EFL goals and round-up: Peterborough beat Derby; Exeter score five
Peterborough closed the gap on Derby in the Sky Bet League One play-off places with a 2-0 win, Portsmouth came back to hold Port Vale and Exeter thumped five past Accrington. League Two leaders Leyton Orient held; Stevenage beaten.
Saturday 25 March 2023 17:39, UK
Peterborough moved to within a point of opponents and Sky Bet League One play-off rivals Derby with a 2-0 victory at the Weston Homes Stadium.
The Rams were on top in the first half, but it was Peterborough who broke the deadlock after 52 minutes when Ephron Mason-Clark fired home at the near post.
Posh doubled their lead after 83 minutes when Nathanael Ogbeta slotted in the loose ball after Kwame Poku had seen a shot saved.
Darren Ferguson's side remain seventh but are now just a single point off the top six.
Fellow play-off chasers Wycombe lost ground after they were held to a 1-1 draw at Charlton.
Miles Leaburn opened the scoring for the Addicks with a close-range finish at the far post - his third goal in as many games - but Chris Forino levelled with a header from a corner eight minutes from time.
At the bottom, struggling Accrington slipped to a fourth consecutive defeat as they were thumped 5-0 at Exeter.
Demetri Mitchell curled in a stunning opener after 36 minutes, with Josh Key making it two shortly after half-time with a cool finish when one-on-one with the goalkeeper.
They added a quick-fire third through Sam Nombe, who had a simple tap-in when Alex Hartridge's headed effort dropped to him off the crossbar.
James Scott made it four and Jay Stansfield completed the rout late on.
Resurgent MK Dons secured a third straight win against relegation rivals Morecambe, with Jonathan Leko scoring the only goal.
Elsewhere, Jayden Stockley secured Fleetwood a 2-1 win against Lincoln and Colby Bishop's penalty and a Michael Jacobs strike saw Portsmouth come from two goals down to draw 2-2 at home to Port Vale.
Sky Bet League Two
Leyton Orient moved five points clear at the top of League Two with a 1-1 draw at Hartlepool, whose relegation fears increased despite the well-earned point.
Orient took the lead early in the second half when Paul Smyth fired home from the edge of the area.
Hartlepool responded and after Josh Umerah fired narrowly wide, Connor Jennings equalised in the 81st minute with a low finish from an Umerah cutback.
Wes McDonald hit a post and Dan Kemp the crossbar as Pools finished strongly, but the game ended all square.
Crawley's 2-0 win against rock-bottom Rochdale leaves John Askey's side four points adrift of safety.
Northampton moved up to second with a 2-0 win at Doncaster. Mitch Pinnock got them off to a dream start as he drilled in the opening goal after two minutes and Rovers goalkeeper Jonathan Mitchell gifted his former club a second when he played the ball straight to Northampton forward Sam Hoskins and he slotted home.
Stevenage were beaten 3-1 at home by fellow promotion hopefuls Salford, with Stevie Mallan, Callum Hendry and Matt Smith on target for the Ammies, while Carlisle dropped to fourth after Shaun Williams' stoppage-time strike snatched Gillingham a 1-0 win.
Stockport made hard work of their clash at Swindon, having played against 10 men for 89 minutes following Jacob Wakeling's first-minute dismissal.
Paddy Madden missed from the penalty spot but Ryan Croasdale slammed home Ryan Rydel's pass with 10 minutes left to earn the Hatters a 1-0 win.
Barrow came from a goal down to beat AFC Wimbledon 2-1 and Ian Dawes took a point in the first game of his latest spell as Tranmere's caretaker manager as they drew 1-1 at Colchester.
Grimsby and Walsall played out a 1-1 draw and Mansfield's clash with Sutton ended goalless.
