Fulham missed the chance to wrap up the Championship title as Nottingham Forest boosted their own automatic promotion hopes with a 1-0 win at Craven Cottage.
Marco Silva’s side would have gone up as champions had they bettered Bournemouth’s result at Swansea – where the Cherries produced a remarkable late comeback from 3-0 down to draw 3-3.
However, Philip Zinckernagel’s close-range goal after 15 minutes proved the difference, the Danish winger pouncing on a defensive mix-up to prod home as Forest moved to within three points of second place following a third straight win.
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Exeter secure promotion to League One
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Exeter City have secured promotion to League One after fighting back from a goal down to beat Barrow 2-1 at St James’ Park. The captain, Matt Jay (pictured), struck the winner 12 minutes from time, after Kieran Phillips had cancelled out an early Cameron Dawson own goal.
The Grecians will return to the third tier for the first time since 2011-12, but below them the race for the third automatic promotion spot is incredibly tight. Mansfield beat Stevenage 2-0 to go fifth, one point behind third-placed Northampton with two games to play.
Alistair Smith’s double helped Sutton stay seventh, three points behind Northampton, as they beat Crawley 2-1, while Swindon boosted their hopes of snatching a play-off spot with a 2-1 home win over already-promoted Forest Green, Louie Barry getting a goal and assist.
Bournemouth looked to be heading towards a costly defeat at Swansea before recovering with three goals in the final 18 minutes to earn a dramatic point in a 3-3 draw. Joel Piroe gave the Swans a sixth-minute lead and it was soon 2-0 when the Dutch forward slotted in his 22nd goal of the campaign from the edge of the area.
Cyrus Christie added a third on the counter just before the hour, but Wales striker Kieffer Moore headed in his first Bournemouth goal to give the visitors a lifeline before Dominic Solanke slotted in from the penalty spot with nine minutes to go. Moore then completed the comeback in the closing moments to leave Bournemouth’s promotion ambitions in their own hands.
Relegated Barnsley were beaten 2-0 at home by Blackpool. The Tykes parted company with Poya Asbaghi last week and were behind when Owen Dale gave Blackpool the lead shortly before the break, with Oliver Casey adding a second after 66 minutes.