RESULT! Freeman goal gets Blades out of jail
SHEFFIELD UNITED moved two points clear at the top of League One despite being held to a 2-2 draw at home to Gillingham.
Top scorer Billy Sharp put United in front with his 18th goal of the season but Kieron Freeman salvaged a point after Josh Wright’s double briefly put the visitors ahead at Bramall Lane.
The Blades extended their lead at the top as the games involving secondplaced Scunthorpe and third-placed Bolton were postponed due to frozen pitches at Charlton and Southend.
Cian Bolger struck a late winner to help Fleetwood climb to fourth with a 1-0 success at bottom club Coventry.
Meanwhile, Bradford dropped to fifth after coming from behind to earn a 1-1 draw against Millwall at Valley Parade.
Lee Gregory put the visitors ahead early in the second period but the lead was short-lived as James Meredith equalised for the Bantams.
Rochdale’s top-six aspirations suffered a setback as they were thumped 4-0 by Oxford.
Goals from Marvin Johnson, Robert Hall, Ryan Taylor and Ryan Ledson secured an emphatic victory to inflict Dale’s first home league defeat since August.
Chuks Aneke (below) scored twice and made another as MK Dons moved further away from the drop zone with a 5-3 victory at home against Northampton. Kieran Agard, Darren Potter and debutant Harvey Barnes also scored for Dons, who held on despite Gregg Wylde’s goal and a Marc Richards double for the visitors. Freddie Ladapo claimed the only goal for the second week in a row as Oldham’s difficult campaign continued with a 1-0 loss at Shrewsbury.
Bristol Rovers suffered a seventh successive away defeat as they lost 3-1 at Walsall, with Eoghan O’Connell, Simeon Jackson and Joe Edwards getting the goals.
Chris Forrester’s strike was enough for Peterborough to win 1-0 at Swindon, while Gary Caldwell’s first game in charge of strugglers Chesterfield ended 0-0 against AFC Wimbledon.
The Rams bounced back from conceding at home for the first time in nearly 13 hours to edge a five-goal thriller.
John Swift put Reading in front but Darren Bent equalised before half-time and Ince and Will Hughes turned the game around.
Sub Yakou Meite set up a tense finish that saw Reading’s Jordan Obita sent off deep in added time but Derby held on.
Reading had given a debut to new signing Tiago Ilori while Derby made four changes to the team beaten 1-0 at Leeds, although £2.5million signing David Nugent missed out with a knee injury.
Ilori almost let County in when he slipped, allowing Johnny Russell to break down the left in the 10th minute, but his cross was overhit.
The Royals responded with a strong run from Garath McCleary who shot wide from just inside the penalty area.
No visiting team had scored at Pride Park since September 24 but that run ended in the 16th minute when Liam Kelly burst into the box and crossed low for Swift to turn the ball in at the near post.
The goal reflected Reading’s superiority as they were given too much space in midfield to create openings but Derby were level in the 36th minute when Jaap Stam’s men failed to clear a corner.
Ince played the ball wide to Richard Keogh and his cross from just outside the area was chested in by Bent from six yards.
Bent then fired over three minutes later after an Ince free-kick was only half-cleared.
Reading lost their composure and the game became heated when Keogh was caught by Swift, who was booked, before Russell dragged a shot wide in first-half stoppage time after a great pass from Hughes.
The Royals started the second half positively with Yann Kermorgant forcing Scott Carson to turn a 20-yard shot behind.
But a loose pass from Reading proved costly in the 63rd minute when the ball broke off Hughes and Craig Bryson played Ince in to beat Ali Al-Habsi from 10 yards.
Stam was getting ready to make a double change when Derby scored a third in the 74th minute. Marcus Olsson made a run down the left before Russell crossed and, when Olsson’s shot was blocked, Hughes pounced to find the bottom right