Rotherham United

In another busy week of action in the Final Third Development League, Port Vale and Luton Town put themselves in a great position to clinch their respective divisional titles.

Final Third Development League - West Division
Port Vale need three points in their final fixture to clinch the West Division after sharing the spoils with Walsall.

Amadou Bakayoko nodded the Saddlers in front but Jonathon Kapend’s equaliser made it 1-1, and the Valiants can now take the title if they can beat Shrewsbury Town in two weeks' time.

The Shrews proved they won’t be pushovers though, after romping to a 5-1 win over Wrexham on Wednesday afternoon.

James Caton starred with a hat-trick for the hosts, with Josh Ginnelly and Kaiman Anderson adding to the score. Regan Carthey grabbed the consolation for the Dragons.

On Tuesday, Tranmere Rovers came from a goal down to win 3-1 against Morecambe.

Harrison Roberts had put the Shrimps ahead, but goals from Iain Hume, Jake Kirby and Liam Davies lifted Rovers off the bottom of the table.


Final Third Development League - South Division
Luton Town ran out winners in the clash of the top two in the South Division, fighting back from 2-0 down to move 10 points clear of Portsmouth with a 5-2 success.

Paul McCallum and Craig Westcarr’s goals had Luton on the ropes, but the Hatters turned the game on its head after the break.

Alex Wall, Ryan Hall and Scott Griffiths completed the comeback, before Wall and Shaun Whalley hit the net to make it an emphatic win.

Cambridge United also came from behind in their game, against Leyton Orient, to triumph 4-1.

The U's found themselves a goal down through a Luke Edgar own goal, but Charlie Grainger returned the favour before John Akintunde put the them in front before half-time.

Tom Meechan and a Bobbie-Joe Taylor penalty wrapped up the three points for Cambridge in the second period.

Peterborough United and AFC Bournemouth were involved in a five-goal thriller, with the Posh edging it 3-2.

Aaron Mclean opened the scoring for Peterborough, who pulled away through David Norris and Harry Anderson, after Sam Mathews had initially levelled. Harry Cornick pulled one back for the Cherries, but they failed to level matters.


Final Third Development League - East Division
Greg Luer’s second-half double extended Hull City’s fine form at the top of the East Division with a 2-0 defeat of Gateshead.

Doncaster Rovers kept the pressure on the Tigers courtesy of a 1-0 win over Burton Albion - Mitchell Lund’s deflected effort proved to be the difference between the pair.

Mansfield Town led at half-time against Scunthorpe United thanks to a Liam Hearn free-kick, but the Iron fought back in the second period through Dave Syers and Ryan Brobbel (2) to triumph 3-1.

Elsewhere, Hartlepool United and Rotherham United braved the weather to battle to a 1-1 draw.

Marlon Harewood’s opener for Pools was cancelled out by Jerry Yates’ strike and, after the referee called the players off the field to due to a torrential hailstorm, the sides returned to play out the final minutes and share the points.


Final Third Development Cup – Southern Group A
Gillingham pulled off a 1-0 win over AFC Wimbledon, with former Dons loanee Brennan Dickenson finding the net to separate the sides.


Final Third Development Cup – Southern Group B
Last Thursday saw Portsmouth romp to an emphatic 8-2 win over Bristol City to qualify for the Semi-Finals.

Conor Chaplin scored a second-half hat-trick to rock the Robins, with Pompey's other goals coming from Fahad Rwakarambwe, Brandon Joseph-Buadi, Kaleem Haitham and Adam May (2).

Kaylem Patterson and Ashley Harper grabbed the consolation strikes for City.

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