Marquis nets treble for five-star Donny

DONCASTER are just three points away from securing promotion to League One after John Marquis’ hat-trick helped them to a thumping 5-1 win at Grimsby and moved them six points clear at the top.

Sam Jones put the Mariners ahead but Marquis (below) struck twice to give Rovers a half-time lead before completing his treble with his 26th goal of the season, while Andy Williams and Alfie May made it a rout.

Plymouth, who won 1-0 at Doncaster last time out, slipped to a 1-0 defeat at home to in-form Accrington, who are now 12 games unbeaten thanks to Jordan Clark’s early header.

Goals from Kal Naismith and Gary Roberts ensured a 2-0 win for Portsmouth at struggling Hartlepool to close the gap on second place to four points.

Stevenage stay fourth as Tom Pett’s early deflected strike earned them a 1-0 win against Barnet, while Ollie Palmer’s last-minute winner saw Luton get the better of play-off rivals Blackpool and moved them up to fifth place in the table.

Reuben Reid’s penalty in the seventh minute of and drew 1-1 at Spotland, with Paul Anderson scoring in injury time for the visitors. stoppage time snatched Exeter a 2-1 win at Mansfield.

At the bottom, Mickey Demetriou scored as Newport closed the gap on safety to five points with a 1-0 win at home to Crawley as both sides had a man dismissed.

Cheltenham were impressive 3-1 winners against Morecambe, who had missed an early penalty. Harry Pell grabbed two either side of Danny Wright’s penalty, with Emmanuel Onariase’s own-goal little consolation for the Shrimps. Omer Riza’s first game in charge of Leyton Orient saw him sent to the stand for the second half of a 2-0 defeat at home to Wycombe, after two goals in as many minutes from Matt Bloomfield and Myles Weston.

Elsewhere, Shola Ameobi scored twice as Notts County were 3-1 winners against Colchester, Reggie Lambe made one goal and scored a second as Carlisle were 2-0 winners against 10-man Yeovil and Luke Berry bagged a brace for Cambridge as they beat Crewe 2-1.