Barnsley head coach Neill Collins praised the finishing of hat-trick hero Devante Cole after Port Vale were thumped 7-0 in his first game in charge.

Liam Kitching, Jon Russell and debutant Andrew Dallas also got on the scoresheet, with Vale defender Dan Jones turning into his own net before the break.

Collins said: “The way he took his goals were clinical. For me Devante scored them when we needed him to, and he really took the game away from Port Vale with those finishes.

“He’s been working really hard with Jon Stead and you can see that with the individual aspects of the performance.”

Collins replaced Michael Duff, who left for Swansea after guiding the Tykes to the League One play-off final last term, at Oakwell this summer.

He said: “When you have a result like that, you can never consider it prior. My biggest thing was wanting to see us perform and see us do the things that we know the team can do.

“You could see that even though they’re young players, they know what it takes and they took control of the game as well. I think they all played fantastically well.

“The big thing for me is having the belief in themselves about how good they can be. We’re all guilty at times of limiting ourselves of what we can do and they know that effort and quality won’t always be rewarded with seven goals, but they showed the quality that I expect.”

Debutant Corey O’Keeffe set up the first goal for Cole, who is the son of former England and Manchester United striker Andy Cole, but only lasted 33 minutes due to injury.

Collins said: “It’s too early to say, we knew he was carrying something slight. It’s not great, he’s a big loss because he’s come in and done very well.”

Port Vale manager Andy Crosby bemoaned his side’s defending.

He said: “The manner of the goals we conceded, the time period particularly in the second half when we conceded four goals in a 17-minute period is difficult for me to accept.

“I think the ease in which they scored goals, they got balls into our box and the amount of one touch finishes in-between our posts is very concerning.

“It’s important that we all learn, that the individuals learn and our response now going forward is key. It’s obviously a very difficult start for us, one thing we obviously didn’t want.

“But we also know that throughout the season there’s going to be really challenging periods and to start off the first game being beaten 7-0 is obviously not the start we wanted.”

Jack Iredale’s first ever Bolton goal in Wanderers’ 3-0 Sky Bet League One win over Lincoln was a touch of deja vu for manager Ian Evatt and his squad.

Out of action with a knee injury since January 2, Iredale opened the Trotters’ goalscoring account after four minutes; his first since netting for previous club Cambridge 22 months ago.

The versatile Australian’s header came from Aaron Morley’s corner before Victor Adeboyejo doubled the home side’s lead from another corner after 59 minutes.

Imps skipper Paudie O’Connor then turned substitute George Thomason’s cross into his own net for Wanderers’ third to complete a miserable opener for Mark Kennedy’s side.

“Jack scored exactly the same goal in training,” said Evatt. “So to replicate that was fantastic and the delivery from Aaron was perfect.”

Evatt agreed Iredale’s return has come at the right time, with George Johnston out for the season with an anterior cruciate ligament injury.

“We know Jack has flexibility. He can play full-back, wing-back or as a centre-half and we like those types,” he said.

“George is one of the best one-v-one defenders in the division but Jack’s range of passing gives us a chance to cause problems.”

On Bolton’s best opening-day win for 12 years, Evatt said: “I am pleased to score from two set-plays because it is something we have taken pride in of late.

“Some of our general play was excellent, particularly in the second half. Some of the moves were smooth, crisp and sharp.

“There is still a lot to work on but it is a decent start because they are a difficult side to break down.”

Lincoln manager Kennedy said: “No one wants to lose 3-0 but we have lost to two set-pieces and an own goal. That is disappointing.

“We said to the guys after the game, ‘What cost us the game? They said: ‘Set-pieces’ – but it was actually individuals not doing their jobs properly.

“When you watch the teams who are the best at set-pieces, they have two things in common: the first one is delivery and the second is the desire to head or defend goals. That was the difference.

“I have no problem with possession stats. I never expected to come here and dominate the ball. I am calm with that.

“Hand on heart it was a nightmare game coming into it. I really believed though we could take something from the game.

