League round-up: Forest up to third with win over Cheltenham

Nottingham Forest moved up to third in League One when Kris Commons' hat-trick accounted for managerless Cheltenham Town 3-0. The Forest midfielder's goals came from a header, his left foot and his right, taking his season's tally to seven. Carlisle United, the club former Robins manager John Ward moved to, spurned the chance to go top when they lost 2-1 at Yeovil, a Lloyd Owusu header and Nathan Jones free-kick were enough to seal the Glovers' win.

Southend United's bid for a quick return to the Championship gained further momentum with a 3-0 defeat of Crewe Alexandra at Roots Hall, Nick Bailey, Gary Hooper and Leon Clarke's penalty, his sixth goal in seven matches, the scorers.

At Priestfield, two strugglers under caretaker managership, Gillingham and Millwall, drew 1-1. The point lifted the Lions off the bottom, while Brighton won 1-0 at Port Vale thanks to Alex Revell's scrambled goal. Vale had Adam Eckersley sent off.

In League Two, Chesterfield won 3-2 at Shrewsbury to go second in the table. Dave Hibbert gave the Shrews an early lead before Adam Rooney levelled a minute before the break. Jamie Lowry's 49th-minute effort saw the Spireites go in front and Jack Lester's eighth goal of the season, a penalty, made it 3-1. Colin Murdock's header narrowed the lead, but Chesterfield hung on.

Barnet were surprisingly held to a 1-1 draw by bottom-of-the-table Mansfield Town at Underhill. The Bees might have won but Carl Muggleton saved Jason Puncheon's late penalty.

The day's most dramatic finale came at Moss Rose where Macclesfield's David Morely and Danny Thomas both scored in the four minutes of injury time as the Silkmen turned 10-man Wrexham's 2-1 lead into a 3-2 home win.

Elsewhere, Notts County were booed off at Meadow Lane after their 3-1 home defeat by Bury, goals by Steve Haslam, Paul Scott and a Nicky Adams penalty earning Chris Casper's Shakers the three points.