Football: Pepper pots winning shot

One year on from their promotion to the First Division, Bradford made sure yesterday that they would not be suffering the indignity of going straight back down as two goals from Nigel Pepper helped them to a 3-0 victory over Queen's Park Rangers.

City maintained their status thanks to goals from Pepper in the 23rd minute, Tommy Wright in the 39th - in only his second full game of the season - and Pepper again in the 52nd minute.

"It's fairy-tale stuff," Pepper, the man of the match, said afterwards. For Grimsby, though, there was only grim reality. To avoid the drop they had to beat Southend, who were already relegated, at Blundell Park and hope Bradford came unstuck.

Grimsby managed their side of the equation, winning 4-0 with a goal apiece from Nicky Southall and Jason Lee, plus a pair from Clive Mendonca, one of them from the penalty spot.

The result at Bradford's Pulse Stadium rendered the Mariners' exertions irrelevant, however, and Grimsby fans were calling for the board to resign throughout the second half. There were several pitch invasions, the midfielder Tommy Widdrington ripping a banner from the hands of two fans.

There was another party ruined, this one at Prenton Park, where Tranmere's Lee Jones scored in the 90th minute to peg champions Bolton back to a 2-2 draw. His goal prevented Wanderers chalking up the double century they were aiming for: they managed 100 League goals over the course of the season, but finished with 98 points.

John McGinlay struck in the 27th minute to put Wanderers ahead and Jamie Pollock seemed to have made sure 13 minutes from time after the Tranmere player-manager, John Aldridge, had levelled from a penalty with half an hour to go. But party-pooper Jones had the last word.

There was more good news for Tranmere after the game, when the 38-year- old Aldridge rebuffed speculation that he would now be hanging up his boots.

"I don't know where that came from," he said. "It's still going all right - but I will find it difficult to move tomorrow morning."

Bolton may have failed to end their season in style, but Barnsley, who were already confirmed to accompany them upstairs, fared much worse, crashing 5-1 at Oxford, for whom Joey Beauchamp and Nigel Jemson both scored twice. Mike Ford added the fifth with 20 minutes to go after Neil Redfearn had snatched a consolation goal.

Oldham made sure they would not finish bottom, beating Norwich 3-0 at Boundary Park. A Neil Moore own goal put them in front, Matthew Rush added the second and Stuart Barlow rounded things off.

An 81st-minute equaliser from Birmingham's Paul Devlin kept Ipswich in fourth place after Niklas Gudmundsson had raised hopes of a final-day victory with a goal in the 52nd minute.

Injury-hit Wolverhampton finish one place above Ipswich, even though they were beaten 1-0 by Portsmouth at Molineux, where Paul Hall got the only goal.

Crystal Palace, Wolves' play-off opponents, failed to confirm their superiority over Port Vale, another team who narrowly missed out on the play-offs.

The match finished 1-1 at Selhurst Park, where Andy Roberts scored for the hosts and Lee Millsequalised for Vale. The bad news for Palace, though, was that striker Dougie Freedman was sent off for violent conduct in the 65th minute and is likely to miss the play-off semi-finals.

Sheffield United were already confirmed in the play-off semi- finals - against Ipswich - but failed to impress yesterday, drawing 0-0 at Charlton.

Huddersfield stayed one place behind Swindon in mid-table after failing to break the deadlock at the McAlpine Stadium.

Stoke City beat West Bromwich Albion 2-1 in the last game after 119 years at the Victoria Ground thanks to goals from Gerry McMahon (33) and Graham Kavanagh (69).

Andy Hunt got a goal back from the penalty spot five minutes from time, but Stoke manager Lou Macari's 13-year record of never managing a side which has finished in the bottom half of any table was preserved.

Football: THE UPS AND DOWNS OF LIFE IN THE LEAGUE

First Division

Champions: Bolton Wanderers Also promoted: Barnsley

Play-off places: Wolves Ipswich Town Sheffield United Crystal Palace

First legs (10 May*): C Palace v Wolves Sheff Utd v Ipswich

Second legs (14 May): Wolves v C Palace Ipswich v Sheff Utd

Final (26 May) at Wembley

Relegated: Southend United Grimsby Town Oldham Athletic (*provisional)

Second Division

Champions: Bury Also promoted: Stockport County

Play-off places: Luton Town

Brentford

Bristol City

Crewe Alexandra

First legs: Crewe v Luton Bristol City v Brentford

Second legs: Luton v Crewe Brentford v Bristol City

Final (25 May) at Wembley

Relegated: Peterborough Shrewsbury Town Rotherham Notts County

Third Division

Champions: Wigan Athletic Also promoted: Fulham Carlisle United

Play-off places: Northampton Town

Swansea City

Chester City

Cardiff City

First legs: Cardiff v Northampton Chester v Swansea

Second legs: Northampton v Cardiff Swansea v Chester

Final (24 May) at Wembley

Relegated to GMVC: Hereford United

Promoted from GMVC: Macclesfield