LEADERS Lincoln City extended their lead at the top of theLeague Two table to five points after sharing a six-goal thriller with high-flying Bury.

Ipswich Town loanee Danny Rowe made it three goals in three appearances for Lincoln after scoring the opener inside nine minutes, but Jay O'Shea levelled for the hosts with a fine strike from 25 yards.

Chris Stokes diverted Cian Bolger's effort into his own net to restore Lincoln's lead, however, Nicky Adams fired home another equaliser for Bury to end a frantic first half.

John Akinde's penalty put Lincoln 3-2 ahead, however, Will Aimson headed home a third leveller for Bury with just four minutes left to earn a share of the spoils.

Mansfield Town moved into second following a 3-0 victory over 10-man Tranmere Rovers.

Jorge Grant scored his first two goals for the club since joining on loan from Nottingham Forest.

Tranmere's afternoon was compounded by Ollie Banks' dismissal in the 37th minute for two bookable offences before the hosts sealed maximum points thanks to Tyler Walker's 19th goal of the season.

Ten-man Macclesfield Town saw a two-goal lead slip as fellow strugglers Cheltenham Town produced a terrific comeback to win 3-2 at the Jonny-Rocks Stadium.

Michael Rose smashed home an 11th-minute penalty to give the visitors the lead before Macclesfield defender Nathan Cameron was shown a straight red for hauling back Jacob Maddox.

However, the Silkmen doubled their advantage through Scott Wilson, but Luke Varney and Maddox scored for Cheltenham in seven second-half minutes to bring parity.

And defender Charlie Raglan marked his home debut with the winner for the Robins to end a three-match losing streak.

Morecambe extend their run without a win into seven matches but managed to salvage a 1-1 draw at Northampton Town.

The hosts took the lead through Timi Elsnik's first-half strike, but Richie Bennett earned a point for Morecambe with a 52nd-minute equaliser.

Forest Green Rovers consolidated their play-off ambitions with a 2-0 win at Stevenage.

Liam Shephard got his fourth goal of the season after 13 minutes before Christian Doidge made it three goals in two games to seal victory for Forest Green.

Carlisle United made it successive wins for new boss Steven Pressley as Connor Simpson scored his first goal for the club in the 1-0 triumph at Port Vale.

Striker Ricky Miller saw red for serious foul play after 41 minutes, but the hosts could not hold onto the draw.

Eddie Nolan scored three minutes from time to earn Crewe Alexandra their fourth successive home win with a 2-1 success over Colchester United.

Sammie Szmodics fired Colchester into the lead after 11 minutes but Charlie Kirk levelled three minutes after the restart before Nolan's late intervention.

Wes Thomas' first-half goal proved enough for Grimsby Town, despite the 41st-minute dismissal of defender Harry Davis as they saw off Milton Keynes Dons 1-0 at Blundell Park.

Nicky Law grabbed the only goal with eight minutes remaining to help Exeter City into play-off places after defeating Cambridge United 1-0.