Charlie Jolley and Tom Davies fired improving Tranmere to a third straight win with a 2-0 triumph at Harrogate.

The pair both struck in the second half as the Wirral outfit also ended a run of 21 contests on the road without a clean sheet – the club’s longest sequence since December 2002.

Earlier, during a first half of one-way traffic, Harrogate had been unfortunate not to take a lead into the interval.

The best two chances saw Josh March’s outstretched leg guide Matty Foulds’ inviting left-wing cross narrowly wide and Matty Daly call Rovers keeper Luke McGee into a smart near-post save.

Tranmere, meanwhile, failed to register a single shot in the opening 45 minutes.

But Rovers boss Nigel Adkins made a double substitution at the break and the momentum of the game completely shifted.

In the 54th minute, one of those half-time replacements – Jolley – opened the scoring when he charged into the box to collect Connor Jennings’ pass and fired past an exposed James Belshaw from 10 yards after home attacker Abraham Odoh had surrendered possession cheaply.

Skipper Davies then doubled the advantage in the 70th minute, rising highest in the home six-yard box to meet Regan Hendry’s right-wing corner with a firm downward header.

Joe Tomlinson’s early goal set MK Dons on their way to a fourth straight victory in League Two as they defeated Crawley 2-0 at Stadium MK.

Crawley, who had Laurence Maguire sent off late on after Alex Gilbey’s clincher, will rue spurning a string of big chances during the game.

MK Dons were ahead after just two minutes when Max Dean produced a superb pass to put Tomlinson through and he finished confidently past Corey Addai.

Ronan Darcy had a great chance to equalise after being played in by Danilo Orsi, but his scuffed effort was kept out by Craig MacGillivray.

The MK Dons goalkeeper then had to make another important save to deny Kellan Gordon and he had to be at his best again in the second half to beat away Adam Campbell’s effort.

Having ridden their luck, MK Dons sealed the win with eight minutes remaining when Gilbey’s low shot went in off the post, with Maguire – the brother of Manchester United’s Harry – then sent off for a second booking three minutes later.

Harrogate boss Simon Weaver praised his team’s character and ability as they leapt into the top half of League Two following a 2-1 home win over Accrington.

For the first time since August 2021, Harrogate secured maximum points after conceding the opening goal at their Wetherby Road ground with George Thomson’s stoppage-time effort sealing victory after he had set up Jack Muldoon’s equaliser to cancel out Jack Nolan’s second-half opener for the visitors.

The victory ended a run of four straight defeats against Stanley for the Sulphurites, dating back to the clubs’ Unibond League days in 2002/03, with a delighted Weaver hailing a “perfect Christmas” following a third league win on the bounce.

He said: “We always knew it would be a testing game. Accrington have a great squad of players, with a talented youthful look about them and a smattering of good experience so, to turn things around from 1-0 down, makes it a perfect Christmas.

“We showed character and ability to keep level-headed when we were losing the game and we fought back well. I thought we played terrifically well in the first half without scoring.

“They then picked their game up in the second half and it was disappointing to go behind, but we worked so hard to turn the result back in our favour.

“It was a great moment to see Thommo get the winner, too, after it had just been announced that he was the man of the match.”

Weaver added further praise for goalkeeper James Belshaw, who has featured in all three victories since returning to the club on an emergency loan deal from Bristol Rovers.

“They had an opportunity at the end from a (Brad Hills) free header and I thought it was in, but he made a fantastic save,” he said.

Accrington boss John Coleman reasoned that his players paid the price for uncharacteristically going to “sleep” at two set-pieces, but argued his team’s overall performance merited greater reward.

He said: “It’s frustrating to lose to a late goal, but we’ve got to be positive about how we played. We absolutely dominated the second half and deservedly went 1-0 up.

“I couldn’t see them scoring at that point with the way we were pinning them back. But a cheap free-kick was given and we have defended set-plays really well this season, so I was very disappointed to concede one the way we did.

“We then had a great chance in injury time but their keeper has made a great save, so it could have been us leaving the pitch with a win.

“Instead, we conceded a free-kick, which was definitely a foul, and went to sleep again with nobody picking up their man at the back post.

“Two free-kicks have ended up hurting us, but I don’t think even the most-biased Harrogate fan would say they deserved to win the game on the balance of play.”

