John Coleman praised his two-goal striker Josh Andrews and says he will get better after Accrington’s 2-1 win over bottom club Forest Green.

The on-loan Birmingham striker headed home in each half as Stanley ended a thee-match winless run.

Mathew Stevens pulled a late goal back for Rovers, who slipped to the foot of the division after a sixth straight defeat.

Stanley boss Coleman said: “I was hoping Josh would get his hat-trick.

“He is a smashing lad and he knows he can get better. You can see the signs, his hold-up play and link-up play was good in the first half. It’s just about being less wasteful as a team.

“But I am delighted with the win. In patches I was delighted with the way we played, but I hated the way we finished the game.

“We ended up with the perception that you are hanging on, even though our keeper didn’t have a save to make, when it should have been out of sight in the first half.

“That’s something we have to learn our lessons from as we have been punished in the past.

“When we are on top, we have to take the game to the opposition but we tried to amble through it.

“We saw in patches how good we can be, there were some great passing moves, and then in patches how naive we can be, we lost possession cheaply and we were wasteful.”

Rovers head coach David Horseman was frustrated with his team’s performance in their latest defeat.

“This is the first time I have felt let down by the players,” he said.

“It was nowhere near good enough and as a group collectively we have to take some responsibility.

“We conceded from a set play – they all knew their roles but they did not do their jobs. The ball goes into the box and it’s four v one and he heads it in. That’s really disappointing.

“In the second half, we start to get on top, we brought on a couple of subs, and we then we concede again from a set play.

“Winning games gives you confidence, doing your job gives you confidence, but all of us didn’t do it today.

“It’s frustrating as even as poorly as we played, with the chances we have had, we still could have got a point or even nicked a win.”

Gillingham caretaker boss Keith Millen was pleasantly surprised by his side’s response to the controversial sacking of Neil Harris as they beat MK Dons 2-1.

Eyebrows were raised across the EFL when the Gills ownership opted to go in a ‘different direction’ and jettison Harris having led the league after four games.

On the field, they were good value for a first league win in four as goals from Macauley Bonne and Scott Malone sealed the spoils.

Millen said: “I’m delighted to win the game. It’s been a tough week, in particular these past couple of days.

“I knew the players would give their all but I didn’t know how positive they’d be.

“I didn’t ask them to perform for me as I’m not the new manager, nor did I feel it was right to ask them to do it for Neil, even though we all know what’s happened.

“The atmosphere was OK in the dressing room but I wasn’t sure how things were going to go until the game kicked off and it took us 20 minutes to clear our heads.

“All of a sudden we became braver on the ball and played a few more passes and we began to open them up. We created some really good chances after that.

“I still want us to look after the ball better but, after one day of training, we weren’t going to turn into a total football team all of a sudden. But what I really liked was our desire to keep the ball out of our net.”

Joe Tomlinson and Mo Eisa passed up chances as the visitors failed to capitalise on the slow start that Millen described.

Instead, MK were left to rue individual errors as Anthony Stewart slipped to allow Bonne through on goal to calmly slot home after 26 minutes.

Jonathan Leko was the guilty party 10 minutes after the break as he was robbed by Tom Nichols, who teed up Malone for the second.

Substitute Ellis Harrison gave the Dons hope late on before the visitors ended the game with 10 men as Dan Harvie picked up his second booking in stoppage time.

Dons manager Graham Alexander said: “I’m disappointed because the defeat is self-inflicted.

“In the first 20 minutes we were the dominant team again and we had chances to score but then we concede another terrible goal.

“That punctured any good feeling we had. We lost our control and composure after that until half-time.

“We can’t hide behind anything. We were the constructors of our own downfall. The only thing I know is we’ve got to work on it.

“If you think you get success through luck then you’ll soon be put right in football. It’s still apparent that, in certain areas and at certain times, we lose our way in games.”

Newport manager Graham Coughlan admitted a 2-1 home defeat for his injury-hit side against Harrogate left him feeling at his lowest ebb during his 12 months in the job.

Harrogate led 2-0 thanks to goals either side of half-time from George Thomson and Anthony O’Connor.

The home side pulled a goal back through Will Evans – his 10th of the season – just before the hour mark, but they could not find an equaliser.

A sixth defeat of the season sees Coughlan’s men slip to 19th in the League Two table and he was not happy with what he saw from his players.

