Burton boss Dino Maamria rued a sloppy first-half passage of play as his side fell to a 2-0 defeat to Blackpool in the opening weekend of League One action.

Shayne Lavery struck in the 19th and 25th minutes to hand the Tangerines an opening victory on Saturday afternoon, a strong response for Neil Critchley’s side after their relegation from the Championship last season.

And, despite an encouraging opening 15 minutes, Maamria rued his side’s inability to regroup after conceding the first goal at Bloomfield Road.

He said: “We expected them to start on the front foot, which they did, and we managed that really well.

“And when they got into the game, we conceded the first goal when we defended a corner and we didn’t squeeze up the pitch. It was a silly deflection which happens.

“Mistakes happen but the big one for us was something that we always speak about. Whenever we score or concede we’ve got to manage the next five minutes, and we didn’t manage that five minutes after we conceded.

“Two goals in about five minutes, when we come to places like this and we give away two goals like that it’s always going to be difficult.

“I thought in the second half we created some chances and if we’d scored one of the two that we had it might have changed the momentum of the game. Josh Gordon had a one-on-one and we had a couple of those.

“We need to be more clinical when we come to places like this because Blackpool are a good team, there’s no doubt about it.”

It was ultimately a strong start for returning Blackpool boss Critchley, though he was not pleased with an at times unconvincing second-half display.

“I thought in the first half we were very good, scored two goals and had another couple of good opportunities as well,” added Critchley.

“We were comfortable and then in the second half it was almost as if we’d forgotten how to win games. I think we allowed them back into the game, we got a bit complacent and we weren’t ruthless enough at the other end of the pitch.

“We could have finished the game off, so we need to improve on our second-half performance, and when I’ve calmed down I’ll reflect on it being three points and a clean sheet.

“I think that’s important psychologically for the group. After last season we needed to get a good start, get the feelgood factor back.

“Shayne does what Shayne does, he’s a goalscorer, he’s a real threat and I’m delighted for him. He’s a selfless boy who works for the team, very humble, and we just have to provide the right style of play to suit him.”

New boss Matty Taylor heaped praise on Shrewsbury captain Ryan Bowman after his second-half goal secured a 1-0 win over Cheltenham.

Bowman pounced in the 50th minute after Luke Southwood had to dive at full stretch to parry Ben Williams’ header towards his own goal following Jordan Shipley’s cross, ensuring it was the perfect start to Taylor’s reign at the Croud Meadow.

“I can only commend Ryan for what he’s done since I’ve been in the building,” Taylor said.

“He’s been exemplary in his behaviour, he’s in unbelievable physical shape and he’s paid to score goals, which is what he’s done today.

“I am pleased for him, leading the team and scoring the winning goal. I thought it was a dominant performance, without the scoreline suggesting that, because we were excellent, especially in the first half.

“It’s nice to get three points and a 1-0 win at home is the ideal start, even if we should have been out of sight by half time.”

Bowman had shot wide a minute before his goal after a long clearance from Marko Marosi caught out the away defence.

Three Cheltenham staff, including director of football Micky Moore, left for Shrewsbury this summer, meaning there was an extra edge building up to the opening-day clash, but the game did not come to life until late in the first period.

Daniel Udoh turned a low ball from Shipley over for Shrewsbury and at the other end after Liam Sercombe’s shot was saved, Rob Street nearly netted against his former loan club but Morgan Feeney’s fine challenge denied him.

Bowman’s strike partner Udoh, back from a 12-month ACL injury absence, forced Southwood into a block at his near post in the 75th minute as Shrewsbury nearly made it 2-0, but they had done enough.

Robins boss Wade Elliott was encouraged by the way his team finished the game, despite suffering an opening-day defeat.

“I thought the last half-an-hour or so was probably a better representation of what we want to be about,” he said.

“For whatever reason the shackles came off and we looked a bit more like ourselves. For the first hour, it wasn’t a classic, put it that way.

“It was a cagey game and we knew it’d come down to a moment and unfortunately, we were on the wrong side of that moment.

“Before that, ironically enough without having the bulk of the game we probably had the better chances and in the last half-an-hour we took the ball and played with a bit more intent.

“The challenge from us is to have that mindset from the off.”

Aberdeen manager Barry Robson lamented his team’s wasteful finishing after they began the cinch Premiership season with a hard-fought goalless draw at Livingston.

