John Mousinho hailed Portsmouth’s “remarkable achievement” after the come-from-behind 3-2 win over Barnsley at Fratton Park secured the League One title and promotion to the Championship.

Pompey looked to be missing their opportunity in front of their own fans when, needing one point to return to the second tier after a 12-year absence, they were 2-1 behind after Devante Cole and John McAtee struck either side of Kusini Yengi’s equaliser.

But the hosts hit back in the final seven minutes with Colby Bishop scoring from the penalty spot and Conor Shaughnessy heading home the winner.

Mousinho told BBC Radio Solent Sport: “I think once everything settles down it will sink in properly. I’ve never experienced anything like that, the last 15 minutes, it was absolutely incredible.

“Even at 2-1 down, to get the momentum and the crowd behind us, I am just so proud of the boys. I’m genuinely just so pleased for everyone connected to the football club. They’ve gone through so much.

“When we got it back to 3-2 I thought we have played so poor, but found a way to win somehow in a game where we really struggled. It really does sum up the boys.

“A tough night, tough conditions, but they got the job done. It’s hard for me to sum it up, but I get what’s happened over the last 15 years at the club and how difficult it was, on the brink of liquidation, to come back and have a night like this is incredible to be involved in.

“To be head coach, it is a privilege. Hopefully we can have a few more nights like this.

“I never could have imagined this happening this quickly. This was obviously the goal at some point, but didn’t think it would happen with two games to go this season. It is a remarkable achievement. That is a serious effort to be crowned champions ahead of some of the big boys in this league as well.”

Play-off chasing Barnsley, having lost three of their last four games, are four points above seventh-placed Lincoln.

Boss Neill Collins told the club’s official website: “There are a lot of positives. But the biggest frustration is that all those positives didn’t add up to what I thought would be a deserved victory.

“We perform like that, we’ll be fine. We’ll win games. It’s just the fine margins. For me, it’s the fine margins that have gone against us the past four or five games.

“Tonight again, it’s some of our doing. But that’s what we need to concentrate on. That’s what the Football League is all about.”

Conor Shaughnessy struck late on as Portsmouth secured the League One title and promotion to the Championship with a 3-2 win over Barnsley at Fratton Park.

Pompey knew one point would return them to the second tier following a 12-year absence, but they were up against it after Devante Cole and John McAtee scored for the play-off chasing Tykes either side of Kusini Yengi’s equaliser.

However, the hosts got the job done courtesy of Colby Bishop’s 83rd-minute penalty and Shaughnessy’s last-gasp effort.

Alfie May’s double for Charlton secured a 2-1 win over play-off hopefuls Barnsley at The Valley.

May broke the deadlock with a tremendous free-kick in the 20th minute to fire Charlton ahead.

Adam Phillips grabbed an equaliser for Barnsley eight minutes later from the penalty spot following a handball by Kayne Ramsay.

But, after a dreadful miss from inside the six-yard box by Devante Cole, the Addicks regained the lead in the 40th minute when May curled in a shot from the left corner of the box following a clever dummy by George Dobson.

Chuks Aneke missed a 94th-minute penalty for Charlton after Liam Roberts fouled Tyreece Campbell, and Barnsley assistant coach Jon Stead was sent off for dissent a minute later.

Defeat left Barnsley with two wins from seven matches and Cole wihtout a goal in 12. But the Tykes still only need seven points from their last five games to guarantee a play-off spot.

The Addicks have now gone 11 games without defeat.

Barnsley head coach Neill Collins said he was “exceptionally proud” of his team after a 1-0 win over play-off rivals Oxford in atrocious conditions at the Kassam Stadium.

The winner came from a Sam Long own goal in the 29th minute when Long and Devante Cole both challenged for a wicked right-wing cross from Adam Phillips.

Oxford almost equalised six minutes from time when Cameron Brannagan’s 20-yard drive smashed against the bar.

Collins said: “I’m exceptionally proud of the team, probably as proud of the team as I’ve been since I’ve been Barnsley manager.

“I’m so proud of the togetherness of the team.

“They were terrible conditions but I thought we handled them well in the second half when the wind was against us. That’s something we haven’t done well at times but we did tonight.

“And apart from the shot that hit the crossbar, I thought we were comfortable, to be honest.

“In the first half we were excellent and in the second half we were very professional.

“It was a well-earned three points.

“It was one of those nights when we needed every member of the squad who started or came on to play their part.

“Yes, it’s nice to beat another team near the top, and Oxford have been in the top six all season.

“But if we’re going to achieve what we want to achieve we’re going to have to beat the top teams along the way.”

Fifth-placed Barnsley are now just four points off leaders Portsmouth with a game in hand in a congested pack at the top of Sky Bet League One.

Oxford boss Des Buckingham called it “a frustrating evening”.

