Cheltenham Town kept their hopes of playing League One football next season very much alive with a crucial 2-0 victory at Doncaster Rovers' impressive new Keepmoat Stadium.
It was a fixture not many people would have given them a chance of winning yet the Robins turned on a performance of discpline and no little style to claim all three points with a goal in each half.
Steven Gillespie, after 34 minutes, and substitute Kayode Odejayi, on 72, hauled Cheltenham up to within one point of the League One safety zone.
With some results elsewhere going their way, Cheltenham can head into next week's massive game at Nottingham Forest with renewed confidence.
Robins boss John Ward named two changes to the starting line-up. Jerry Gill returned to the right-back spot following a two week absence with a calf injury and Paul Connor was preferred up front alongside Steven Gillespie.
Kayode Odejayi stepped down to the bench alongside Damian Spencer and Gavin Caines with Michael Wylde preferred as an extra defensive option. This was because Shane Duff had been passed fit to play only this morning having missed training through illness yesterday.
The Doncaster Rovers team included former Everton striker Danny Cadamarteri, who was signed on loan from Leicester City yesterday.


It was Cadamarteri who had the first half-chance of the game with seven minutes played when he ran onto a pass from midfielder Brian Stock but lifted his shot from distance over the bar.
Doncaster captain Graeme Lee found himself in referee Eddie Ilderton's book moments later for a late foul on Gillespie. JJ Melligan floated the resulting free-kick into the penalty area but no Cheltenham player was able to get a head to it.
The Robins went much closer to an opening goal on 17 minutes when Melligan sent Connor away with a clever through ball and the striker hit an early shot that drifted just wide of former Spurs goalkeeper Neil Sullivan's left-hand post.
Melligan, a former Doncaster player, was the architect again three minutes later when Dénes Rósa made a fine angled run onto his ball over the top of the defence. Rósa got through with only Sullivan to beat but the Scottish international stopper charged off his line to smother the shot.
Cheltenham were having the better of it during the mid-point of the first half and Craig Armstrong sent a speculative shot high of the target, although Cadamarteri served notice of his potential to threaten with a quickly taken shot that flew wide of Shane Higgs' goal after a quick breakaway by Rovers.
As had been feared, Duff was not well enough to continue past the half hour mark so Gavin Caines got up from the bench to take his place.
The enforced change had no immediate effect on the Cheltenham players as they edged themselves in front with 34 minutes played.
Once more it was the prolific Gillespie who came up with the goal - what might Cheltenham's league position be if he'd been fit all season - and it was a chance the former Liverpool trainee largely made for himself.
Chasing onto a speculative ball forward from David Bird, Gillespie got a foot in to dispossess Lee before taking the ball on and planting an ice cool finish beyond Sullivan from just inside the area.
Rósa almost doubled the lead five minutes before half time when Bird picked out Connor with a good pass into space. Connor held it up then laid it to Rósa, whose blast at the near post was parried by Sullivan.
The home supporters began to show their displeasure first of all with their own players and then with the referee, who showed Caines only a yellow card after he had pulled back Jonathan Forte right on the edge of the area when he had only Higgs to beat.



First Brian Stock (above) and then Sean McDaid tried their luck from the resulting free-kick but both shots were blocked by committed defenders.
Doncaster began the second half strongly, winning two corners in the opening minute and camping themselves in the Cheltenham half for a lengthy spell.
Referee Ilderton made himself even less popular with the home fans six minutes into the second half when he yellow carded Doncaster's Paul Green for diving in the penalty area. Caines was again the Cheltenham player involved, Mr Ilderton judging that Green had fallen over too easily as Caines tried to get alongside the Rovers midfielder for a challenge.
Cheltenham had been forced to soak up some pressure but they almost got themselves into a commanding position with 10 minutes of the second half played.
Melligan's corner was met by Connor at the far post and his header across the six yard box was nodded against the crossbar by Gillespie.
With just over an hour played Forte had Doncaster's first on-target shot of the contest, a deflected effort that Higgs grabbed with both hands.
Shortly afterwards, the pace of Kayode Odejayi was introduced in order to try and stretch a Doncaster defence that had reverted to a four man shape for the second half with the introduction of right-back James O'Connor for central defender Harry Worley.
And it was exactly that pace on the counter-attack that put Cheltenham 2-0 up with 71 minutes played.
Forte had a shot blocked by Townsend at one end but defence was turned quickly into attack as John Finnigan's clearance found Gillespie on the half-way line. Gillespie played it forward for Odejayi and Cheltenham's leading scorer raced away, rounding Sullivan before sliding in his 13th goal of the season.
Gillspie then brushed a post with a shot from the edge of the box then at the other end, McDaid snatched wildly at a decent chance to get Doncaster back into it and spooned his shot way over the bar.
Rósa headed over from a Melligan cross and Forte shot wide from the edge of the box as the two sides traded blows in the closing stages but Cheltenham continued to defend with hard graft and efficiency.



DONCASTER ROVERS (3-5-2): Sullivan; Worley (O'Connor 46), Lockwood, Lee; Coppinger (Guy 81), Green, Stock, Wilson (Thornton 81), McDaid; Forte, Cadamarteri. Subs not used: Richardson (Gk), Dyer
CHELTENHAM TOWN (4-4-2): Higgs; Gill, Townsend, Duff (Caines 31), Armstrong; Melligan, Finnigan, Bird, Rósa; Gillespie, Connor (Odejayi 64). Subs not used: Brown (Gk), Spencer, Wylde
REFEREE: E.L. Ilderton (Tyne & Wear)
ATTENDANCE: 6,777