There was a distinct dearth of goalmouth action in both boxes, with the Dons unable to register a single shot on target.

Duk lacked composure in both halves as he failed to test Lions goalkeeper Shamal George from promising positions.

And Robson reckons his team would have picked up all the spoils had they been more composed in the final third.

He said: “We’ve got a clean sheet on the first day of the season at a place where it is always difficult to come and play.

“If Duk had his shooting boots we could have come away with a good result today.

“He would have put those chances away last year, and when you come down here you have to take them.

“We tried to play a bit longer and use our speed against their back three as when our technical players got on the ball they just got fouled.

“But when we tried to go in behind they just got deeper and deeper.

“You will never come down here and play free-flowing football but we tried to come and get the three points and could have done if Duk had been at it a bit more.

“But credit to Livi, they slowed it down, broke up the game with fouls and came away with a point.”

Livingston finished the game the stronger of the two teams and at least tested Dons goalkeeper Kelle Roos with efforts from Cristian Montano and Ayo Obielye.

Lions manager Davie Martindale, meanwhile, is adamant that his team will not be “bullied” this season after watching them stand up to last season’s third best side.

Martindale felt his team looked soft in defending their box at times last term after they let a top-six berth slip through their grasp.

He said: “The game went how I thought it was going to go, we set up in a way that I felt would match up well against them, they like to press really high and are aggressive in their press.

“Set-plays they are big and they have great delivery but I felt we nullified most of the threats they posed throughout the game.

“The most important thing was getting a clean sheet.

“I felt from February onwards we were very naive and weak, got bullied and that is not something that will happen this year.”

Matt Bloomfield admits his Wycombe players suffered a significant “reality check” after weeks of pre-season work went up in smoke against Exeter.

Two goals in the first five minutes fired Gary Caldwell’s red-hot Grecians to a comfortable 3-0 opening day victory as Jack Aitchison, captain Will Aimson and James Scott all netted at Adams Park.

Bloomfield says that left his players “shell-shocked” and the Chairboys boss urged them to deliver a rapid response when their travel to Lincoln next weekend.

He said: “It’s a reality check – if you look at the way we conceded those goals the lads were shell-shocked.

“It’s a disappointing scenario to find yourself in – there’s a lot of planning that goes over in over the summer and during this week, and then to find yourself 2-0 down.

“I think behind the scenes we’ve seen during pre-season that we have been missing bodies – we’ve had far too many of our top performers not being able to take part.

“The football league has a habit of throwing up these scenarios so unfortunately we were on the wrong end of one of those today. We have to make sure we are up to speed as quickly as possible.”

“We gave the ball away in a dangerous area early on, and unfortunately that ends up in the back of the net.

“There’s been plenty that’s happened at this football club that isn’t in our control, and in those situations where we are we have to make sure we’re better.”

Aitchison was one of 13 debutants across both sides and made the perfect start since joining from Motherwell, scoring after just 24 seconds.

A goalmouth scramble from a corner three minutes later then saw Aimson tuck home to double the lead.

Sam Nombe could have made it three from the spot, after Demetrii Mitchell was felled by Max Stryjek, but the Wycombe keeper saved superbly.

Wycombe rung the changes and had second-half penalty appeals waved away after substitute Josh Scowen was barged over in the box, but failed to muster a single clear-cut chance and Scott’s late goal saw Exeter seal victory.

Grecians boss Caldwell loved his side’s razor-sharp attacking performance and added: “It was an amazing start – I don’t think any of us would have thought we would have scored that early.

“I thought the intent and the aggression we showed in the first 15-20 minutes was incredible.

“We spoke a lot in the last couple of weeks about wanting to have a style of play and to play in a certain way, and we have to be a team that’s aggressive with and without the ball.

“And I thought the way we played in that early period, how we landed on second balls and when we ran forward – we called them so many problems.

“We looked a really dynamic front-foot football team, which is what we want to be. Every time we passed the ball forward today I thought we looked a real threat.”

Gary Rowett is happy for Millwall to continue flying under the radar in their quest for a Championship play-off spot after starting the season with a 1-0 win over Middlesbrough.

Romain Esse’s 79th-minute strike secured victory at the Riverside for the Lions, who missed out on a top-six place on the final day of last term after their capitulation in a home defeat to Blackburn.

The Lions have strengthened with the addition of five senior players this summer, yet when most pundits were making predictions of who would be challenging for promotion this campaign, Millwall rarely featured on their lists.

