Football League: your thoughts

• Another point, another step closer to promotion for Bristol City. Elevation is more or less a formality for Steve Cotterill’s men, but while they couldn’t take the win against playoff contenders Barnsley, they did salvage something after going behind to the Tykes. Barnsley took a 2-1 lead with a brace either side of half-time, but a Joe Bryan goal six minutes from time secured the point, which takes them 11 points clear of second place and 14 ahead of Swindon in third. Preston, in second, are in action on Sunday, while MK Dons in fourth had their clash with Doncaster postponed due to international call-ups, of all things.

• There’s a big gap after them to Sheffield United, which might explain the loud boos that accompanied Nigel Clough’s side after their home defeat to Crewe. Of course, that they lost to a side who were in the relegation zone at the start of the day might also be an explanation, a last-minute strike from Ryan Colclough sealing the victory for Alex. The Blades haven’t lost too much ground though, with Barnsley’s point keeping them within five of the top six, while Peterborough lost 1-0 to Coventry, a win that gave the Sky Blues a little more breathing room above the relegation zone.

• Yeovil remained rooted to the foot of the table and spiralling towards relegation, after defeat to Rochdale. They’re now ten points behind Notts County, who were denied a victory in Paul Hart’s first (and possibly only) game in charge at Meadow Lane, following the sacking of Shaun Derry this week. Leyton Orient are still in the drop zone, but boosted their survival chances with a 3-1 victory over Port Vale, a late screamer from Dean Cox securing a vital set of points for Fabio Liverani’s side. Crawley Town were the victims of Crewe’s surprise success at Bramall Lane, dropping into the relegation zone following their own home defeat to Gillingham.

• With Burton Albion not in action until Monday, Shrewsbury took their opportunity to gain some ground on the leaders with a solid 2-0 victory at Portsmouth, thanks to a Bobby Grant brace. Wycombe also consolidated their position in the automatic promotion spots, as they edged to a 1-0 win at Dagenham & Redbridge, a strike from defender Aaron Pierre enough to bag the three points.

• Just behind those two, the play-off tussle between Bury and Southend started, but didn’t finish, as a deluge from the skies produced a pitch that had more standing water than grass, and the game was abandoned after only five minutes. “It was a million percent the right decision to call it off,” said Bury’s manager, David Flitcroft, after the game. “He had every right to start it.” Plymouth were the key beneficiaries from that postponement, as their resounding 3-0 victory over Cheltenham combined with a defeat for Luton at the hands of Northampton meant the Pilgrims wandered into the play-off spots, now two points ahead of the Hatters.

• They could do it. They could actually do it. At the turn of the year Hartlepool were bottom of the Football League and 10 points away from notional safety, having won just three games all season. Now, they’re out of the relegation zone, surviving eight minutes of added time to hang on and beat Cambridge 2-1, their fifth win in the last seven taking them, miraculously, into the safe spots. Whatever Ronnie Moore has done, it’s little short of magic. Things aren’t looking brilliant for Moore’s former club Tranmere, though, as a late equaliser for them to earn a point against AFC Wimbledon wasn’t enough to prevent them from slipping into the bottom two, just a point above Cheltenham who fell to Plymouth.

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Sheffield United 1-2 Crewe Alexandra | League One match report

Liz Byrnes at Bramall Lane

Saturday 28 March 2015 17.30 GMT Last modified on Saturday 28 March 2015 19.36 GMT

Crewe’s manager, Steve Davis, pointed to the confidence his side can take from their shock 2-1 victory at promotion-chasing Sheffield United as they took an unexpected step towards League One safety at Bramall Lane.

The game had reached the final minute and was heading for a 1-1 draw when the substitute Ryan Colclough, back after 16 months out with injuries and off-field problems, fired an unstoppable 25-yard shot from the left that dipped over the despairing leap of the Blades’ goalkeeper Mark Howard.

Crewe had entered the game fourth from bottom and on the back of three successive defeats and so this historic victory – their first ever at Bramall Lane – was crucial. It lifted them up to 18th, three places and two points above the drop zone with seven games remaining, while bringing the Blades’ momentum – which had seen them win two games in a row – to an unexpected halt, although they remain in fifth place.

