(Photo: Action Images via Reuters)
By Alex Beard
It turns out Luton had had enough of the ‘will they, won't they?' between Notts County and Exeter City at the top of the League Two table, the Hatters deciding to take matters into their own hands with a 4-1 thumping of Exeter at St James Park last night.
Three goals in ten minutes after half-time ensured Nathan Jones' side would be leaving Devon with all three points, as Dan Potts, Danny Hylton and Harry Cornick put the game beyond the Grecians.
Prior to that, James Collins had put the visitors in front after nine minutes, only for Jake Taylor to curl an excellent equaliser beyond Marek Stech. The result puts Luton one point clear at the fourth tier summit, with Notts County falling to a 2-0 defeat at Crewe also.
Kevin Nolan's County side remain level with Exeter on 29 points, but now do so in second rather than first. Strikes from Michael Raynes and Jordan Bowery were enough for Alex to see off their illustrious visitors and move up to 17th in the table.
Fourth place Wycombe are now unbeaten in six games following their 3-3 draw at Carlisle. A 94th minute effort from Paris Cowan-Hall gave the Chairboys a share of the spoils, having previously got back into the game from 2-0 down.
Reggie Lambe and a Jamie Devitt penalty had put the hosts in charge, only for Sam Saunders and Adebayo Akinfenwa to draw Gareth Ainsworth's men level. Lambe then appeared to have won the game for Carlisle in the 84th minute, but they were denied victory by Cowan-Hall's late goal.
Stevenage made an excellent recovery from their humiliating defeat by Luton at the weekend, securing a 3-2 win over fifth place Accrington Stanley. Jordan Clark put Stanley ahead after 19 minutes, but they were pegged back by Matthew Godden's strike.
Three minutes later Accrington were back in front, Billy Kee converting from the penalty spot. However, Godden grabbed another and Ben Kennedy struck late to give Boro the win.
Bottom club Chesterfield ended a run of six successive defeats with victory over Crawley, late goals from Kristian Dennis and Jordan Flores doing the business for new boss Jack Lester.
Newport County were beaten at home in the league for the first time since March, Colchester's Ryan Jackson and Mickael Mandron making Shawn McCoulsky's late strike a consolation only. Second bottom Forest Green Rovers secured a much-needed win over Coventry at the Ricoh Arena last night, Keanu Marsh-Brown on target for Mark Cooper's side.
Lincoln leapfrogged Swindon with a fine 1-0 win at the County Ground. Sean Raggett's 83rd minute effort ensured Swindon's home misery continued. Meanwhile, Cambridge bagged their first win in four as they beat Yeovil 2-1 – two goals in six minutes from Uche Ikpeazu and George Maris making Bevis Mugabi's goal obsolete.
Neil Aspin grabbed his second win as Port Vale manager, the Valiants overcoming Morecambe 3-0 at the Globe Arena. A brace from Tom Pope and a strike from Cristian Montano secured the points for the visitors.
Finally, Mansfield were held to a 1-1 draw by Barnet, while Grimsby beat Cheltenham 3-2 thanks to a double from Siriki Dembele.
Full list of results:
Cambridge United 2-1 Yeovil Town
Carlisle United 3-3 Wycombe Wanderers
Cheltenham Town 2-3 Grimsby Town
Coventry City 0-1 Forest Green Rovers
Crawley Town 0-2 Chesterfield
Crewe Alexandra 2-0 Notts County
Exeter City 1-4 Luton Town
Morecambe 0-3 Port Vale
Newport County 1-2 Colchester United
Stevenage 3-2 Accrington Stanley
Swindon Town 0-1 Lincoln City
Barnet 1-1 Mansfield Town
