Elliott Nevitt’s 70th-minute goal gave Crewe’s League Two play-off hopes a massive boost as they celebrated a narrow 1-0 victory over Morecambe.

Nevitt scored the only goal of a poor game late in the match but it was enough to give Crewe – who ended the game with 10 men after Lewis Leigh saw a straight red for a poor late tackle on Joel Senior in the 90th minute – the points.

Morecambe started the game the better with Senior forcing Tom Booth into a good save from a 12th-minute free kick.

Senior then set up Jordan Slew with a deep set-piece that the striker volleyed wide from a tight angle.

Crewe ended the first half on the front foot with Nevitt and Matus Holicek forcing saves from home gosalkeeper Archie Mair.

The Alex had the first chance of note after the break when skipper Mickey Demetrious ran on to Leigh’s right-wing cross but drilled his effort over the crossbar.

Holicek had a good chance moments later when the ball fell to him in the area but he failed to find the target with a shot that flew well over before Nevitt scored the game’s deciding goal.

League Two leaders Stockport moved to within a point of promotion with a hard-fought 2-1 win at relegation-threatened Colchester.

Nick Powell and Paddy Madden scored wither side of Cameron McGeehan’s equaliser before Ben Hinchcliffe saved McGeehan’s penalty to secure a fifth win in a row and move to the brink of promotion to League One.

Tanto Olaofe shot into the side netting for Stockport early on before Colchester goalkeeper Owen Goodman made a point-blank save to deny Madden.

Stockport took a 31st-minute lead when Nick Powell collected Antoni Sarcevic’s short corner and his hopeful effort from nearly 25 yards inexplicably squirmed under Goodman and into the net.

But Colchester equalised in first-half stoppage-time through McGeehan, who side-footed home Arthur Read’s corner on the line.

Stockport restored their lead on the hour through Madden, who converted from two yards after Connor Lemonheigh-Evans had cut Ethan Bristow’s cross back into his path.

Colchester had a golden opportunity to equalise in the 67th minute but Hinchliffe saved McGeehan’s penalty after Tom Hooper had been fouled by Ethan Pye in the area as Stockport claimed a fifth straight win.

Accrington came from 1-0 down to win 3-1 at Newport, who suffered a fifth successive league defeat.

Bryn Morris put County ahead after 13 minutes with a stunning 25-yard strike that arrowed into the top corner.

But Accrington levelled nine minutes later when Jack Nolan crossed for Alex Henderson to head in at the far post.

Shaun Whalley then flashed a shot across goal before Tommy Leigh missed the target with a header from close range.

Leigh made amends just 20 seconds after the interval when he controlled Ben Woods’ ball into the six-yard box on his chest before hooking it past a helpless Jonny Maxted in the home goal.

Nolan should have made it 3-1 but somehow fired high over the bar, and it was left to substitute Joe Pritchard to wrap up the win midway through the second half when he prodded in Whalley’s pass from a few yards out.

County’s misery was complete when Adam Lewis was sent off in stoppage time after a touchline fracas.

Doncaster won a seventh consecutive league game for the first time in 67 years as their unlikely play-off push continued with a 2-1 win over Walsall.

Goals from Joe Ironside and Hakeeb Adelakun saw Grant McCann’s in-form side move four points off League Two’s top seven as their brilliant about-turn continued.

It came despite Walsall having the better of the first half. Both Josh Gordon and Jamille Matt were denied by blocks on the line from Ironside in a goalmouth scramble after Emmanuel Adegboyega hit the underside of the bar.

Doncaster took the lead on 40 minutes when Ironside raced onto a low ball from Luke Molyneux and fired in first time.

The hosts doubled the advantage on 77 minutes when Adelakun met Jamie Sterry’s long diagonal ball and looped a header over Walsall keeper Owen Evans.

Isaac Hutchinson fired straight in from a free kick from a tight angle three minutes into added time but Doncaster were not to be denied.

Wrexham moved a step closer to securing automatic promotion from League Two after beating play-off chasing Crawley 4-1.

Ryan Barnett’s maiden Wrexham goal put the hosts ahead and Paul Mullin doubled the advantage before Andy Cannon netted and Mullin grabbed his second as full-time approached. Klaidi Lolos netting a stoppage-time consolation.

Wrexham went ahead when Elliot Lee’s teasing left-wing cross was headed in from close range by Barnett after 20 minutes.

The lead was doubled shortly after when Cannon found Mullin to score his 20th league goal this season.

