Peterborough ended their six-match losing run in all competitions with a dominant 3-0 victory over Tottenham's U21s in the second midweek round of Papa Johns Trophy matches.
Josh Knight and Ricky Jade-Jones both scored from close range in an impressive first half for the hosts, before an excellent finish from Jack Marriott shortly after the break lifted The Posh to second in Southern Group D, with Stevenage top after beating Wycombe by the same margin.
Though the result is unlikely to suddenly lift any pressure on the shoulders of Grant McCann, a rejuvenated Peterborough could go into their game against Port Vale with renewed confidence after an impressive display.
Vale themselves would also have plenty of confidence going into that encounter after they dispatched Shrewsbury for the second time in four days with a 4-0 win.
Dennis Politic played a huge role in securing their place in the knockout stages with a terrific hat-trick, rounded off with an excellently taken curling shot into the top right corner, before Brad Walker smashed home a fourth.
Youngster Jack Shorrock came on with 15 minutes to go making him the youngest player to ever play for the Valiants at the age of just 15 years and 145 days old.
It was disappointment for another side sitting in mid-table in League One though, as Accrington were beaten 4-2 in a shoot-out at Salford City, with Toby Savin and Dan Martin seeing penalties saved by Salford keeper Jacob Chapman.
Chapman had been instrumental in getting the game to penalties in the first place, pulling off a number of important saves to keep the scores level, with Savin himself having also replicated the feat in the Accrington net.
Penalties also decided the outcome of Morecambe's clash with Hartlepool, and it was once again a 4-2 margin of victory in the shootout for the home side.
First team coach Tony Sweeney was in the Hartlepool dugout ahead of the arrival of Keith Curle as interim boss, after Paul Hartley's sacking on Monday.
Curle watched from the stands as his new side were arguably the better team in the 90 minutes, but the Shrimps' keeper Adam Smith pulled off two fine saves from Hartlepoool's first two spot kicks to deny Euan Murray and David Ferguson respectively.
The final of three games decided 4-2 on penalties saw hosts Carlisle beat Fleetwood, although this one at least had some goals in the 90 minutes.
Duncan Idehen scored at the death to equalise after Gerard Garner had put The Cod Army ahead early in the second-half, before Daniel Batty had his penalty saved by Carlisle keeper Michael Kelly and Josh Vela smashed his penalty into the bar.
The last of the games decided via a shootout saw Tranmere edge Bolton 5-4 from the spot after an entertaining 2-2 draw in normal time.
Kieron Morris and Paul Lewis gave Rovers a 2-0 lead, before Kieran Sadlier pulled a goal back for Bolton as Tranmere miserably failed to clear their lines, and Conor Carty powered a superb strike in added time to take the game to penalties.
In the end, Lloyd Isgrove was denied in the shootout by Tranmere keeper Mateusz Hewelt, to get a valuable two points for Rovers against a Bolton side who undoubtedly carried the favourites tag heading into the contest.
As well as the drama of penalties, two exciting games finished 3-2 on the night, with an away win for Burton at Sheffield Wednesday, and home success for Wimbledon who got the better of 10-man Crawley at Plough Lane to four points clear at the top of Southern Group B.
Kwaku Frimpong and Kyle Hudlin scored their first senior goals for the club with Ayoub Assal adding one in between, who up to that point had scored the Dons' only goal in September in their previous three league games.
The Brewers' win at Hillsborough continued their uptick in form since the arrival of Dino Maamria, with Sam Winnall and Johnny Smith putting the visitors 2-0 up inside twenty minutes before Davis Keillor-Dunn's penalty in the second-half won the game after Wednesday had pulled it back to 2-2.
Darren Moore was disappointed with his side's defending in the defeat, but he will undoubtedly have had one eye on the league with his side still sitting in the League One play-off places.
Although it was a different story for their rivals who are also sat in the play-off places of the third tier, as Barnsley beat Newcastle's U21s 2-0, courtesy of second half goals for two debutants.
Jack Butterfill, making his professional bow, and Ziyad Larkeche, appearing for the first time since being loaned from Fulham, both took their chances well to get The Reds' first win of the competition.
In the same group, Doncaster completed an impressive turnaround at Lincoln as Paul Hirst and Adam Long both netted in the last 20 minutes to snatch a 2-1 victory at Lincoln City and propel them to the top.
Like Barnsley, Ipswich also beat Premier League U21 opposition 2-0, with the League One leaders easing past Arsenal thanks to Dominic Ball and Freddie Ladapo's goals, and Cambridge will now play Arsenal to decide who progresses with them from Southern Group H after a win by the same margin against Northampton Town.
Rochdale got the better of Liverpool U21's, after Tahvon Campbell's late winner earned The Dale a confidence-boosting victory, and the only Premier League U21 side to come away with victory were Wolves, whose mature display earned a 2-1 win at Stockport that saw them through to the knockout stages from Northern Group C along with Port Vale.
Reigning Champions Sutton United went down to a 3-1 defeat at Leyton Orient, with 19-year-old Chelsea loanee Jayden Wareham's brace effectively settling the game in the first ten minutes.
And Swindon were beaten by the same scoreline at home, as Will Jenkins-Davies and Oscar Halls scored in three minutes either side of the half hour for Plymouth Argyle to also put that encounter beyond reach early on.
Gloucestershire pair Forest Green and Cheltenham both held off late comebacks for 2-1 wins against Walsall and Newport respectively, and a 2-0 win for Grimsby at home to Mansfield rounded off the results from a busy Tuesday night.
