Brentford badly stung by Derby’s raider Jeff Hendrick

Jeff Hendrick should have been sent off for a “shocking challenge” before playing a central role in Derby’s last-gasp equaliser in their 1-1 draw against fellow playoff hopefuls Brentford on Saturday.

That was the view of Bees manager Mark Warburton, after watching his side miss the chance to climb to fifth.

Brentford were leading 1-0 when, with two minutes to go, Hendrick escaped with just a yellow card for a rash tackle on Tommy Smyth.

Insult was added to injury two minutes later when Hendrick’s mishit shot fell to Darren Bent and he prodded home Derby’s equaliser.

Warburton hailed the performance of his Irish duo, Jonathan Douglas and Alan Judge but was far less impressed with Hendrick.

“The tackle in the corner was a red card and the player is then involved in the goal,” Warburton said. “That was unjust. It was a shocking challenge. In my opinion, the guy should go.”

The concession of that late goal allowed Mick McCarthy’s Ipswich sneak back into the top six after a 3-2 win over an already relegated Blackpool side for whom Darren O’Dea suffered a broken nose in the first half.

McCarthy said: “It’s all about getting those three points. We didn’t play great but we won. That’s all that counts.”

David Forde faces the prospect of trying to reclaim the Ireland number one jersey from the wastelands of League One after Millwall’s 2-0 defeat to Watford left the Lions seven points off safety with just five games to go.

In terms of goals, it was a quiet weekend for the Championship’s Irish players although Sean Scannell scored the winner in Huddersfield’s 1-0 triumph at Nottingham Forest while Rob Kiernan, on loan at Birmingham from Wigan, scored in the 2-1 win over Wolves.

In League One, Paddy Madden’s 17th goal of the season proved the winner as Scunthorpe beat fellow strugglers Crawley 2-1. Victory moved Scunthorpe three points clear of the drop zone and Madden said: “It’s a massive win. It was a six-pointer and now gives us that little bit of breathing space. It’s always good to score goals but I’m more buzzing that we got an impressive three points.”

At the other end of the table, Jay O’Shea was on the mark as Chesterfield maintained their play-off pursuit with a 1-1 draw at Barnsley.

In League Two, Barry Corr grabbed his ninth goal in 11 games as fifth-placed Southend beat Tranmere 1-0. Southend boss Phil Brown said of Corr: “He’s invaluable for us at the moment.”

James Collins was among the scorers as Shrewsbury took another step towards automatic promotion after a 4-0 win over Exeter.

Plymouth climbed into the final play-off spot after goals from Irish duo Anthony O’Connor and Carl McHugh secured a 2-1 over Mansfield.

Elsewhere, Pádraig Amond netted in Morecambe’s 3-1 win over Portsmouth, while a last-gasp effort from Seamus Conneely earned Accrington a 2-2 draw at Cambridge.

Yesterday, Adam Rooney grabbed his 26th goal of a stunning season as Aberdeen won 2-1 at Kilmarnock to maintain their slim hopes of catching Scottish Premiership leaders Celtic.