Portsmouth 3 Sheffield United 0: Blades suffer on their travels

Portsmouth took the shine off United’s charge into the play-offs when they beat them 3-0 at Fratton Park.

Shaun Cooper, David Connolly and Jed Wallace all scored in the first half to leave the Blades on the wrong end of a defeat, but they remain in sixth place with two games left to play.

Bournemouth gained promotion from npower League One after their 3-1 win over Carlisle today.

The Cherries showed off their credentials with a comprehensive victory which saw goals for Steve Cook, Harry Arter and Brett Pitman, as Lee Miller’s 50th minute goal for Carlisle proved only to be a consolation.

Bournemouth’s return to the second tier after an absence of 23 years was confirmed when third-placed Brentford could only draw at lowly Hartlepool in the late kick-off.

Doncaster threw away their chance of sealing promotion today after they were beaten 1-0 by Notts County.

The defeat, in which Joss Labadie scored the only goal in the 14th minute, saw Doncaster slip into second place, one point behind Bournemouth.

At the other end of the table, Scunthorpe boosted their slim chances of escaping from relegation with a 1-0 win at MK Dons.

Karl Hawley scored for the Iron in the 41st minute to leave them with a mathematical chance of avoiding the drop if they can beat Swindon, Colchester lose to Carlisle and they can engineer a three-goal swing in the last game of the season.