Yeovil dropped out of the Football League and Rotherham tumbled back into League One, the big losers on a heart-stopping day of action.
Championship
Paul Warne’s Rotherham are relegated from the Championship after they let the lead slip at West Brom. Having opened the scoring early in the second half through Clark Robertson’s header, they conceded twice in three minutes – a Jay Rodriguez penalty and a first senior goal for Rekeem Harper – in a 2-1 defeat. This meant fourth-bottom Millwall’s point from a goalless draw at Stoke in the division’s early game was enough to consign the Millers to an immediate return to League One.
Sheffield Wednesday’s hopes of remaining in the play-off picture finally evaporated after a 3-3 draw at Preston. Derby had started the day in the final play-off slot, consolidated thanks to goals from Tom Lawrence and Jayden Bogle in a 2-0 victory at Bristol City. City’s mathematical shot at extending their season now requires them to win their remaining two games, and for results to go against both Derby and Middlesbrough. Despite Boro beating Reading 2-1, the Royals’ safety was confirmed by results elsewhere.
Swansea were another side starting the day with mathematically possible, though hideously unlikely dreams of making the play-offs, and while results elsewhere went against them, they failed to get the necessary win at home to Hull anyway despite Oli McBurnie’s first-half double, with Jarrod Bowen and Nouha Dicko pegging them back late on as they were held to a 2-2 draw.
Nottingham Forest’s Costel Pantilimon saved Nahki Wells’s late penalty to ensure his side won 1-0 away at QPR through Karim Ansarifard’s 55th-minute goal, while Birmingham were held 1-1 by Wigan despite Lukas Jutkiewicz’s second-minute effort – Nick Powell equalised in first-half stoppage time for the visitors.
Birmingham 1-1 Wigan
Bolton P-P Brentford
Bristol City 0-2 Derby
Middlesbrough 2-1 Reading
Millwall 0-0 Stoke
Preston 3-3 Sheffield Wednesday
QPR 0-1 Nottingham Forest
Swansea City 2-2 Hull City
West Brom 2-1 Rotherham
Norwich City 2-1 Blackburn
Sheffield United 2-0 Ipswich
| Pos | Team | P | GD | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Sheff Utd | 45 | 37 | 88 |
| 2 | Norwich | 44 | 34 | 88 |
| 3 | Leeds | 44 | 24 | 82 |
| 4 | West Brom | 45 | 27 | 80 |
| 5 | Aston Villa | 44 | 22 | 75 |
| 6 | Derby | 44 | 13 | 70 |
| 7 | Middlesbrough | 45 | 7 | 70 |
| 8 | Bristol City | 44 | 5 | 66 |
| 9 | Sheff Wed | 45 | -1 | 64 |
| 10 | Nottm Forest | 45 | 6 | 63 |
| 11 | Swansea | 44 | 3 | 63 |
| 12 | Preston North End | 45 | 3 | 61 |
| 13 | Hull | 45 | -2 | 61 |
| 14 | Blackburn | 44 | -4 | 59 |
| 15 | Brentford | 44 | 10 | 58 |
| 16 | Stoke | 45 | -7 | 54 |
| 17 | Birmingham | 45 | 6 | 51 |
| 18 | Wigan | 45 | -14 | 49 |
| 19 | QPR | 45 | -19 | 48 |
| 20 | Reading | 45 | -17 | 46 |
| 21 | Millwall | 44 | -14 | 44 |
| 22 | Rotherham | 45 | -30 | 40 |
| 23 | Bolton | 44 | -47 | 32 |
| 24 | Ipswich | 45 | -42 | 28 |
League One
Luton failed to seal the division title, or even to mathematically secure promotion after letting an early lead slip at Burton, who roared back to take a 2-1 victory thanks to two goals from Lucas Akins. Second-placed Barnsley did the reverse, recovering from an early deficit at home to Blackpool before Cauley Woodrow and defender Liam Lindsay gave them a crucial win that leaves promotion in their hands as they join Luton on 91 points.
Portsmouth and Sunderland drew 1-1 to remain third and fourth respectively on 87 and 85 points with two games apiece still to play, while Charlton won and Doncaster drew to consolidate the final two play-off places. They also move clearer of Peterborough, now four points behind – though with a game in hand – after Boro’s shock 3-0 defeat at Walsall, who arrested a dismal run of seven defeats and a draw to win through Andy Cook, a Danny Lafferty own-goal and Jaanai Gordon.
