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Re: Coca-Cola League Two 14-15th Dec
Wycome Wanderers 2 - 0 Morecambe
Wycombe Wanderers leap-frogged Morecambe in the League Two table after beating the Shrimps 2-0 at Adams Park.
Wycombe started the brighter of the two sides and Matt Bloomfield should have broken the deadlock on 13 minutes.
He found himself in the penalty area following an impressive run but, after setting himself, he shot straight at on-loan Norwich keeper Joe Lewis.
The home side continued to cause Morecambe problems down the right and top scorer Scott McGleish made them pay on 19 minutes when he powered home a header from Russell Martin's cross.
The visitors started to come into the game and a nothing ball over the top nearly brought Morecambe level. After initially heading the ball away, Frank Fielding scrambled back to tip over Carl Baker's 35-yard lob.
Five minutes before the break the visitors nearly gave themselves a mountain to climb. A mix-up between Jim Bentley and Garry Hunter gifted the ball to Sergio Torres who, after running from halfway, played in Bloomfield who should have done better from 12 yards.
Wycombe pressed at the start of the second half, and they were only denied a second goal by the woodwork. Firstly, McGleish's shot cannoned back off the post on 49 minutes, before Dave McCracken's effort hit the crossbar.
The game began to get stretched with both keepers being called into action, but there was nothing Lewis could do about Wycombe's second goal on 69 minutes.Sam Stockley's cross from the left was expertly brought down by John Sutton, before he curled the ball home from 18 yards.
Morecambe threw on all three substitutes to try and change the course of the game, but Wycombe held on for a comfortable victory.
Accrington Stanley 2 - 1 Chesterfield
Second-half goals from Andy Proctor and Roscoe D'Sane gave Accrington Stanley their first home win since October 19 at the expense of play-off chasers Chesterfield.
Visiting striker Jamie Ward's sublime first-half chip looked certain to seal the points for the promotion hopefuls against a confidence-shot Stanley side.
But Chesterfield defender Aaron Downes gifted substitute Proctor the perfect opportunity to level from the penalty spot with 17 minutes remaining.
And D'Sane, the striker fouled in the box by Downes, popped up with just two minutes remaining to grab the three points that dented Chesterfield's promotion charge.
Stanley piled on the pressure in search of redemption, but they weren't creating anything.
And it was only when Proctor, on as sub in the 66th minute, stroked home from 12 yards that they got some real momentum going with the chances to match.Paul Mullin missed a gilt-edged opportunity just seconds before D'Sane headed home Ian Craney's pinpoint right-wing corner with the clock ticking down.
From the moment Ward latched on to an inch perfect crossfield ball from German left winger Felix Bastiens, on loan from Nottingham Forest, to beat a stranded Ian Dunbavin from all of 25 yards after 17 minutes, an away win looked odds on.
It truly was a goal that deserved to win any game of football from Premier League down to League Two. Players up and down the land will have to go some to prevent this featuring in the goal of the season reckoning.
But Chesterfield just couldn't hold on to continue Accrington's home woes, with their manager, Lee Richardson blasting: "That was not good enough. We have contrived yet again to gift them the game."
Despite Accrington's home woes, their away form is reasonable. If they can somehow manage to use this as a springboard for more home successes, then Christmas in East Lancashire will be far better than it looked like being with 17 minutes of this match remaining.
Chesterfield 1 - 1 Bradford City
Bradford City ended a poor record at Chesterfield when Kyle Nix scored his first league goal to earn a deserved point for the visitors on a rain-soaked surface.Adam Rooney had headed Chesterfield into a 13th minute lead, but Nix curled in a left-foot shot in the 77th minute to deny the home side what would have been their first victory at Saltergate since September.
The conditions were awful at times with pools of water slowing and stopping the ball, but in the end referee Anthony Taylor was proved right to let the game go ahead.
The rain finally stopped early in the second half and conditions improved slightly although the saturated surface was always a test for the players.
But Mr Taylor showed excellent judgement and took the conditions into account to produce a game which provided some good entertainment for the fans on a thoroughly unpleasant afternoon.
