Exeter manager Gary Caldwell was delighted with the patience his side showed as they returned to the top of the League One table with a deserved 1-0 win over Cheltenham.

The Grecians dominated form the start but found Cheltenham obdurate opponents and it took until the 68th minute for the only goal of the game to arrive as substitute Caleb Watts marked his debut with the winner.

“It is never easy when a team come and set up the way that Cheltenham set up,” Caldwell said.

“They parked the bus very early and sat every man behind the ball and they wanted to counter-attack, which we thought they would do, but we didn’t think they’d be as defensive as they were.

“When you don’t break that down with the opportunities we created, then the frustration can come and you can start searching for something that isn’t there.

“We kept playing our way, we kept believing in what we were doing and we eventually got our rewards.

“We had an incredible moment just before with three chances inside the six-yard box and when they don’t go in, you wonder if it’s going to be your day.

“But all credit to the players, they kept going and Caleb, on his debut, scored a brilliant goal.

“I said to them at half-time to keep doing what we are doing, but do it quicker and more often and I said to bring the Big Bank into the game by playing faster and getting the ball in the box, corners, and creating momentum at that end because we see so often the ball gets sucked into that goal.”

Underwhelming Cheltenham are still searching for their first league goal of the season.

Manager Wade Elliott said: “I never felt uncomfortable apart from a 10-minute spell when they scored and we were trying to get the subs on.

“One or two of the players were flagging a little bit and we were desperately trying to make the subs.

“We knew they were going to have possession, but aside from that we never felt uncomfortable. We had enough opportunities on the counter and turnovers for it to fall our way rather than against us.

“We were trying to make changes and we were just 30 seconds the wrong side of it.

“I understand where we are at the minute and it puts extra emphasis on everything. It is difficult to say it was 10 minutes away from being a good performance.

“They are going to have to be bold enough to keep putting themselves in there, the number of times balls have gone into the box and we have had chances, our play is crying out for someone to get on the end of it.”

Lee Johnson is aware of the task he faces to drag Fleetwood up League One after his first match in charge ended in a 3-0 defeat to Oxford.

Goals from Stanley Mills, Billy Bodin and Kyle Edwards earned the visitors a dominant victory.

Fleetwood sit bottom of the table, with just one point to their name after seven matches, and new boss Johnson knows he has a lot of work to do.

“It was certainly not the start I wanted,” Johnson said.

“I thought it was neck and neck for the first 15 minutes, but then they scored a very good goal from their point of view and a very disappointing goal from our point of view.

“I’m looking at the boys and we have to commit. The biggest thing for me is that commitment.

“We had to commit to executing what we’ve worked on during the week and putting their bodies on the line – and we didn’t.

“Obviously we’re in this position and we are where we are. There’s a lot of hard work to do.

“But don’t get me wrong, I’ve lost no enthusiasm for the hard work which lies ahead.

“However, at the same time, we’ve got to be really honest with an evaluation of the game today.

“It’s a big job, but I understand that. You don’t normally get jobs which are top of the league, the club are flying and ready to go.

“But I won’t shirk the challenge, I’m very grateful for the opportunity I’ve been given here.”

Oxford boss Liam Manning paid tribute to his side’s togetherness registered their fifth win in their last six league outings.

“There was an unpredictability element with their change of manager, so it was never going to be an easy place to come,” Manning said.

“We knew it would be a tough opening to the game, which we spoke about, and to be fair it was.

“It took us seven hours of travelling to get here, so you have to take things like that into account.

“But huge credit to the lads.

“It was a professional performance which, ultimately, got us what we deserve.

“The goals were high-quality moments. We know we’ve got players who can produce moments of quality like that.

“We’ve got a variety of attacking players now who can chip in. We don’t want to be dependent on one person to score 20-25 goals, everybody has to chip in and play their part. We did that today.

“It could have been more as well because we hit the woodwork twice.

“But overall I’m delighted for the players because you can’t just turn up and do that, you have to work every single day.

“They’ve trained terrifically this week – and that’s their rewards for it. You can just see how together the group are.”

Summer signing Ethan Hamilton’s first goal at Sincil Bank rescued a 1-1 draw for Lincoln against promoted Carlisle.

His long-range strike denied Paul Simpson’s recently-promoted side a first away win in League One since February 2014.

They hit the front after 19 minutes as Crystal Palace loanee Luke Plange opened his account for the club as he flicked home Owen Moxon’s drilled free-kick.

Former Republic of Ireland international Sean Maguire saw huge shouts for a penalty waved away on the stroke of half-time as the Cumbrians pushed for a second.