Jay Williams went close to halving the deficit six minutes before the break but fired inches wide.

Cannon added Wrexham’s third with 14 minutes left after Corey Addai parried Lee’s shot into his path to slot home.

Mullin went one-on-one on 82 minutes to score his second and Wrexham’s fourth of the evening before Lolos hooked home a consolidation in stoppage time.

Mansfield won for the first time in four games to climb back into the top three in Sky Bet League Two with a narrow 1-0 home win over bottom side Forest Green.

Rovers were forced to defend for long periods in the first half and goalkeeper Vicente Reyes saved a low George Maris shot and superbly turned away a Davis Keillor-Dunn effort after 19 minutes.

But a minute later Hiram Boateng floated a cross to the far post where Tom Nichols was able to loop a header over Reyes and make the breakthrough.

Mansfield continued to press and Maris saw Richard Keogh block a low shot and then sent another effort at Reyes on the turn.

Home goalkeeper Christy Pym finally had work to do on the stroke of half-time as he clawed away a Charlie McCann free-kick from a narrow angle from under his crossbar.

Reyes had to parry a powerful Nichols shot in the 50th minute and 11 minutes later Keillor-Dunn curled inches over after a great touch by Boateng in the box.

Pym made a great double save to deny Rovers an unlikely equaliser from a break with three minutes remaining as he blocked Emmanuel Osadebe’s attempt and Kyle McAllister’s follow-up as the battling visitors lost for a fifth time in six outings.

Harrogate kept their League Two play-off hopes alive after midfielder George Thomson’s spectacular strike secured a 1-0 win over Grimsby.

Thomson’s second-half howitzer earned Harrogate a third straight home triumph – the club’s best sequence since August 2021 – while the Mariners’ EFL status remains in the balance.

Home keeper James Belshaw had earlier raced out of his goal to smother a Gavan Holohan shot just past the quarter-hour mark, while the visitors’ on-loan Coventry striker Justin Obikwu also saw a far-post header flagged offside to the bewilderment of away players and fans alike.

At the other end, an unmarked Anthony O’Connor scuffed a shot wide after being picked out by Thomson’s inswinging corner during first-half stoppage time.

Thomson then opened the scoring four minutes after the interval, rifling a 20-yard shot into the roof of the net having run onto a Levi Sutton pass.

The visitors wasted an excellent chance to secure a precious point when Holohan fired over after being picked out by Danny Rose in the six-yard box.

Barrow’s League Two clash with Bradford has fallen victim to the weather as a result of torrential rain

The Cumbrian club was due to host its West Yorkshire rivals at the SO Legal Stadium on Tuesday evening, but the fixture was postponed after a lunchtime inspection during which the pitch was found to be waterlogged.

A statement on the club’s official X – formerly Twitter – account said: “Unfortunately following a pitch inspection at the SO Legal Stadium, tonight’s match against Bradford City has been called off due to a waterlogged pitch.

“We will update fans as soon as possible about the rearrangement of this fixture.”

Barrow currently sit fifth in the table, seven points adrift of the automatic promotion places with five matches to play, but with two games in hand on MK Dons in third.

The Met Office warned of an area of low pressure following on the coat tails of Storm Kathleen, which brought difficult conditions to the UK over the weekend, on Monday.

A yellow weather warning for the west coat of Wales is in place until 3pm on Tuesday, when “a spell of strong winds” will affect the region.

In Scotland, 20-40mm of rainfall is expected in some areas until 6pm on Tuesday, while a few places could see as much as 50-60mm.

Further rainfall is forecast in western Scotland between 9am and 10pm on Wednesday and may cause flooding, with 20-30mm of rain expected in most places and 40-60mm on high ground.

Salford head coach Karl Robinson was furious with the incident towards the end of his side’s 1-0 defeat at AFC Wimbledon that led to two of his players being sent off for their protests.

The Ammies were given a free-kick on the edge of the Dons’ area deep into stoppage time, with the hosts desperately defending the lead given to them by Omar Bugiel’s header.

But a home player appeared to encroach while the set-piece was being teed up for Conor McAleny, clearing the ball and leading to Salford captain Elliot Watt and Theo Vassell seeing red.

Robinson said: “What you see at the end is the most shambolic refereeing I’ve seen in probably 10 years.

“I can’t wait to see him – I’m going to question an awful lot of who he [Ben Atkinson] is because some things got said before the game which I can’t say, I don’t want to get myself in trouble.