Chesterfield were well worth their first-half lead given to them by Rooney's header from a Jamie Ward corner, although centre-half Janos Kovacs collected his fifth yellow card of the season when he slid into Nix.
Bradford were better after the break and Joe Colbeck was unlucky when a 25-yard shot struck the underside of the bar, but Jamie Lowry should have added a second for the home side, but he fired over from close range.
Bradford's switch to a 4-4-2 formation proved inspired when Omar Daley played a part in the equaliser when he set up Nix, who sent a left-foot shot from just inside the area past Barry Roche and inside his right hand post.
It was an excellent strike but Chesterfield almost regained the lead five minutes from time, when the dangerous Ward turned on the edge of the box and drove in a shot which Donovan Ricketts had to push behind for a corner as he dived to his left.
Bury 0 - 1 Hereford United
Loan striker Theo Robinson snatched promotion-chasers Hereford United full points with a stunning 89th minute winner.
The Watford hitman beat Bury keeper Jim Provett with a sweet strike just as it looked as if the hosts had grabbed a battling draw.
It was his fourth goal in as many games and the striker's tenth goal of the season.
Chris Casper's battling team had the better of the chances on a freezing cold afternoon in Lancashire and striker Andy Bishop could have a hat-trick if his finishing had been better.
But the Shakers missed out on their fourth home draw of the season as Hereford stretched their impressive unbeaten run to eleven matches in all competition as they stay second in the table.
It was also Hereford's first win at Gigg Lane since 1984, their last triumph a 4-1 win in March of that year.
The visitors started the brighter of the two sides and they went close to scoring in the seventh minute, but a superb last-ditch tackle from Andy Parrish spared the home team's blushes.
Two minutes later Steve Haslam headed off his own line after eventual goalscorer Robinson headed Sam Gwynne's right-wing cross goalwards.
At the other end broke and Glynn Hurst was unlucky to have a goal disallowed for offside.Nicky Adams' delightful right-wing cross was flicked on by Paul Scott and Hurst fired into the bottom right-hand corner, only to see the far side linesman waving his flag for the offside.
Bury went close in the 33rd minute. Ben Futcher met Adams' free-kick with a solid header, but Hereford keeper Wayne Brown saved well at the back post.
Bury keeper Provett was forced into action two minutes later. Toumani Diagouraga tried his luck from 25 yards out, but Provett saved well.
In the 38th minute Adams lost his marker on the right edge of the penalty area, but the youngster wasted a good chance, firing well wide with a right-foot shot.Simon Johnson had a shot from distance five minutes before half-time, but his shot didn't trouble Provett.
On the stroke of half-time Bishop should have scored, but from Adams' pinpoint cross from the left failed to hit the target from the near post.
Provett saved well from Steve Guinan in the first minute of the second half, as the striker tried his luck from distance.
Bury went agonisingly close to scoring themselves. Parrish played in Adams inside the box and his cross was met by Bishop, but the striker saw his powerful header saved by Brown at his back post.
Parrish crossed for Bishop in the 65th minute, but the centre-forward headed straight into the arms of Brown.
A minute later Adams fired over from just outside the box as the home side looked to make their dominance in possession count.
Gywnne headed wide as Hereford looked for the opener, before Bishop forced Brown to make a smart stop after a lovely pass from Scott.
Scott should have scored with ten minutes to go, but he fired wide when he should have hit the target.
Grimsby Town 1 - 0 Mansfield Town
A terrific goal decided a poor match between two sides battling at the foot of League Two.
For the second successive week, it was striker Gary Jones who won all three points for the Mariners. Last week at Brentford, it was a neat shot early in the second half that decided matters and this time it was a superb diving header that was the difference between the two sides.Nick Hegarty got away down the left and his fine cross was despatched like a bullet past goalkeeper Carl Muggleton after 62 minutes.
It was the sort of match where one goal was always going to be enough to decide it and it was Grimsby who always looked the likeliest to get on the scoresheet.
For Mansfield, the salient fact was that they rarely looked like scoring and on the evidence of this display, their placing at the foot of the table is not going to be temporary.
