A dramatic added-time equaliser from debutant Kusini Yengi saw Portsmouth grab a 1-1 draw against Bristol Rovers at Fratton Park.

Luke Thomas had put Rovers ahead in the first half and it appeared they were heading for an opening day victory in League One before Yengi’s late strike.

The enthusiastic welcome the players received was not matched by either side in the opening period, with constant downpours making the pitch difficult to play on.

Rovers forced the early pressure and took the lead in the 24th minute. A quick break saw Jevani Brown go clear on the left and a low cross fell to the feet of Thomas, who confidently drove home.

Pompey produced two good efforts from Colby Bishop and Gavin Whyte as they pressed for an equaliser.

The second half saw Pompey coming out all guns blazing and the same pair again caused problems. Whyte had a stunning strike pushed over by Matthew Cox within the first two minutes followed quicky by a Bishop header that missed the target.

It appeared Rovers were going to hold on but Yengi headed home the equaliser two minutes into added time.

Notts County suffered a chastening return to the EFL with a 5-1 drubbing at Sutton.

The visitors conceded twice and had goalkeeper Aidan Stone sent off inside the first quarter of the game.

Sutton struck the first goal of the League Two season as Joe Kizzi headed in former Magpie Rob Milsom’s corner at the far post, and County’s afternoon got worse as Scott Kashket pounced on a poor back pass and was brought down by Stone, who was immediately sent off by referee Sam Purkiss.

Milsom’s free-kick went just wide, but substitute goalkeeper Sam Slocombe was soon picking the ball out of his net as Omari Patrick rifled a shot home from Josh Coley’s pass.

U’s might have had a third when Kashket’s looping header hit the bar.

Hopes of a County comeback in the second half lasted only five minutes as Coley’s superb cross was powered home by Patrick’s header at the far post, and as Sutton continued to boss the game Craig Eastmond’s low shot hit a post.

Jack Rose made one good save from Macaulay Langstaff, but the punishment for County was relentless as Harry Beautyman made it 4-0 from Aiden O’Brien’s pass.

County pulled one back when David McGoldrick scored from Langstaff’s pass, but any prospect of a nervy end for Sutton fans was ended by Harry Smith’s header from Kizzi’s cross.

A dramatic added-time goal from substitute Adam Idah made it a winning start to the new Sky Bet Championship season for Norwich as they beat Hull 2-1 at Carrow Road.

The Republic of Ireland international was in the right place at the right time in a late goalmouth melee to prod the ball home and settle an entertaining encounter.

Hull had taken the lead lead against the run of play in the first half with a well-taken goal on his debut from Liam Delap, only for the Canaries to level on the stroke of half-time with another sumptuous strike from youngster Jonathan Rowe – his first for his club.

Norwich made a bright start in the miserable conditions, with Gabriel Sara firing a decent effort just wide after just 40 seconds and Rowe grazing the outside of the upright with a low shot from distance.

But it was the visitors who got their noses in front with their first effort of the match in the 17th minute as some poor home defending was ruthlessly punished by Delap.

The on-loan Manchester City striker caught Shane Duffy in possession some 30 yards out and he outmuscled Ben Gibson before producing an emphatic finish into the top corner.

Angus Gunn then had to be alert to thwart Ozan Tufan after the ball had fell kindly for the Turkish midfielder in the area.

But apart from that the first half was all Norwich, with Duffy hitting the crossbar with a glancing header from a deep free-kick, Jack Stacey firing over when well placed and Matt Ingram producing an outstanding save to keep out a Josh Sargent header.

The hosts kept plugging away, however, and were finally rewarded in stoppage time with a cracker of a goal.

A fast-breaking Dimi Giannoulis did well to find Rowe in a central area and the young winger advanced to the edge of the box before cracking an unstoppable shot past Ingram to give a much fairer look to the half-time scoreline.

It was more of the same after the break, with Norwich on top, but the visitors almost regained the lead just past the hour mark when Delap burst through the centre before letting fly with a shot that appeared to be heading into the top corner until it was superbly tipped over by Gunn.

As the game headed into the final quarter, the Norwich threat appeared to be diminishing although Duffy should have better with a free header with 82 minutes on the clock.

It seemed as though the hosts would have to settle for a point but deep into added time they secured all three.

After a corner had only been half-cleared, the ball was fed back into the box and took a fortunate deflection to land at the feet of Idah, who steered it home from close range with Hull appealing in vain for offside.

