Bristol City denied Wrexham a fifth successive Sky Bet Championship away win as Max Bird’s spectacular late volley secured a 2-2 draw at Ashton Gate.
Wrexham twice led through Ollie Rathbone and a Joe Williams own goal, but City were rewarded for a spirited second-half performance.
Sinclair Armstrong drove home soon after the restart and fellow substitute Bird smashed home off the underside of the crossbar from 20 yards out two minutes from time.
The prize at stake for the winner on a bitterly cold night was sixth spot.
City had revived their promotion bid with a weekend win at Hull, but they had some making up to do with home fans after being thumped 5-0 by Derby in their previous appearance at Ashton Gate.
George Tanner escaped injury after being clattered by his own goalkeeper Radek Vitek and Neto Borges sent a shot skywards from the edge of the box.
Mark Sykes was adamant Dominic Hyam had handled a bouncing ball in the Wrexham area, but his animated appeal for a penalty was waved away by the referee, Ruebyn Ricardo.
Wrexham hit the front after 34 minutes when Doyle’s cross ricocheted into the path of Rathbone, who smashed a first-time left-footed shot high past Vitek.
Bristol City manager Gerhard Struber’s triple substitution at the interval turned the game on its head, with Armstrong, Delano Burgzorg and Jason Knight making an instant impact.
Quick GuideLeague One roundup: Cardiff and Lincoln keep up pace at top
Show
League One front-runners Cardiff stretched their unbeaten run to 12 matches with victory over AFC Wimbledon, but cannot shake the relentless challenge of second-placed Lincoln.
The Bluebirds wrapped up a 4-1 win on home turf, Perry Ng, Ollie Tanner and Omari Kellyman with second-half goals after Joel Colwill’s opener was cancelled out.
That means Brian Barry-Murphy’s side have now taken 28 points from a possible 36 since their last defeat on December 20.
But Lincoln ensured the four-point lead at the summit did not get any bigger with a resounding 4-0 beating of 10-man Northampton. Ryan One and Jack Moylan scored before Jack Vale’s second-half red, with Ivan Varfolomeev and Robert Street netting after the dismissal.
Their undefeated streak dates back even longer, with their last league loss coming 16 games ago on November 22.
Bolton dropped two points in third but it could have been three as their 1-1 draw at Reading was secured deep in a lengthy period of added time.
Jack Marriott’s first-half goal looked to the decider but Mason Burstow pounced in the sixth additional minute to keep Wanderers above of the chasing pack.
That group is lead by Bradford, who edged a 1-0 win over fellow play-off hopefuls Stockport thanks to Antoni Sarcevic.
Huddersfield lost ground in sixth, undone 1-0 by Luke Molyneux’s penalty as Doncaster banked three important points.
Burton escaped the relegation zone and plunged second-bottom Rotherham into even deeper trouble, Tyrese Shade’s effort enough for a 1-0 win. Leyton Orient replaced them in the drop zone after going down 3-1 at home to Plymouth.
Elsewhere Barnsley beat Peterborough 2-1, Exeter and Wycombe drew 1-1, Port Vale went down 2-1 at Stevenage and Blackpool scored the only goal against FA Cup surprise package Mansfield.
In League Two, Swindon cut Bromley’s lead at the summit down to three points.
Andy Woodman’s pace-setters took a third-minute lead against Cheltenham through Mitch Pinnock but were pegged back to draw 1-1, while the Robins left Barnet with a 2-1 win. Ollie Clarke scored both the goals for Ian Holloway’s side after they went into half-time one down to Adam Senior’s early strike.
Swindon also nudged Cambridge into third after the U’s were held at home to Colchester.
At the foot of the table, Harrogate continued their upturn in form as they made it seven points from their last three outings. Ellis Taylor gave them a 1-0 success over fellow strugglers Barrow, whose new manager bounce under Dino Maamria is over after one game.
Below them rock bottom Newport stayed in touch with a 3-1 win at play-off chasing Salford, making the game safe with two goals in four minutes just before the hour mark.
