Conor Coventry helped MK Dons to an emphatic final-day victory over Plymouth Argyle in League One – but it was not enough to see off competition for automatic promotion from Rotherham United.
One point behind the Millers going into the final day, Coventry and former West Ham United development coach Liam Manning’s team knew that they needed to better Rotherham’s result at Gillingham, and hope that events at Priestfield went their way, to secure direct promotion to the Championship.
Coventry and his teammates duly ran riot at Home Park, winning 5-0 with a dominant display in which Scott Twine scored four times and Plymouth were reduced to ten men on the stroke of half-time.
But Rotherham’s 2-0 win at Gillingham means that, if Coventry and MK Dons are due to secure promotion this season, it will be via the League One Play-Offs, with two semi-final legs against Wycombe Wanderers set for Thursday and Sunday.
And elsewhere in League One, Mipo Odubeko’s time at relegated Doncaster Rovers came to a close with a 32-minute showing in a 1-1 draw with Oxford United – a match in which Nathan Holland was an unused substitute for the U’s.
Odubeko was unable to add to his first two professional goals in recent weeks during his time on the pitch at Kassam Stadium, but did nod a Ben Jackson cross narrowly wide late on.
The 19-year-old forward concludes his time at Doncaster with two goals and an assist in 16 League One appearances on loan for the 22nd-placed side, whilst Holland has picked up six goals and seven assists in 39 games in all competitions for Oxford.
In the League of Ireland Premier Division, goalkeeper Joseph Anang endured a Friday evening to forget as St Patrick’s Athletic were thumped 4-0 at home by early league leaders Derry City.
Last season’s runners-up St Pat’s were second-best throughout at Richmond Park, but will be disappointed to have conceded three first-half goals – none of which Anang could do much about – after two particularly pieces of passing at the back.
And early in the second half, a long-range rocket from Derry defender Cameron Dummigan added further gloss to the scoreline, another effort Anang had little chance of stopping.
The heavy defeat saw St Patrick’s Athletic slip to fifth in the table and, crucially, fall ten points behind their visitors, with the season beginning to approach its halfway mark.
And in Ligue 2, fellow shot-stopper Nathan Trott was an unused substitute in already-relegated AS Nancy’s 3-1 defeat at home to Nimes.