His mood was not helped by losing Long to a head wound at the end of the first half, with the defender having only just returned to the team after nearly three months out injured..

“It was a horrible night for football and the game was decided by fine margins,” he said.

“They got the goal from a set-piece, but we had two very good opportunities in the first half.

“Then we obviously had Cam’s shot against the bar, and also in the second half we twice got into really good positions and just maybe needed better decision-making.

“Sam Long split his head from an elbow – he’s got a deep gash in his head so he’ll maybe be out for a couple of weeks.

“We’ve got some players coming back but we have 19 games to go and we’re after two more forwards to fire us forward for the second half of the season.

“It is disappointing losing to another team near the top but we spoke before the game and said that, whatever the result tonight, there will still be a long way to go, and there’ll be a lot of ups and downs and twists and turns.

“But we have two wonderful games coming up now to try to pick up points, against Bristol Rovers and Portsmouth.”

Barnsley strengthened their promotion bid with a 1-0 win at play-off rivals Oxford to avenge their defeat by the U’s earlier in the season and extend their unbeaten league run to 11 games.

It was an unfortunate return to the Oxford side for defender Sam Long after three months sidelined with injury.

Barnsley’s 29th-minute winner came when Long just got in front of Tykes striker Devante Cole and headed Adam Phillips’ wicked right-wing cross into his own goal.

Long had to leave the pitch with a head injury following a midfield clash moments later.

Both sides had good scoring opportunities before the goal.

Fin Stevens fired wide for Oxford from Mark Harris’ lay-off and John McAtee steered a Nicky Cadden cross wide at the near post for the visitors.

Barnsley also went close when a Cadden left-wing cross was carried by the wind and came back off the far post.

Cameron Brannagan was unlucky not to equalise six minutes from the end with a 20-yard drive that came back off the bar.

Neill Collins praised the character of his Barnsley side as they came from behind to beat Carlisle 2-1.

Luke Armstrong put the visitors ahead after a strong start, before Devante Cole levelled and Herbie Kane grabbed the winner with a spot-kick.

Collins said: “I didn’t expect that level of performance. I don’t know the exact reasons for it, other than we’ve just had too many (players) on an off night all at once.

“It’s quite clear there were a lot of individual errors out there, they were pretty basic.

“I think tonight it was more just technical mistakes or decision making and I think we got punished for it, could’ve been punished more for it.

“Ultimately the players just dug in, we got to half-time and we were able to freshen it up.

“We scored a fantastic goal to get ourselves back level and then obviously went on and won it.

“We’ll probably have to try and learn a couple of lessons and move on.

“We managed to get to half time at 1-0 which I thought was important and then in the second half I thought we started to get a bit more quality in our play.

“The players showed a lot of good character to keep at it, to keep together. It’s very easy when you’re having a night like that to just compound it and end up in a complete disaster.

“The fans should be pleased they kept at it.”

Carlisle manager Paul Simpson felt the result was harsh on his team.

He said: “We deserved something out of that game tonight.

“People can say we didn’t finish our chances again and that’s a big part of it because in the first 13 minutes we’ve probably had four incredible chances.

“You have to take one of them, one’s got to go in.

“We had a plan of how we wanted to try and press them, very similar to Oxford at the weekend.

“I thought we won the ball well in good areas and we had a good shape about us.

“But with the chances (Daniel) Butterworth’s had in the first half, you have to take one of them, it’s simple as that.

“Massively disappointing but the pleasing thing is – and the thing I’ve said to the players in there – there’s been times where we’ve actually deserved nothing out of games.

“That tonight can give us a lot of belief, a lot of confidence. But the challenge is, we have to do it every game.

“That’s the base because it hasn’t been the base for some games. That’s a choice that players have to make.

“I’m really pleased with what they’ve done tonight but I’m absolutely gutted for them that we haven’t got the rewards that we probably deserved.”

Barnsley had to come from behind to win 2-1 against Sky Bet League One strugglers Carlisle.

January signing Luke Armstrong opened the scoring before Devante Cole levelled and Herbie Kane converted from the spot.

The visitors broke the deadlock in the seventh minute. A loose pass from Liam Roberts was intercepted by Armstrong who finished from 30 yards out.

Daniel Butterworth came close in the 12th minute when he met Jack Ellis’ cross, but his header struck the goal frame.

Neill Collins’ side levelled in the 58th minute. Skipper Jordan Williams broke forward and found Cole in the left of the box for him to fire into the bottom right corner.

They almost added a second six minutes later when Kane drove to the edge of the box and flashed an effort just over.

The hosts struck the winner after they were awarded a spot-kick in the 86th minute when Adam Phillips was brought down inside the box.

Kane stepped up and powered it down the middle.

Barnsley head coach Neill Collins praised his side’s first-half performance after they beat Bristol Rovers 2-1 at Oakwell

Devante Cole and Corey O’Keefe scored either side of Chris Martin’s equaliser to wrap up the three points.