Charlton got their League One campaign off to a winning start with a 1-0 win against newly-promoted Leyton Orient.

A first-half strike by captain George Dobson was enough for the south Londoners in their local derby.

Alfie May was denied his first goal for the hosts after just four minutes, when Sol Brynn stopped his effort.

Orient held their own in the first half – although they had to wait until the half-hour mark for their first attempt – as Ashley Maynard-Brewer turned away a Theo Archibald effort.

However, the hosts broke the deadlock a minute before first-half injury time. Corey Blackett-Taylor found space on the left to cross the ball in low for Dobson to finish.

Orient struggled for a breakthrough in the second half, although Tom James saw his effort after 57 minutes deflected over the crossbar.

Tyreece Campbell just failed to control the ball enough to round Brynn after 72 minutes, while May saw his shot four minutes later flash over the bar.

Substitute Panutche Camara missed a sitter in stoppage time to double the Charlton lead, but the hosts held on for the narrow victory.

Morton opened their Championship campaign with an entertaining 3-1 win over Ayr at Cappielow.

A goalless first period was soon forgotten when Oliver Pendlebury fired the visitors ahead in the 51st minute.

But the strike stirred Morton into action as they responded through Robbie Crawford, Robbie Muirhead and Steven Boyd in a 25-minute spell.

Muirhead’s goal came from the penalty spot after George Oakley had been fouled by Sean McGinty.

Dundee marked their return to the cinch Premiership by coming from behind to salvage a 1-1 draw against Motherwell at Dens Park.

Theo Bair, who signed for the Steelmen earlier this week, enjoyed a dream debut as he opened the scoring at the end of the first half.

The hosts drew level after the break through midfielder Lyall Cameron with both sides ultimately having to settle for a share of the spoils.

Prior to kick-off, Dundee unfurled the Championship flag won last season before there was a minute’s applause in memory of former Scotland boss Craig Brown, who was part of the Dark Blues squad crowned Scottish Champions in 1961/62 and also managed the Steelmen.

The hosts were forced into an early change in just the sixth minute when Mexican defender Antonio Portales had to go off injured to be replaced by Josh Mulligan.

Both sides took their time to find their feet on an already-wet surface that was made worse by a torrential downpour.

However, as the first quarter passed, Dundee started to ease into the game without testing Liam Kelly in the Motherwell goal.

Instead, it was the keeper’s opposite number Jon McCracken who produced the first important save of the contest in the 21st minute when he dived low to divert a long-range strike from Blair Spittal wide for a corner.

As the half-hour mark approached, a Dundee corner kick was held up temporarily by referee David Dickinson as the Dens ground staff frantically tried to clear standing water from the opposite corner area.

Motherwell had another opportunity when Connor Wilkinson found space in the Dundee box, but his snap shot was deflected wide.

However, right on the stroke of half-time, the deadlock was finally broken by the Steelmen.

Stephen O’Donnell found himself in acres of space down the right and sent a tempting low cross into the box which was swept home with aplomb by Bair past McCracken.

The rain finally relented with Dundee having the first opportunity of the second half when Owen Beck swung a corner in from the left, with skipper Joe Shaughnessy seeing his header blocked on the line.

The hosts then had two chances in quick succession with Luke McCowan having a shot blocked by Kelly at his near post with the keeper saving the rebound from Zach Robinson.

However, Dundee finally equalised in the 68th minute when McCowan swung an inch-perfect cross in from the right with Cameron nodding the ball home at the far post past Kelly.

The Dark Blues had another chance when a Cameron cross was deflected onto his own post by Motherwell’s Dan Casey.

Both sides tried manfully to find a winner with the visitors forcing successive corners deep in stoppage time but Dundee held on to secure a draw.

Late goals from Yutaro Oda and Lawrence Shankland gave Hearts a winning start in the cinch Premiership as they defeated St Johnstone 2-0 at McDiarmid Park.

In a closely-fought game, Oda made the breakthrough with 15 minutes to go, drilling an unstoppable low shot past Dimitar Mitov,.

Shankland rubbed salt into the St Johnstone wounds by tapping in with almost the last kick of the game to double the advantage.

Hearts goalkeeper Zander Clark had earlier denied Graham Carey and Liam Gordon with strong saves, while Kyosuke Tagawa should have marked his debut with a goal for the visitors as he failed to capitalise on a one-on-one chance.

