Defiant Port Vale stay up for now

By Nathan Jackson
March 29 2008

Port Vale could have been the first Football League team to confirm a division switch on Saturday, but they delayed their inevitable relegation with a 2-1 win over Leyton Orient. Luton also made the relegation battle a bit more interesting by taking 3 points off the team they're all chasing down there and oddly enough, not one of the bottom 4 lost.

Port Vale's late win at Leyton Orient leaves them 12 points off of safety with 5 games to play. Although a run to safety is extremely unlikely, this late run of form might stand them in good stead for next season.

Luton's win over Crewe meant they avoided going bottom and are now 11 points off of safety with a game in hand over their opponents. Bournemouth are also in decent form at this stage of the season and although 9 points from 5 games might be a bit of an ask, it will do their confidence the world of good for next season.

Gillingham were the only team in the bottom 4 not to win, but they will be more than happy with a 0-0 draw against high flying Carlisle. They are now in the interesting situation of being 4 points behind Crewe but with a game in hand, they have more chance than any of the other bottom four to escape.

As mentioned, Gillingham and Luton both have a game in hand and that game comes on Tuesday when they play each other. A defeat for Luton would effectively relegated them. Port Vale could be relegated next Saturday if they fail to win and Crewe get a better result than they do. Luton could also potentially be relegated next Saturday if they lose against Gillingham and Northampton, with Crewe winning and Millwall picking up at a point.

From those aiming to stay in League One to those aiming to get in it. Peterborough United are now even closer to their goal. They can't get promoted next Saturday but it's surely just a matter now. They moved 3 points clear of MK Dons thanks to their win over City, but MK have two games in hand on them.

Hereford remain 3rd despite not playing, that's thanks to Darlington losing at home to Bradford City. It continues a poor run of form for Darlington who must be hoping they keep up with Hereford.

Rochdale remain the only side who can realistically look at challenging the Playoff places after recording another win on Saturday, this time at Brentford.

At the bottom of the division Mansfield Town needed a win over Notts County to put some serious pressure on their neighbours at the bottom of the division. It ended 0-0 and that now means that even beating Wrexham on Tuesday won't put the Stags into striking distance. Neither Mansfield or Wrexham can be relegated for a few weeks yet.

Aldershot stretched their lead to 17 points over Torquay United with a win over Stafford. However, due to the varying amount of games in hand that other teams have, they still aren't able to celebrate promotion for a while yet, but much like Peterborough it's just a matter of time.

The Playoff pack remain the same but Exeter kept up the pressure with a 1-0 win over Halifax Town, a team who have now entered the relegation zone following a very poor run of form and a 10 point deduction.