Championship
Watford earned promotion back to the Premier League at the first attempt courtesy of an Ismaïla Sarr penalty after 11 minutes against Millwall.
There were chances for both teams, with Millwall threatening to level on several occasions, but in the end the Hornets held on and return to the top flight at the first time of asking.
Those three points for Watford also meant that despite Norwich winning 3-1 at QPR, the Canaries must wait to be confirmed as title winners.
Colin Kazim-Richards’ first-half opener for Derby against Birmingham may have had consequences far beyond Pride Park, with Wycombe and Sheffield Wednesday set to be relegated if neither of them could better the Rams’ result. While none of the Championship strugglers made any ground, Lukas Jutkiewicz scored twice after half-time for Birmingham to secure a 2-1 win. That result ensured that 24th-placed Wycombe and the 23rd-placed Owls both live to fight another day.
Wycombe would have boosted their survival hopes with a result at Cardiff and they went in all square at the break, Joe Jacobson equalising with a penalty after Kieffer Moore opened the scoring for the hosts. However, Moore scored again with 20 minutes left to claim a 2-1 win for Cardiff and strike a heavy blow to Wycombe’s hopes of avoiding relegation.
Sheffield Wednesday lost 3-1 to Middlesbrough at the Riverside. The visitors fell behind to a Yannick Bolasie effort, but Josh Windass levelled from the spot after Andre Green was felled in the box. Windass missed a great chance to put Wednesday ahead and the visitors were punished when Josh Coburn nodded in Neeskens Kebano’s cross, before Duncan Watmore added a third for Middlesbrough.
Barnsley moved closer to confirming their Championship play-off place with a 1-0 win against Rotherham at Oakwell. The Tykes’ goal came in controversial fashion when Carlton Morris headed in but caught Millers goalkeeper Viktor Johansson with his elbow in challenging for the ball, forcing the Swede off injured. Rotherham’s defeat meant the bottom four sides in the Championship all lost.
League One
Hull were hoping to tie up promotion with a win against Lincoln and looked on track at half time after Josh Magennis put the Tigers ahead. Lewis Montsma pegged back the league leaders after the break, but Mallik Wilks got a big goal from the spot with seven minutes left to ensure his side will be playing Championship football next season.
In the early game, Ronan Curtis’s lone strike was enough to put Portsmouth back into the playoff places, but perhaps more importantly consigned Bristol Rovers to League Two football next season.
It was also a dark day for Swindon, who needed to better the result of Wigan to maintain any hope of survival. The Robins failed to muster any kind of a challenge at MK Dons with Will Grigg scoring four and Scott Fraser also scoring from the spot to secure a 5-0 win.
The Latics fell behind early at home to Burton, but fought back through a Will Keane header to secure a vital point.
Northampton were able to stave off relegation for another week courtesy of results elsewhere and a battling point at Gillingham. Trailing 2-0 with 15 minutes on the clock Ryan Edmondson pulled one back for the Cobblers, which set up Fraser Horsfall to equalise just four minutes later when he headed home Joseph Mills’ corner.
Peterborough’s 1-0 win at Charlton boosted their automatic promotion hopes as top scorer Jonson Clarke-Harris got the crucial goal in the first half.
Oxford were made to work for their home win against Plymouth Argyle, but kept their playoff ambitions alive with a 3-1 victory. Having gone 17 games without defeat, Blackpool’s playoff place is now in jeopardy after they lost a second consecutive game, going down 1-0 at home against Shrewsbury. Rochdale kept their faint hopes of survival alive with an equaliser in the seventh minute of added time for a 1-1 draw against Crewe.
League Two
Southend needed a win in their vital relegation clash against Leyton Orient and got ahead just before the break when Tyler Cordner nodded in from a corner. That advantage did not last long, with Louis Dennis lashing home in added time. The Shrimpers battled valiantly in the second half and got their reward when Matt Rush scored their second to earn a vital three points.
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Bottom-placed Grimsby also live to fight another day thanks to Jay Matete’s late strike that secured a 2-1 win away at Oldham. At the other end of the table, Cambridge missed out on the chance to secure promotion after losing 1-0 at home to Stevenage.
Cheltenham now take over at the top of the table after Conor Thomas’s goal bagged all three points in a 1-0 home win against Colchester. Bolton are also now in the hunt for the title, sitting just two points off top spot as Ben Jackson’s strike in first-half added time was enough for a 1-0 win at play-off contenders Morecambe.
Tranmere, another side chasing the play-offs, secured a 1-0 win at home to struggling Barrow, with David Nugent scoring the game’s only goal. Salford also kept their play-off hopes alive with a 2-0 win at home to Mansfield.