Jason Goodliffe said it was “very pleasing” to come away from his old stamping ground with three points after Sutton lifted themselves off the bottom of Sky Bet League Two with a 1-0 win over AFC Wimbledon.

It was a 63rd-minute Omar Sowunmi header that handed the visitors three points a week on from Goodliffe being handed the reins at Gander Green Lane on an interim basis.

A former Wimbledon player during his playing days, Goodliffe’s team gave the strong travelling support renewed hope as they head towards fixtures with Gillingham and Newport.

“Coming to this place is a special place for me, but to come here and perform the way that we did, and get the result, is very pleasing,” Goodliffe said.

“To a man, they worked their socks off today. They worked for the shirt and that’s all you can ask for.

“There were some really pleasing performances. But it’s one game, we won’t get too carried away. Hopefully we can back that up.

“We started on the front foot. We managed to nullify their threat very well. We had a couple of really good chances first half and you wonder if it’s not going to be your day because the season has been us missing opportunities to take a hold of the game.

“To get the goal was massive and I thought we managed to hold onto the lead very well and played it out well.

“I was pleased with a lot of the performances.”

Wimbledon boss Johnnie Jackson, who was watching from the stand due to suspension, hopes his team can right their wrongs when they face Colchester on Friday.

“It’s as poor as we’ve been for quite a while,” he said. “I didn’t see that coming, we fell below the standards we’ve set ourselves recently.

“It’s just one of those, the disappointment is we didn’t do enough of the things which have brought us success.

“We didn’t ask them enough questions. It was probably everything, we just fell below the levels we’ve hit recently.

“I was at the top in the stand. We had communication. It was frustrating. You probably get a better view of the game up there, but you feel detached from it.

“It was strange now being down below, but I don’t think it had any bearing on us or the performance.

“I don’t think anyone particularly excelled and they have of late.

“We’ve had a punch on the nose today and have the chance to put it right in a few days’ time.”

Walsall boss Mat Sadler said his number crunchers had provided the inspiration for the Saddlers to end a decade of despair against bogey side Crewe by beating the Railwaymen 2-0.

Headers from Freddie Draper and Oisin McEntee gave Walsall only a second win in their past 20 meetings with the Alex – and a first victory in 11, a rotten run dating back to 2013.

“I was told about that by my analyst yesterday and I made sure my players knew it,” Sadler said.

“That went into my motivation for today – we want to right a few wrongs through the season which I think we’ve done on quite a few occasions so far.

“I thought we were brilliant and I thought we could have won by more, considerably more.

“We controlled the game – the back three or back five were very, very strong and the front two were absolute pests, a real handful.”

Teenage striker Draper, on loan from Lincoln, moved into double figures for the campaign and Sadler admits he hopes the Imps do not trigger a recall clause in the season-long deal come January.

“We have a really good relationship with Lincoln and we’ll keep talking. Obviously, Freddie has done great so let’s see how things materialise over the next few weeks,” he added.

“Did I know he was going to score this many? You never know. But did I know there was a player in there that would do really well at the level? Yes.”

Crewe stayed sixth but have gone five games without a win and boss Lee Bell was unhappy after both Walsall goals came from corners.

The Alex also needed goalkeeper Tom Booth and the crossbar to deny Isaac Hutchinson a brace while their only real threat saw Ryan Cooney’s sweet volley saved by Jackson Smith.

“It’s two really poor set-plays that have ultimately cost us the game today and we’ve got to address that quickly,” Bell said.

“We’ve got illnesses and we’ve got players on the pitch who probably shouldn’t be on the pitch, they should have had a couple more days’ rest but that’s how dedicated they are.

“But it was soft goals, really soft goals and I’m asking players to take a bit more responsibility with set plays, move people around and try to help with the danger.

“We’ve got some tough games coming up so we hope we can get some bodies back to freshen things up because people do need a rest, but we’ve also got to look at what’s killing us at the minute.

“We should have more points on the board – obviously we are going through a sticky patch but teams go through these types of situations and it’s up to us to respond to it.”

Phil Parkinson admitted his 10-man Wrexham side had to dig deep to get the three points with a 1-0 win over Swindon.

James McClean’s early goal gave the visitors their first win at the County Ground since 1985.

