Salford boss Neil Wood said his side need to be “miles better” following their 1-1 draw at home to Crawley.

The hosts trailed at the break due to Luke Garbutt’s own goal, but Conor McAleny’s early second-half strike earned them a point.

Salford, who averaged the most possession in League Two last season, had only 39 percent of the ball in the first half and Wood was less than impressed.

He said: “I thought first half we weren’t good enough, we weren’t at our best.

“We were too passive and we let them play too much.

“Second half we started strong, we got a bit of a grip on the game and they died off a little bit with the high press.

“We had some good momentum in periods of the second half – an improvement but we’ve got to be miles better.

“We knew they were going to come with a high press, an all-action team. You need quality on the ball to play over it or play round it and we weren’t good enough at doing that in the first half. We were too far off them.

“The whole first half needs to be better by a million miles. Second half still wasn’t where we need to be. The standards we set ourselves we were way below that today but we’ll get better.”

Crawley manager Scott Lindsay was disappointed not to come away with a win, considering how well his team played, especially in the first half.

After battling relegation last season, Crawley have picked up four points from their opening two games, but Lindsey believes it should be six out of six.

He said: “Two points dropped in the game in my opinion. I thought we were outstanding in the first half, only one team in it and I don’t know how we didn’t score more goals. We had enough chances to win two games of football today.

“We were outstanding in the way we pressed, the way we had possession. Second half they changed as we knew they would, going from a back three to a back four, which meant we had one player less to press, but we had good solid numbers behind the ball.

“Me and the players are so disappointed to come to Salford and get a draw. I expect to come here and win with what I’ve got in that dressing room, especially the way we played. I want to drive those standards throughout the whole football club.

“We’re playing good football and we’re creating a lot of chances.”

Matt Gray admitted he felt ‘absolutely gutted’ for his Sutton side after seeing them battle for the majority of the game with 10 men only to suffer a 2-1 defeat at Barrow.

U’s striker Harry Smith was sent off for stamping on Tom White off the ball just 13 minutes in but the depleted visitors took the lead through Lee Angol’s 33rd-minute goal and looked like holding out to secure a second straight league win.

However, two goals in two minutes late on, Emile Acquah equalising in the 80th minute and Jamie Proctor netting the winner soon after, gave Barrow victory and left the Sutton boss devastated.

“I just feel absolutely gutted for everyone in the changing room,” he said. “With the work, the effort, the desire and the team spirit that we’ve got here, we haven’t got anything out of the game and we deserved to.

“We were in a good shape, well organised and we were frustrated when they were on the ball. They’re a very good side with very good players but they’re not really an overly possession-based team. So when they had their spells on the ball it wasn’t that natural for them so we were reasonably solid and comfortable.

“Overall I was very pleased but we got hit with two sucker-punches. When you concede the first you have to stick together and make sure you don’t concede a second – but I’m not concerned about the goals, I’m just gutted because we did deserve something out of the game.”

Like virtually everyone at the SO Legal Stadium, Gray missed Smith’s moment of madness that the fourth official did see. And, rather than lambasting his striker, he was focusing more on his players’ efforts that, in the end, counted for nothing.

“It’s bitterly disappointing to come here on our longest trip of the season,” he added. “All the work and the preparation we do and we find ourselves down to 10 men so early.

“It’s very frustrating to be in that position but I thought the shape and our organisation – and scoring a goal – was excellent for large spells.”

Gray could at least count on some sympathy from his opposite number, Pete Wild, whose side had looked like falling to a defeat with 10 minutes remaining.

But delightful passes from substitute Sam Foley created chances for Acquah and Proctor, both of which were capitalised upon to give the Bluebirds the points.

“I have a lot of sympathy for Matt, Sutton are a top, top League two team who are very effective at what they do,” said Wild.

“We’re really happy to beat them because we know how good they are and how well organised they are.

“They defended resolutely for the manager, I thought they were excellent in their shape and how they frustrated us. They all stuck to the task but luckily we found a way in the end.

“I’m sure when he reflects on Monday he’ll be proud of how well his team dug in.

“With the red card coming so early on we felt like we had to win the game in the next five minutes. We got a bit frantic, tried to overplay and tried to force things.

“The subs have been the difference for us today, I’m really pleased with how they finished the game and that’s what you want. I’m pleased with how they dealt with the pressure of coming on to help the team.

