Morecambe were the main beneficiaries of postponements elsewhere in League Two as they moved into the promotion places.

Former Carlisle United striker Cole Stockton added to Adam Phillips' early penalty to earn Derek Adams' in-form side a 2-0 win at Exeter.

That moved the Shrimps - who also included ex-Blues John O'Sullivan and Nathaniel Knight-Percival - up to third, with Cheltenham also inching up the table to fourth after a 2-0 home win over Oldham thanks to goals from Andy Williams and Alfie May.

That saw out-of-action Carlisle slip down to sixth, the Blues' latest game - at Newport County - postponed because of a waterlogged pitch.

United will hope to return to action against Exeter at Brunton Park on Saturday, with Chris Beech's side having a host of games in hand on teams around them in an increasingly tight promotion race.

Carlisle are still just three points behind leaders Cambridge, while four points separates the top eight sides in the fourth tier.

United have two games in hand on fifth-placed Newport, three on Morecambe and Cheltenham, and four on Cambridge and second-placed Forest Green.

Seventh-placed Salford saw their game against Cambridge postponed because of a frozen pitch, while at the other end of League Two, a waterlogged Holker Street surface put paid to Barrow's clash with Grimsby.

Of those games that did go ahead, Tranmere stayed in touch with the leading pack by beating Harrogate 3-2, James Vaughan (2) and Kaiyne Woolery on target for the eighth-placed Wirral side at Prenton park as Josh McPake and Josh March netted for the visitors.

Bradford kept up their good form under caretakers Mark Trueman and Conno Sellars by winning 3-1 at Southend, Gareth Evans (2) and new boy Danny Rowe netting as Elvis Bwomono got the struggling Shrimpers' consolation.

Ex-United loanee Ryan Loft got both Scunthorpe goals in their 2-0 win over Port Vale, while Stevenage and Colchester played out a 0-0 draw.

In League One, meanwhile, west Cumbrian captain Kyle Dempsey was among the goals as Gillingham thrashed Crewe 4-1. It was the ex-United midfielder's fifth of the season.

Charlie Wyke got the winner for Sunderland in their 1-0 victory at Ipswich, with Jerry Yates on target in Blackpool's 5-0 win at Wigan.