Parkinson said: “I am so pleased with the win. We should have been out of sight as we had some really good chances to extend the lead and their ‘keeper made some good saves.

“The sending-off made it edgier than it needed to be.

“We had to show so many different qualities over the 90 minutes to get the three points and it is a really important win for us.

“When the fixtures came out everyone took a second look at it, I don’t think the EFL have done us any favours with Swindon away on Boxing Day.

“We had a lot of disruption this week and we had to rejig the team and the lads have responded in really good fashion with an important win.”

McClean gave Wrexham an early lead as he capitalised on a loose ball on the edge of the box, got away from a defender and turned beyond Lewis Ward.

Ward had to be at his very best to keep the game in the balance after 59 minutes as Anthony Forde picked out Sam Dalby with a cross, his bullet header looked destined for the bottom corner before the goalkeeper got down to push the ball to safety.

James Jones got his marching after 75 minutes for a pair of yellow cards, the second coming after he brought down Tyrese Shade as he looked to burst into the area on the left.

Jake Young and Saidou Khan both had glorious chances to find a leveller for Swindon as they forced Wrexham back, but neither could find the target with their finishes from inside the penalty area.

Michael Flynn said that he felt his Swindon side had been much the better team after the break and were worthy of getting something from the game.

He said: “It was a poor goal for us to give away after I felt that we had started the game brightly and then we went a little bit flat after that.

“But in the second half I think we had a right go and they stuck together and with better finishing we would have won the game.

“I would say the red card helped later on in the game but we were already on top at that point.

“They had a bit of a period in the second half when Lewis Ward had to make a good save, but as long as it was 1-0 we were still in the game.

“With that little bit of quality in the final third we would have got the points.”

Barrow boss Pete Wild bemoaned a controversial decision which he felt cost his side two points in their clash with leaders Stockport.

The Hatters had fought back from two goals down to level at 2-2 when George Ray thought he had scored a late winner for the Bluebirds, only for referee Martin Coy and his officials to spot a foul in the build-up.

Wild was fuming, and said: “Barring a ludicrous refereeing decision, we would have won the game.

“As George is kicking the ball in the net, the fourth (official) is shouting, ‘man down’. But two minutes later Elliot Newby is on the floor and he lets it run for another 45 seconds, so where is the consistency?

“Their manager had a pop at him (the referee) at half-time and he came out for the second half and was a different character.”

Barrow, playing in front a record crowd at Holker Street, stunned Stockport as Ben Whitfield and Kian Spence scored inside the opening 24 minutes.

But inspired by a plethora of substitutions, County stormed back through Nick Powell and one-time Barrow player Akil Wright either side of the break.

Wild added: “We were outstanding for the first 45 minutes. Stockport have all the resources in the world; just look at the four players they rolled on.

“But we went toe-to-toe with them. We both had spells, so a draw was probably a fair result.

“They were all over us for the first 20 minutes of the second half. But we finished the stronger and I thought we were the ones to go on and win the game.”

Stockport boss Dave Challinor made his first changes three minutes before the interval, and he said: “It wasn’t easy because you don’t like taking people off in a game before half-time.

“People might see that as a slight on them or embarrassment. It makes no difference to me as ultimately it’s about getting something out of the game.

“If there hadn’t been rules about how many opportunities you get to make changes, I would have made all four at the same time.

“The choice was wait until half-time and potentially waste 15 minutes, or do you make the decision then?

“One thing is for certain both Barrow’s goals were offside.

“If I had been offered a point after half-an-hour being 2-0 down I would have taken it.

“But as the game panned out, I’m disappointed we didn’t go on to win it.”

MK Dons boss Mike Williamson was impressed with his side’s first-half performance during the 1-0 win over struggling Colchester.

On a day when Dons captain Dean Lewington made his 771st appearance to set a new record for the most English Football League games in history for one club, substitute Ellis Harrison fired the home side to a last-gasp victory at Stadium MK.

Despite 88 minutes of missed chances, Williamson believed his team dominated.

“I think at half-time; we said it was probably one of the best performances we’d seen in 45 minutes since we’ve been here,” he said.

“The control we had, the football we played and I think we dominated every metric except the scoreboard.

“It was imperative for us to just stay focused and keep that concentration and we believed it would come.