It could have been a different story had not Grimsby wasted a great chance early on. Experienced midfielder Paul Bolland was gifted the ball and could have run several yards further, but took his shot too early and blazed his shot well wide.
After a great start Grimsby lost momentum as Mansfield enjoyed their best spell, without ever seriously testing Grimsby keeper Phil Barnes.
In the second half, as the temperature fell, the surface became tricky and good football was at a premium.
This was only Grimsby's second home win of the season in the league and their second-successive 1-0 win, which for a side which could not keep a clean sheet until recently was quite a feat.
For Mansfield, their off-field problems, regarding the ownership of the club, are clearly having an effect on the playing side and they face a real fight to retain their Football League status.
Lincoln City 4 - 1 Barnet
Lincoln City grabbed their biggest win of the season to lift themselves further away from the bottom two positions.
City controlled the game after taking an early lead and, although Barnet staged a second-half fightback, the Red Imps easily made it three League wins out of four.
Lincoln got off to the best possible start going in front after nine minutes. Winger Dany N'Guessan held off the challenge of a defender before firing in a low cross. Barnet failed to clear and Ben Wright beat keeper Lee Harrison with a powerful shot.
Lincoln's Lee Frecklington almost doubled City's lead but was inches wide with a 20-yard left-foot shot.
Barnet should have levelled in the 28th minute when a defensive mix-up left Adam Birchall clear but his shot was blocked by the legs of Lincoln keeper Ben Smith.
Four minutes later Lincoln got a second goal from the penalty spot after Wright was pushed in the back by Ismail Yakubu. Jamie Forrester sent Harrison the wrong way with his spot-kick.
Barnet's defence fell apart in the 50th minute when Forrester set up Louis Dodds who coolly shot home from inside the box.
The Bees' problems increased six minutes later when Frecklington attempted to break clear but was cynically hacked down by Joe O'Cearuill.
The Barnet defender was shown a straight red card but the effect was to inspire the visitors. They quickly hit back with Birchall scoring from close range three minutes later.
Barnet then pushed forward and created a string of chances. Birchall shot wide from a good position and then saw a header superbly saved by Smith.
The Lincoln keeper then performed heroics to keep out efforts from Liam Hatch and Anthony Thomas.
But in stoppage time Lincoln scored a fourth goal when they hit Barnet on the counter-attack. Substitute Mark Stallard released Wright who ran clear before slotting home his second goal of the game.
Macclesfield Town 0 - 2 Stockport County
Delirious Stockport County fans travelled back down the A6 wreathed in smiles after their team completed a smash-and-grab act at arch derby rivals Macclesfield Town.
Under the cosh all afternoon the Hatters decisively took the lead in the 63rd minute with a classic near-post header from striker Liam Dickinson - his eighth goal of the season.
They put the icing on the cake deep into stoppage time when Macc keeper Jonny Brain could only parry a close-range Dickinson drive across the goal-line for strike partner Adam Proudlock to bury from close range.
Macclesfield dominated the first hour but came up against a brick wall in the form of Hatters' on-loan keeper Conrad Logan.
He was twice tested from long range in the first ten minutes by Adam Murray and then Levi Reid.
In the 13th minute he was lucky when youngster Jimmy McNulty blazed a half-volley over the bar from only ten yards out.
Macc's best move of the game came in the 21st minute when Francis Green held the ball up beautifully before laying it off to Reid who jinked past two men before setting up Murray for a close-range shot, but Logan was on hand to fingertip the ball wide.
The big keeper was again at his best in the 37th minute when he plucked a Green lob out of thin air, but his best save came after the break when Green lashed a fierce drive goalbound only to see Logan's giant claw palm the ball past the post.
Stockport woke up after their opener and Proudlock should have found the net in the 80th minute when he scooped an easy chance from ten yards out over the bar.
Peterborough United 1 - 2 Milton Keynes Dons
MK Dons tightened their grip on top spot in Division Two as they held on for an impressive victory against second in the table Peterborough United.
Although the Dons finished with ten men after Drissa Diallo was sent off, inspired by skipper Keith Andrews they resisted strong late Posh pressure to claim all three points.