Things remain drum-tight at the other end, with Plymouth – who replaced AFC Wimbledon in the bottom four – Walsall and Scunthorpe all realistically still able to catch Southend and find safety. Wimbledon’s 2-1 victory over Wycombe saw them leap two places to 19th, and they enjoy a two-point advantage and goal difference advantage of four over Plymouth. Joe Pigott recovered from seeing his early penalty saved by Ryan Allsop to score twice.
Plymouth, now winless in their last eight, and five straight defeats, slumped to a 5-1 loss at Accrington, who were bolstered by a 15-minute hat-trick either side of half-time by Sean McConville. In their final match they face Scunthorpe, who are also without victory in eight. Andy Dawson’s side rallied from going 3-0 down at home to Bradford, but ultimately lost 3-2. Southend, who ended a horrendous sequence of 15 matches without a win at home to Burton last Monday, lost 1-0 away at Rochdale, but a significant goal difference advantage keeps them out of the bottom four.
Charlton’s 2-0 away at managerless Gillingham came thanks to goals from Joe Aribo and a first for the club from Josh Cullen. Doncaster both took the lead and came from behind to draw 2-2 at Oxford United, and go into their final game of the season knowing victory will secure the final play-off spot.
Elsewhere, Bristol Rovers secured survival with a goalless draw at Fleetwood, while Shrewsbury go into Sunday’s match at Coventry knowing they are now all-but safe thanks to Saturday’s results.
Accrington 5-1 Plymouth
AFC Wimbledon 2-1 Wycombe
Barnsley 2-1 Blackpool
Burton 2-1 Luton
Fleetwood 0-0 Bristol Rovers
Gillingham 0-2 Charlton
Oxford United 2-2 Doncaster
Rochdale 1-0 Southend
Scunthorpe 2-3 Bradford
Sunderland 1-1 Portsmouth
Walsall 3-0 Peterborough
| Pos | Team | P | GD | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Luton | 45 | 46 | 91 |
| 2 | Barnsley | 45 | 42 | 91 |
| 3 | Portsmouth | 44 | 33 | 87 |
| 4 | Sunderland | 44 | 35 | 85 |
| 5 | Charlton | 45 | 29 | 85 |
| 6 | Doncaster | 45 | 16 | 70 |
| 7 | Peterborough | 44 | 6 | 66 |
| 8 | Coventry | 44 | 2 | 64 |
| 9 | Burton Albion | 45 | 11 | 63 |
| 10 | Blackpool | 45 | 1 | 62 |
| 11 | Oxford Utd | 45 | -4 | 60 |
| 12 | Fleetwood Town | 44 | 6 | 58 |
| 13 | Accrington Stanley | 45 | -16 | 54 |
| 14 | Rochdale | 45 | -29 | 54 |
| 15 | Gillingham | 45 | -14 | 52 |
| 16 | Bristol Rovers | 45 | -4 | 51 |
| 17 | Shrewsbury | 44 | -8 | 50 |
| 18 | Wycombe | 45 | -13 | 50 |
| 19 | AFC Wimbledon | 45 | -21 | 49 |
| 20 | Southend | 45 | -14 | 47 |
| 21 | Plymouth | 45 | -25 | 47 |
| 22 | Walsall | 45 | -22 | 46 |
| 23 | Scunthorpe | 45 | -29 | 46 |
| 24 | Bradford | 45 | -28 | 40 |
League Two
Yeovil’s 16-year run as a Football League side ended after a breathtaking, topsy-turvy day at the bottom of League Two. At one point the bottom three of Macclesfield, Yeovil and Notts County all sat on 41 points as they sought to avoid the two relegation spots. But as the afternoon progressed, Notts County – who started the day bottom after just two wins from 12 games – took charge against Grimsby and won 2-1, while Macclesfield prevailed 1-0 at Port Vale thanks to David Fitzpatrick’s strike.
Yeovil’s 2-0 lead at Northampton – which had looked like taking them clear of the bottom two – evaporated in six second-half minutes, leaving them on 39 points and unable to catch third-bottom Macclesfield, who now have 43. Relegation completed a stunning collapse for The Glovers, who won promotion to the Championship in 2013 after winning the League One play-off final – two successive relegations left them in League Two, and a three-season stay in the division now comes to an end.