Davis said: “It should give us massive confidence – I’ve said that in the past and it hasn’t – coming here and winning against the odds, and the odds were very high today. If you’d have had a bet you’d have won a few quid. With the three defeats we’ve had we weren’t expected to get anything.

“Crewe have a habit of upsetting the odds and we are capable of these results. We’ve got some decent players and on our day we are capable of beating any team in the league.”

Davis also had high praise for Colclough. “I am glad he has that confidence and swagger about him because I think you need that little bit of swagger to become a good player and I want all the players to have a swagger – particularly coming to these places.”

The visitors took a shock lead in the 12th minute when Uche Ikpeazu showed his strength on the edge of the area and slid the ball through to striker Lauri Dalla Valle who managed to get beyond the Blades’ defence before shooting firmly home.

Ten minutes into the second half and the Blades were level. Jamie Murphy danced down the left and put in a low ball to Jason Holt who swivelled and shot home from an angle for his second goal in as many games.

Chris Basham headed against the post for United before Murphy curled the ball across goal but the Blades’ fans held their collective breath when Howard was forced to go down to his left to save a low shot.

However, that was not the end of it from Crewe. There seemed to be little danger for the hosts when Colclough received the ball from Jamie Ness on the left but he turned and unleashed the winner prompting a mass exodus from Bramall Lane.

Nigel Clough did not attempt to hide his disappointment, especially having seen his side beat Port Vale and Scunthorpe in the past week. The Sheffield United manager said: “Having had two home wins in the week, to lose a third one in the manner we did is incredibly disappointing. We shouldn’t be losing those games.

“We are not negative but you can take your draws and have more points on the board if you don’t lose as we did in the 90th minute today.”

He added that they were “a little bit unlucky with the goal. Two deflections – one to get the corner and then the strike has deflected off the top of someone’s head taking it past Mark Howard when he has had so little to do in the second half as well.

“It is very, very disappointing. But Crewe are capable of doing that – we talked about it this week. They are capable of doing that to anybody in the league. I don’t think anybody played anywhere near as well as they did Tuesday.”

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Catalans Dragons 22-38 Leeds Rhinos | Super League match report

Brian McDermott was a relieved man after watching his Leeds side score 28 points on the bounce to beat Catalans Dragons in Perpignan. The Rhinos slugged it out with their hosts and were coming off worse at 22-10 down, but fired up midway through the second half and got the job done 38-22 to hit the front in Super League.

“It was a see-saw game, we took the lead, then Catalans took the lead, then we retook it again before they could have won it at the end,” McDermott said before heading back to England.

“I didn’t feel confident that we would get back into the game when we did. Sometimes when Catalans are in that frame of mind and they play the way they do they are hard to stop and you get some of their halves and the young full-back on the end of some of their moves.”

McDermott’s men were off the pace for a large chunk of the game but eventually fired up and were able to run in seven tries. The first of them opened the scoring for the match as Carl Ablett stepped through a gap to dot down, with Liam Sutcliffe adding the extras.

The Dragons, back home after a horror road trip to Hull, then responded as Elliott Whitehead took in a pass from Scott Dureau to force his way over, with the creator adding the extras.

Leeds made sure they led at the break, though, with Stevie Ward going through Benjamin Garcia to open his account for the season. Catalans ran hot at the start of the second half, scoring twice in quick succession to leave Leeds reeling. Former Bradford man Whitehead got the first and then Eloi Péllissier skipped in from dummy half.

The game looked to be getting away from the Rhinos, especially when a fourth Catalans try arrived as Damien Cardace went in at the corner, leaving the score at 22-10. That was Leeds’ cue to fire up, though. The forward Brad Singleton, proving a handy try-scorer in 2015, crashed on to a Rob Burrow pass to touch down and then Danny McGuire, captain for the day, went in after fine link-up play between Joel Moon and Ryan Hall.

Two conversions by Sutcliffe left it at 22-22 and Catalans had no answer to the flow of points. They fell behind in unfortunate circumstances as Sutcliffe’s grubber kick reared up off the turf and left Willie Tonga slapping the air, with Sutcliffe following up to score.

That broke the home side’s resolve and things were finished off soon after as Kallum Watkins took in a Burrow break to score and then Zak Hardaker scored after a short drop-out went wrong.

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