Elsewhere, 6th-placed Huddersfield just managed a draw at Bristol Rovers. Graham Hyde fired the Pirates ahead with a shot that Town goalkeeper Phil Senior should have saved, but loan signing Pawel Abbott came off the bench to spare Senior's blushes by equalising in the 86th minute.
Northampton came from behind with two goals in a minute to claim three points at Darlington. Cobblers keeper Lee Harper hit a clearance against his defender Chris Willmott which ended up in the back of their own net for Darlington to take a fortuitous lead at the start of the second half. But Ian Clark was dismissed for handball in the box and Martin Smith scoring from the resulting 75th-minute penalty. Marc Richards then punished the ten men further by getting the winner a minute later. Northampton are up to 9th following this their fourth successive victory, while Darlington go back into the bottom two after their three-match winning streak came to an end.
Bottom club Carlisle are now eight points behind them with a game in hand after a Paul Simpson brace got them a point at Cambridge. He put the Cumbrians ahead after only 7 minutes, but David Bridges and Luke Guttridge turned things Cambridge's way within ten minutes of the second half. The Carlisle player-manager struck again though in the 83rd minute to save a point that he was less than happy with.
Meanwhile this evening Southend sealed their place in the LDV Trophy Final. A 1-1 draw at Roots Hall made it 4-3 on aggregate in their favour over Colchester. The Shrimpers will face either Sheffield Wednesday or Blackpool at the Millennium Stadium. Wednesday go to Bloomfield Road a week tomorrow looking to overturn a 1-0 first leg deficit.