“Too many players didn’t turn up and the goals hurt us – one or two players need a reality check and to have a look at themselves,” said the Exiles boss.

“This is probably the lowest that I have been since I walked through the front door, there is still life in me, and I have enough experience and fight to carry this on and keep fighting but today is a low point. It’s the lowest that I have felt in 12 months.”

Aaron Wildig almost rescued a point for the Welsh side with four minutes remaining, but his header came back off a post.

“Did we deserve a point? We probably did but you have to do more, we didn’t turn up in the first half,” added Coughlan.

“You can’t perform like that and expect to take anything out of the game. Had Wildig’s header gone in and not hit the post then we would have got out of jail.

“We are shooting ourselves in the foot, we are showing our naivety and inexperience. It’s hard to stomach.”

It was a different story for Harrogate manager Simon Weaver, who saw his side record a third win in four games to climb to 15th in the table.

“We’re delighted with today’s showing; I thought we showed a bit of everything, and we had to to get the three points,” said Weaver.

“There was a lot of gritty defending in the last 10 minutes, but before that I thought we were in a dominant position at 2-0 because of a dominant display.

“There was fluent passing, good forward movement and we caused them problems.”

Thomson put Harrogate ahead after 42 minutes with a 25-yard strike and O’Connor headed in from a corner seven minutes after the break before Evans’s close-range finish at the other end.

“The goal we conceded obviously offered them an opportunity to get back into the game and we had to show our resilience at the end,” added Weaver.

“I thought our centre-halves dealt with Omar Bogle probably the best we’ve ever dealt with him, because he always seems to score against us!”

Derek Adams saluted his “outstanding” Morecambe side after JJ McKiernan’s hat-trick secured them a deserved 3-1 win at Colchester, despite playing for more than an hour with 10 men.

McKiernan headed home Adam Mayor’s 21st-minute corner to give Morecambe the lead but the visitors had James Connolly sent off in the 36th minute after the defender appeared to leave a boot in on Samson Tovide.

McKiernan stabbed home from close range in the 53rd minute after Yann Songo’o had helped on Mayor’s corner and completed his hat-trick in the 61st minute when he collected Donald Love’s pass and ran almost the length of the Colchester half before firing past Owen Goodman.

Adams said: “The performance was outstanding and we opened up Colchester so many times and had so many opportunities on goal.

“The way we passed it, the way we pressed them, the way we allowed their goalkeeper to come to 30 yards out and not affect us and the way we picked them off.

“We hit the post, we made their goalkeeper make saves, we missed chances and then there was the sending off.

“We were already 1-0 up at that time and we had to make two substitutions and take (Jordan) Slew and (Tom) Bloxham off, two of our best players.

“So it was a big shuffle up at that stage and we then got into half-time and kicked on in the second half.

“The goals that JJ scored today to get a hat-trick were excellent.

“He has really found form and found a position that really suits him in the side.”

Colchester bagged a consolation from Cameron McGeehan’s 73rd-minute header following Brad Ihionvien’s assist and Noah Chilvers blazed a stoppage-time penalty over for the hosts, after Songo’o had handled Ihionvien’s shot in the area.

Colchester boss Ben Garner said: “It wasn’t good enough, frankly. Right from the start of the game, we were second best.

“We weren’t competitive, we weren’t intense, people not doing their jobs, people not doing their jobs off a set-piece cost us a goal.

“They then get the red card and we finish the first half well and then in the second half, we don’t do what we spoke about doing at half-time.

“The players want to go and do their own thing and so the team shape goes and we let two really poor goals in and gave ourselves a mountain to climb.

“I apologise to the supporters as it was nowhere near good enough. It’s a million miles away from where it should be but we’ve all seen how good it can be and how good it has been.

“It’s very frustrating that there’s no level of consistency or minimum standard.”

Stockport boss Dave Challinor believes his side must manage their expectations despite extending their winning streak to six matches with a narrow 1-0 success over Doncaster.

Tanto Olaofe broke the deadlock in a close encounter in the 84th minute, nodding home an inswinging Will Collar cross and sealing a triumph which moved County up to second in the table, one point behind League Two leaders Notts County.

“After the goal I was really pleased with how we went about keeping the ball out and getting three points from a scrappy 1-0,” said Challinor.

“There’s nothing wrong with that and we’ve got to make sure that expectation around here doesn’t become that we turn up every week and just roll teams over because that’s not the case.

