As usual, here are the match timelines for each of the weekend’s League 1 matches. There’s a full explanation of these here, but in a nutshell they track how each team’s expected goals tally (the number of goals that the average team would have scored from their shots) changed over the course of the match.

You can also compare these with how the E Ratings predicted each match would pan out here.

Summary

First of all, here are all of the timelines together, with the same vertical scale to help you pick out which saw the most (and least) goalmouth action:

Championship

While Brentford will undoubtedly be frustrated at conceding a late equaliser, they can’t have too many complaints about sharing the points in this low-quality affair. The first 20 minutes were relatively dull here and the sides were more or less evenly-matched thereafter, with the hosts performing only marginally better.

This one looked tricky to call and so it proved, with these sides racking up chances of almost identical quality and a draw appearing a fair result overall. After a slow start each side had one big chance – Forest’s in the first half and QPR’s in the second – and both created enough to justify a goal.

League 1

This was another frustrating result and performance for Sheffield United, who have now drawn three of their last four and were again fortunate to take a point. After a bright start, the Blades look to have run out of steam by the half hour mark and they were a distant second best after the break. This was another impressive performance from Blackpool, whose improvements look sufficient to keep them out of relegation danger.

Barnsley continued their renaissance – and Bradford’s malaise – by racking up a fifth consecutive win here, which looks to have been thoroughly deserved. This match was an even and tense affair up until the hour mark, at which point the hosts ramped up the pressure and created more in the final 30 minutes than the two sides had managed between them up to that point.

Crewe scraped a draw for the second match in a row, despite being heavily out-gunned by Bury here. The hosts were the more dominant side from the off and their failure to score was surprising given how clinical they’ve been this season. Their visitors barely threatened and would be unlikely to grind out many more points without some improvement in their underlying performances.

Port Vale prevailed here despite taking around half as many shots as their hosts. Finishing has been one of Doncaster’s biggest problems this season and while they eventually found a consolation, their overall performance looks to have been worthy of at least a point.

Peterborough’s attack continues to cool off sharply and they managed just one attempt on goal in the first 38 minutes here. Visitors Burton dominated the first half but had a quieter second, although they were able to limit their hosts to mostly speculative efforts.

This result – and the teams’ respective performances – could have massive implications for the relegation battle. Shrewsbury registered a precious and surprising win at Burton at the weekend but were humbled in front of their own fans here by a far more productive Oldham side. The visitors threatened far more regularly and look to have been worthy winners.

League 2

Orient needed a late penalty to get past Newport in a poor-quality encounter here. After going almost the entire first half without a shot, their visitors had been narrowly edging a game of few chances before the hosts converted the game’s only goal from the spot. While the result keeps Orient in the play-off hunt, their performance here suggests they may struggle to match the pace of the sides around them.

The last 20 minutes of this match saw the majority of its action and certainly most of the drama. Morecambe had looked the flatter in a relatively dull contest before winning and scoring a penalty, but this appears to have spurred visitors Mansfield into a late and ultimately successful surge which saw them profitably out-create their hosts.

National League

This was a massive result and performance from Altrincham, who blew high-flying Woking away here. The home side were flying by half time and look to have deserved their two-goal lead given their visitors’ meek performance. A closer second half saw both teams find the net but there’s little to suggest that the home side didn’t deserve both their victory and the margin that went with it. Altrincham are now two points clear of the relegation zone with a game in hand while Woking missed a chance to break into the play-off places and will be hoping that their disappointing showing here was just a blip.

It wasn’t surprising to see a low-scoring encounter here given how much better these two sides have been at defending than attacking this season. The scale of Wrexham’s relatively anonymous showing was still a surprise and their play-off ambitions will have taken a hit here. Braintree look to have been the worthier winners but it remains to be seen if they can score enough goals to make the most of their games in hand over the sides around them in the table.

Southport have been in great form lately and they ran Forest Green very close here after starting much more brightly. Neither side was able to carve out many chances and the visitors’ late winner came from their first shot in nearly half an hour which, coupled with the similar expected goals totals, means that they were somewhat fortunate to won this one.