Burton Albion prove far too strong for Tranmere

The Dutchman scored after the break to dampen any home hopes of a comeback after Kayode Odejayi had halved the deficit following goals from Damien McCrory and Lucas Akins.

Adam Dudgale's late own goal then confirmed matters, leaving lowly Tranmere above the drop zone on goal difference.

The Brewers remain just five points clear though after Shrewsbury saw off Oxford 2-0.

Liam Lawrence scored both goals for Town who had to play more than half an hour a man short after Rhys Sharpe was sent off.

Ten-man Bury staged a stunning fightback to claim a crucial 2-1 win at home to Northampton which lifts them to within a point of the top three.

Ricky Holmes fired the visitors into the lead before the Shakers' Joe Riley was shown a straight red card. But Kelvin Etuhu levelled before Adam El-Abd headed home late on, making it seven wins from eight for the home side.

Southend's automatic promotion hopes suffered another blow with a dismal 0-0 draw with Cambridge at Roots Hall while Plymouth and Newport also played out a goalless stalemate which neither side wanted in the race for the top seven.

At the foot of the table Brad Walker grabbed the only goal as Hartlepool continued their charge towards a great escape by overcoming 10-man Mansfield 1-0.

Walker's penalty, which lifted Pools to within one point of safety, settled a game that saw Mansfield reduced to 10 men when Junior Brown was given his marching orders on the hour.

Pools are joined in the drop zone by Cheltenham once again after goals from strikers Tom Nichols and Graham Cummins kept Exeter's hopes of making the play-offs alive.

Carlisle missed a guilt-edged chance to pull away from danger only for Padriag Amiond's spot-kick to earn Morecambe a point from a 1-1 draw.

There was late drama at Accrington as Josh Windass broke York's hearts with a late equaliser in the 2-2 draw. The Minstermen thought they were on course for a vital three points when top scorer Jake Hyde fired home - after Luke Summerfield's opener was cancelled out by Sean Maguire.

However Windass blasted home an 89th-minute free-kick from distance to rescue a point.

Elsewhere, Stevenage suffered a 1-0 defeat at Dagenham despite controlling large spells of the match while Ben Chorley's own goal saw AFC Wimbledon leapfrog Portsmouth in the table thanks to a 1-0 win over their rivals.