“We got our reward and I’m really pleased. The endeavour and spirit you can see out on the pitch was fantastic.”

Williamson hailed the energetic spirit of his team as former Colchester player Alex Gilbey also went close early on.

“All credit to the boys really,” he said.

“We try to help and support the way we can and try to get them to understand the way we want to play football, but they’ve got to get out there and produce.

“I think a lot of our wins has been down to the character and the boys’ never-say-die attitude.

“The energy they keep producing week after week and obviously after such a quick turnaround, the festive period can be difficult, but I thought the mentality was spot on.”

Colchester head coach Matthew Etherington saw sparks of life in his side, despite the late loss.

The visitors saw moments of energy in the second half, with an effort from Joe Taylor and Tom Hopper hitting the bar late on.

“I’m just gutted to concede late on,” Etherington said.

“It’s a good ball but there’s plenty of details to that goal that we need to be better at.

“I thought with the height we had on the pitch, we defended set-plays pretty well throughout the game. But that one moment and it’s in the back of the net.

“We did have some moments where we played some really good stuff down the side. Nothing came of it but there are moments there. I just want it to be more consistent.”

Graham Alexander was pleased with Bradford’s character as they fought back to salvage a 2-2 draw with Morecambe.

The Bantams, who had won their previous six games in all competitions, trailed 2-0 at half-time at Valley Parade.

But Clarke Oduor and Brad Halliday scored in the second half to rescue a point.

Boss Alexander said: “Over the course of a season you’re going to be challenged in many different ways and face many different hurdles.

“But you’ve got to have the belief in each other and as a team that there is the ability and quality to do whatever it takes to win a game of football.

“We showed that in the second half. There were some really professional performances and we didn’t give them anything.

“We had three or four really good chances – we took two of them and missed a couple we’d probably score on another day.

“We knew we weren’t going to win every week between now and the end of the season.

“It’s about taking whatever we can when it’s there on offer. I was okay with a point.”

Morecambe had gone ahead after three minutes when Adam Mayor’s free-kick was not cleared by the home defence allowing James Connolly to score.

JJ McKiernan increased their lead and former Bradford midfielder Yann Songo’o headed against the crossbar.

Bradford’s comeback began when substitute Oduor finished off Brad Halliday’s cross. Halliday then levelled before Andy Cook was denied a third by the woodwork.

“It was a brilliant finish from Brad,” added Alexander. “Ciaran Kelly put in a great ball and he’s really committed to getting into goalscoring positions and took it well.

“We can’t just rely on Andy Cook to score and we haven’t done that today.”

Morecambe manager Ged Brannan hid his disappointment to praise his side’s defensive efforts.

Brannan said: “It was a great game to watch from the sidelines. I really enjoyed it.

“We dominated the first half and could have gone in four or five up. I was absolutely delighted.

“I love the way we’re improving all the time and I’d say that was our best performance since I’ve been at the club.

“But we knew second half they were going to come back at us and we needed to defend.

“We conceded at a bad time in the game and then the crowd helped them get back in.

“Our lads were brilliant second half and dug in really well. We haven’t had that before with that many crosses coming in.

“You could see our lads tiring because they had worked ever so hard first half.

“You come away with a 2-2 draw at Bradford on Boxing Day and you’ll take that. But obviously we’re a bit disappointed from 2-0 up.”

New Forest Green manager Troy Deeney was in no doubt that the red card shown to Callum Jones six minutes after half-time was the key moment as his side let a 2-0 lead slip to lose 4-2 at Newport.

A second-minute own goal from County captain Ryan Delaney – diverting in Kyle McAllister’s free-kick – and a Matty Stevens strike put Rovers in charge at the break.

But Jones’ second yellow, for chopping down Lewis Payne, allowed the hosts back into the contest and they took full advantage with three goals in nine minutes.

Will Evans scored a quickfire double to level before Payne volleyed in a superb third to complete the turnaround after 69 minutes.

Delaney then scored at the right end five minutes from time to make sure of the victory for the Welsh side.

“We’ve got to be a bit more street-smart,” said Deeney.

“Callum’s one he gets sent off for is our first one for a tackle – the rest are for kicking the ball away and being mouthy.

