Peterborough secured the most dramatic return to the Championship after scoring a 96th minute equaliser to rescue the point they needed against Lincoln. The Posh found themselves 3-0 at home after a shocking first half display against their promotion rivals, but staged an astonishing comeback which was completed thanks to Jonson Clarke-Harris’ 31st goal of the season, from the penalty spot in the final minute of injury time.
Peterborough fans had gathered and celebrated prematurely in midweek as they threw away a 2-0 lead at home to Doncaster but today the fireworks were justified. This point brings to an end a seven year stint in League One and the club will be playing Championship football once again.
Meanwhile, at the bottom of the second tier, the Championship relegation battle will go down to the final day as Derby threw away a one goal lead at Swansea to lose 2-1. Sheffield Wednesday drew 0-0 with Nottingham Forest in the early kick-off to open the door to the Rams, but they failed to capitalise, which means mathematically, the bottom four can all still stay up.
Wycombe moved onto 40 points after an impressive 1-0 over promotion chasing Bournemouth, but they are likely to go down barring a miraculous swing in goal difference. Wednesday are on the same number of points but boast a much better goal difference and vitally, they play Derby on the final day which is now almost a relegation play-off.
Meanwhile Rotherham’s late goal against Blackburn in a 1-1 draw puts them onto 40 points and Paul Warne’s side still have a vital game in hand. They’ll play that against Luton on Tuesday, before travelling to Cardiff with their fate still in their own hands. 12.30pm next Saturday is not to be missed.
Norwich City came from behind at Carrow Road to thump Reading 4-1 and crown themselves as champions for the second time in three years, while we already know Watford will join them in the Premier League and Swansea, Bournemouth, Barnsley and Brentford will contest the play-offs.
The fireworks may have been at Peterborough today in League One but it is Hull City who beat Wigan 3-1 to secure the title. Sunderland and Lincoln will definitely contest the play-offs while Oxford kept their play-off hopes alive with a late winner at Shrewsbury. At the other end of the third tier, Rochdale and Northampton have been relegated as the Cobblers lost 3-0 at home to Blackpool and Dale lost 2-1 at home to Doncaster. They will join Swindon and Bristol Rovers in League Two next term as all four relegation spots from League One have been confirmed.
In League Two, the automatic promotion race will go to the final day after Bolton conceded in the 96th minute to Exeter in a dramatic 2-1 defeat. That came after Cambridge missed their chance of promotion last night in a 5-4 defeat to Harrogate - both results mean that 4th place Morecambe’s 2-0 win at Walsall keeps their automatic hopes alive until the final day.
That last minute Exeter goal kept their play-off hopes alive, while Salford’s 1-0 loss to Colchester saw them fall out of the top seven. Meanwhile, Phil Brown’s resurrection job at Southend fell short, as they were relegated for the first time in history despite a 2-1 away win at Barrow. They will join Grimsby in the National League next season.
