npower League 2 review

In another big weekend in League 2 Southend United went 2 points clear at the top as Crawley and Morecambe were held to draws in their respective matches but there were wins for both Cheltenham Town and Shrewsbury Town away from home.

Southend United were at home to an Oxford United side who are certainly fighting at the top end of the table and earning important results so this was one of the big games in League 2. Mark Phillips gave the home side the lead at half-time but Oxford replied in the second half through Damian Batt making it 1-1 but Ryan Hall's 25 yard effort that gave Southend a 2-1 lead proved to be the winner as the Shrimpers picked up maxium points to keep them at the peak of League 2.

Shrewsbury Town were in need of a victory after their 0-0 draw at home to AFC Wimbledon last week and they were up against a struggling Dagenham side at the wrong end of the table. Both sides were reduced to 10 men in this game. James Wallace, who signed on loan from Everton midweek, was sent off for Shrewsbury after lunging in on Jon Nurse. Terry Gornell gave the visitors the lead in the 6th minute capitalising on a mistake from Dagenham's Richard Rose. The game was decided in injury time when Graham Turner's men were awarded a penalty after Scott Doe fouled James Collins and was consequently sent off. It was Collins who took the penalty and put it away to seal the 3 points for Town who move up to 4th with that away victory.

Cheltenham continued their surge into the automatic promotion places with a 1-0 victory at Bradford City; Kaid Mohammed's 15 yard strike being the only goal of the game to take Cheltenham up to third.

Morecambe and Crawley Town had to settle for draws as Morecambe drew 1-1 with Plymouth Argyle and it could have been worse for John Coleman's side who were 1-0 down to Plymouth courtesy of Simon Walton. However, in the 4th minute of injury time, Nick Fenton scored a very late equaliser to rescue a point for the visitors. Crawley finished 1-1 with Hereford United at Edgar Street. It was Hereford who took the lead early on through Barkhuizen but Drury levelled for Crawley before half-time and the Red Devils are now unbeaten in 9 games and lie second in League 2 behind Southend.

Despite Dagenham's defeat they remain above the relegation zone on goal difference as Barnet drew 1-1 with AFC Wimbledon keeping them in the bottom two along with Plymouth Argyle.

League 2 Results:

Accrington Stanley 2-1 Bristol Rovers
AFC Wimbledon 1-1 Barnet FC
Bradford City  0-1 Cheltenham Town
Burton Albion 1-0 Macclesfield
Crewe Alexandra 0-3 Torquay United
Dagenham and Redbridge 0-2 Shrewsbury Town
Gillingham 4-3 Northampton Town
Hereford United 1-1 Crawley Town
Plymouth Argyle 1-1 Morecambe
Port Vale 0-2 Swindon Town
Rotherham United 2-0 Aldershot
Southend United 2-1 Oxford United