Northern Ireland’s Jamie Donley scored his seventh goal of the season as Leyton Orient came from behind to clinch a 3-1 win at Crawley Town and keep their League One play-off ambitions alive.
The south London outfit fell behind to a 49th minute penalty but the O's bounced back with three second half goals with Donley, who is on loan from Spurs, grabbing the all-important third to secure a crucial three points for the visitors.
Speaking about his goal to Orient TV, the 20-year-old said: “I just tried to stay composed, I hit it through the defender’s legs and I know that keepers don’t like that so I was delighted when it went in.
“We started slow on Tuesday and we started slow again today and we need to fix that for Friday’s game as we can’t keep going behind and trying to get the win."
Meanwhile in the Scottish Premiership St Mirren, managed by former Northern Ireland assistant boss Stephen Robinson, secured a top-six finish for a third successive season thanks to a late 3-2 home win over Ross County.
Former Cliftonville striker Ronan Hale, with his 13th of the campaign, put the Dingwell-based side a goal up midway through the first half but Robinson’s charges equalised nine minutes from the break through Caolan Boyd-Munce. Two further goals in the second half sealed maximum points for the Saints.
“To achieve this level of consistency with the resources we have, it’s an outstanding achievement from everybody at the football club,” Robinson told BBC Scotland.
“I'm delighted with the group of players, I’m delighted that they've achieved this. Ultimately, over the course of the season, you get what you deserve and we've deserved to be a top-six side.”
Robinson would also have been delighted with the return to action of Conor McMenamin who came on as a substitute after being out of action since December with a knee injury.
Elsewhere in the Scottish Premiership, there was an assist for Liam Donnelly in Kilmarnock’s 5-1 defeat to Champions elect Celtic, while Ross McCausland was sent off after picking up two quick bookings in Rangers' 2-2 draw at Aberdeen.
In the Premier League Conor Bradley started for Liverpool who are now on the brink of a record equalling 20th league title following their last-minute victory over West Ham United at Anfield.
Midfielder Justin Devenny was again used as a late substitute as Crystal Palace went down 5-2 to Manchester City who are now just a point off a Champions League spot.
Injuries to Northern Ireland players continue to pile up with Ciaran Brown and Josh Magennis the latest members of Michael O’Neill’s squad to be sidelined. They join an ever growing list which includes Daniel Ballard, Ali McCann, Eoin Toal, Brodie Spencer, Ethan Galbraith and Shayne Lavery.
Teenage defender Ruairi McConville made his first start for Norwich City though he was substituted at half-time as the Canaries lost 2-1 to second-placed Burnley on Friday evening.
“I think in many ways he has deserved a start,” said the City boss Johannes Hoff Thorup. “We thought it could be the right time for him to start in a back three or back five with a little bit more protection.
“It was a difficult one for him to get started in, but sometimes we need to take a chance and give him belief and show him that belief."
In the Vertu Trophy Final at Wembley, Bailey Peacock-Farrell was an unused substitute as Birmingham City fell to a shock 2-0 defeat in front of 71,722 spectators to fellow League One side Peterborough United who had former Under-21 international Chris Conn-Clarke on the bench.
Finally, Natalie Johnson was on target for Nottingham Forest Women in their 7-0 win at Liverpool Feds in the National League North and Kerry Beattie was among the scorers as Aberdeen Women lost 4-2 at home to Spartans in SWPL 1.