Comeback kids strike again

YET another stirring County fightback saw The Hatters secure third place in League One and a play off semi-final against Leyton Orient - after a 1-3 win at fellow play-off contenders Wycombe Wanderers on Saturday.

- SAM BYRNE

The final regular league fixture of the campaign saw Dave Challinor’s fall behind for the fifth successive game, but as in all of those fixtures, County fought back to claim a result with second-half strikes from Beno Andrésson, Ollie Norwood and Will Collar securing a commendable third placed finish in the club's first season back in the third tier in fifteen years.

There was also yet another notable outing for goalkeeper Corey Addai, who continued his impressive run of form with The Hatters by saving a Wanderers penalty from Luke Leahy with The Hatters already 1-0 down at the time.

The result extended the Hatters’ unbeaten run to eight matches, as they finished third to contest a two-legged play-off semi-final with Leyton Orient and with a total of 87 points that represented their highest-ever tally in the Football League's third tier.

It was also County's first win at Wycombe for 22 years, as well as a first anywhere against the Chairboys since 2010, and saw a season completed without being on the receiving end of a 'double' from any side a feat last achieved by the club in 1996/97.

The Hatters showed three changes from their initial line-up at Edgeley Park against Lincoln a week previously, with Callum Connolly, Jayden Fevrier and Tanto Olaofe replacing Andrésson, Fraser Horsfall and Kyle Knoyle - all three of whom were named among the substitutes.

And, in the absence of a start for Horsfall, the captain's armband was handed to Kyle Wootton - making his 50th appearance of the campaign.

With both clubs guaranteed a chance to compete in the play-offs, albeit no longer within reach of automatic promotion, there was technically little more at stake than the finishing order to determine play-off semi-final pairings.