League Two highlights and round-up: Cambridge lose; Southend, Grimsby keep survival hopes alive
Cambridge miss the chance to achieve automatic promotion and drop to second after 1-0 defeat to Stevenage; Southend and Grimsby keep survival hopes alive after wins over Leyton Orient and Oldham respectively; Also wins for Cheltenham, Bolton and Salford
Saturday 24 April 2021 19:28, UK
Cambridge missed out on the chance to guarantee promotion from League Two as Stevenage sprung a surprise win that allowed Cheltenham to replace the U's in top spot.
Victory would have assured Mark Bonner's men of a place in the third tier with two games to play but they drew a blank.
Luke Norris won it for Stevenage just after the hour mark, heading home from close range after a Elliott List's deflected effort came back off the crossbar.
As well as seeing their celebrations put on ice, Cambridge moved down into second as title rivals Cheltenham beat Colchester 1-0.
They were stifled for 82 minutes, but eventually found a way through courtesy of Conor Thomas. The Robins now boast a one-point lead at the summit with a game in hand.
At the other end of the table, relegation-threatened duo of Southend and Grimsby both kept their fights alive with victories.
For Phil Brown's Shrimpers it was win or bust, as it will be for each of their last two games, but they showed heart to edge Leyton Orient 2-1.
Tyler Cordner gave them the lead, only for James Brophy to hit back in first-half added time. Southend needed another and Matt Rush obliged in the 76th minute with his first senior goal.
For bottom-club Grimsby, who have a game in hand, there was an equally important at Oldham. The Mariners went behind to Conor McAleny on the half-hour, but responded swiftly through Matt Green before Jay Matete won it with 10 minutes remaining.
Bolton beat Morecambe in the battle of third against fourth, with the latter hampered by the early dismissal of Kevin Mellor. Ben Jackson gave Wanderers a 1-0 lead just before the interval and they held on to that scoreline with their numerical advantage.
Elsewhere in the top seven, Tranmere beat Barrow 1-0 thanks to David Nugent's goal, Forest Green shared a goalless draw with hosts Crawley and Newport did the same at Exeter.
Ten-man Salford beat Colchester 2-0 to keep the pressure on, Ashley Hunter and Ian Henderson were on target despite Richie Towell's 68th-minute red card, while Emmanuel Osadebe scored one and set up another in Walsall's 2-0 win at Scunthorpe.
Port Vale beat Bradford 2-1 and Carlisle rescued a 1-1 draw from visiting Harrogate due to a Joshua Kayode equaliser.
