Six Blue Square Premier fixtures and two FA Trophy Replays took place on Tuesday evening, but the main news story came at The New Lawn as Chester City were unable to fulfil their fixture at Forest Green. With players refusing to travel due to not being paid the match was called off less than three hours before kick off.
With Saturday's derby between The Blues and Wrexham already called off, it appears increasingly likely that Chester will be kicked out of the league and their results expunged.
The big game of the evening saw 8860 at Kenilworth Road as Luton scored 94th and 97th minute goals to beat league leaders Oxford 2-1, with Keith Keane's winner coming directly from a corner. Stevenage overtook The U's at the top of the table with a from-behind 3-1 home win against Mansfield. York were not in action and trail by four points with a game in hand, while Oxford are three points behind with two in hand.
Luton's win lifts them to fifth, and Rushden also rose into the playoffs as they saw off Eastbourne 2-0 at Nene Park. The gap between fifth and sixth is now two points, and Mansfield may struggle to climb back into the playoffs having played more games than their rivals.
Elsewhere, Ebbsfleet's recent upturn in form was ended with a 1-0 defeat at home to Histon, while Hayes and Yeading moved to ten points above the drop zone with a crushing 4-0 demolition of Grays. Having played half of the game with ten men, Grays look doomed to the drop as they sit eleven points from safety.
The final league match of the evening saw Wrexham and Tamworth remain a point apart from each other following a scoreless draw. In the FA Trophy Third Round, Salisbury's 2-1 win against Cambridge United sets up a home tie with Tamworth, while Barrow came away from Gateshead with a 3-2 success.
With the exception of Chester and Wrexham's clash being called off, a full set of Blue Square Premier fixtures take place at the weekend.
Matt Ramsay
