Sky Bet League Two review: Portsmouth win

Sky Bet League Two results

Accrington Stanley 1-1 Grimsby Town
Barnet 3-1 Cheltenham Town
Blackpool 2-1 Hartlepool United
Cambridge United 0-0 Stevenage
Carlisle United 0-2 Crewe Alexandra
Colchester United 2-1 Luton Town
Crawley Town 3-0 Leyton Orient
Exeter City 3-3 Yeovil Town
Morecambe 1-3 Mansfield Town
Portsmouth 2-1 Newport County
Wycombe Wanderers 0-1 Notts County

Click for updated Sky Bet League Two table

Portsmouth strengthened their automatic promotion claims with a 2-1 home victory against Sky Bet League Two strugglers Newport.

Kyle Bennett and Kal Naismith were involved in everything good about Pompey and both scored for the hosts, although Alex Samuel set up a tense finale when he pulled a goal back with 13 minutes remaining.

With leaders Doncaster and second-placed Plymouth playing each other on Sunday it allowed Portsmouth to temporarily narrow the gap on the top two, while Newport stay in the relegation places and are six points adrift of safety.

Stevenage, who beat Pompey 3-0 last weekend, slipped six points behind Paul Cook's team with a goalless draw at Cambridge as none of the sides who started the day in the play-off places won.

Luton lost 2-1 at Colchester with Chris Porter scoring both goals for the hosts before Isaac Vassell replied in injury time. The Essex side are now just two points shy of the top seven.

Carlisle's loss of form continued with a 2-0 home defeat to Crewe. Callum Cooke and Jordan Bowery netted either side of Shaun Miller's 51st-minute red card for the hosts, whose winless streak now consists of six defeats in seven matches.

Their miserable run has now seen the Cumbrians drop out of the play-off spots after Exeter's thrilling comeback in a 3-3 draw with Yeovil, who led 3-0 with 88 minutes on the clock courtesy of goals from Francois Zoko, Shayon Harrison and Alex Lacey.

However, David Wheeler's strike and injury-time efforts from Reuben Reid and Troy Brown rescued an unlikely point for the Grecians.

Blackpool capitalised on a bad day for their rivals by moving up to fifth with a 2-1 home win over Hartlepool. Lewis Alessandra put Pools ahead but Bright Samuel and Kyle Vassell turned the game around.

Mansfield are just a point outside the play-off places after winning 3-1 at Morecambe. Danny Rose scored either side of Paul Mullin's equaliser for the hosts before Ben Whiteman gave the Stags a two-goal cushion before half-time.

At the other end of the table, Leyton Orient remain bottom after losing 3-0 at Crawley. First-half goals from James Collins, Joe McNerney and Enzio Boldewijn gave the Reds a first win in seven matches.

Cheltenham's 3-1 loss at Barnet keeps them hovering just above danger, six points ahead of Newport. Danny Wright put Cheltenham ahead at The Hive but the Bees scored three times in 10 minutes late in the game through Curtis Weston and John Akinde (2).

Shola Ameobi's 27th-minute strike moved Notts County further away from trouble with a 1-0 win at Wycombe. 

Accrington and Grimsby drew 1-1, with Sean McConville's last-minute free-kick cancelling out Akwasi Asante's opener for the Mariners.