{"id":419147,"date":"2019-04-23T03:56:27","date_gmt":"2019-04-23T07:56:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lwosonfootball.ms.lastwordonsports.com\/?p=419147"},"modified":"2020-12-28T11:34:04","modified_gmt":"2020-12-28T16:34:04","slug":"league-two-promotion-race-bury-capitalize-on-dropped-points-for-mk-dons-and-mansfield-town","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/football\/2019\/04\/23\/league-two-promotion-race-bury-capitalize-on-dropped-points-for-mk-dons-and-mansfield-town\/","title":{"rendered":"League Two Promotion Race: Bury Capitalize on Dropped Points For MK Dons and Mansfield Town"},"content":{"rendered":"

While Lincoln City<\/a> were confirmed as the champions of League Two<\/a> after their goalless draw<\/a> against Tranmere Rovers<\/a>, the race for the other two promotion spots<\/a> behind them continued. On Good Friday, it appeared that Bury<\/a> had blown their chance after they lost at Newport County<\/a> while Mansfield Town<\/a> and MK Dons<\/a> won. However, Easter Monday saw the reverse as the Shakers came from behind<\/a> to beat Northampton Town<\/a>, MK Dons were held to a 1-1 draw<\/a> by Port Vale<\/a> and Mansfield were beaten<\/a> 3-2 at Oldham Athletic<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Bury Capitalize on Dropped Points For MK Dons and Mansfield Town<\/h1>\n

Bury 3-1 Northampton Town<\/h2>\n

Ryan Lowe’s Bury moved back up to second in the table after they recovered from an early setback against mid-table Northampton, and continued to seem unfazed by the ongoing off-field issues<\/a> surrounding the club.<\/p>\n

The visiting Cobblers looked lively from the off and had already gone close through Shay Facey<\/a> and David Buchanan<\/a> when they took the lead. Sam Foley<\/a> delivered a cross from the right and, completely unmarked, Andy Williams<\/a> was able to head in with ease.<\/p>\n

Bury responded sharply and, within 12 minutes, restored parity when Chris Stokes<\/a> darted into the box and got to Nicky Adams<\/a>‘ pass and he side-footed home to pull the hosts level.<\/p>\n

The Shakers turned the game around on 65 minutes when Danny Mayor<\/a> created space for himself on the edge of the box and curled home a superb effort into the bottom corner, and the game was wrapped up in the fifth minute of stoppage time when Nicky Maynard<\/a> continued his excellent form<\/a> by poking home a cross.<\/p>\n

MK Dons 1-1 Port Vale<\/h2>\n

A win for MK Dons<\/a> in this one would have finally seen them move above Mansfield what with the Stags losing. It should have simple too, given Vale’s league position<\/a> and the fact that Kieran Agard<\/a> was awarded a fortuitous first-half penalty when the referee deemed he had been hit by a high boot from a clearance.<\/p>\n

Agard, who is the Dons’ top scorer this season<\/a>, stepped up but saw his effort saved by Scott Brown<\/a>, and Brown produced the heroics again straight after to keep out the rebound, despite Agard scuffing it into the ground.<\/p>\n

Even with that golden opportunity missed, this should have been a routine game for the hosts. However, they were making hard work of it and suffered, as a result, three minutes into the second half when Tom Conlon<\/a> cut in from the right, side-stepped past Conor McGrandles<\/a> and fired into the top corner to give Vale a surprise lead.<\/p>\n

Thankfully for the Dons, the setback lasted all of four minutes as Jake Hesketh<\/a>‘s cross from the right was put on a plate for David Wheeler<\/a> to net his second in as many games, but they continued to be frustrated, particularly by Chuks Aneke<\/a>‘s poor miss when he was one-on-one with the goalkeeper.<\/p>\n

They now drop down to fourth, only behind Mansfield on goal difference. All to play for on the final day when they meet each other<\/a>, then.<\/p>\n

Oldham Athletic 3-2 Mansfield Town<\/h2>\n

This was always going to be a banana skin game for Mansfield and, true to form, they suffered a defeat courtesy of a wonderful performance from Gevaro Nepomuceno<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The\u00a0Cura\u00e7aoan international opened the scoring just before the half-hour mark when he converted from Mohamed Maouche<\/a>‘s ball into the area and, in the second half, Nepomuceno returned the favour for Maouche as the Frenchman rattled home a loose ball from the former’s blocked effort.<\/p>\n

Tyler Walker<\/a> halved the deficit straight away to give Mansfield a glimmer of hope, but Nepomuceno quickly restored the two-goal lead with a stunning effort from the edge of the area that flew into the top corner.<\/p>\n

Neal Bishop<\/a> once again brought Mansfield to within a goal of equalising and they thought they’d done just that when Danny Rose<\/a> netted late on, but he was ruled out for offside.<\/p>\n

The loss sees them drop to third, ahead of MK Dons by virtue on seven goals in their goal difference rankings.<\/p>\n

Main Photo<\/p>\n

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Embed from Getty Images<\/a>