Rowett accepts that his club might not have as high a profile as some of their Championship rivals, but is hoping they once again punch above their perceived weight over the course of the next nine months.

Rowett said: “It doesn’t bother us – we enjoy that underdog tag. We’ve had four seasons where we’ve been very, very close to the play-offs, and the last two seasons have gone to the last game.

“If people write us off, maybe that’s people who haven’t looked at our squad. I think we’ve strengthened well and I think we’ve got a good squad.

“If you look at this division, it’s always easy to pick the big-name teams or the teams that have come down from the Premier League, and I understand that. Nine times out of 10, those teams bounce back up because they have the quality and the resources.

“I’d expect a club like Middlesbrough to be ahead of us in people’s thoughts of what’s going to happen at the end of the season, but that doesn’t stop us from being what we are.

“People label Millwall a certain way, but if you look at today, yes we defended diligently, yes we transitioned well, but we actually played some really good football as well and we’ve got some talented players.”

That talent was apparent in Millwall’s winning goal, with two young substitutes combining to unlock the Middlesbrough defence.

Aidomo Emakhu skipped clear down the left to slide over a low cross and Esse produced a composed curled finish to claim his first senior goal.

The result was a setback for Middlesbrough, who continue to pursue a new left-back and centre-forward ahead of the transfer deadline.

Michael Carrick accepts his side looked short in the final third, although he did not want to attribute the final result to a lack of transfer activity in the last couple of weeks.

Carrick said: “It’s disappointing. We came here to try to win the game, but in the first game of the season, sometimes you don’t really know what to expect.

“I think we had good players on that pitch, who were capable of playing in a good team and playing well. They were capable of scoring goals and creating goals.

“Just because we lost the game, it doesn’t always mean what people might label it with. The players are definitely good enough. It doesn’t stop us from wanting to improve, but it’s an easy throwaway thing to say that because we didn’t win and we didn’t score, we need (new) players to get to where we want to be.

“I would like to add players, but I’m really happy with the players we’ve got in the squad.”

Peter Fahey notched up his fourth winner of this year’s Galway Festival when Ambitious Fellow scored in the feature BoyleSports Handicap Hurdle.

Fahey had already struck with A Law Of Her Own, The Big Doyen and A Sign From Above earlier in the week before Ambitious Fellow prevailed at odds of 14-1.

It was the second of Fahey’s winners partnered by Sam Ewing, who was also on A Law Of Her Own – his first winner of the season.

Ambitious Fellow always appeared to be travelling within himself before Ewing made his bid for home two out.

Once he hit the front, he had to be kept up to his work to see off Noel Meade’s Bugs Moran by three-quarters of a length, with the favourite Icare Allen six lengths away in third.

“Sam made a good move to nip up the inner before coming down the hill and it could have been the winning and losing of it. It was a brave move but it worked out great for him,” said Fahey.

“He lost his form a little bit but had an issue after he ran at Limerick last year and it took him a while to get back right. He had a lovely run the last day when he was completely wrong at the weights, but it gave him confidence coming here.

“I was worried about the ground but it worked out great.”

He added: “There are four involved in the OGB Partnership including Ber (his wife) and after he won a bumper, we brought him to the sales but couldn’t get anyone to buy him. We brought him home and he has now won at the Punchestown Festival and has landed a big pot today.

“We had four winners last year, we’ve had good old craic again and it has been brilliant.”

Aidan O’Brien enjoyed a short-priced double through Navy Seal (1-4 favourite) in the BoyleSports Casino Irish EBF Maiden and Portland (15-8) in the Gra Chocolates Irish EBF Nursery Handicap.

Stable representative Chris Armstrong said of Navy Seal: “He was a still a bit babyish throughout the run but came on from Killarney, where he ran a nice race on debut.

“Seamus (Heffernan) felt once the penny dropped, he showed a nice turn of foot to quicken up and peg back Joseph’s horse (Bad Desire). He will come on from it and will be a nice middle-distance horse for next year.

“He’ll probably step up to stakes company now and into something like the mile Group Two at Leopardstown during Champions Weekend.”

Comeback defender Jack Iredale scored his first goal for the club as Bolton recorded their best opening day win for 12 years with a 3-0 Sky Bet League One success over Lincoln.

Australian Iredale had not played for last season’s play-off semi-finalists since injuring his knee at Barnsley on January 2.