Despite competing well for large periods of the match, St Johnstone have now begun the season with four defeats in five matches, following losses to Stenhousemuir, Ayr United and Stirling Albion in the Viaplay Cup.

Saints boss Steven MacLean had unsurprisingly made six changes to the side who suffered the 4-0 loss to Stirling last week, while Oludare Olufunwa and Sam McClelland made their debuts after signing this week.

For Hearts, this game represented their first competitive match of the season, and they also gave debuts to new signings in the shape of Frankie Kent and Calem Nieuwenhof.

The match was initially delayed by 10 minutes due to a power issue with the VAR technology and the game began without VAR for a short period before the problem was resolved.

When the game did get underway it was the hosts who started better and captain Gordon should have given them an early lead as his sliced Carey’s cross wide from close range.

Hearts had started slowly but they grew into the match after the 20 minute mark, with Peter Haring heading a deflected Nieuwenhof cross wide and Nathaniel Atkinson skewing a low shot wide when well placed in the box.

Shankland had his first chance just before the break as he met Stephen Kingsley’s deep free-kick with a volley that was too close to Mitov in the home goal.

St Johnstone had the first chance of the second period as the lively Carey capitalised on a poor clearance by cutting inside and unleashing a powerful effort with his right foot that was parried away by Clark.

Clark was called into action again just before the hour mark, making a superb one-handed stop to deny Gordon a headed goal before the Hearts defence scrambled the ball clear of danger.

Hearts got better as the half went on and they should have scored in the 67th minute as Shankland met Kingsley’s low cross but his first-time shot was well stopped by Mitov.

Mitov then made an even better save moments later, sticking out a strong hand to deny substitute Tagawa when clean through.

Mitov’s heroics proved in vain, however, as Hearts made the breakthrough in the 75th minute.

Atkinson’s deep cross eventually dropped at the back post for Oda, who showed composure to take a touch and rifle a low shot across the St Johnstone goalkeeper and into the bottom left-hand corner.

Hearts could have added to their lead, with Liam Boyce and Kye Rowles seeing attempts saved by Mitov, before they wrapped up the win in style, as substitute Boyce broke clear and laid the ball on a plate for Shankland, who could not miss.

Dilan Markanday and Harry Leonard scored their first league goals for Blackburn to give them a hard-fought 2-1 win over West Brom in a pulsating season opener.

On their first league starts for the club, the duo did the damage in a devastating three-minute spell in the first half as Markanday slotted home from a narrow angle and within seconds of the kick-off, academy graduate Leonard hammered in his first senior goal.

The Baggies responded in the second half through Matt Phillips’ superb curling effort five minutes after the restart but they could not force an equaliser against a Rovers side that finished the game strongly.

Their frustration was summed up by Carlos Corberan being sent to the stands late in the second half.

Phillips stung the palms of Aynsley Pears in the 19th minute as the Baggies settled quickest, but were shell-shocked by a quickfire double as Blackburn went ahead a minute later when Markanday dispossessed Conor Townsend, and though Leonard could not get a shot away, Lewis Travis threaded a first-time pass to Markanday on the right and he slotted into the far corner.

Straight from kick-off, Sammie Szmodics cut out a pass and fed Leonard on the right and his rasping low drive flew in at Alex Palmer’s near post in the 22nd minute.

A neat one-touch move in the 34th minute almost gave Rovers a third but Tyrhys Dolan’s curling shot was parried away by Palmer.

Brandon Thomas-Asante almost found the far corner four minutes later when firing goalwards from the right but Pears got down well to push behind.

West Brom came out with real purpose and Thomas-Asante’s cut-back found Jayson Molumby in the area and his shot looked destined for the top corner but for a superb Joe Rankin-Costello block.

The visitors did get on the scoresheet in the 50th minute, though, as Phillips robbed Markanday and exchanged passes with Jed Wallace before curling beautifully into the right corner from 25 yards.

Thomas-Asante was wreaking havoc down the right and another teasing cross found Molumby in the 58th minute but he could not get the ball out of his feet and Rankin-Costello made a brilliant goal-saving tackle.

Rovers should have wrapped the points up 10 minutes later, though, when they cut the visitors open and Travis fed Leonard with Palmer to beat but he directed his shot past the far post.

A sensational Adam Wharton pass gave the teenager another chance minutes later but he once again fired his effort past the post.

