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.

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.

Dunfermline came from behind to make a winning start to their cinch Championship campaign by defeating Airdrieonians 2-1 at East End Park.

Airdrieonians were first off the mark when Charlie Telfer’s powerful shot hit the woodwork and Craig Watson was on hand to nod home.

The lead did not last long, however, as Ewan Otoo soon headed in a cross by Joshua Edwards.

Paul Allan pounced after the break to nudge Dunfermline in front but the hosts had to play the last 13 minutes with 10 men after Rhys Breen was sent off for a second bookable offence.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Aberdeen picked up a point from a goalless draw after failing to register a single shot on target in a hard-fought encounter at Livingston.

There was no shortage of effort from both teams but there was a distant lack of goalmouth action.

Livingston finished the game strongly and at least asked questions of Dons goalkeeper Kelle Roos with efforts from Cristian Montano and Ayo Obileye.

There was little for the 4,000-strong Aberdeen fans to get excited about although Johnny Hayes will be kicking himself that he did not at least find the target from a good position at the back post in the early stages of the second period.

Former Livingston captain Nicky Devlin was in the thick of the action during a fiercely competitive start.

Devlin lined up on the right of a three-man defence that included Dons debutant Sloboden Rubezic.

The visitors created the first chance of note in the 14th minute when Duk met Leighton Clarkson’s cross but the forward glanced a header over the bar.

The Lions grew into the game and Mo Sangare got their first shot away in 22 minutes. Montano’s cross was only half cleared and Sangare chested the ball down before swinging a half-volley wide.

It was the home side that created another chance in first-half stoppage time but Jamie Brandon was unable to get a touch on Montano’s cross.

The second period began how the first half ended with both team’s refusing to give an inch.

Aberdeen midfielder Hayes was disappointed not to score after being found at the back post by Clarkson after finding the side netting as he slid in to reach the cross.

At the other end, Montano volleyed well over after Luiyi de Lucas’ cross was flicked on by Joel Nouble.

The Colombian then registered the first shot on target in the 70th minute when he connected with Scott Pittman’s cross.

The Lions were the team finishing strongly and they were asking plenty of questions of the Aberdeen defence by throwing crosses into the area.

Obileye should have done better when he was found unmarked at the back post from Andrew Shinnie’s corner but Roos got down well to the effort.

Duk then sliced an effort well wide with four minutes left after meeting Ester Sokler’s effort in the box.

Livingston sub Bruce Anderson was carried off on a stretcher in stoppage time after a lengthy delay having come off second best in an aerial challenge with Rubezic.