“Sam Foley has played two great passes for the goals. We’ve had 15 shots on goal and Ged Garner has done everything but score today and then with the toughest chance of the game it goes in from Emile.

“And then when you slide in the likes of Jamie Proctor you just know he’s going to score goals.”

Graham Coughlan felt his Newport side could easily have been leading by “five or six goals” at half-time of their 4-0 win against Doncaster.

County raced out of the blocks and effectively put the game to bed inside 21 minutes with three unanswered goals.

Seb Palmer-Houlden got the opener in the sixth minute when he outmuscled Joseph Olowu and fired past goalkeeper Ian Lawlor.

Will Evans doubled the Exiles’ advantage in the 14th minute when he slotted in the rebound after Lawlor had denied right-back Shane Mcloughlin.

The third arrived seven minutes later when Doncaster failed to clear a corner and, in the resulting scramble, an attempted clearance cannoned off Rovers captain Richard Wood and inside Lawlor’s post.

Coughlan’s men could have had more before the break, but Evans made certain of the three points with his second and Newport’s fourth just four minutes into the second half.

It capped an impressive week for the Exiles, who lost 3-0 at Accrington on the opening day but beat League One Charlton in the Carabao Cup in midweek.

“It was pleasing, a really good all-round performance,” said Coughlan. “The game fizzled out in the second half after the fourth goal, but we could have scored five or six goals in the first half.

“Let’s put it in our back pocket and build on it. That is what we are about, and if we come off it and don’t play with those intense levels we tend to struggle.

“What was really pleasing was that there was a lot of combination play in midfield and the first goal came from us defending a corner. Nick Townsend caught it and we broke out like the Red Arrows.

“To see work transfer from the training ground to the pitch was really pleasing; it was a good, solid home performance.”

It was a second league defeat of the new season for Doncaster, who have now won just one of their last 13 matches in League Two, losing 10.

Grant McCann, who returned to the Rovers hotseat in May, admitted his side were outplayed.

“It’s a very disappointing performance,” he said. “It was a catalogue of errors and we just weren’t good enough. They were better than us.

“The first two goals were mistakes and the third was a comedy of errors – a sliced clearance hitting Richard Wood’s calf and ending up in the back of our net. It was an uphill task from there.

“Everything that could go wrong, went wrong. And that’s including the travel (on Friday) when the bus broke down!

“Everything went against us, but I’m not one for making excuses – that was totally unacceptable from us.”

Nigel Clough urged Mansfield to be more ruthless following Saturday’s 3-0 League Two win over Morecambe.

A Lucas Akins brace and a Davis Keillor-Dunn goal wrapped up a win in a game Mansfield controlled throughout.

“It was pleasing to win our first home game and keep a clean sheet,” he said. “I wasn’t happy that it was only 1-0 at half-time.

“We created lots of chances and it took us too long to take the lead. We can’t afford to be so wasteful.”

Things may have been different for Morecambe had Tom Bloxham done better with a good chance after seven minutes.

Akins gave Stags the lead in first-half stoppage-time after getting on the end of a Keillor-Dunn flick-on.

Mansfield doubled their lead just after the hour when Keillor-Dunn slotted home after going through on goal and Akins added another from the penalty spot with three minutes remaining after Rhys Oates was hacked down.

Clough added: “Its nice that we created so many chances and had intent, that’s why the strikers have got to get us goals in that period.

“To get most of the players in so early in pre-season was important and you see the players gelling.

“It was a good time to score, as much as it gave us a lift it also flattened the opposition.

“It was a perfect result to start our home league campaign. It is nice to have kept another clean sheet. We played well and kept the ball well and have played to a high standard in the last two weeks – we just needed to score sooner.”

Morecambe boss Derek Adams thought his side deserved to be beaten.

“We have faced a very good side in Mansfield,” he said. “They are vastly experienced and have been going a few years to try and get themselves out of this league and you can tell that in their play.

“I thought we dealt with the threat of Akins and Oates to start with. They had a bit of the ball and we couldn’t get the ball to our front two, it was difficult.

“In the end they deserved to win, there is no doubt about it – because of the quality they have.

“The two up front came up against two experienced defenders and we didn’t get the ball to them enough.

“We gave a goal away right on half-time after giving a foul away, we gave away a penalty and we conceded the ball for their second. All in all they didn’t have loads of chances, neither did we but they deserved to win.