Lasse Sorenson squandered a great chance for the hosts when he nodded over at the back post in first-half stoppage time.

City equalised five minutes after the interval thanks to Hamilton’s stunning strike.

Lincoln’s Danish goalkeeper Lukas Jensen produced a great save to keep out Moxon down the other end.

Hamilton tried his luck again, this time with an audacious 30-yard free-kick which went wide.

The Imps huffed and puffed for a late winner but Carlisle held on for a battling point.

Bristol Rovers secured only their second league win of the season with a 2-0 win at Shrewsbury.

The Shrews came close to opening the scoring on the half-hour mark when Max Mata flicked the ball on to Daniel Udoh. The Salop forward held off his marker before getting a shot off, but it was deflected for a corner.

Shrewsbury substitutes Kieran Phillips and Tom Bayliss almost made an immediate impact with 20 minutes remaining.

Phillips got behind the Rovers defence and drove into the box before laying the ball off to Bayliss, whose shot was deflected for a corner.

The corner reached the back post where Chey Dunkley was lurking. The defender looked to be bundled to the floor by John Marquis but referee Tom Reeves waved away appeals.

Bristol Rovers opened the scoring in the 73rd minute when Aaron Collins received the ball out wide and drilled in a low cross to Marquis, who tapped home from close range at the near post.

The away side sealed the three points when Collins bundled the ball over the line at the death.

Wigan got back to winning ways after back-to-back defeats with a deserved 2-1 victory over Sky Bet League One high-flyers Cambridge at the DW Stadium.

Top scorer Charlie Wyke – looking well offside – hit a post in the opening exchanges after being played in by Thelo Aasgaard.

Wyke was then denied by a good save from Will Mannion with his foot, with the goalkeeper then helping the ball over the top after it looped back goalwards via an unfortunate deflection off a defender.

At the other end, a rare break from Cambridge saw Sullay Kaikai’s 30-yard shot tipped around a post by Sam Tickle.

Cambridge skipper Michael Morrison nodded inches beyond the far post just before half-time, and Wigan then took full control.

Stephen Humphrys cut in off the right onto his left foot and curled a superb effort into the far corner of the net 12 minutes after the restart.

It was 2-0 five minutes later when Martial Godo teed-up Aasgaard, who slammed the ball home off the underside of the crossbar.

Cambridge pulled one back 14 minutes from time when Callum McManaman felled James Brophy in the box and Fejiri Okenabirhie sent Tickle the wrong way from 12 yards.

Portsmouth preserved  their unbeaten start to the season as Colby Bishop’s stoppage-time goal earned them a 1-1 draw at Derby County.

James Collins’s 86th-minute penalty looked to have won it but Bishop flicked  in a cross to stun Pride Park in the fifth minute of time added on.

Derby started well with a deflected Conor Hourihane shot hitting the bar but Portsmouth started to work some good positions down the flanks and Bishop had a header cleared off the line in the 18th minute.

Hourihane whipped in a free-kick which Craig Forsyth fired over in the 29th minute before Conor Washington almost set up Martyn Waghorn in a good spell for Derby.

Both teams were struggling to make an impression up front until Conor Shaughnessy curled a shot narrowly wide in the 64th minute and Connor Ogilvie’s header was clawed out by Joe Wildsmith.

Derby went ahead when Waghorn’s near-post shot was handled by Regan Poole and Collins converted the spot kick but in the fifth minute of added time, Terry Devlin’s cross from the right was turned in by Bishop.

Substitute Ben Garrity scored an 84th-minute winner as Port Vale beat Northampton 1-0 in League One to extend their unbeaten run in all competitions to nine games.

Garrity had only been on the field nine minutes when he cracked a low right-footed shot from 20 yards for his third goal of the season.

Until his breakthrough, Andy Crosby’s in-form side had endured a frustrating afternoon against Jon Brady’s stubborn Cobblers.

Despite conceding the majority of possession to the home side and creating fewer shots, Town almost took the lead against the run of play.

Patrick Brough beat the offside trap and crossed for Sam Hoskins but Northampton’s usually reliable marksman fired over the crossbar from eight yards.

Vale, whose latest success moved them into the top two, started lively. Ethan Chislett had one effort turned away by Lee Burge though Kieron Bowie retaliated for Town with an effort stopped by Connor Ripley.

Boss Brady introduced three substitutes at half-time but it was Crosby’s shuffling of his own pack that paid dividends with Garrity’s matchwinner.

Corey Blackett-Taylor’s stoppage-time penalty earned Charlton a point in a 1-1 draw at Stevenage.

