Five of West Ham United’s loanees were involved in a busy bout of action throughout the English football pyramid...
In EFL Championship action, Freddie Potts and Portsmouth battled valiantly but fell to a narrow 1-0 defeat against promotion-chasing Sunderland, despite going down to ten men midway through the second half.
The result only just keeps them out of the relegation zone by virtue of goals scored following Hull City’s late comeback against Leeds United, albeit Pompey have a game in hand on the teams around them.
George Earthy featured on the bench as his Bristol City side edged closer to the play-off places with a 1-0 victory over Derby County. Undefeated since Christmas, Liam Manning’s side have picked up 13 points from a possible 15.
Although Callum Marshall’s Huddersfield Town extended their unbeaten run in EFL League One to 14 games, they will be disappointed not to have closed the gap to the automatic promotion places.
To conclude the first phase of fixtures, the Terriers welcomed Yorkshire rivals Rotherham United to The John Smith’s Stadium. Despite the goalless scoreline, there was no shortage of chances for the hosts with Marshall forcing the opposition goalkeeper into a number of first-half saves.
Although Huddersfield went a man down with ten minutes left, when debutant Ruben Roosken was sent off, they fashioned the best chance of the game thereafter. Their biggest opportunity came on 88 minutes when Marshall thwarted a Rotherham counter-attack with an excellent tackle, before whipping in a very dangerous ball from the flank. However, teammates Bojan Radulović and captain Michał Helik were unable to apply the finishing touch.
Saturday's 0-0 draw with Rotherham keeps them six points clear of Stockport County in seventh place.
Staying in League One, Gideon Kodua played just under half-an-hour as Wycombe Wanderers were pegged back in stoppage time by Blackpool in a 1-1 draw.
A man down following Alex Hartridge's sending off, it was mostly defensive duties for Kodua when he was introduced in place of Garath McCleary.
Having taken the lead in the first half through a Richard Kone penalty, Wycombe were then forced into a more defensive approach when centre-back Hartridge received a second yellow card before the hour mark.
The Chairboys almost held out, but Blackpool’s Kyle Joseph rescued a point in the third minute of stoppage time which saw the hosts relinquish the top spot in League One to Birmingham City.
In EFL League Two, Patrick Kelly returned to the Doncaster Rovers starting line-up, but his side fell to a 2-1 defeat at home to promotion rivals Port Vale.
Despite being on the front foot for most of the game, it was the visitors who made the most of their opportunities, securing their first win in eight matches and leapfrogging Rovers into fourth place.
The result tightens the play-off race, with just two points separating second-placed Crewe Alexandra and seventh-placed Doncaster.
In National League South, Mason Terry’s Hornchurch made the 600-mile round trip to Cornwall, enduring a heartbreaking late defeat to Truro City.
Terry produced another solid performance in goal, making a series of impressive saves in extremely wet and windy conditions to keep the game goalless for most of the match.
However, Truro snatched all three points with two late goals, the winner coming in the eighth minute of stoppage time after Hornchurch had briefly thought they had secured a draw.
In the Scottish Premiership, Krisztián Hegyi was an unused substitute as Motherwell secured a comfortable 2-0 victory over Aberdeen in the Scottish Championship.
Elsewhere, Nayef Aguerd did not feature in Real Sociedad’s 2-0 Copa del Rey win over Ponferradina, while Mohammadou Kanté was also absent from Paris FC’s 2-1 home loss to Martigues in Ligue 2.
