Walsall's lead at the top is back up to five points after they beat Peterboro 2-0. Neither second placed MK Dons, who lost 1-0 at home to Swindon (4th), nor third placed Lincoln, 2-1 losers at Macclesfield, picked up points. Hartlepool (5th) won 1-0 at Mansfield, leaving the Stags one point off the drop zone.
Down the bottom, Macclesfield's win was not enough to move them out of the relegation places. Rochdale's second successive 4-0 demolition of their fellow strugglers, this time Grimsby, has given them their first back-to-back wins since September. Grimsby have not scored in five. Accrington won 3-1 at Wrexham to leave the Dragons just two points clear of the trapdoor.
Crisis club no.1 Boston beat Barnet 2-1 in front of just 1,780. Crisis club no.2 Torquay lost 1-0 to Bristol Rovers to leave them six points adrift, naming a short subs bench for the third game running.
In the other games, Chester beat nosediving Notts County 2-1 and Shrewsbury beat Stockport 4-2 thanks to an Andy Cooke hat-trick. Bury's match with Darlington was postponed due to a waterlogged pitch.