Milton Keynes Dons moved to the top of the Sky Bet League 1 table in style with a comprehensive 5-0 victory at struggling Crewe Alexandra.
Devante Cole, son of former Newcastle and Manchester United striker Andrew, scored either side of a Dean Bowditch strike to put the Milton Keynes club firmly in control at half-time.Further goals after the break from Carl Baker and Daniel Powell capped a fine team display and saw the Dons replace Bristol City, who host Fleetwood Town on Sunday, at the summit.
Karl Robinson's side also leapfrogged Swindon Town after they lost 2-0 at Sheffield United. Jamie Murphy bagged both goals for the Blades who are now up to sixth place in the table with games in hand on all the teams around them.
Preston North End lost more ground in the race for automatic promotion as they lost 2-1 at Crawley Town, who climbed off the bottom of the standings with their first win in 14 league matches.
Paul Huntington equalised for the Lilywhites after Anthony Wordsworth had put the hosts in front, but substitute Lee Fowler scored the winning goal with three minutes remaining.
Crawley were replaced at the bottom of the pile by Yeovil Town after Marcus Maddison's first-half strike gave Peterborough United a 1-0 victory at the ABAX Stadium.
Leyton Orient's woes continued with a 4-1 home defeat to Scunthorpe United.
The Iron were three goals ahead with 49 minutes on the clock after Liam O'Neil, Gary McSheffrey and Tom Hopper all found the back of the net. Darius Henderson pulled a goal back from the penalty spot but Hopper restored the three-goal cushion late on.
Last weekend's FA Cup heroes Bradford City almost came back down to earth with a thud after Chris Porter's early strike gave Colchester United the lead. However, Filipe Morais, one of the goalscorers at Stamford Bridge, rescued the Bantams a 1-1 draw with a 77th-minute leveller.
Chesterfield clung on to fifth place as they fought back to earn a 2-2 draw at home to Doncaster Rovers.
Goals from James Coppinger and Andy Butler had Rovers ahead and cruising after only nine minutes but sought-after striker Eoin Doyle got the Spireites back into the game just before half-time and Jimmy Ryan completed the comeback with a close-range finish with three minutes left.
The score was also 2-2 at the Ricoh Arena. Coventry City twice led through goals from Dominic Samuel and Sanmi Odelusi but replies by Callum Camps and Calvin Andrew earned Rochdale a point.
Port Vale are still to keep a clean sheet away from home this season in any competition after losing 2-1 at Barnsley. A Chris Neal own goal and a Ben Pearson effort put Vale up against it but Colin Daniel managed to pull a goal back for Rob Page's team.
George Elokobi, Amari Morgan-Smith and Jonathan Forte were on target for Oldham Athletic as they beat Notts County 3-0 at home.