EFL: Adebayo Akinfenwa breaks Wycombe record & Wigan upset leaders again

Published on: 29 February 2020

Tyler Roberts wasn't going to let the rain ruin his Saturday, scoring twice in Leeds United's 4-0 win at Hull City

Storms and flooding have played havoc with the sporting schedule throughout February, with another four English Football League games lost to the weather on the very final day of the month too.

But, despite that, there was still plenty of action for fans to get their teeth stuck into on Saturday, with 11 fixtures in the Championship and a further 17 across League One and League Two.

Here are five things you may have missed among the mayhem.

Wigan tame another promotion chaser

Wigan Athletic dropped into the Championship relegation zone on 27 November and a few weeks ago you could have forgiven their fans for thinking that's where they'd stay for the rest of the season.

However, a run of five wins in eight games has seen the Latics climb up to the dizzying heights of 19th, three points clear of the bottom three.

Paul Cook's men did it in style on Saturday, claiming a 1-0 win at league leaders West Bromwich Albion thanks to Sam Morsy's strike.

Victory at The Hawthorns means Wigan have now won away at both of the Championship's top two, having recorded a 1-0 victory at Leeds United at the start of February.

Despite that run, Cook isn't getting too carried away.

"We played very well today - it was just a continuation from Reading in the week. The lads have been excellent after a tough week (centre-back Chey Dunkley suffered a broken leg against the Royals)," he told BBC Radio Manchester.

"When you win a game, when you keep a clean sheet, when you score a goal you can see that (belief) now in abundance. We've got to make sure that we don't drop back into the bottom three. Football can be very cruel.

"We just keep going; the brutal reality is there are points out there for everyone. The league table doesn't lie and we'll make sure we'll do our best to be where we want to be."

Midfielder Sam Morsy's winner was his second goal in five games for WiganThe record-breaking Beast

Not many strikers join a club at the age of 34 and still find the time to become their all-time record goalscorer in League football. But then not many strikers are like Adebayo Akinfenwa.

'The Beast', who signed for Wycombe Wanderers from AFC Wimbledon in 2016, scored his 54th EFL goal for the Adams Park outfit on Saturday to pass previous club record holder Nathan Tyson.

But it proved to be a bittersweet afternoon for Akinfenwa, now 37, as his side were beaten 3-1 by Doncaster Rovers.

Wycombe are currently bidding to reach the second tier for the first time in their history. They are fourth in League One, two points behind second-placed Coventry City.

"Individual awards are beautiful at the end of your career," Akinfenwa told BBC Three Counties Radio. "At the end of my career I'll look back at all of my achievements with a smile, but right now I can only look at us losing the game."

No game? No problem

Swindon Town have been tearing it up in League Two this season, with their 20 victories - the joint most of any English Football League side - lifting them to the summit of the fourth tier.

And it turns out that Saturday afternoons are proving just as profitable for Robins fans when their team aren't even playing.

With their match against Mansfield Town postponed owing to the effects of Storm Jorge, manager Richie Wellens was left sitting and watching as their promotion rivals all tried - and mostly failed - to reel in the league leaders.

Crewe Alexandra looked set to knock them off top spot but ended up conceding a second-half equaliser against lowly Morecambe, while third-placed Exeter City were held at home by Crawley Town.

Plymouth Argyle endured arguably the roughest afternoon, seeing two players sent off as they were beaten 2-1 at Bradford City.

As it is, Swindon are still one point clear at the top... but now have at least one game in hand on every other team in the top half.

Richie Wellens' Swindon have won three and drawn one of their past four gamesNo manager? No problem

Wellens' fine work at the County Ground has not gone unnoticed, with managerless Blackpool this week requesting to speak with the former Oldham Athletic boss.

But the Tangerines were left frustrated when, rather than opening talks with the League One club, Wellens chose to sign a new deal with Swindon instead.

Blackpool didn't have much luck trying to lure Karl Robinson from Oxford United, either.

However, while their search for a new gaffer has yet to reach a happy conclusion, their search for wins has been far more successful.

After beating Bolton Wanderers 2-1 on Tuesday, Joe Nuttall's stoppage-time goal helped them overcome Ipswich Town on Saturday by the same score to register back-to-back league victories for the first time since November.

For the Tractor Boys, the result only continued their fall down the League One table. Having sat top at the start of November, they're now five points adrift of the play-off spots in ninth.

Only three stands but a five-star performance from Oldham

An ongoing dispute means that only three stands of Oldham's Boundary Park home are open on matchdays.

In addition, the League Two club were served with a winding-up petition by HM Revenue and Customs on Friday.

It's perhaps not a huge surprise then that their form prior to today had seen them win just two of their previous 13 matches and you could understand why BBC Radio Manchester reporter Phil Kinsella had a feeling Saturday's home game against Newport might prove to be a drab affair.

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Fortunately for Kinsella and the majority of the 2,912 fans in the ground it proved to be anything but as the hosts put their off-field issues to one side and ran out 5-0 victors.

One person who certainly didn't enjoy the Latics' return to form was Newport County boss Michael Flynn.

"They could have scored eight, maybe nine if I'm honest so 5-0 was getting off lightly. The goals we conceded were dreadful," he told BBC Sport Wales.

"There's one player that can come out of that performance with any credit and that's Dale Gorman. He's the only one. Other than that it was dreadful."

Source: bbc.com

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