“We hope it is but the reality is that probably won’t be the case for most weeks.”

And while Stockport are currently in fine form, Challinor played down the importance of the current run.

He added: “It’s nice but it doesn’t make much difference to be fair. Normally within runs you’ll win one, win two, win three, then draw one and keep things going. We’ve won six and that’s a really nice feeling.

“I still stick to the fact that if we were sat 20th now and I could guarantee we’d be sitting in the top three in April I’d be taking it.

“We are where we are, there’s loads of positives to take. We must embrace them and take them forwards.”

Doncaster manager Grant McCann was disappointed to see Rovers lose a game where he thought there was little to separate the two sides.

Doncaster should have taken the lead after the break but Ben Hinchliffe produced a fine double save to deny Modou Faal before quickly getting back to his feet to palm away after Joe Ironside’s effort on the rebound.

“I don’t think there was anything in the game at all to be honest,” said McCann. “We didn’t feel threatened and I thought we did our job well all game until that moment.

“There are two chances in the second half; they’ve taken theirs and we haven’t taken ours. I think that was the game.

“Football games are won in big moments. We don’t get to the ball quick enough in midfield, we don’t get to the cross and we leave Olaofe free in the six-yard box.

“Big moments in games either win or lose you games. Today it’s lost us the game.

“We weren’t great today from an attacking point of view but I didn’t think they were either. I thought it was a game that was just going to peter out into a draw.”

Mansfield boss Nigel Clough was frustrated by a third draw in a week after Stags were held 0-0 at home by promotion rivals AFC Wimbledon.

But Clough’s men remain the only unbeaten side in the league and the point did move them up to fifth, thanks to a superb first-half penalty save by Christy Pym.

“It was frustrating. There was a lack of composure and a lack of quality in that final third,” said Clough.

“I thought we had the chances and the situations. We just didn’t have anyone who could finish them off.

“There were three or four in the first half, certainly George Maris’ when it broke to him. I didn’t think it was a difficult finish.

“But it was another point, another clean sheet and it moved us up the league. It’s just very frustrating to draw three games in a week.”

On Pym’s penalty save, he said: “It was fantastic and preserved our unbeaten record with that save. I think if we had gone 1-0 down on this sort of day it would have been very difficult to get back into it.”

In a game short on chances, Omar Bugiel won a 27th-minute penalty after a foul by Lewis Brunt.

But Pym pushed James Tilley’s kick up against the bar. The ball dropped, bounced up and hit the bar a second time and Pym then grabbed it before it crossed the line.

Dons keeper Alex Bass denied Maris one-on-one just before the break and saved well from James Gale in the second half, who also headed wide from six yards.

Tilley had two more chances but Pym denied him at the near post and then saved his 25-yard shot at the second attempt after fumbling it at first.

Dons boss Johnnie Jackson was delighted with the point to back up two wins earlier in the week.

“I thought it was a really good game – they are a very good team,” he said.

“They are hard to play against, especially here. But I think we have gone toe to toe with them.

“We have come here and given them a proper game and for my mind we have done enough in the game to have come away with all three points.

“It was a tremendous performance from the team and I am so proud of the lads after the week we have had, the exertions and physical outputs we have put in to come here and play like that, I am really proud.

“That was a good point and it’s been a seven-point week.

“One of the most pleasing things about the performance is how few chances we allowed them.

“In most games they create a lot and score a lot. We limited them to efforts from distance and defended our box very well. I don’t think our keeper has had much to do.”

Sutton lifted themselves off the foot of Sky Bet League Two in style with a thumping 4-0 victory over Walsall.

Matt Gray’s side had not tasted victory in the league since an opening day 5-1 thrashing over leaders Notts County. But when they do win, they win in style at Gander Green Lane.

The U’s faithful were treated to a picture-perfect victory in the south London sunshine.

The game was done and dusted by half-time as Harry Smith’s double did the majority of the damage.

Omari Patrick started the party in the sixth minute as he thundered home a free-kick from the edge of the box.

The lead was doubled six minutes later as Smith hammered home his first of the afternoon on the turn.

Smith seemingly doubled his tally in the 27th minute but defender Joe Riley’s touch deemed it an own goal.

But the Sutton striker got his deserved brace eight minutes before half-time as he headed home at the back post.