Collins said: “It was a tough game. It was a game that I knew was going to be very tough.

“The fine balance is always emphasising to the team how tough it’s going to be without getting them scared and making sure we know it’s about us.

“I just felt this was a big one because Bristol (Rovers) will still have an eye on the play-offs. They’re good enough to do that and they’ve been on a good run of form.

“The players trained fantastically. I thought in the first half they were really excellent in most parts of the game apart from the final pass or final cross.

“Once we did get that right, we scored and probably should’ve done it a little bit more often and taken advantage of the first-half performance.”

On his side’s reaction to losing their lead, Collins said: “There’s always an opponent to consider, they brought on two big target strikers. We don’t have that dominant presence, although the lads at the back stood up to it really well.

“We’re going to have a lot more games like that between now and the end of the season. The good thing for me is there’s a lot of room for us still to improve, but a lot to be pleased with.”

Bristol Rovers manager Matt Taylor pointed out the weaknesses that led to his side’s downfall.

He said: “We had a lot of chances; I didn’t think we were good enough first half.

“I think we lacked a little bit of our strength, intensity and brightness when the ball was in and around us.

“The second-half performance was much improved in terms of our understanding of what the game needed first and foremost.

“We haven’t kept a clean sheet since I’ve been here, that’s a pretty damning statement of myself and this group of players because we do create chances, we always look like we’ve got a threat about us.

“We’ve got to find a way of staying more controlled in games.”

On how his team conceded the first goal, Taylor said: “Every goal you concede you’ll go into real detail, but the really clear theme is that we’ve conceded too many goals that we feel are soft goals.

“At the moment, there’s a bit of softness and that’s not always a physical statement, it’s our mindset towards it, our understanding of what’s needed at certain times.

“It’s frustrating because throughout the course of the game we’ve created the cleaner chances, but it’s irrelevant.”

Barnsley returned to winning ways after defeating Bristol Rovers 2-1 at Oakwell.

Devante Cole and Corey O’Keefe scored either side of Chris Martin’s equaliser to wrap up the three points for Barnsley, who had drawn their last two league games.

The Tykes had a flurry of chances in the 32nd minute as Rovers could not clear. Adam Phillips came closest, but Matthew Cox was able to tip around the post.

The hosts broke the deadlock in the 43rd minute through Cole. He was picked out in the box by John McAtee, heading onto a post and tapping the rebound into an empty net.

Matt Taylor’s side had the chance to equalise in the opening minute of first-half stoppage time. Former Barnsley forward Luke Thomas turned inside the box and looked to curl one into the bottom left corner, but Roberts saved.

Rovers did equalise in the 68th minute when Antony Evans crossed from the right, finding Martin who directed his header into the far corner.

Neill Collins’ side regained the lead in the 73rd minute. Phillips played a composed pass to O’Keefe who slotted home from inside the box.

Barnsley head coach Neill Collins praised the “fantastic finish” of top scorer Devante Cole that helped his side on their way to a 3-1 League One victory at lowly Reading.

Reading went in front in the fourth minute through Harvey Knibbs, with his ninth goal of the season, but Herbie Kane levelled before the break from a penalty.

Cole gave Barnsley the lead 10 minutes from time with a powerful 25-yard drive – his 12th goal of the campaign – and Max Watters settled the issue in the 87th minute.

“Devante first steadied himself then it was a fantastic finish, especially for all our travelling fans,” Collins said.

“That gave us the opportunity to win the game and then we had the same bit of quality from Fabio Jalo to put the ball across for Max to finish.

“We actually started the game well but then we found ourselves 1-0 down from Reading’s first attack off a set-piece.

“I don’t think that knocked us too much, I think our players looked quite a threat at times.

“But when we got back into the game, when we got our goal, we then probably had our worst spell until half-time. After that, we pushed on well to win the game.

“It was quite open at times but I thought we made use of that really well and got two fantastic goals to win it.

“There was a lot to be pleased with and I’m glad we were able to come from behind and win. It’s something we’ve been threatening to do.

“We’ve come from behind to draw but not quite got it over the line to win. Today we did that.”

Reading remain off the bottom of League One only thanks to a better goal difference than Cheltenham.

Manager Ruben Selles said: “We started well, scored first and then had a chance to score a second through a header from Tyler Bindon.

“Then we conceded a penalty, which was an unfortunate one, so we go in at 1-1 at half-time.

“In the second half, we made a few mistakes – especially with Barnsley’s second goal. We should have defended it better.

“And then in the moments that we try to make substitutions and go for the game, we just let it go to 3-1. We need to continue working on those moments.

“We made a couple of bad decisions. I think we can do better.

“But we still showed that we are competitive and that we can compete against any opponent. We just need to be able to do it for 100 minutes.”

