Aaron Nemane’s second-half strike cancelled out Kian Spence’s opener to leave both sides still within the play-off places.

Speaking after the game, Maynard said: “It was frustrating because when you are at home you want three points, but we will respect the point.

“Barrow are a team that will frustrate you and you have to give them credit, they are probably one of the best in the division and that is why they are in the league where they are, you have to give them credit – we respect the point and that is probably a fair result.”

It was the first time the 43-year-old had managed in the Football League, having signed from part-time National League side Wealdstone last week.

“The fans here are amazing,” said Maynard. “They got behind the boys and even at the end, they are clapping them off.

“At the club now, you can see that everyone is together and we will keep going to make sure they continue to have performances to sing about.

“It’s a proud moment for me to be the head of this football club.

“When you walk out and look at the fans, the stadium and where we are as a football club, it is a very proud day for me and my family.”

Barrow boss Pete Wild explained that his side’s performance signalled the return to being back to their best against one of their play-off rivals, with the visitors currently sitting fourth.

“I think that is us back at our best today,” said Wild. “We are really good at frustrating teams and I thought we frustrated them for long periods today.

“But they are very good and have got some individual brilliance in the team, but I think we defended for our lives today.

“On another day we could have nicked it but over the course of the game, we broke when we needed to, we’ve kept hold of the ball and that is Barrow at their best today and I am really pleased with a point.”

The draw leaves the two sides six points apart in the table, but Wild insisted that the seventh-placed Magpies would be right up there come the end of the season.

He added: “They are a top side and they will be right up there because they have some top players.

“At some points today you are stood there laughing and going ‘that is a good ball’ or ‘that is a good move’. They have got some top players so to come away from here with a point, we are over the moon.”

Ronan Curtis’ last-gasp strike snatched AFC Wimbledon a 2-1 win against 10-man Mansfield in their League Two clash at Plough Lane.

Jordan Bowery was sent off midway through a first half that ended with Omar Bugiel making a goalscoring return to SW17.

Will Swan stunned the home support in the second half, but Curtis had the final say in the sixth minute of stoppage time.

The Stags were reduced to 10 men after 20 minutes when full-back Bowery hauled down Josh Davison as he looked to break free of the last man.

The visitors’ backline was further weakened as captain Aden Flint was forced off with a shoulder injury on the half-hour.

Bugiel, back from Asian Cup duties with Lebanon, made the breakthrough in first-half stoppage time, arrowing a powerful strike into the bottom corner from 18 yards.

Mansfield equalised against the run of play, with Swan nicking the ball inside the area and driving home at the near post.

The Stags had a stoppage-time shout for a penalty turned down – with the replaced Stephen Quinn seeing red for his complaints from the bench.

And deep into added time Curtis tapped home from close range to steal victory for the Dons.

Arthur Read’s first-half goal proved enough as Danny Cowley picked up his first win as Colchester boss with a 1-0 League Two victory over Morecambe at the Mazuma Stadium.

A stunning free-kick from former Stevenage midfielder Read gave the U’s the much-needed points in their quest to move away from the bottom end of the table.

A scrappy game saw Read produce a moment of quality before the break with a 25-yard free-kick that found the top left-hand side of the Morecambe goal with goalkeeper Archie Mair helpless.

Morecambe did have a chance to level the scores with a penalty 50 seconds into the second half when Riley Harbottle brought down Jake Taylor, but Ged Gardner’s effort was well saved by Owen Goodman.

The home side thought they had levelled after 54 minutes when Jacob Bedeau volleyed home Farrend Rawson’s knock down but the goal was ruled out for an offside.

Bedeau went close with a header – four minutes into second-half injury time – and Rawson went close again for the Shrimps but it was Cowley’s side who took the points.

Matt Smith hit a hat-trick as Salford shocked in-form Crewe by clinching a 3-2 win at Gresty Road in League Two.

The giant striker headed the Ammies in front early on and then levelled with a set-piece header after Aaron Rowe and Elliot Nevitt fired Crewe ahead before the break.

Smith then grabbed an 85th-minute winner as Salford extended their unbeaten start to life under Karl Robinson to four games and ended the hosts’ four-match winning run.

The visitors got off to a strong start when Smith headed Luke Bolton’s flighted cross in off the underside of the bar in the fourth minute.

They pushed for a second as Junior Luamba robbed Lewis Billington and raced clear only to shoot past the post, before Smith prodded a shot straight at goalkeeper Tom Booth.

Crewe hit back with two quickfire goals before half-time. Rowe equalised in the 44th minute with a fine finish from the edge of the box before Billington crossed for Nevitt to head home from close range in stoppage time.

Smith had Salford level 10 minutes after the interval when he glanced home Luke Garbutt’s corner at the near post.

Shilow Tracey fired wide and Nevitt forced a near-post save from Salford goalkeeper Alex Cairns as Crewe responded.

But Salford secured all three points when substitute Matt Lund provided the ball across the box for Smith to squeeze home a far-post finish in the 85th minute.

Gavin Gunning earned a win in his first game as Swindon interim manager as the Robins defeated Bradford 2-0 at the County Ground.

Swindon were awarded a penalty after 16 minutes when Paul Glatzel was brought down in the area. Charlie Austin stepped up and emphatically dispatched his third goal in as many games.

Bradford could have levelled late in the first half as Brad Halliday floated a ball into Andy Cook in the middle, but he could not get enough power behind his header to beat Jack Bycroft, who got down quickly to save.

Swindon doubled their lead in first-half stoppage time as Glatzel ran through down the right and got away from his marker before giving Dawson Devoy a tap-in at the far post.

After the break, Austin won a header from a free-kick at the near post and flicked the ball into the path of Glatzel, but he could not quite stretch enough to send the ball into the empty net.

MK Dons made it back-to-back home wins as they edged a 2-1 League Two victory over Gillingham at Stadium MK.

A cagey game saw MJ Williams find a breakthrough after 79 minutes before Alex Gilbey thumped in a second.

Gills debutant Josh Walker pulled one back late on but it was not enough to avert a first league loss in five.

MK Dons dominated possession in the early stages but struggled to create chances, with the best seeing Gillingham’s Oliver Hawkins denied by home goalkeeper Filip Marschall.

Away goalkeeper Jake Turner denied the Dons’ Dan Kemp less than 20 seconds into the second half.

Gillingham then came close as debutant Walker saw a shot deflected over the crossbar and Scott Malone headed over from close range.

But the hosts struck when the Gills were unable to clear and the ball fell for Williams to fire home from just outside the box.

Gilbey extended the home side’s lead when he converted from Stephen Wearne’s cross.

Gillingham pulled a goal back when Walker bundled home at a corner moments after the Dons’ second, but the visitors ran out of time to equalise.