“But things were said before the game the referee should not say and I will be reporting it, I will be asking the questions why it was allowed to happen.

“Theo Vassell got sent off for shouting ‘that was an effing disgrace’.

“Five of their players went for the referee during the game saying worse things in front of me.

“Now, for them to send my player off for a decision where when we kicked the ball, their lad was six yards away from the ball. How can this happen? It’s a disgrace.”

AFC Wimbledon boss Johnnie Jackson said: “I saw him give red cards but I don’t know what for.”

Salford had the best chance of a scrappy first half when Matty Lund was denied by goalkeeper Alex Bass, who was later called upon when McAleny was put through by Lund.

The Dons’ winner came in the 70th minute when Bugiel’s header from Kofi Balmer’s long throw drifted in to keep the hosts three points behind seventh-placed Crawley in the race for the League Two play-offs.

Jackson said: “We have three games to go and we’ve got loads to play for, so that’s great, it shows how much we’ve moved on as a football club.

“We don’t want to stop now – I said to the lads before the game we haven’t come this far as a club to just let it fizzle out now and they’ve stepped up today.

“In a really difficult game, they found a way and that’s what good teams do, so we’ve got to find a way three more times and see where that takes us.

“It might not be enough, but I think it puts us really close, so we have to hold up our end of the bargain and see what happens.”

Gavin Gunning was delighted as he watched his Swindon side upset the form book with a 2-0 League Two victory at Barrow but insisted their unlikely win was well merited.

Not that opposite number Pete Wild or Barrow fans wanted to argue after their team was second best in virtually all departments.

But for Bluebirds’ goalkeeper Paul Farman’s heroics, Swindon’s margin of victory could easily have been wider.

In the end, goals in a 10-minute spell before half-time from Williams Kokolo and Paul Glatzel were sufficient for Town to leave Holker Street with victory.

“I came here a few times in my playing career and got skittled with the wind and the rain,” said interim boss Gunning.

“People might have thought we would come here and be a soft touch and expect us to get walloped.

“The realism is, we played some good stuff and manipulated the ball well.

“We came to a team who are probably guaranteed to be in the play-offs and we were the better team.

“We hustled and bustled them all game and they didn’t have answers. In the first five or six minutes we could have scored two goals and they could have had two.

“It was an open start. But we then gained the composure. We have got to be happy. We scored two goals and kept a clean sheet.”

Kokolo’s goal was his first for Swindon and first since netting for Burton in February 2022.

Former Liverpool youth player Glatzel now has four in four – and six in total – since moving to the County Ground.

“He could have had another one just before it,” added Gunning. “We had a few half-chances where we butchered the ball.

“He is a fantastic player. He just has to keep improving those little bits so he can get to the next level.”

Barrow’s Cole Stockton had a goal disallowed for offside in the first half, while he and team-mate Dom Telford had efforts scooped off the line before Kokolo set Swindon on the road to victory.

“We looked nervy,” admitted home boss Pete Wild, not the result he wanted on his 100th game in charge.

“We looked like a team trying to get over the line. We didn’t play with any quality.

“It would be easy for me to start criticising players but that’s not me. We are in it for the good days and in it for the bad days.

“I said to the players, it is a 10-and-a-half-month season. You have been unbelievable, so please don’t think you have cracked it and got over the line.

“There is so much hard work to do in the next two-and-a-half weeks. We need to just get over the line and get what we deserve.”

Stephen Clemence admitted Gillingham have not scored enough goals this season as their play-off hopes diminished following Saturday’s 1-0 League Two defeat at Bradford.

The narrow loss was their second in five days in Yorkshire and leaves the Kent side five points behind the top seven.

Gillingham had several scoring chances before Brad Halliday scored the only goal just before half-time.

Head coach Clemence said: “That’s been the story of our season – not enough goals.

“I felt we played well first half. We had three excellent chances and have not put them in the back of the net.

“The pitch was really difficult to play any football on and the wind made the conditions. It was very difficult to get the ball down and play but I can’t fault the players’ efforts.

“I wasn’t happy at Harrogate last week but they’ve had a go and created opportunities but not taken them.

“They are trying their best but it must be demoralising for them as well when the ball isn’t going in the back of the net.

“There is obviously a lot of work to be done at this football club and we’ve got to get better at it. I believe it’s been like this for a couple of years.

“We’ll work hard and we’ll make sure we do our business right to get us better – and we will.”

