League One Review
Huddersfield spurned the opportunity to take over the leadership of League One after suffering a shock home defeat against Port Vale. The Valiants had gone into the fixture falling towards the relegation zone but they rallied against the odds to produce a deserved win.
Leaders Brentford's clash with Doncaster was called off due to weather, as was Swansea's fixture with Gillingham, giving the Terriers a chance to overtake them both with a victory, but it wasn't to be their night.
Leon Constantine's double and Tony Dinning's penalty sealed an unlikely win for Vale, while the hosts had David Mirfin dismissed to compound a miserable night.
Southend moved up to fourth place, and within one point of Huddersfield, after Wayne Gray's 85th-minute penalty gave them a 2-1 win at Hartlepool. Eifion Williams had opened the scoring for Pools before Freddy Eastwood levelled, and the scores remained level until Gray grabbed his late winner.
Down in the basement, Bristol City climbed out of the relegation zone after a 3-1 win against Rotherham at Ashton Gate enabled them to leapfrog the Millers. A Steve Brooker brace and a Scott Murray strike were too much for the Yorkshiremen, who had only Colin Murdock's effort to show in reply.
Tranmere were another team to climb out of the relegation zone as Chris Greenacre scored a hat-trick to inspire them to a 4-1 victory over Yeovil. Phil Jevons handed the Glovers a first-half lead but Greenacre's treble and a strike from Calvin Zola ensured the Prenton Park faithful returned home with a warm glow on a freezing cold evening.
After all the hype surrounding Ron Atkinson's arrival at the County Ground, it was back to matters on the football pitch for Swindon. Iffy Onuora's men remain rooted to the bottom of the table but drew level on points with MK Dons after an encouraging draw with promotion-chasing Chesterfield. Paul Hall's 19th-minute opener was cancelled out by Hameur Bouazza's second-half penalty to give the Robins a valuable point.
Finally, Bradford beat Walsall 2-0 at Valley Parade in a mid-tale encounter. First-half goals from Marc Bridge-Wilkinson and Bobby Petta moved the Bantams ahead of the Saddlers whose woeful run of results on the road continued.
League Two Review
Grimsby replaced Wycombe at the top of League Two with a 3-0 win over Lincoln at Blundell Park during a weather-affected fixture programme. Ciaran Toner, Michael Reddy and Andy Parkinson scored in the first half as the Mariners comfortably beat their local rivals.
The frost and snow bit hard but, in one of only a quartet of games to beat the freeze, Cheltenham moved into the top six after Grant McCann scored the only goal of the game against Rushden and Diamonds. It was a fourth consecutive home defeat for the Diamonds who look to be in for a long, hard winter once again.
Darlington recorded their fifth home win of the campaign with a 2-1 win over Barnet. Goals either side of the interval from Guylain Ndumbu-Nsungu and Simon Johnson left the Quakers in charge despite a last gasp consolation from Ben Strevens.
Richard Walker grabbed an injury time equaliser to break Mansfield's hearts and secure Bristol Rovers a valuable point in a 3-3 draw at Field Mill. Nathan Arnold and Adam Rundle put the hosts into a comfortable lead before James Hunt and Walker's penalty levelled before the break. Allan Russell restored the lead for the Stags before Walker struck in injury time to consolidate the Pirates' improvement under Paul Trollope.
Second face third tonight as Wycombe are due to take on Leyton Orient, but the game is dependent on the Causeway Stadium's pitch being playable.