The home side came into the game top of Sky Bet League One, the highest position in their history, and duly took the lead in the first half through the in-form Jamie Reid.

But the hosts could not hold on for three points, as new Addicks boss Michael Appleton won his first point in charge thanks to Blackett-Taylor’s late spot-kick.

Stevenage found a deserved opener after a tight opening half an hour, as Reid fired home from a tight angle after nice interplay from Finley Burns and Nick Freeman.

Charlton improved after the break and Miles Leaburn saw a shot deflect onto the crossbar before Louie Watson flashed a strike wide on his league debut.

Reid had the chance to kill the game when he was played in one-on-one, but the striker could not convert for his and Boro’s second.

And it would come back to haunt Steve Evans’ side as Blackett-Taylor coolly converted from 12 yards at the death.

Peterborough and Leyton Orient traded first-half goals as they played out a 1-1 draw in League One.

Hector Kyprianou gave hosts Peterborough the lead in the 21st minute but Omar Beckles levelled for Orient 13 minutes later.

The point was enough to see Posh end a three-match losing run in the league.

Peterborough opened the scoring when Harrison Burrows’ deep corner was helped back across goal by Josh Knight for ex-Orient man Kyprianou to hook in from point-blank range.

It was the third goal of the campaign for the Cypriot midfielder, who failed to score in 66 league appearances for the O’s.

Orient were back on level terms in the 33rd minute when Beckles was credited with the touch as both he and Joe Pigott threw their heads at a fine cross from the right by Jordan Graham.

A smart Sol Brynn save prevented Peter Kioso from restoring the Posh advantage before the break.

Brynn again impressed when keeping out an acrobatic Ephron Mason-Clark effort just before the hour mark while substitute Ethan Galbraith blazed Orient’s best opportunity of the second period over the crossbar.

Lee Johnson’s first game in charge of Fleetwood ended in disappointment after his misfiring side slipped to a frustrating 3-0 home loss to Oxford.

The struggling Cod Army crashed to a miserable sixth successive league defeat as Johnson’s reign started in forgettable fashion.

Goals from Stanley Mills, Billy Bodin and Kyle Edwards did the damage for the visitors as they dominated at Highbury to register their fifth win in their last five League One outings.

Everton loan midfielder Mills fired the U’s ahead in the 16th minute with a sweet curling left-foot strike, before Welsh striker Bodin doubled the advantage with a fine half-volley finish which flew into the bottom left corner 11 minutes later.

And Ipswich loan recruit Edwards bagged his second goal is as many games, netting on the hour mark to put the one-sided contest out of reach.

Mills’ goal was his first for the club, while Bodin’s was his second of the season as the visitors extended their impressive start to the campaign.

Striker Jayden Stockley was unlucky not to score for the hosts, but his bullet header rattled the crossbar as Johnson’s newly-acquired side remain firmly rooted to the foot of the table.

Caleb Watts marked his debut with the only goal of the game as Exeter secured a 1-0 win over Cheltenham Town.

Exeter started well and created a plethora of first half chances but failed to convert them.

Ryan Trevitt fired straight at Luke Southwood from distance, while Reece Cole’s dipping shot from 30 yards third effort just past the far post.

Cheltenham barely threated in the first half but from Liam Sercombe’s free-kick, Rob Street skied over the bar from close range just before half-time.

It was much the same after the break with Zak Jules firing tamely at Southwood from 20 yards, although Exeter goalkeeper Vili Sinisalo made a terrific double save to deny Jovan Malcolm.

Southwood then bettered that with a double save of his own to deny Trevitt and Mitchell before Sonny Cox headed a third attempt against the bar.

Exeter’s incessant pressure eventually told in the 68th minute when Alex Hartridge’s cross found Trevitt, whose initial shot was blocked but fell kindly for substitute Watts, who slammed in from an angle.

James Scott had a goal ruled out for offside for Exeter, while Cheltenham barely threated and are still seeking their first league goal of the season.

Crisis club Reading snatched a valuable League One victory with two late goals in a 2-1 win over Bolton.

The Trotters went in front in the 20th minute when leading marksman Dion Charles slotted home his sixth goal of the season.

But Reading levelled through Charlie Savage 13 minutes from the end and secured the win courtesy of Caylon Vickers in the 86th minute.

To compound Bolton’s woes, defender Eoin Toal was sent off in the fourth minute of stoppage time for a second yellow card.

Troubled Reading had been docked three points in midweek due to Chinese owner Dai Yongge failing to comply with English Football League financial requirements.

