Football League round-up: Middlesbrough defeat condemns Barnsley to relegation

A round-up of the day's Football League action

Barnsley were relegated from the Championship after losing 3-1 at Middlesbrough yesterday. Danny Wilson’s side briefly had hope of escaping the bottom three when Jean-Yves M’voto hooked home from a corner but the hosts levelled within 60 seconds through Lee Tomlin’s drilled effort. Boro landed the killer blow in the final minute through Danny Graham before Tomlin added their third in added time.

Scott Malone’s late equaliser salvaged a 1-1 draw for Millwall at Queens Park Rangers to magnify the impact of defeats for Birmingham City, Doncaster Rovers and Charlton Atheltic in the fight to avoid the third relegation place. Only three points separate Birmingham in 22nd place with Blackpool in 18th. Leicester City, the champions, remain on course to break the 100-point barrier after goals from Gary Taylor-Fletcher and Wes Morgan secured a 2-0 win at Huddersfield Town.

Royals close on play-offs

Pavel Pogrebnyak (below) struck twice in the last four minutes to leave Reading on the verge of securing a Championship play-off place after a 3-1 win at Doncaster.

Adam Le Fondre’s penalty had earlier levelled James Coppinger’s first-half opener for Rovers. Nigel Adkins’s side will clinch a top-six berth if they beat Burnley.

Dale and Iron up

Fleetwood Town’s failure to beat Southend yesterday ensured Rochdale and Scunthorpe were promoted from League Two. The Iron were beaten 2-0 by Exeter ending their 28-game unbeaten run under Russ Wilcox, their manager. Fleetwood were held 1-1 at home while Rochdale celebrated with a 2-0 home win against Cheltenham. Torquay were relegated despite a 3-1 win against Mansfield. In League One, Shrewsbury were relegated after a 4-2 home loss to Peterborough.