The frustration of the afternoon got the better of Baggies boss Corberan who was dismissed for dissent, having already been booked earlier in the second half, and Darnell Furlong’s 89th-minute sensational block from Hayden Carter kept the margin of defeat to one.

Dominic Thomas and Tom Robson helped Queen’s Park start their cinch Championship campaign on a winning note as they edged out Inverness 2-1.

Caley Thistle started brightly as Nathan Shaw saw an effort saved while Charlie Fox’s last-gasp tackle stopped Charlie Gilmour going through on goal, but the visitors went ahead after 31 minutes when Thomas latched on to Barry Hepburn’s pass and fired beyond Mark Ridgers.

Robson doubled Queen’s Park’s lead three minutes after the restart as he caught Inverness’ defence napping before sliding an effort underneath Ridgers.

Jake Davidson rose highest to head home Cameron Harper’s corner four minutes from time but it proved to be a consolation as Inverness suffered defeat in their first outing of the season.

Troubled Reading began life in League One with a dispiriting 1-0 home defeat against Peterborough.

The Posh winner arrived shortly before the break through Ephron Mason-Clark’s looping header as the Royals played their first third-tier match in 21 years.

Reading had endured a torrid summer after relegation from the Championship, with numerous financial problems hampering the team rebuilding plans of new manager Ruben Selles.

But they enjoyed the better of the first half, with debutant Posh goalkeeper Nicholas Bilokapic forced into fine saves from Harvey Knibbs and Kelvin Ehibhatiomhan.

Peterborough, beaten play-off semi-finalists last season, took a while to warm up.

New Posh skipper Mason-Clark saw a fierce drive superbly tipped over by Reading keeper Dean Bouzanis but he nodded home in the 43rd minute from a precise Kwame Poku cross.

Mason-Clark departed soon after the interval due to injury, with replacement Ricky-Jade Jones’ angled effort denied by Bouzanis at his near post.

Reading pushed energetically for an equaliser late on but Peterborough held firm to complete a hard-earned win.

Scotland overcame the loss of key duo Ben White and Zander Fagerson to stage a stirring second-half fightback and defeat France 24-21 in an exhilarating World Cup warm-up match at Murrayfield.

Les Bleus, who fielded a largely second-string side, looked on course for a comfortable victory as they eased into a 21-3 half-time lead.

But the Scots, despite having Fagerson red-carded early in the second half, roared back to record a morale-boosting win with tries from Darcy Graham, Pierre Schoeman and replacement Dave Cherry.

The shine was taken off the triumph, however, by the sight of scrum-half White limping off with a worrying-looking ankle injury just four weeks out from their World Cup opener against South Africa, while they will also face an anxious wait to learn the fate of prop Fagerson following his dismissal.

Scots head coach Gregor Townsend made 13 changes to the experimental team that defeated Italy a week previously, with most of his big-hitters restored.

Finn Russell was handed the captaincy for the first time in the absence of regular skipper Jamie Ritchie, who missed out with a minor calf injury which medical staff hope will subside in time for next weekend’s rematch between the teams in Saint-Etienne.

The French starting line-up featured three debutants in Paul Boudehent, Emilien Gailleton and Louis Bielle-Biarrey, with Antoine Dupont, Gael Fickou and Romain Ntamack among a raft of established players given the weekend off.

The team selections meant Scotland – despite being ranked three places beneath the French – went into the match as favourites with bookmakers.

The hosts got the scoreboard up and running in the fourth minute when Russell kicked a penalty between the posts.

However, Les Bleus seized the initiative in scintillating fashion in the 14th minute when Baptiste Couilloud was set free to bound over the line after a brilliant break-away down the right involving Bielle-Biarrey and Matthieu Jalibert. The latter made no mistake with the conversion.

The visitors remained in the ascendancy and stretched their advantage after 24 minutes when debutant Bielle-Biarrey found a gap on the left and darted majestically through it after being fed by Jalibert, who duly converted.

Scotland’s woes deepened when White was forced off with an injury after half an hour, replaced by George Horne.

The scrum-half looked dejected as he made his way off the pitch and punched the bench in frustration before having his ankle bandaged up by medics and limping down the tunnel.

The Scots thought they had reduced the deficit in the 33rd minute when Duhan Van Der Merwe found his way over the line, but play was pulled back for a French scrum following a forward pass.

A disastrous first half for the home side was compounded in the last action before the break when Cameron Woki picked the ball up at the back of a ruck and plunged over the line from close range. Jalibert again added the extras.