In protest at Yongge, home fans threw tennis balls on to the pitch midway through the first half, causing a three-minute delay before referee Lee Swabey resumed the game.

Bolton, who had produced little before the stoppage, took the lead almost immediately when Charles raced on to a Kyle Dempsey pass and drove home from an acute angle.

Reading battled gamely and Femi Azeez was only denied an equaliser when his well-struck 20-yard effort cannoned off the crossbar.

The Royals dominated the second period and gained their just rewards near the end.

Savage drove home from 20 yards via a post for the equaliser and substitute Vickers tucked in at the near post to grab the winner.

Sam Vokes struck his first goal of the season as Wycombe made it five games unbeaten in League One with a 2-0 victory over Blackpool at Adams Park.

The Chairboys moved themselves up to seventh in the table, as their impressive response to opening their league campaign with a pair of 3-0 losses continued.

Wycombe took the lead in the 13th minute when Vokes met a terrific cross by Kane Vincent-Young, and although his header was brilliantly saved by Daniel Grimshaw, he was on hand to knock in the rebound.

The Chairboys were controlling proceedings and went 2-0 up in the first minute of the second half as Brandon Hanlan cushioned a volley past Grimshaw at the back post from Garath McCleary’s cross.

Blackpool pushed for a way back into the game in the closing stages and Max Stryjek was required to produce a very good save to push away Olly Casey’s flick.

Seven minutes from time, Stryjek once again denied the Seasiders as he athletically pushed away Sonny Carey’s half-volley from just outside the area.

Barnsley made it three league wins in a row with a 2-0 victory against struggling Burton courtesy of two goals from top-scorer Devante Cole.

Neill Collins’ side broke the deadlock in the 21st minute when Liam Roberts fizzed a ball into John McAtee, who knocked it behind for Cole to curl home.

Burton had to wait 42 minutes for their first chance of the game. After a defensive mix-up, Thomas Hamer had space to shoot inside the box, but Roberts dived to make the save.

Barnsley came close to doubling their lead in the 54th minute. McAtee passed to Cadden on the left, who pulled back for Herbie Kane, but his effort was blocked.

Burton had an opportunity to pull one back 10 minutes later when Beryly Lubala found Mark Helm inside the box, but his low strike was blocked well by Jamie McCart.

The Tykes grabbed their second in the 68th minute. Adam Phillips snuck a ball through to substitute Corey O’Keeffe on the right, who swept in a low ball for Cole to slot home.

Exeter manager Gary Caldwell felt his side got what they deserved as they were knocked off the top of the table in a 2-1 home defeat by Leyton Orient, whose winner came in stoppage time.

With seven players out through injury or on international duty, it was a lacklustre performance form a very young Exeter team, who went in front against the run of play through Demetri Mitchell’s spectacular strike four minutes after half-time.

But Joe Pigott levelled for the Os before Ruel Sotiriou’s long-range strike went over the hands of Exeter goalkeeper Gary Woods gave the Londoners a deserved victory.

“It was a really disappointing result and a disappointing performance overall,” Caldwell said. “We didn’t get going at any point in the match and we got what we deserved really.

“Leyton Orient deserved to win the game and we could have been a few goals down in the first half. It was a disappointing performance, but I said to the players I am not going to get overly cross with them.

“They have been fantastic and given so much, but this was a game where we dropped below the level and the standards we’ve set and we have to take that bump in the road and do something about it next week.

“We had eight players out today, but that’s not an excuse – that’s the reality and what it does is give opportunities to others.

“With the drinks break, half-time and the goal, there were plenty of opportunities for us to spark into life, but we never got going at any stage. The goal was a special moment and even after that, we still looked second best.”

Orient boss Richie Wellens felt his side were well worth the win at St James Park.

He said: “We were totally dominant in the first half. We hit the crossbar twice, we had three or four situations where we could have scored and, apart from one breakaway from Demetri Mitchell, there was no threat at all.

“We came out after half-time to build on that performance and their lad hits an absolute worldie and you are thinking maybe that’s our luck.

“But we never felt sorry for ourselves and we kept doing the basics right. That was a big thing today. Set-plays were good for and against, and even when we got it back to 1-1, I thought we were the dominant team.

“I thought Joe Pigott had his best game. He was a real handful and won his fair share of duels with the centre-halves. When you play really well, strikers want to see their names on the scoresheet, so it was a really good finish.

“Forget his goalscoring, I want a platform, something to play off especially when you are away from home. We needed to make sure we gave ourselves a platform and Joe was that.

“We could have scored a lot of goals today, so that was really pleasing.”