Mansfield defeat means stalemate enough for Danny Cowley and Imps
Monday 22 April 2019 19:19, UK
Lincoln clinched the Sky Bet League Two title on Easter Monday, despite being held to a goalless draw at home to Tranmere.
The Imps threw everything at Rovers, whose goalkeeper Scott Davies twice denied Bruno Andrade while Jake Caprice cleared the ball off the line from a Matt Rhead header.
The stalemate was enough, however, as Mansfield's defeat at Oldham left the Stags nine points behind Danny Cowley's team with just two matches remaining. The point also secured a play-off spot for Tranmere.
Mansfield lost 3-2 at Boundary Park, where Mohamed Maouche scored in between Gevaro Nepomuceno's double for the Latics. Tyler Walker and Neal Bishop replied for the Stags, who twice found themselves two goals behind.
Bury moved above Mansfield into second place with a 3-1 home win against Northampton, who led through Andy Williams' strike. Goals from Chris Stokes, Danny Mayor and Nicky Maynard completed the turnaround for the Shakers.
MK Dons, who host Mansfield in the final game of the season, missed the chance to move into the automatic promotion places after they had to settle for a 1-1 home draw with Port Vale. Kieran Agard saw a first-half penalty saved and Tom
Conlon put Vale in front early in the second half. However, David Wheeler quickly equalised.
Forest Green also made sure of a play-off spot with a 2-1 home win against Cambridge. Gavin Gunning and Christian Doidge scored either side of Paul Lewis' equalising goal for United.
Exeter stay in the final play-off place after coming from behind to draw 1-1 at Stevenage, who are one of the teams trying to chase them down. Kurtis Guthrie put Boro ahead but Ryan Bowman levelled things up before the break.
Colchester remain in the hunt for a top-seven spot despite drawing 1-1 at relegation-fighting Yeovil. Jake Gray put the Glovers in front and the visitors then had goalkeeper Dillion Barnes sent off but managed an equaliser through Tom Eastman.
Yeovil remain in the relegation places and two points behind Macclesfield after the Silkmen's goalless draw with Newport, while Notts County stay bottom of the table and two points adrift of safety after a 1-1 draw at Crawley.
Craig Mackail-Smith scored to give the Magpies an early lead but Ashley Nathaniel-George equalised midway through the first half. Notts County survived a red card for Ben Barclay after 55 minutes to earn a point.
Joe Grayson's injury time goal gave Grimsby a 1-0 win against Carlisle at Blundell Park while Morecambe were 4-0 winners against Cheltenham. Aaron Collins missed a 21st-minute penalty for the Shrimps but he made amends by completing the scoring late on after goals from Vadaine Oliver, Kevin Ellison and Sam Lavelle.
Chris Porter scored twice in Crewe's 2-1 win at Swindon, who pulled a goal back courtesy of Michael Doughty's penalty.