“Going in 0-0 would have been perfect for us. It set us back.”

Neil Harris urged Gillingham to sharpen up in the final third despite a 1-0 win against Accrington.

Summer signing Ashley Nadesan scored his first league goal for the Gills, who have won their first three games of the new campaign – including Tuesday’s shock Carabao Cup win against Southampton.

However, they started slowly at Priestfield before Nadesan’s calm finish from Tom Nichols’ pass and failed to convert a number of second-half chances.

“It was the test we expected. Accrington ask a lot of questions of you physically, and I changed our team accordingly,” Harris said.

“I warned the group beforehand about a Lord Mayor’s Show after (the Southampton game on) Tuesday night, but clearly nobody listened.

“We were so slow out of the blocks and so reactive – it took me raising my voice on the sidelines for us to get going.

“After that we were excellent. There was only going to be one team winning the game. I’m happy with a lot of elements of our performance, but I need to see more quality in the final third.

“We have to be more clinical and ruthless. The lads have got to realise that. We cannot accept just winning 1-0. We’ll take the three points, but we should score three or four more goals.

“It’s been a great week, but that’s now gone. There’s more to come. It’s all about Sutton on Tuesday now.”

Accrington boss John Coleman agreed that Gillingham deserved to win by a greater margin.

Stanley won just four away games on their way to relegation last year and Coleman is desperate to find a cure to their troubles on the road, but admits they have plenty to learn first.

“I’m very disappointed with the way we played,” he said.

“I know it’s easy to say that, it’s easy to apologise to the fans and all those things, but they deserve better than that. We are better than that but we got exactly what we deserved.

“Today was a classic League Two game, against a team trying to turn you at every opportunity. We are normally very good at dealing with that. To lose the game to a very direct goal is a learning curve for us.

“Their goalkeeper hasn’t made a save, so as much as we’ve got to deal with the long balls better today, we also needed to attack better. I see us in training and we’re far better than that. We need to translate that onto the pitch.

“It can’t just be that we can only win at home. We had our troubles on the road last year. We’ve got to get back to being tough to beat, regardless of where we play.”

Wrexham boss Phil Parkinson was left to rue two penalty decisions after his side were denied a first win back in the English Football League as they had to settle for a 1-1 draw at AFC Wimbledon.

After Elliot Lee’s deflected opener in the first half, James Tilley’s late spot-kick earned a point for the Dons – with Ali Al-Hamadi having earlier seen his penalty saved by Ben Foster.

Parkinson was furious at the decision to see Eoghan O’Connell’s “nudge” on Harry Pell deemed a foul.

“I’ve just looked at the two penalty incidents and, oh my goodness me,” Parkinson said.

“The first one, in relation to what’s gone in the penalty box and on the pitch all game, to pick that moment out is strange.

“The second one is unbelievable – if there is a nudge, the lad has just fallen to the floor. The referee, at his standard, has to identify that. I am very disappointed with that performance.

“It’s a very difficult place to come, they are very direct, put the ball forward very quickly. We dealt with it in the main well.

“Probably towards the end of the game we should have won it, but we take the first point of the season and get back on the road for Tuesday night (at home to Walsall).

Lee had opened the scoring on 22 minutes when he deflected home Jacob Mendy’s low cross, but Wimbledon were the better side in the second half and eventually the pressure told.

Wrexham could still have taken all three points late on, but substitute Sam Dalby fired over.

Wimbledon manager Johnnie Jackson felt a draw was a fair result.

“I thought we came back into the game really well. I thought we were unlucky to be behind at half-time,” he said.

“We didn’t feel we deserved to be one down at half-time, but the lads responded and had a real urgency, a front-foot performance that got us back into the game.

“I would say a draw is a fair result, but we want to win and we feel we are capable of beating these teams.”

Notts County twice came from behind twice to record a first victory of the new Sky Bet League Two campaign with a 3-2 win over Grimsby Town at Meadow Lane.

The visitors took the lead in the 17th minute when Danny Rose took advantage of Aaron Nemane’s poor back pass.

But Luke Williams’ side – beaten 5-1 at Sutton last weekend – hauled themselves level as John Bostock was able to chest down inside the area before volleying the ball beyond Mariners keeper Jake Eastwood.

