Scunthorpe beat Millwall to regain three-point lead in League One but Bolton are beaten
Saturday 17 December 2016 20:29, UK
Scunthorpe restored their three-point lead at the top of Sky Bet League One with a comfortable 3-0 home win over Millwall on Saturday.
The Iron had been joined on 44 points by Sheffield United when they beat Coventry 2-1 on Thursday but first half goals from Paddy Madden and Hakeeb Adelakun sent them on their way to victory.
Madden headed home a Josh Morris cross to break the deadlock on 36 minutes and Adelakun made boss Graham Alexander's half-time team talk a lot easier with a second just before the break.
And Madden sealed the points with a 67th-minute goal after a poor clearance from Millwall 'keeper Jordan Archer.
Bolton dropped four points off the pace-setters as they were beaten 1-0 by Chesterfield at the Proact Stadium.
Liam O'Neil put the home side in front on 26 minutes with a shot into the top corner of Ben Alnwick's goal and the Spireites were able to hold on despite plenty of Wanderers pressure.
Fourth-placed Bradford City also had a frustrating afternoon as they could only manage a point from a 1-1 draw with Walsall at the Banks's Stadium.
Isaiah Osbourne fired Walsall into the lead on 49 minutes but they were pegged back only four minutes later when Jordy Hiwula scored from close range for the Bantams.
Rochdale remain fifth but had to come from behind twice in a 3-2 win over Northampton at Sixfields, with Matthew Lund proving to be their hat-trick hero.
Matty Taylor (16) and Sam Hoskins (57) gave Northampton 1-0 and 2-1 leads but Lund replied on 19 and 63 with his third goal of the game earning Dale victory on 67 minutes.
Peterborough remain sixth after beating Charlton Athletic 2-0 at The Valley. Ryan Tafazolli gave Posh a 21st-minute lead with his head and Gwion Edwards fired into the top corner to settle the game with 24 minutes remaining.
Southend climbed into the play-off places and extended their unbeaten league run to 10 games with a 2-0 win at Oldham, who are now bottom of the table.
Nile Ranger, buoyed by a new long-term contract, gave the Shrimpers the lead on 18 and Jermaine McGlashan grabbed their second with 14 minutes remaining.
AFC Wimbledon moved into the top nine with an impressive 4-0 win over Port Vale at the Cherry Red Records Stadium. They were frustrated by the Valiants in the opening half but goals from Dominic Poleon (53) and Tom Elliott (58) set them on their way to what ended a comfortable success.
Wimbledon added gloss to the scoreline in the last 10 minutes thanks to goals from Tyrone Barnett (85) and Chris Robertson (89).
Gillingham are in the top half of the table thanks to Cody McDonald's 69th minute goal, which proved enough to beat MK Dons 1-0.
Swindon and Fleetwood shared the spoils in a 1-1 draw at the County Ground. Luke Norris headed the home side into a 12th-minute lead but his goal was cancelled out 10 minutes later by David Ball.
Shrewsbury bounced back from a midweek defeat to beat Bristol Rovers 2-0 and climb off the bottom of the table. Louis Dodds gave the Shrews a 16th-minute lead and Ian Black scored from penalty spot on 73 after Rovers defender Tom Lockyer handled in the box.
Bury suffered their 12th successive league defeat to drop to 22nd when they twice threw away the lead in a 3-2 defeat by Oxford United. Chris Maguire scored on 14 and 43 for United to cancel out goals from James Vaughan (3) and Tom Pope (39) in an exciting first half.
But it was an own goal from Bury's Greg Leigh with 20 minutes remaining that condemned his side to another sickening defeat - they have lost all of their league games since beating MK Dons on September 27.