But the ex-Cambridge star needed only four minutes to make an impact, heading in Aaron Morley’s corner.

The Imps sought a quick response and Ben House fired a shot into the side netting.

However, the Trotters were always in control and Randell Williams headed wide from debutant Josh Dacres-Cogley’s cross before the interval.

Lincoln’s set-piece frailty was evident again when Wanderers doubled their lead after 58 minutes. This time the unchallenged Victor Adeboyejo headed in from Williams’ corner.

Bolton could not match their 4-0 win at QPR on the first day of the 2011-12 campaign but they added a third goal 16 minutes from time as Lincoln’s new skipper Paudie O’Connor turned a cross from George Thomason – the substitute’s first touch of the game – into his own net.

Two goals in the final seven minutes saw Raith rescue an unlikely point in a 2-2 Scottish Championship draw at Partick Thistle.

The hosts looked to have the points sewn up by the interval as Jack McMillan put them ahead in just the fifth minute, when he converted the rebound after Kerr McInroy’s shot hit the crossbar.

Aidan Fitzpatrick added a second on the stroke of half-time when he fired home from McInroy’s cross.

Raith left it late and began their comeback in the 83rd minute when Dylan Easton fired home.

Anton Dowds then hit the post for Thistle – which could have wrapped up the win – but instead, Kieran Mitchell’s 89th-minute equaliser proved decisive as Rovers left with a point on the opening day.

Newly-promoted Carlisle started life back in Sky Bet League One with a 1-1 draw against Fleetwood at Brunton Park.

Owen Moxon opened the scoring for the Cumbrians with a 30-yard free-kick, but it was cancelled out by Brendan Wiredu’s strike just before half-time.

Carlisle captain Paul Huntington went close to opening the scoring in the 29th minute, but his header from Moxon’s floated free-kick was cleared from danger by Promise Omochere.

Seven minutes later, Moxon put the home side ahead with a beautifully curled free-kick into the top left corner after he had been fouled by Scott Robertson.

Fleetwood equalised, though, in the fourth minute of first-half stoppage time as Wiredu’s first-time volley flew into the bottom left corner after Huntington had headed clear Phoenix Patterson’s cross.

Jordan Gibson had a great chance to restore Carlisle’s lead just after half-time, but he miscued a shot from Fin Back’s cross with the goal gaping.

At the other end, Omochere should have scored after Josh Vela’s cross broke his way, but he pulled his effort across goal and wide.

Carlisle substitute Joe Garner, formerly of Fleetwood, saw his late header saved by Jay Lynch as the spoils were shared.

Devante Cole scored a hat-trick as Barnsley started life under Neill Collins in sensational fashion with a 7-0 thrashing of lacklustre Port Vale at Oakwell.

Liam Kitching, Jon Russell and Andrew Dallas were on also on target while Dan Jones netted an own goal as last season’s League One play-off finalists, now managed by Collins following Michael Duff’s departure to Swansea, ran riot.

The hosts broke the deadlock in the 23rd minute when debutant Corey O’Keeffe intercepted a loose pass and swept a low ball across to Cole who slotted home.

Barnsley doubled their lead on the stroke of half-time when Jones turned into his own net.

Cole, the son of former England and Manchester United striker Andy Cole, notched his second just two minutes after the break, this time latching onto Barry Cotter’s cross and lashing home.

The hat-trick was completed in the 53rd minute. As his side countered, Cole went alone and struck with just enough power for the ball to roll into the net.

Reds skipper Kitching added a fifth on the hour mark. Receiving the ball from Herbie Kane, the defender had time to control and calmly finish beyond Connor Ripley.

Collins’ side added a sixth four minutes later as Russell headed in from Nicky Cadden’s free-kick.

Substitute Dallas grabbed a debut goal in the sixth minute of added time, diving to head home from Cotter’s cross.

Two goals inside the opening five minutes helped Exeter to a 3-0 victory over a lacklustre Wycombe at Adams Park.

Debutant Jack Aitchison and captain Will Aimson both bagged early goals, before the visitors had a Sam Nombe penalty saved after just 10 minutes.

The opening left Wycombe stunned and they were unable to fight back, with substitute James Scott scoring for the visitors seven minutes from time.

Aitchison was one of 13 debutants across both sides, and made the perfect start since joining from Motherwell, scoring after just 24 seconds.

A goalmouth scramble from a corner three minutes later then saw Aimson tuck home to double the lead.