Barnsley head coach Neill Collins applauded the resilience of his side as they came from behind twice to earn a 2-2 draw against travelling Fleetwood.

Devante Cole and Corey O’Keefe provided equalisers for the Tykes after a first-half double from Junior Quitirna.

Collins said: “Today I think it was a winning performance, you look across the season it’s one of our most dominant performances.

“We created loads of chances, created lots of opportunities to create more chances but we obviously shot ourselves slightly in the foot by giving away a really cheap goal and then losing a very good goal from their perspective.

“I think what the fans should be happy with is that we came from behind twice. That’s the first equaliser here (at Oakwell) since the Championship season so I think that shows that we’re building on that resilience and ability to come back.”

On his side equalising twice, Collins said: “It’s a match-winning performance. We’ve had ones that have been much more even and we’ve been very ruthless with our chances and quality.

“Today we probably should’ve got three points and didn’t and there’ve maybe been other games where it could easily have been a draw and we did get that goal.”

On his side receiving two home penalties in as many games after not being awarded one since March 2021, Collins said: “A team that plays on the front foot the way we want to should create opportunities and I’ve not seen it back but it looked like a penalty at the time.”

Fleetwood manager Lee Johnson said: “I’m disappointed in not taking the three points and disappointed, if I’m honest, in the team’s performance.

“We’ve got really good footballers and we forgot to play today and that was what really frustrated me.

“For 35 minutes, 40 minutes; I thought we played and were outstanding and then all of a sudden, we dropped off, we kept giving the ball away. Then it became a defensive, attack versus defence drill in my view.

“We need to believe in ourselves a little bit more in possession because we’ve got some really good footballers there.”

On his side surrendering their lead twice, Johnson said: “We didn’t have enough quality, controlled possession. My game, my philosophy and our game is about control and how many scenarios and situations can we control in and out of possession.

“We didn’t control enough today because we gave the ball away too much.”

On the performance of Quitirna, Johnson said: “Fantastic, we’ve really enjoyed working with him so far, he’s showed a great attitude.

“We’ll have to see how his hamstring is, he felt a tightness there. That’ll be a big loss to us if he’s not fit; I’m delighted with him.”

Oxford made it three wins on the trot in League One after beating Barnsley 3-1 at Oakwell.

Cameron Brannagan scored an early penalty to put Oxford in front and Jordan Williams’ own goal made it 2-0 just before the hour.

Devante Cole pulled a goal back for Barnsley with 20 minutes left but Tyler Goodrham sealed the points for the improving visitors late on.

Oxford, who started the season with a 2-0 defeat at Cambridge followed by a 5-1 Carabao Cup mauling by Bristol City, came into the game on the back of wins over Carlisle and Derby and they needed just eight minutes to take the lead here.

Marcus Browne was fouled by Mael de Gevigney inside the area and Brannagan slotted home from the spot.

Barnsley went in search of an equaliser but Andy Dallas skewed his shot off-target from a great position and Nicky Cadden fired just over.

Oxford also had their chances and Mark Harris and Stanley Mills both shot straight at Liam Roberts in the Barnsley goal before Adam Phillips was denied by James Beadle at the other end.

Oxford increased their lead 10 minutes after the re-start. Mills made a surging run down the right, reached the byline and sent over a low cross which Williams attempted to clear but succeeded only in turning the ball into his own net.

Barnsley were given a lifeline in the 70th minute when Cole pulled a goal back with a header from a Cadden corner but Goodrham ensured it would be Oxford celebrating the win after being set up by Gatlin O’Donkor.

Devante Cole scored a hat-trick as Barnsley started life under Neill Collins in sensational fashion with a 7-0 thrashing of lacklustre Port Vale at Oakwell.

Liam Kitching, Jon Russell and Andrew Dallas were on also on target while Dan Jones netted an own goal as last season’s League One play-off finalists, now managed by Collins following Michael Duff’s departure to Swansea, ran riot.

The hosts broke the deadlock in the 23rd minute when debutant Corey O’Keeffe intercepted a loose pass and swept a low ball across to Cole who slotted home.

Barnsley doubled their lead on the stroke of half-time when Jones turned into his own net.

Cole, the son of former England and Manchester United striker Andy Cole, notched his second just two minutes after the break, this time latching onto Barry Cotter’s cross and lashing home.

The hat-trick was completed in the 53rd minute. As his side countered, Cole went alone and struck with just enough power for the ball to roll into the net.

Reds skipper Kitching added a fifth on the hour mark. Receiving the ball from Herbie Kane, the defender had time to control and calmly finish beyond Connor Ripley.

Collins’ side added a sixth four minutes later as Russell headed in from Nicky Cadden’s free-kick.

Substitute Dallas grabbed a debut goal in the sixth minute of added time, diving to head home from Cotter’s cross.