In first-half stoppage time, Bostock almost doubled his tally – only for Harry Clifton to beat the offside trap and restore Grimsby’s lead ahead of the break.

Five minutes into the second half, Jodi Jones’ deflected cross looped over Eastwood to put County level for the second time of the afternoon.

The comeback was complete just after the hour-mark, with Jones this time turning provider to pick out Dan Crowley at the back post to head home.

Grimsby’ almost drew level late on, but substitute Rekeil Pyke was unable to guide his header beyond County keeper Aidan Stone.

A late penalty from James Tilley secured AFC Wimbledon a hard-fought 1-1 draw with Wrexham in their Sky Bet League Two match at Plough Lane.

Elliot Lee’s deflected strike had put the Welsh side ahead in the first half.

Dons striker Ali Al-Hamadi saw his spot-kick saved just after the hour, but Tilley made no mistake with a second penalty with just nine minutes left to leave both sides still awaiting a first league win of the new season.

After a frantic start, Lee turned Jacob Mendy’s low cross past Dons goalkeeper Alex Bass for the opening goal in the 22nd minute.

Wimbledon enjoyed the better of the second half, with Omar Bugiel, Josh Neufville and Tilley all going close.

The pressure eventually told when the hosts were awarded a penalty for a push by Will Boyle on Bugiel – but Al-Hamadi’s effort was saved low to his right by Ben Foster.

The Wrexham keeper denied Al-Hamadi again a few minutes later before Lee just failed to connect with another Mendy cross.

With 10 minutes left, Wimbledon were again awarded a penalty for a foul by Eoghan O’Connell on Harry Pell, and this time Tilley stepped up to convert.

Wrexham substitute Sam Dalby could have won it, but fired over.

Conor McAleny’s second-half strike earned Salford a 1-1 draw at home to Crawley.

McAleny’s effort cancelled out Luke Garbutt’s own goal just before the break, but Crawley were unfortunate not to come away with the win after hitting the woodwork four times.

Both teams had early chances, Crawley’s Liam Kelly firing a speculative effort against the crossbar and Salford’s Stevie Mallan twice working Corey Addai.

The best chance of the first half fell to Crawley’s Danilo Orsi, who struck a post with his first effort and then, with the goal gaping, somehow managed to hit the bar with the rebound.

The visitors took a deserved lead after 40 minutes when Dion Corey met Will Wright’s free-kick before the ball deflected in off Garbutt for an own goal.

Wright and Jay Williams both came close to doubling the lead.

But McAleny equalised in the first minute of the second half, turning in Mallan’s cross at the back post.

Adam Campbell was denied by a post for Crawley, while at the other end Ryan Watson fired just over as both teams pushed for a winner, but they had to settle for a point apiece.

Mo Eisa’s first-half header helped MK Dons to a 1-0 League Two victory over a battling Tranmere at Stadium MK.

The striker made it two goals in two league games as the home side moved top of League Two on goal difference.

Tranmere’s second league defeat of the season sees them drop to 23rd after losing 2-1 to Barrow last time out.

MK Dons, unchanged from last week’s 5-3 victory at Wrexham, made a dream start after just eight minutes as Eisa’s glancing header beat Tranmere goalkeeper Luke McGee.

The 29-year-old took full advantage of captain Alex Gilbey’s curling free-kick as the midfielder made his 100th Dons start.

Tranmere made a triple change at half-time and had a golden chance to equalise just after the hour mark but Connor Jennings directed a free header from inside the box wide of the post.

The visitors continued to press as Luke Norris’ close-range effort hit the crossbar after 76 minutes.

Minutes later, Norris was denied again by Dons goalkeeper Craig MacGillivray but the home side held on for a narrow victory.

Bradford came from behind to beat Colchester 2-1 at Valley Parade and register their first win of the season.

Colchester, playing their opening league game, went in front after nine minutes following a defensive nightmare for Bradford.

Keeper Harry Lewis was caught dawdling on the ball by Joe Taylor and his hurried pass was intercepted by Mauro Bandeira in the box. It came loose in the scramble that followed, allowing Taylor to tap home.

Andy Cook had several chances as the home side tried to hit back but he was unable to make any of them count.

Owen Goodman superbly saved from Matty Platt’s close-range header before Bradford equalised just before half-time.

