Fleetwood Town 3-0 Burton Albion: Brewers avoid relegation despite final-day defeat
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Burton keeper Max Crocombe had to make several impressive saves to keep the score down
Burton Albion clung on to their League One status despite a final-day defeat against Fleetwood Town as Cheltenham Town failed to get the win they needed to leapfrog the Brewers.
Victory for Burton would have seen them avoid relegation no matter how Cheltenham fared at Stevenage.
But the Brewers were second best throughout on their trip to face the already relegated Cod Army, a Carl Johnston strike and a magnificent Phoenix Patterson free-kick putting the hosts on the way to a 2-0 half-time lead.
The Brewers improved slightly after the interval but rarely looked like mounting a comeback, meaning they were left nervously awaiting developments in Hertfordshire, where the Robins fought back from a 1-0 half-time deficit to level at 1-1 early in the second period.
Back in Lancashire, Tom Lonergan wrapped up victory for Fleetwood when he tapped in a third but a chastening defeat did not matter as Cheltenham conceded a 90th-minute goal to lose 2-1 and spark joyous scenes of celebration for the travelling Brewers fans during 10 minutes of injury-time.
The final-day conundrum
The pre-match omens had looked pretty good for the Brewers, Fleetwood having won only twice in their previous nine league games and their 20 points won at home being the second-worst in the division.
But avoiding unnecessary nerve-jangling drama was not in the script for Martin Paterson's side.
Even a draw would have left the door ajar for Cheltenham to secure safety with victory at Stevenage - with only a highly unlikely sequence of results sucking Cambridge United into the equation.
But Burton failed to muster an attempt on target before the break and rarely threatened to force a draw - or halt a miserable away run which sees them end their League One season with just three wins from their past 16 games on the road.
Fleetwood played with freedom and after Burton's Bobby Kamwa had a deflected effort sail wide of the post, the hosts seized control.
Johnston's fine opener on the break, following a surging run from Ryan Graydon, rewarded their dominance and it was 2-0 just after the half-hour when winger Patterson smashed a right-footed free-kick into the top corner.
The visitors livened up somewhat in the second half, Kamwa finally managing an effort on target when his curled effort was pushed away by keeper David Harrington.
Mason Bennett then went close with a strike that was a fraction wide but the threat was short-lived and Lonergan made it 3-0 when he scored from on the line after Ronan Coughlan dinked the ball over Max Crocombe from a tight angle.