League One leaders Hull were held by Gillingham; Peterborough beat Accrington 7-0; Sunderland win 1-0 at Bristol Rovers; there were also wins for AFC Wimbledon and MK Dons; Plymouth hold Blackpool; Wigan and Ipswich draw
Saturday 27 March 2021 19:37, UK
Jonson Clarke-Harris plundered a hat-trick as Peterborough powerfully strengthened their bid for automatic promotion from Sky Bet League One with a 7-0 demolition of Accrington at the Weston Homes Stadium.
Posh wasted no time and were two goals up inside nine minutes as Clarke-Harris twice snuck in for close-range finishes, while Sammi Szmodics added a third in the 23rd minute thanks to a fine Joe Ward assist.
Szmodics broke through a shaky Accy backline to extend Peterborough's lead in the 48th minute and Clarke-Harris completed his treble after the visitors failed to deal with another Ward cross.
With Stanley's heads bowed, substitute Mo Eisa got in on the goalscoring act after racing onto a Szmodics pass and rounding the goalkeeper. Not to be denied his own goal from the bench, Idris Kanu made it seven in the 82nd minute.
Darren Ferguson's men are now only a point behind leaders Hull, who were held to a 1-1 draw at home to Gillingham.
Tom Eaves scored against his former club nine minutes into the match at the KCOM Stadium but the Tigers toiled in pursuit of a second and were punished in the 67th minute when Olly Lee volleyed home Jack Tucker's headed assist.
Sunderland clung on to a 1-0 lead secured by Aiden O'Brien at Bristol Rovers to remain in touch with the top two.
The Black Cats dominated from the start but needed a corner to go ahead as O'Brien exploited poor marking to tuck the ball away six minutes before the break.
Blackpool bounced back from an early setback to lead Plymouth, yet Ryan Lowe's men rescued a 2-2 draw at the death.
Ryan Hardie fired a left-footed opener in the 12th minute but the Seasiders equalised early in the second half as Sullay Kaikai capitalised on a hefty goal-kick downfield.
It fell to the in-form Jerry Yates to turn the game on its head by converting a 64th-minute penalty after Demetri Mitchell was fouled in the Plymouth box.
Joe Edwards made the 600-mile round trip worth it for Pilgrims, though, as he grabbed a share of the spoils with his stoppage-time leveller.
Danny Cowley delivered his second victory as Portsmouth boss as the south-coast club held on to win 2-1 at Shrewsbury despite going down to 10 men.
Marcus Harness pounced on a whipped-in cross in the 25th minute in Shropshire and 11 minutes later John Marquis arrived at the back post to clip in his 16th goal of the season.
Shrews full-back Nathanael Ogbeta ran largely opposed to the D to stick away a 52nd-minute response and Pompey suffered another blow when Marquis was dismissed for diving in two-footed on Harry Chapman in the 68th minute.
Mid-table MK Dons struggled to beat Doncaster 1-0 thanks to a solid display from visiting keeper Louis Jones.
However, Daniel Harvie did break the deadlock in the 76th minute, cutting inside and finding the back of the net thanks in part to a deflection off a Donny defender.
Joe Pigott breathed life into AFC Wimbledon's battle to beat the drop with his 88th-minute strike to sink Northampton 1-0 at Plough Lane, while Paul Cook could not claim three points on his return to Wigan with Ipswich as it ended 0-0 at the DW Stadium.