Nombe could have made it three from the spot after Demetri Mitchell was felled by Max Stryjek, but the Wycombe keeper saved superbly.

Wycombe rung the changes and had second-half penalty appeals waved away after substitute Josh Scowen was barged over in the box, but failed to muster a single clear-cut chance and Scott’s late goal saw Exeter seal victory.

Charlie Wyke scored a brace as Wigan edged a 2-1 League One win at promotion favourites Derby as the new season got under way.

Wyke scored in each half, either side of Craig Forsyth’s equaliser for Derby early in the second half.

The hosts created plenty of chances in the opening 30 minutes but Sam Tickle made good saves from James Collins and Nathaniel Mendez-Laing.

Sonny Bradley headed wide but Wigan also had their moments with Callum Lang narrowly off target before Thelo Aasgaard fired just over from 20 yards.

It got even better for Wigan in the 38th minute when Bradley’s backpass sent Wyke through to round Joe Wildsmith and score.

Lang ran clear in the 45th minute but failed to beat Wildsmith and Latics were punished when Forsyth volleyed a superb 57th-minute leveller from Joe Ward’s cross.

Forsyth was denied by Tickle in the 70th minute but – two minutes later – Wyke headed in Tom Pearce’s cross.

Wigan, who started the season on minus eight points, held on through nine minutes of added time to claim an impressive win.

Tom Marquand reflected on a thoroughly satisfactory Qatar Goodwood Festival that saw him pick up not only the top jockey title but all the riding accolades.

The rider ended the week with four victories to his credit, all of which demonstrated his undeniable range of skill in the saddle.

While Hamish’s win in Friday’s Glorious Stakes was a pretty straightforward affair, Marquand twice exhibited his excellent front-running abilities, first stealing the march on Quickthorn’s rivals in Tuesday’s Group One Goodwood Cup – a trick he repeated on Saturday aboard Sumo Sam in the Lillie Langtry Stakes.

In contrast, Desert Hero had to be delivered with precision timing in Thursday’s Gordon Stakes, prevailing by just a neck to cement his St Leger claims and raise hopes of a Classic winner for owners the King and Queen.

Marquand admitted there was only ever one set of tactics with Quickthorn, but was delighted to be able to show the full range of his powers in the saddle.

He said: “Obviously with Quickthorn it was plan A – and plan A only – and I was always going to do it, and everybody knew I was going to do it.

“It was pretty special and to do that in a Group One, as a jockey I’m always conscious that you don’t want to fall into that lull of if you’re riding 140/150 horses a month, you can very easily just sort of go into an autonomous routine and you go out, you get on, you canter down, you jump out the stalls, and you can end up riding without any flair or passion.

“And I think it’s important to make sure that you ride like you enjoy it, because you do enjoy it.

“Quickthorn showcased that and then being able to go opposite and ride with a bit of playfulness in the opposite regard on Desert Hero the next day, it makes it fun as a jockey.

“I know that ultimately you have one job and that is to win and get it done, but sometimes by making sure you’re enjoying it, it can actually be the way to ride best.”

Marquand spent his formative years with the Hannon team in Wiltshire and admitted the yard’s success over the years at the meeting put an extra shine on taking the leading jockey honours.

He added: “It’s great. It’s been a good week. Coming to big meetings, you walk away with one winner and when you start that’s obviously a big deal. But the further you go through your career, you want to put your name on the placard. It’s great.

“I grew up at Hannon’s as an apprentice and Goodwood was a big, big deal. You only have to look at the table on the wall to see how many times Richard Hannon senior won it, and obviously Richard junior after, so it’s always been something you would have your eyes on from when you are an apprentice, so it’s great, it’s nice.”

Ralph Beckett came out on top in the trainers’ division, sending out three winners including the King and Queen’s Serried Ranks on Friday and Lennox Stakes hero Kinross, who was one of two winners for Frankie Dettori at his final Goodwood Festival.

Beckett said: “I am amazed, what a lovely surprise!

“It has been a very satisfying week, I have really enjoyed it and am delighted with how the horses have been running. There were too many seconds, but that is the nature of it!

“Kinross’ win in the Lennox Stakes is the obvious highlight, but also the double yesterday was pretty special.

“Classical Song’s second on debut in the maiden fillies’ race was a pleasing run, and Balance Play’s win in the handicap yesterday was a long-held plan.”