“I don’t want this to sound like a negative. I’d defy anyone to tell me a game where we’ve played better for 55 minutes.

“Then we let ourselves down and we’re the ones who made the problems, so we need to fix it.

“When we get 2-0 up we panic. Callum was running with him and we’re shouting to him ‘don’t slide in’ but he did, and you know he’s off.

“We were flustered after that. At 2-2 you think ‘right, let’s take a point’ and the guy shanks it into the top corner.

“It showed me a lot about the character of the players – the ones you can rely on and the ones that go hiding.”

County boss Graham Coughlan felt his switch from 3-5-2 to match the visitors’ 4-3-3 just before half-time was more important than the sending-off.

“We were in the ascendency before the red card so I’m not 100 per cent sure that was the gamechanger,” said the Irishman.

“I think the turnaround was when we changed shape and got to grips with them.

“They were brave, they played three front men and they bullied us for the first half an hour.

“It caught us by surprise how direct they were. We didn’t deal with it. But we changed shape, and the game was probably won and lost in that moment.

“The crowd let us hear what they thought at half-time, which I thought was fair. But they got behind us in the second half and pushed us on.

“We’ll take the positives, we’ll take the three points and the character and resilience we showed what excellent.”

Nigel Adkins claimed his Tranmere side were together and enjoying themselves after recording a 5-1 League Two victory away to 10-man Salford.

Harvey Saunders, Kieron Morris, Connor Jennings, Regan Hartley and Josh Hawkes were on target as Tranmere recorded their first away win of the season.

Matthew Lund scored Salford’s only goal which had little impact in the context of an otherwise one-sided performance, while the hosts lost Conor McAleny to a 72nd-minute red card.

Tranmere have lost one of their last eight in the league after losing four in a row prior to their current purple patch.

A delighted Adkins said: “When the team is together, everyone achieves more. Everyone is understanding their roles and responsibilities, stepping up, talking and organising each other.

“We enjoy being resilient, we enjoy grafting and working hard and we enjoy being physical. The lads were good with that and yes, we’ve got an away win. It’s been a long time coming and the fans were great.

“I thought we were outstanding, first half in particular. Our defensive shape, our resolve, our organisation to be aggressive while we go and press was great.”

“Harvey Saunders was a massive threat all the way through. I can’t speak highly enough of Connor Jennings.

“The way we pressed as a team in a compact shape, to press aggressively was great. Salford want to pass it and we nullified that in a big way. We were such a threat.

“We scored five but we could have scored seven or eight.”

The result leaves Salford winless in their last eight league games.

After defeat, under-fire Ammies head coach Neil Wood did not speak to the media – leaving such responsibilities to goalkeeper Alex Cairns.

Cairns said: “We need to stick together now more than ever. It wasn’t good enough all over the pitch, we need to bounce back with a much better performance than that and people need to stick their chest out and start putting performances in.

“We’ve always been in games, but today we were down and out and that’s the first time I’ve seen that from this group.

“The leaders within that dressing room need to keep this group together and that’s the fundamentals of football.

“We have to expect better and demand better.

“We’ve been very unfortunate with injuries – and that’s not an excuse it’s just a fact. The results haven’t been there.”

Wood could well be on the brink of losing his job, but Cairns insisted that his attitude to turn things around would remain the same, no matter who was in charge.

He added: “I could have a horrible relationship with any manager, but I don’t care who is in charge.

“I just want to be better and none of us were good enough but there’s a good group of lads in there.”

Notts County boss Luke Williams admitted he felt like he was manager of the Magpies once again following their comfortable 3-0 League Two win over Doncaster.

County had suffered three-consecutive defeats for the first time in the 43-year-old’s tenure, however he explained the heights he was demanding from his side, following their promotion from the National League in May.

“Last week I felt like Notts County manager again,” Williams said. “No one has anything to apologise for – this is in incredible group that have made the step up and we’re asking them to be a top side and challenge for automatic promotion.

“We have not shied away from that demand, but now they have put two performances back-to-back that represent the group, how they want to be and how they appear in front of the fans – and I am proud of them for that.”

Goals from Dan Crowley, Macaulay Langstaff and Aaron Nemane saw County move up to fifth with the victory as forward David McGoldrick shone at the ripe age 36.

Williams added: “He was brilliant. It’s nice to see these guys combining and it was a really quick action.