Dangerous Smith missed out on a hat-trick with 20 minutes to go before Aiden O’Brien was denied by a super save from Owen Evans.

For Walsall, it was a disappointing third defeat in five matches.

Salford came from behind to beat Crewe 4-2 and record a third straight win.

Two goals from Matt Smith and one each from substitutes Ryan Watson and Kevin Berkoe turned the game around after Courtney Baker-Richardson had put Crewe ahead.

The visitors started full of confidence having come into the game unbeaten in six, and were rewarded for their good start after 26 minutes when Baker-Richardson glanced in Rio Adebisi’s cross.

A header at the other end made it all square with virtually the last kick of the first half as Smith powered home Elliot Watt’s floating ball over the top.

Baker-Richardson thought he had put Crewe back in front only for the offside flag to deny him, before Salford had the ball in the net 28 seconds later thanks to Smith.

Crewe assistant manager Ryan Dicker was sent off for protesting the decision.

To make matters worse for Crewe, Watson steered in Salford’s third in the 71st minute before Berkoe was on hand to nod in the fourth in stoppage time after Tilt had headed onto the crossbar.

There was still time for Baker-Richardson to grab his and Crewe’s second goal but it was only a consolation.

Macauley Bonne and Scott Malone scored the goals as managerless Gillingham beat MK Dons 2-1 to claim their first win in four games.

First-half substitute Bonne opened the scoring eight minutes after coming on before Malone claimed his first goal since April 2022 to lift the Gills back into the top three just two days after sacking Neil Harris.

Under the guidance of caretaker manager Keith Millen, the slow-starting hosts almost fell behind after seven minutes when Joe Tomlinson flashed an effort across the face of goal. Mo Eisa also squandered a promising move by shooting straight at goalkeeper Jake Turner.

Bonne capitalised on a mistake by Dons defender Anthony Stewart to go through on goal and coolly side-foot past keeper Craig MacGillivray after 26 minutes.

Malone’s goal 10 minutes after the break owed a lot to team-mate Tom Nichols, who dispossessed Jonathan Leko before unselfishly teeing up the former Millwall man to slot past the luckless MacGillivray.

Substitute Ellis Harrison met Leko’s cross and headed past Turner eight minutes from time to give the Dons hope.

However, the Gills goalkeeper produced a fingertip save to prevent Max Dean from scoring a spectacular late equaliser.

The visitors ended the game with 10 men as Dan Harvie picked up his second booking in stoppage time.

Josh Andrews scored twice as Accrington won 2-1 to consign Forest Green to a sixth straight League Two loss.

Stanley opened the scoring after 18 minutes. Shaun Whalley’s free-kick sent Jack Nolan racing down the right and his cross was headed home by on-loan Birmingham striker Andrews.

Andrews headed over minutes later and Forest Green goalkeeper James Belshaw tipped a Whalley strike over the crossbar as Stanley took hold of the game.

However, Forest Green came close just before half-time when a thumping header from Kyle McAllister was kept out by Stanley goalkeeper Jon McCracken’s legs.

Unmarked Troy Deeney headed wide in the opening stages of the second half before Stanley got their second after 51 minutes.

Nolan’s deep cross to the far post was headed home by Andrews from around two yards out.

Joe Pritchard curled an effort wide for Stanley while Rovers had their chances through Jacob Maddox and Reece Welch.

They found a way through after 83 minutes when Fankaty Dabo teed up fellow substitute Mathew Stevens
in the area and he headed home, but Rovers dropped to the bottom of the table with the defeat.

Goals either side of half-time from George Thomson and Anthony O’Connor earned Harrogate a 2-1 win at Newport.

The home side pulled one back as Will Evans netted his 10th goal of the season in all competitions, but they could not break down a stubborn Sulphurites defence for a second time.

Thomson’s deflected strike from 25 yards out gave the visitors a 1-0 lead three minutes before the break.

And it was 2-0 in the 52nd minute when Thomson’s corner was flicked on and O’Connor headed in from close range at the far post.

County responded quickly as Evans pulled a goal back six minutes later when he slid in to convert substitute Lewis Payne’s cross from the right.

But, despite switching to three up front late on with the addition of substitute Olly Thomas, they could not force their way back into the match.

Aaron Wildig headed against a post with four minutes remaining, but Harrogate held on for a third win in four games.