Bradford goalkeeper Sam Walker saved from Oli Hawkins and Conor Masterson, while Daniel Oyegoke cleared the ball off the line to deny Timothee Dieng.

Halliday marked his 100th appearance for the Bantams with a 20-yard winner.

Manager Graham Alexander said: “The consistency we’re looking for is epitomised in Brad. He’s always a seven out of 10 for us and never drops that level.

“He deserves that winner because he’s been superb for us. To play 100 games in two years is the sort of resilience we’re looking for from our team, never mind just one individual.”

Bradford have bounced back from a four-game losing run with two wins and a draw.

Alexander added: “We know where we were before these three games. We were in a difficult moment but I thought the players have shown exceptional strength of character to get seven points from nine.

“We would certainly have taken that. It was a difficult game but I thought the players did all the professional things well and then we had the quality to split it in our favour.

“I thought there were some really strong performances. There’s still a lot of inexperience, in terms of playing games, but the players understood how to manage the threats they faced.

“I don’t think they (Gillingham) had a shot on target second half and that’s great credit to the players. We need to build on from that.”

Doncaster boss Grant McCann says his side’s new found confidence was there for all to see as they made it six consecutive League Two wins with a 3-0 success over play-off hopefuls Morecambe.

Two first-half goals from Luke Molyneux and a late strike from Tommy Rowe earned the visitors the three points in a game where they sealed a fourth successive clean sheet and put a serious dent into Morecambe’s hopes of a top-seven finish.

McCann said: “It was a very controlled first half with two very good goals and I still felt we were in control against the wind in the second half and got another really well worked goal late on to cement the points.

“It’s been a great run for us and the boys are playing with real confidence. They are enjoying it at the minute and it is really pleasing.

“There is a great team spirit and the lads are playing with smiles on their faces. We have got players in good form and scoring good goals and today was a great result for us.”

Rovers took the lead with a superb counter attack in the 12th minute when Hakeeb Adelakun’s far-post cross was superbly turned home by Molyneux.

The midfielder doubled his tally in the 25th minute from an excellent free-kick which he bent around a loose Morecambe wall.

The hosts looked to hit back towards the end of the half with Ged Garner inches away from sliding home a Jordan Slew cross.

Morecambe looked to step up the pace after the break but produced their first effort on target two minutes from time when Thimothee Lo-Tutala saved smartly from Joe Adams.

And as Morecambe pushed bodies forward Rovers secured a third when Max Biamou teed up Rowe for a close-range finish.

Morecambe boss Ged Brannan was left disappointed as his side’s defeat, together with other results in the league, saw them slip five points away from a play-off spot.

He said: “It was a really disappointing day for us and for some reason we just didn’t get going. We were really flat from the start and they deserved the win on the day.

“It’s no fluke why they have won so many games in a row and they outbattled us all over the pitch today and ran more than us which is really disappointing for me and it just wasn’t good enough.

“We had a few chances towards the end but did not take them and we have to pick ourselves up now for our game on Tuesday.”

Stuart Maynard felt a sense of relief after Notts County secured their first home win in 2024 with a 3-0 triumph over Harrogate.

Goals from Macaulay Langstaff, Jodi Jones and Jim O’Brien was enough for a vital three points for the Magpies boss, who had seen his side lose five times during a seven-match winless run at Meadow Lane following his appointment.

“I am relieved because I know how much it means to the fans,” said Maynard.

“I know how much it means to everyone around the football club to get that good feeling again so that was key.

“We need to make this place a fortress and that is what you need every week. You saw the atmosphere and the way they clapped the lads off at the end.

“Since I have been here, I know it has been difficult, but the fans have stuck with us and the players and it has been massive. Now, we have come through that, and we will build on it.”

Another positive was a clean sheet at home for the first time in 96 days, with Maynard highlighting the performance of captain Kyle Cameron.

“I think Cammy since we have come in has got better and better and he showed it again today,” he added.

“We defended well as a unit and the strikers and the forward players start it. I could name everyone out there but the tempo and the intensity you saw it at the end of the game.”

Despite the defeat, Harrogate boss Simon Weaver commended his side’s performance and labelled it one of the best away displays over the season.

The result left Town seven points adrift of the top seven with four games to go.

“It was a crazy game. I thought we nullified them in the first half and looked hard to beat,” Weaver said.

“There was one moment where we have relaxed from the corner routine for them which we had gone through yesterday.