Scotland started the second period in brighter fashion, with Graham running on to a cross-field kick from Russell and just doing enough to plant the ball down under pressure from Ethan Dumortier. Following a TMO review to approve the score, Russell kicked the conversion.

Just as the hosts looked to be finding their way back into the match, though, they suffered another blow in the 50th minute when Fagerson was sin-binned for a high challenge on Pierre Bourgarit. Following a bunker review, the offence was subsequently upgraded to a red card.

However, the 14 men further reduced the French lead in the 54th minute as Pierre Schoeman bulldozed his way through to touch the ball down, with Russell converting.

The Scots were rampant and they thought they had got their noses in front when Blair Kinghorn bolted in behind the posts, but it was ruled out for a knock-on by Graham.

Remarkably, however, they did get themselves ahead in the 67th minute when substitute Cherry pushed his way over. This time Russell hit the post with his conversion attempt.

The captain was more accurate six minutes later as his penalty gave the Scots a four-point lead before they withstood some late French pressure to see out the win.

New recruit Andre Vidigal enjoyed a dream debut as his brace inspired Stoke to a comprehensive 4-1 Championship victory at home to 10-man Rotherham.

The hosts raced into an early lead with Ki-Jana Hoever – returning for a second loan spell with The Potters – firing in an emphatic opener inside five minutes.

A dominant first-half display was rewarded in added time as Vidigal, who was a summer arrival from Maritimo, netted a quickfire double to heap misery on The Millers.

Matt Taylor’s half-time tactical tweaking sparked an instant impact as substitute Lee Peltier scored with his first touch to hand the visitors hope.

However, the early damage proved to be irreparable for Rotherham, who were reduced to 10 men after debutant Cafu was sent off.

Jacob Brown added a fourth with a late tap in as Stoke strode to an impressive and assured opening-day victory.

A productive summer in the Potteries had already seen 11 bodies arrive through the front door, with six new additions making their debuts in this encounter.

But it was a familiar face in Wolves loanee Hoever – who spent the second half of last season at the club – that handed the hosts a dream start.

A precise cross-field delivery from new club captain Josh Laurent found the onrushing Hoever, whose first-time volley crashed in off the underside of the crossbar.

Rotherham did threaten an unlikely equaliser when Ben Wiles was afforded space in the area, but his venomous strike was collected well by Mark Travers.

And that Millers’ miss would prove costly, as they soon found themselves three goals behind after a frantic seven minutes of stoppage time.

Winger Vidigal – who scored eight goals in the Portuguese top flight last season – took little time to open his account on English shores.

Daniel Johnson’s deep set-piece delivery was nodded back into the danger zone by Ben Wilmot with an unmarked Vidigal in position to slot home.

And the tricky forward was not done yet in an impressive first-half showing, finishing accurately on the rebound after Viktor Johansson thwarted Ryan Mmaee.

Disgruntled boss Taylor introduced Peltier at the interval and the defender looked to hand the away side a reprieve when he bundled home an effort immediately after the restart.

However, any chance of a Rotherham comeback was shelved when Cafu – a summer signing from Nottingham Forest – compounded a miserable afternoon by receiving his marching orders.

Starman Vidigal nearly completed his hat-trick when he met an accurate Hoever cross, but an instinctive Johansson save denied him a perfect introduction.

There was still time though for Stoke to add a fourth, with centre-back Ben Wilmot notching a second assist when Brown converted his flick-on to round off an emphatic win.

Stevenage started the new Sky League One season with a 1-0 victory at fellow promoted side Northampton.

Boro’s first ever win at Sixfields came courtesy of Carl Piergianni’s scrappy late goal as Steve Evans’ side began life in the third tier with three well-deserved points.

Cobblers hit the frame of the goal twice in the space of three minutes early on as Taye Ashby-Hammond tipped Patrick Brough’s shot against the crossbar before Tyreece Simpson found the base of a post from an acute angle.

Stevenage enjoyed a good spell in the middle of the first half, with Ben Thompson sidefooting wide and Aaron Pressley volleying past the far post, and they continued to edge proceedings after the restart but clear-cut chances were few and far between.

The visitors failed to hit the target with a number of long-range efforts, but they increased the pressure and eventually took the lead with nine minutes remaining through Piergianni’s close-range finish.

Jordan Roberts was denied by Lee Burge before Marc Leonard nearly rescued a point for the Cobblers, with his stoppage-time free-kick dropping narrowly wide.