Ollie Palmer’s third goal of the season gave 10-man Wrexham their first win in four games with a hard-fought 1-0 victory at Crawley.

Phil Parkinson’s side soaked up a lot of pressure in the second half but Crawley could not find a way back into the game as they suffered only their third home league defeat since Boxing Day.

Crawley boss Scott Lindsey went into the sold-out clash insisting he was fully committed to his job after being linked as a possible replacement for Neil Harris at Gillingham.

Striker Palmer struck to give Wrexham the lead against his old club in the 13th minute, steering the ball in with a first-time effort following a cross by James McClean.

The Reds almost hit back within a minute, Danilo Orsi forcing keeper Arthur Okonkwo to save before Adam Campbell blasted the rebound against the bar.

Crawley lost skipper Ben Gladwin to injury before Orsi put the ball wastefully over from close in from a cross by Will Wright.

Wrexham maintained a threat on the break and Crawley were indebted to keeper Corey Addai shortly before the interval by denying Paul Mullin in a one-on-one situation.

The visitors threatened to extend their lead with Palmer heading a McClean corner over and McClean later shot wide after Elliot Lee was off target after good work by Jacob Mendy.

Wrexham were reduced to 10 men in the 66th minute when substitute Andy Cannon, who had only been on the field for seven minutes, received a straight red card for a lunging tackle on Campbell.

The Reds pressed hard for an equaliser in the closing stages but Wrexham defended resolutely to claim their second away league win.

Connor Jennings earned a point for Tranmere as they came from behind to draw 2-2 with Grimsby.

Kieron Morris opened the scoring for the home side, but a first-half turnaround saw Grimsby lead 2-1 at the break through goals from Danny Rose and Rekeil Pyke.

Jennings was the architect for Tranmere’s opener, sliding in Morris to net his third goal of the season.

Rose pegged the hosts back with a superb finish from a tight angle after he was played through by a deflected Abo Eisa pass.

Tranmere came into the weekend in high spirits after winning their previous two home games, despite sitting third from bottom, including a 2-1 win over Bradford on Tuesday evening.

But they fell behind shortly before the break to a Pyke strike, who smashed a left-footed effort beyond Tranmere ‘keeper Luke McGee to net his first league goal since joining from Shrewsbury in the summer.

Jennings added to his assist with 30 minutes to play when he nodded in the equaliser to rescue a point for the hosts.

JJ McKiernan’s fine hat-trick helped 10-man Morecambe claim an impressive 3-1 win at Colchester.

Jordan Slew’s strike hit the inside of a post in the fourth minute for the Shrimps, who took a 21st-minute lead when McKiernan headed home Adam Mayor’s corner.

The visitors were reduced to 10 men in the 36th minute after James Connolly appeared to leave a boot in on Samson Tovide.

But Morecambe doubled their lead in the 53rd minute through McKiernan, who stabbed home from close range after Yann Songo’o had helped on Mayor’s corner.

And it was 3-0 in the 61st minute as McKiernan collected Donald Love’s pass and ran almost the length of the Colchester half before firing a low shot past Owen Goodman to complete his hat-trick.

Cameron McGeehan headed in from close range in the 73rd minute to reduce the deficit from Brad Ihionvien’s assist.

Noah Chilvers blazed a stoppage-time penalty over for Colchester after Songo’o had handled Ihionvien’s shot in the area but Morecambe claimed a deserved victory.

Bobby Pointon’s first senior goal ensured Bradford started life after Mark Hughes with a 1-0 victory over Swindon at Valley Parade.

Midfielder Kevin McDonald took caretaker charge after Hughes was sacked earlier this week and was rewarded with a battling performance from the Bantams.

Charlie Austin wasted a great chance after six minutes for the visitors after being set up by Rushian Hepburn-Murphy, pushing the ball past the post from close range.

But Bradford came back into the game with Jamie Walker and Andy Cook both going close.

Swindon keeper Murphy Mahoney tipped over a cross-shot from Adam Wilson as the Bradford crowd got into it. There were none of the boos that had been heard at their previous two home games.

Austin and Tyrese Shade could have broken the deadlock for Swindon at the start of the second half.

But it was Bradford who struck as local lad Pointon scored from close range after Mahoney had spilled Brad Halliday’s shot.

Cook hit a post soon after before Harry Lewis brilliantly denied Hepburn-Murphy from point-blank range at the other end.