“I thought we were fantastic in the second half, the response again was positive and we created numerous opportunities to score.

“Today, it just didn’t go for us, but I have to give credit to their keeper because he was outstanding, and then we get that sucker punch with the last goal.

“I’m not going to hammer our players at all, I think it was one of the best away performances I have seen from this Harrogate Town team.”

MK Dons’ boss Mike Williamson is keeping his feet on the floor as the race for automatic promotion from Sky Bet League Two reaches a thrilling climax.

The Dons’ promotion hopes were handed a boost as goals in each half from Max Dean and Alex Gilbey sealed a 2-0 win at bottom of the table Forest Green.

Dons’ win sees Williamson’s side climb to third in the table with three games to go.

The Dons’ boss heaped praise on his side, saying: “The lads deserve a lot of credit because it was a real hard battle for 95 minutes and we had to show all sides of our character.

“We were huffing and puffing and I thought as though our frustration was starting to seep a little bit, but we need to just keep a lid on that and just purely focus on what we were trying to achieve.

“And because it’s a tight pitch and they were very organised and disciplined, it was going to be fine margins.

“We’re going to enjoy ourselves, that’s the only way to go about things. When I came in we could see what the remaining games were and the state of play, and so I would have snapped your hands off to be where we are now.”

Goalscorers Dean and Gilbey have been key to the Dons’ promotion ambitions, but Williamson felt it was a collective effort.

He added: “They’re huge characters, big personalities, and a lot of quality for us on the pitch. But for me, the emphasis is on growth, and I feel like it’s a real collective effort.”.

Struggling Rovers fell behind five minutes before the break. Dom Thompson inexplicably surrendered the ball to Dean, who finished well beyond Vicente Reyes.

A scuffle ensued as both teams entered the tunnel at the break, but it was the promotion-chasing Dons who came out punching a minute after the restart and Norwich loanee Reyes need to save a Gilbey strike from the edge of the box.

Leeds loanee Lewis Bate cut Rovers open in the 50th minutes for Kyran Lofthouse to pick out Gilbey, who made no mistake in doubling the visitors’ lead.

Rovers remain rooted to the foot of the table – three points adrift of safety with four games to play, but defiant boss Steve Cotterill felt his side were in contention throughout the game.

He said: “I thought in the first half, up until the goal I thought we might have had the better chances.

“They’re a good team and are up there for a reason and it could have been so different.

“I’m disappointed with the result and the manner of the goals, but I’m not disappointed with their performance.”

Walsall boss Mat Sadler believes his team will be in the League Two play-off race right to the wire after an impressive 3-1 comeback win against Tranmere.

Goals from Jamille Matt, Taylor Allen and Brandon Comley mean the Saddlers are now just three points outside of the top seven.

Sadler said: “It was a fantastic away performance today and I’m delighted for the near 800 fans who have followed us up the road once again.

“I thought we settled into the game really well and their goal shocked us a little bit, but the resilience of the guys to come in at half-time at 1-1 really impressed me.

“We can only control what we do and try to accumulate as many points as possible and it’s up to us now to recover after this and go again against Doncaster on Tuesday night.

“It’s going to go right down to the wire in terms of the play-off places and we’re going to be in there shouting.

“We’re a group that the supporters are proud of and we want to make them proud, we’ve known for a while that we can believe in ourselves and we have to keep showing the ability we showed today.”

Regan Hendry opened the scoring for the home side in the 24th minute when he placed a left-footed effort past Jackson Smith in the Walsall goal.

At the other end Isaac Hutchinson and Emmanuel Adegboyega were both thwarted by Luke McGee but the Rovers keeper was eventually beaten on the stroke of half-time by Matt’s header.

After the break the visitors looked the more dangerous and went ahead in the 57th minute when Allen’s free-kick deceived the Rovers defence and dropped in at the far post, with Comley clinching the points from 20 yards.

Tranmere boss Nigel Adkins said: “It was difficult for both sides today in challenging conditions and I thought we started really well, but I was disappointed with our performance in the second half.

“Just before half-time they scored and we went in level, which I thought was against the run of play.

“We’ve hit the woodwork twice but it’s fair to say that we didn’t start the second half in the same way that we started the first, but goals change games.

“We’ve conceded three goals from our point of view that I feel like we could have done a hell of a lot better with.

“We will get better and we won’t accept what happened in the second half and the players are well aware of that.

“I’m just really disappointed in the way that we’ve let that game get away from us in the second half.”