“I thought there were good moments, particularly in the first half and we started the second half well.

“We got into good areas of the pitch but didn’t show the killer instinct to go and deliver key crosses in good areas.”

Mark Bonner felt Cambridge hit a high standard as they opened their Sky Bet League One campaign with a win.

Cambridge, who produced a great escape to survive in the third tier at the end of last season, made a perfect start to the new campaign with a 2-0 victory over Oxford.

Jack Lankester fired them ahead before a goal on debut from the impressive Gassan Ahadme saw them in control at the break and they limited Oxford to just one Stan Mills gilt-edged chance in the second period.

“I thought we were excellent; really good and really good value for the result, and I thought the performance was very strong,” Bonner said.

“The first 30 minutes was the absolute blueprint for us. I thought we were outstanding. Then second half we struggled to get out of our half a little bit but I never felt under huge pressure.

“It’s a really good result and a really good start. A clean sheet and three points obviously is important to us, but the performance level as well is really important.

“There were some really good performances out there today, so it’s a good day for us.

“I thought we started the game very well, played with some good intent with the ball, played forward but not rushed and had good control in certain moments of the game.”

Saikou Janneh, who started only once in League One last season, played a crucial role in both Cambridge goals, and he came in for particular praise.

“I thought he was brilliant, really good. He’s really built up over pre-season, exactly what we want in a wide player, showed himself to be more reliable.

“He’s getting better and better without the ball so I’m really pleased with him.”

Liam Manning felt that his Oxford side had not hit the required levels.

“The result obviously is hugely disappointing,” he said. “I just said to the players that I actually think it could be one of the best things for us, madly.

“That wake-up call, if we make sure we respond and we take the lessons from it. I think it could be a positive lesson for us.

“The game went exactly how we knew it would. How we set up, the game plan was exactly what we thought they’d do. When you have the volume of the ball that we do, nine corner kicks to two. We didn’t create a huge amount.

“Without quality in the top third, what you do is you come away 0-0. You dominate the game that way and give them nothing.

“I know we’re not the finished article, there’s a long way to go. We have to take the experience, the lesson, and make sure we don’t have it again.”

Stevenage manager Steve Evans felt his side were good value for all three points after they started the new Sky Bet League One season by beating Northampton 1-0.

Boro’s first ever win at Sixfields came courtesy of Carl Piergianni’s 81st-minute close-range finish as Stevenage edged a tight game between two teams who are newly promoted into the division.

A total of 22 minutes of stoppage time were played across both halves – the result of a new EFL directive – and Evans felt his side did enough to kick off with a win.

“It’s a great way to start the season,” he said. “I set the boys four targets: to get our first clean sheet, to get our first point, to score our first goal and to get our first win. We’ve ticked all of them off today.

“I thought it was a game of two halves. Obviously conditions played a part but they were better than us in the first half.

“They have kept together a lot more players from last season and they looked more used to each other, but the elements played a part and we saw that in the second half.

“We should have been behind at half-time but the changes we made really worked and I think over the whole game we deserved to win.

“They had two one-on-ones in the first half but we created chances as well and in the second half we were the team with more purpose and more drive, certainly in terms of fitness levels, and all of the new boys did really well.”

Northampton boss Jon Brady was encouraged by his side’s first-half performance but admitted they faded after the break.

“I thought we were excellent in the first half and that was clear for everyone to see,” he said.

“We should put those chances away. We hit the post twice, we had some good entries into their six-yard box and flashed some crosses into the area.

“We controlled play really, really well but we came out for the second half and had the wind and rain in our face and it was hard for us to get out.

“They’re very good at turning the ball in behind your back-line and hurting you and they constantly do it, but to control the play we needed to be better on the ball in the second half.

“We weren’t great in possession in the second half. We need to make better decisions and show more composure in those moments because the ball was turned back to them too much.

“That was disappointing because we controlled the game so well in the first half, but you’ve got to take the positives and there was certainly a lot to be encouraged about.”

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.”

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.”

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.”

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.