Goodman parried substitute Tyler Smith’s shot but Clarke Oduor was on hand to convert the rebound.

Oduor almost had another at the start of the second half as he hit the bar with a half-volley.

Bradford would not be denied though and got their second goal after 58 minutes when Alex Pattison burst through and fired beyond Goodman.

Lewis then made up for his earlier blunder with a diving save to deny Junior Tchamadeu and ensure the points would remain with Bradford.

Lucas Akins scored a brace as Mansfield recorded their first league win of the season with a comfortable 3-0 League Two win at home to Morecambe to remain unbeaten.

Akins netted at the end of each half, either side of Davis Keillor-Dunn’s goal, as the hosts wrapped up victory in a game they controlled throughout.

Things may have been different for Morecambe had Tom Bloxham done better with a great chance after seven minutes.

Akins headed a Callum Johnson cross wide with the goal gaping, before Rhys Oates went close from distance.

Stuart Moore saved a powerful Oates shot midway through the half, before denying Akins minutes later.

But there was no stopping the Stags striker when he headed home in first-half stoppage-time following a Stephen Quinn free-kick.

Mansfield doubled their lead just after the hour when Keillor-Dunn slotted the ball home after going through on goal.

Moore got down well to save from Oates after a Mansfield counter-attack, before Oates shot over in the closing stages.

Akins added another from the penalty spot with three minutes to go after Oates was hacked down.

Walsall held off late Stockport pressure to leave last season’s beaten play-off finalists without a point after two games with a 2-1 win.

Goals in each half from Danny Johnson and Aramide Oteh earned the Saddlers a first victory of the season, despite Ryan Rydel’s stoppage-time header.

County dominated throughout, with Louie Barry’s cool early finish disallowed for offside and Owen Evans saving from Paddy Madden and Ibou Touray.

Referee Jacob Miles waved County penalty shouts away when Nick Powell went down under Evans’ challenge when clean through.

But Walsall went ahead against the run of play after 24 minutes as debutant Freddie Draper robbed Ethan Pye and crossed for Johnson to slot home from 12 yards.

County almost equalised either side of the break as Barry whistled a 20-yard effort inches over and Will Collar side-footed Madden’s reverse pass wide.

Donervon Daniels’ goal-saving block denied Collar and Powell curled inches wide, but Walsall added a second after 79 minutes as Oteh fired home low from Oisin McEntee’s pull-back.

Ryan Rydel’s bullet header from Madden’s cross seven minutes into 12 added on gave Stockport late hope, but Walsall survived.

Rio Adebisi scored a late equaliser as Crewe came from two goals down to earn a point in a 2-2 draw at Swindon.

Crewe goalkeeper Harvey Davies was at full stretch early on after Saidou Khan connected well with a volley from the edge of the area after a corner was half cleared.

Udoka Godwin-Malife opened his account for Swindon after 21 minutes when he managed to contort his body to flick home a diving header after Benn Ward had headed back into the middle.

Jake Young took just two minutes to make his mark after coming on for his home debut at half-time as he cut inside and thundered the ball beyond Davies at his near post.

Crewe pulled a goal back after 61 minutes when Michael Williams’ rasping drive flew into the bottom corner from 25 yards.

And the visitors completed the fightback in the 85th minute as Ryan Cooney’s deep cross found an unmarked Adebisi at the back post and he headed beyond Murphy Mahoney.

Forest Green enjoyed their first away league win since the opening day of last season as a second-half Matty Stevens goal secured a 1-0 triumph at Harrogate.

Stevens, who netted 27 times as Rovers won promotion in 2021/22 but only managed one goal last term, was credited with the final touch on a goal-bound effort by strike partner Tyrese Omotoye.

His 46th-minute header also sealed only a second win of any kind in 29 contests for the Gloucestershire outfit, following their relegation in spring.

Earlier, Omotoye had been denied by home goalkeeper Mark Oxley after an intelligent through ball by Charlie McCann.

At the other end, meanwhile, Sam Folarin’s firm drive was kept out at the near post by Luke Daniels.

But the visitors forged ahead 55 seconds after the break when Omotoye raced on to McCann’s ball through the right channel and – after cutting it on to his left foot – sent a shot goalwards that a stretching Stevens got a slight touch to from point-blank range.

Daniels later safeguarded the points with a brilliant reflex save to deny Matty Daly from six yards.