Paddy Madden fired Accrington to a 1-0 win at Tranmere despite the visitors finishing with nine men after red cards for Luke Butterfield and Josh Woods, Shrewsbury beat Notts County 1-0 and BristolRovers lost 2-0 away to Oldham.
Fleetwood won 1-0 at Crewe, Chesterfield did the same at home to Gillingham and MK Dons finished goalless in their clash with Crawley.
Arthur Okonkwo saved from Tomi Horvat and Armstrong within seconds of the restart but the Wrexham goalkeeper was exposed again moments later.
Horvat fed Armstrong down the right and the substitute made light of a difficult angle by powering the ball across Okonkwo and into the corner of the net.
The muscular Armstrong was a threat every time he touched the ball, but the momentum shifted Wrexham’s way after 76 minutes.
Issa Kaboré guided the ball into middle of the box and the unfortunate Williams was unable to sort his feet out and put the ball past Vitek.
Bird’s fantastic volley provided a sting in the tail and, after George Dobson had wasted two glorious chances to win it for Wrexham, Derby clung on to sixth spot.
Terry Devlin scored a spectacular long-distance strike as his brace helped Portsmouth move four points clear of the Championship relegation zone with a 3-1 win at Charlton.
The Northern Ireland full-back’s first goal of the evening had to go down as a goalkeeping error by Thomas Kaminski.
Colby Bishop doubled Pompey’s advantage at the break with Devlin adding a brilliant third in front of the travelling support.
Charlton substitute Jayden Fevrier’s 64th-minute goal proved to be only a consolation as Portsmouth recorded a first league double over their opponents since the 1985-86 season.
The two clubs held a minute’s applause before kick off in memory of Addicks supporter Norman Barker, whose passing during the 6 December fixture saw the match abandoned in the 12th minute.
Charlton had a huge chance to score inside the opening minute but Portsmouth goalkeeper Nicolas Schmid saved Harry Clarke’s attempt with his legs.
That fast start was not maintained by the hosts as the visitors, missing 13 first-teamers due to injuries, showed more control of the ball before the break.
Kaminski will not want to watch back the opening goal in the 22nd minute as Devlin’s swerving low strike from outside the area squeezed between his legs – ending the home team’s hopes of recording a fourth straight clean sheet.
It got worse for the London club when the referee, Leigh Doughty, who dished out six cautions in the opening 45 minutes, ruled that Amari’i Bell had handled Gustavo Caballero’s cross inside the penalty area.
Quick GuideLeague Two roundup: Swindon make ground on leaders Bromley
Show
In League Two, Swindon cut Bromley‘s lead at the summit down to three points.
Andy Woodman’s pace-setters took a third-minute lead against Cheltenham through Mitch Pinnock but were pegged back to draw 1-1, while Swindon left Barnet with a 2-1 win. Ollie Clarke scored both the goals for Ian Holloway’s side after they went into half-time one down to Adam Senior’s early strike.
Swindon also nudged Cambridge into third after the U’s were held at home to Colchester.
At the foot of the table, Harrogate continued their upturn in form as they made it seven points from their last three outings. Ellis Taylor gave them a 1-0 success over fellow strugglers Barrow, whose new manager bounce under Dino Maamria is over after one game.
Below them rock bottom Newport stayed in touch with a 3-1 win at playoff chasing Salford, making the game safe with two goals in four minutes just before the hour mark.
Paddy Madden fired Accrington to a 1-0 win at Tranmere despite the visitors finishing with nine men after red cards for Luke Butterfield and Josh Woods, Shrewsbury beat Notts County 1-0 and Bristol Rovers lost 2-0 away to Oldham.
Fleetwood won 1-0 at Crewe, Chesterfield did the same at home to Gillingham and MK Dons finished goalless in their clash with Crawley.
Kaminski was booked for his protests before Bishop tucked his spot-kick down the middle. It was only the forward’s second league goal of the campaign and his first since August 23.
Charlton manager Nathan Jones made a triple change before the restart but Portsmouth went further ahead with a sensational strike from distance by Devlin in the 56th minute which flew into the top right corner.
Fevrier cut the deficit, finishing cutely from Lyndon Dykes’ flick-on from a long throw.
