Due to the progress of teams such as Huddersfield, Oldham and Bristol Rovers in the FA Cup, there were only seven league matches played at the weekend in League One. Second placed Nottingham Forest were one of the only teams near the top of the league that weren't in action over the weekend, which meant that the other teams at the top in the play-offs had an opportunity to pick up points in their absence. However, the only teams to really benefit from the weekend's results were Swansea and Forest. Swansea picked up their fourth win in a row at Doncaster on Friday night, after convincingly seeing off the play-off hopefuls 4-0 at Doncaster. Ferrie Bodde, Guillem Bauza, Jason Scotland (with his 16th of the season from the spot) and Febian Brandy were the scorers for Swansea. Doncaster's misery was compounded when they had Stephen Roberts sent off as well, so not a good day for the Yorkshire side. Swansea, however, have now picked up 31 points from a possible 33 in the last 11 matches and are now 11 points clear at the top. Carlisle had the opportunity to reduce the lead to eight points that night, but instead they slipped to an away defeat at Cheltenham Town. Cheltenham's lowly league position belies their recent form, which has seen them win four matches in a row for the first time since they became a league club. Steven Gillespie scored the only goal of the game and his ninth of the season as Cheltenham climbed out of the relegation zone and up to 19th place. Despite the defeat, the Doncaster result meant that Carlisle remained third, and a disappointing outing for Leyton Orient also contributed.
After beating Luton last week, Leyton Orient were unable to pick up where they left off at Northampton, with goals from Giles Coke and Poul Hubertz enough to give Northampton a 2-0 victory. The win lifted Northampton up to 13th place, and the Cobblers are now unbeaten in three matches, but Orient slipped to 7th place and out of the play-offs, although they remain two points off the automatic promotion places. Walsall moved into the play-offs in their expense after they saw off Gillingham 2-1, going 16 matches unbeaten in the process. Tommy Mooney returned from injury to score his 10th goal of the season in the first half, and Edrissa Sonko also netted for the Saddlers to move them up to fourth place. Andrew Crofts netted a consolation goal for Gillingham in the last minute, who are 16th in the table and could do with picking up some points away from home if they want to stay up - the Gills have only won twice away from home. Leeds remain fifth after drawing 1-1 at Kenilworth Road. After going ahead in the first half through a Paul Huntington header, who was then rightly booked for his celebration, Leeds decided to sit back on their one goal lead and time waste, rather than look for a second goal that could have killed Luton off. Instead, the key substitution of Dean Morgan proved crucial, as Morgan crossed in the final minute for Sam Parkin, another sub, to head home the equaliser. It was a good return for Parkin after a long injury lay off that has seen him feature in just two matches since Christmas 2006.
The draw doesn't do our hopes of survival too much good - we are still five points away from Crewe Alexandra in 20th, but hopefully the lift in the last minute will give us enough momentum to push on against Swindon Town on Tuesday. Despite the point, Luton slipped to 23rd after Bournemouth achieved back to back wins for the first time this season at bottom club Port Vale. The Cherries only managed three shots on target throughout the match, but it proved enough as goals from Sam Vokes, Danny Hollands and Shaun Cooper giving the financially troubled club a much needed boost, with George Pilkington scoring for Port Vale. Vale are now nine points adrift of safety, and Bristol Rovers, Cheltenham, Luton and Millwall all have games in hand over them. They have now just one win in nine matches and relegation is looming even at this stage of the season. Relegation may also still loom for Bournemouth, despite a recent gain in form, the Cherries look likely to enter administration in the near future, and with the South Coast team already three points off safety, the ten point deduction may well be too much for them.
In the only other game in the league, Yeovil struggled to create chances at Prenton Park as Tranmere Rovers moved to within four points of the play-offs with a 2-1 win over the Glovers. Calvin Zola and a penalty from the Bristol City loanee Jennison Myrie-Williams ensured Tranmere earned a second win in a row,with Andy Kirk getting the goal for Yeovil.