Nahki Wells teammate Collin Quaner scored a dramatic winner in the sixth minute of stoppage time to seal Huddersfield's 3-2 Sky Bet Championship victory over Preston.
The German striker pounced on the rebound, after Aaron Mooy's penalty had been saved, to end Preston's slim hopes of making the play-offs.
The result pushes Huddersfield closer to a play-off place themselves - and keeps alive their outside hopes of claiming automatic promotion.
The contest looked set to end in a draw when there was confusion deep into added time.
Jordan Hugill, who had just made it 2-2, brought down Elias Kachunga but - amid furious protests - referee Lee Probert took an while to give the penalty.
Goalkeeper Chris Maxwell was booked for time-wasting before Mooy was finally able to take the spot-kick. Maxwell dived to his left to push away the effort - only for Quaner, an 86th minute substitute, to fire home the rebound.
Rai Simons
Southend got their play-off challenge back on track with a comfortable 4-0 win at Rai Simomns’ and his 10-man Chesterfield teammates, who are all-but relegated.
After defeats in their last two Sky Bet League One games, Phil Brown's side took an early lead from the penalty spot when Simon Cox fired home.
Anthony Wordsworth and Cox breached the static Spireites defence in the second half to kill the contest while Marc-Antoine Fortune made it four with his first touch after coming off the bench.
Just before the break Dion Donohue was dismissed for a foul on Jason Demetriou to add to Chesterfield's woes. Simons entered the match in the 60th minute.
Reggie Lambe
Rhys Oates' strike ensured Hartlepool remain narrowly above the Sky Bet League Two relegation zone following a 1-1 draw against Reggie Lambe and his promotion-chasing Carlisle United teammates.
Oates cancelled out Jabo Ibehre's opener as Pools ended the afternoon one point ahead of Newport while the Cumbrians retained the final play-off spot.
Hartlepool immediately faced an uphill task when Danny Grainger's long throw somehow put Ibehre through on goal and the striker side-footed through goalkeeper Joe Fryer's legs.