“David (McGoldrick) takes the ball so smoothly and doesn’t lose the momentum and he did cross it, otherwise he will have a pop at me if I say it was a shot.

“He handed the baton over to him and the young guy will be looking to follow in his footsteps.

“Didzy was magnificent and we was brilliant to watch – he had the action before like he was in the playground and we all love to see that he still has that enjoyment for football.”

Doncaster boss Grant McCann was happy with his side’s first-half display, but insisted that Joe Ironside’s missed penalty in the opening period was the turning point in the contest, which saw Rovers drop closer to the relegation zone.

“I thought we started the game really bright,” said McCann. “It is just something that is creeping into our game at the moment. I have told them to shoot low and we carry on shooting over.

“It’s a different game if we go 1-0 up and we just get undone by crosses in our box and it has been a problem for us and we need to work on it – we need to defend better.

“You are hoping it doesn’t affect you, but it looked like it did.

“The penalty miss felt like it was a turning point in the game.

“We knew they were going to keep the ball, they are a good footballing side, but I thought we set the traps well on them for the first 25 minutes.”

Sutton moved off the foot of Sky Bet League Two with a 1-0 win at local rivals AFC Wimbledon – their first away league victory for 10 months.

Jason Goodliffe enjoyed his first win as interim boss thanks to Omar Sowunmi’s second-half goal at Plough Lane.

Alex Bass turned a close-range Ben Goodliffe shot around a post early in the first half and came to the rescue again as Harry Smith led another assault on the home team’s goal.

For Wimbledon, James Tilley had a low shot saved by Dean Bouzanis and Ali Al-Hamadi flashed a header over the crossbar. He came close again in the second half with a fierce shot that was diverted wide by Sutton’s Joe Kizzi.

Shortly after Bass had denied Omari Patrick from a narrow angle, Sutton scored the goal they deserved just after the hour when a Ryan Jackson throw-in bounced across goal and was headed in by Sowunmi.

As the home side looked for an equaliser, Al-Hamadi sent a header straight at Bouzanis from Armani Little’s cross.

Sutton saw out eight minutes of stoppage time to give their hopes of avoiding the drop a boost, although Paul Kalambayi’s overhead-kick in the last seconds bounced agonisingly wide.

Walsall beat Crewe for the first time in a decade as the Alex’s 2-0 defeat extended the promotion chasers’ winless run to five games.

Headers from on-loan Lincoln striker Freddie Draper – his 10th goal this season – and Oisin McEntee gave the Saddlers their first win over Crewe in 11 meetings since 2013.

Mickey Demetriou’s lunging block prevented Walsall taking a 25th-minute lead as the Crewe defender flung himself in the way of Isaac Hutchinson’s point-blank strike from Jamille Matt’s knockdown.

A Hutchinson rocket from 20 yards crashed back off the bar but Walsall went ahead from the corner that soon followed as Draper nodded in Ryan Stirk’s 33rd-minute near-post delivery from close range.

Crewe perked up after the break and Ryan Cooney’s sweetly-struck volley forced a fine low stop from Saddlers keeper Jackson Smith before Courtney Baker-Richardson headed a Demetriou cross wide.

Alex keeper Tom Booth saved well from a Hutchinson shot but Walsall sealed the points from the resulting corner after 61 minutes as McEntee glanced home another near-post Stirk corner.

Newport produced a superb second-half fightback to recover from 2-0 to beat 10-man Forest Green 4-2 at Rodney Parade.

An early own goal from Ryan Delaney and a second from Matty Stevens in the 33rd minute put Troy Deeney’s men in control.

But a second yellow card for midfielder Callum Jones six minutes after the restart proved costly for the visitors.

Two goals from Exiles top scorer Will Evans – his 15th and 16th of the season – levelled before Lewis Payne scored a sublime third in the 69th minute with a dipping volley from Bryn Morris’ cross.

Delaney made amends for his early gift as he added a fourth to make sure of the win five minutes from time.

The remarkable reversal of fortune meant County enjoyed a first Boxing Day win since 2014 and completed a first ever English Football League double over Rovers.

Victory moved Graham Coughlan’s men 12 points clear of the League Two drop zone and 13 above Forest Green, who dropped to the bottom of the table.