Bury, who began the day in second, saw their match at Tranmere called off due to a waterlogged Prenton Park pitch – the two promotion hopefuls now meet at 7.45pm BST on Tuesday. Mansfield missed their chance to move up from third after Stevenage’s Ilias Chair scored in injury-time to complete a 2-1 victory, and Mansfield and MK Dons – who also lost – now both have 76 points with one match remaining. The two sides face off in Milton Keynes next Saturday.
Forest Green, safely in the play-off spots, lost 4-3 at Crewe after a stunning late turnaround where Charlie Kirk scored twice in the last four minutes for the hosts to overturn a 3-2 scoreline.
Exeter still cling on to the final play-off place following a 1-0 victory at home to Oldham, thanks to Ryan Bowman’s header. Now on 69 points, one more may be enough as they go into next Saturday’s season-closer against Forest Green Rovers, but all of Colchester, Carlisle, Stevenage and Newport have 67 and can still catch them.
Colchester hit the ground running in both halves during their in a 2-0 victory over fourth-placed MK Dons. Sammie Szmodics scored after just 95 seconds, while Frankie Kent added a second within three minutes of the second half restart. They go into next weekend’s matches two points behind Exeter and with a goal difference only two worse.
Carlisle went 4-0 up in the first half against Crawley – including a brace from Nathan Thomas in the seventh and ninth minutes, but the visitors refused to lie down and eventually brought the scoreline back to 4-2. Scot Bennett’s seventh-minute strike for Newport gave them a shock 1-0 home win against champions Lincoln to ensure their interests in promotion matters also continued into the final weekend.
Though safe, fourth-bottom Cambridge’s poor run now reads one win from their last 10 games – and seven straight home defeats – after a 2-1 home loss to Morecambe. Aaron Collins and Jordan Cranston gave the visitors victory.
Cheltenham let slip a 3-0 lead late on and survived injury-time jitters before beating Swindon 3-2. Luke Woolfenden’s own goal, Billy Waters and Kevin Dawson saw them into the break comfortably in the lead, but Theo Robinson and Marc Richards scored in the last six minutes to give them a scare.
Leyton Orient will return to the Football League next season after their draw at Braintree secured promotion and the National League title after a two-year stay in the division.
Cambridge 1-2 Morecambe
Carlisle 4-2 Crawley
Cheltenham 3-2 Swindon
Colchester 2-0 MK Dons
Crewe 4-3 Forest Green
Exeter 1-0 Oldham
Mansfield 1-2 Stevenage
Newport 1-0 Lincoln
Northampton 2-2 Yeovil
Notts County 2-1 Grimsby
Port Vale 0-1 Macclesfield
Tranmere P-P Bury (now playing Tuesday)
| Pos | Team | P | GD | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Lincoln City | 45 | 33 | 85 |
| 2 | Bury | 44 | 26 | 77 |
| 3 | Mansfield | 45 | 29 | 76 |
| 4 | Milton Keynes Dons | 45 | 21 | 76 |
| 5 | Forest Green | 45 | 21 | 73 |
| 6 | Tranmere | 44 | 15 | 72 |
| 7 | Exeter | 45 | 11 | 69 |
| 8 | Colchester | 45 | 9 | 67 |
| 9 | Carlisle | 45 | 5 | 67 |
| 10 | Stevenage | 45 | 2 | 67 |
| 11 | Newport County | 44 | -2 | 67 |
| 12 | Crewe | 45 | 3 | 65 |
| 13 | Oldham | 44 | 12 | 62 |
| 14 | Swindon | 45 | 1 | 61 |
| 15 | Northampton | 45 | -2 | 58 |
| 16 | Cheltenham | 45 | -9 | 57 |
| 17 | Grimsby | 45 | -13 | 53 |
| 18 | Morecambe | 45 | -16 | 53 |
| 19 | Crawley Town | 45 | -19 | 50 |
| 20 | Port Vale | 45 | -16 | 48 |
| 21 | Cambridge Utd | 45 | -26 | 46 |
| 22 | Macclesfield | 45 | -26 | 43 |
| 23 | Notts County | 45 | -34 | 41 |
| 24 | Yeovil | 45 | -25 | 39 |
