Bournemouth closed the gap at the top of League One to four points, as leaders Tranmere Rovers and second-placed Doncaster Rovers both slipped up in the race for promotion.
Eddie Howe's side cruised to a 3-0 victory at MK Dons as goals from Lewis Grabban, Marc Pugh and Harry Arter secured a vital win.
Leaders Tranmere succumbed to defeat at Prenton Park at the hands of Carlisle United. Rory Loy scored the only goal of the game in the 44th minute to ease the visitors' relegation worries.
Meanwhile, Doncaster were shocked at Gigg Lane as they went down 2-0 to relegation threatened Bury. Nicky Ajose and Andrew Bishop fired the hosts to victory and are now just one point adrift of safety in 21st in the table.
Hartlepool United won for the second time in a row as they overcame Notts County, as James Poole and Peter Hartley gave them precious three points in spite of a goal from Jamal Campbell-Ryce.
Portsmouth's relegation woes were increased as they lost 3-2 to Colchester United at Fratton Park as strikes from Gavin Massey and a Freddie Sears penalty condemned them to defeat.
Elsewhere, Shrewsbury Town beat Preston North End 2-1 at Deepdale, Crewe Alexandra won 1-0 at home against Scunthorpe United and Leyton Orient secured a 1-0 victory over Stevenage.
There were comfortable home wins for Walsall over Oldham Athletic and Yeovil over Brentford.
Results in Full: Bury 2-0 Doncaster, Crewe Alexandra 1-0 Scunthorpe, Hartlepool 2-1 Notts County, MK Dons 0-3 Bournemouth, Portsmouth 2-3 Colchester, Preston 1-2 Shrewsbury, Stevenage 0-1 Leyton Orient, Tranmere 0-1 Carlisle, Walsall 3-1 Oldham, Yeovil 3-0 Brentford.
Simon Sinclair