The visitors made the early running keeping the ball on the ground and forcing the Dons to concede a succession of free-kicks, one of which was touched to Charlie Lee who strode forward and rattled the crossbar with a 25-yard shot.Dean Lewington charged down Josh Low's pass but wasted the Dons' first opening, shooting well wide. The league leaders fared little better on the opposite flank with Mark Wright's cross headed away by Shane Blackett.
The visitors' first effort on target came on 33 minutes with Colin Cameron cutting inside at the end of a patient build-up only to see his rising shot from just outside the area well held by Posh's Mark Tyler.
The home side made progress towards the end of the half but, after George Boyd should have done better with a headed chance, the former Stevenage man forced Willy Gueret into a diving save and the Dons goalkeeper also reacted well to deny Low in stoppage time.
The Posh failed to retain the initiative after the break and were stung by two goals in the space of ten minutes.Kevin Gallen broke the deadlock just two minutes after the restart, sweeping an Andrews pass beyond Tyler's reach and it was skipper Andrews who fired the second from the tightest of angles running in from the right on 57 minutes.Aaron McLean gave Posh hope, forcing the ball into the net on 75 minutes as Lee's drive dropped after hitting the bar and, two minutes later, the Dons were reduced to ten men when Diallo was red carded after a second bookable offence.
However, Paul Ince's side hung on to the three points to improve their position at the top of the table.
Shrewsbury Town 4 - 0 Dagenham Redbridge
Shrewsbury Town recorded their biggest win since the opening day of the season as they demolished visiting Dagenham & Redbridge 4-0.
After a low-key first half, the home side ran riot after the break, scoring four without reply, although the visitors' cause was not helped with the sending-off of defender Solomon Tiawo seven minutes after the break, at a point when the game was still goalless.
But from that moment Shrewsbury grabbed complete control of the game as Ben Davies (twice), Marc Pugh and Marc Tierney were on target as the Shrews registered their third straight home win without conceding a goal to remain in touch with the League Two play-off pack.
Town in fact almost snatched a lead within the first minute, midfielder Stewart Drummond seeing his header tipped away at full-stretch by Daggers keeper Tony Roberts.
Throughout the first 20 minutes Shrewsbury pressed, but were kept at bay by either Roberts or some poor finishing, but they were unable to build on their early momentum and the half ended a scrappy, untidy affair.
But when Tiawo clattered into Davies in the 52nd minute, the visitors were to pay a high price. He was shown a red card, while Davies got to his feet to curl home the ensuing 20-yard free-kick.
In the 69th minute Davies put the issue beyond any doubt when he lashed home a smart, angled shot from 15 yards, with substitute Pugh scoring within a minute of entering the field, netting Shrewsbury's third with a close-range header on 77 minutes from a Tierney centre.
For lowly Dagenham things then became even worse as Pugh returned the compliment, crossing to the far post where Tierney was on hand to complete the scoring by heading home from six yards out.
Wrexham 1 - 3 Brentford
Brentford pulled off a tremendous victory which ended a five-match run without a win and 520 minutes without a goal.
That recent form resulted in manager Terry Butcher being sacked in midweek and stand-in boss Andy Scott saw the side put in a tremendous second-half display which pushed Wrexham into deep trouble.
The Bees had a number of chances before they found themselves a goal down in the 40th minute. Sam Aiston crossed from the left and Neil Roberts headed back across goal for Chris Llewellyn to net.
Then Lee Thorpe saw his spot-kick brilliantly saved by home keeper Anthony Williams.
The outcome of the game might have changed completely, but just before half-time Llewellyn was clear but missed a chance of putting the home side two goals clear.
The second half was again all Brentford, but it wasn't until the 66th minute that Alan Connell connected with a right-wing cross from substitute Ricky Shakes to fire pass Williams.
In the 72nd minute Gary Smith put a through ball to Thorpe. He mis-kicked and home defender Steve Evans sliced the ball into his own goal to put the Bees in front.
In the 77th minute Wrexham were in a dreadful tangle with Connell getting three attempts before he finally netted to complete a great result for the visitors and bring despair for the home side, who were roundly booed off the field at the end.
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Coca-Cola League Two 14-15th Dec
