Mansfield extended their unbeaten run to 11 league games following a controversial 1-1 draw against fellow high fliers Gillingham.

Former Charlton and Ipswich striker Macauley Bonne scored his first goal for the Gills 95 seconds into the game after Connor Mahoney capitalised on a loose pass from Stags defender Lewis Brunt.

Aden Flint’s excellent block prevented Gills captain Shaun Williams from adding a second for the hosts before Christy Pym’s acrobatic save denied Bonne from doubling his tally.

Mansfield equalised thanks to Davis Keillor-Dunn’s controversial goal nine minutes before the break.

Referee Jacob Miles was in the process of booking Gills midfielder Ethan Coleman for a foul on Ollie Clarke, but then allowed Town to take a quick free-kick, following which an unmarked Keillor-Dunn was able to slot the ball past Jake Turner with ease.

Nigel Clough’s team should have gone ahead approaching the hour, but George Maris blazed over after meeting Clarke’s cutback.

Shad Ogie blocked Lucas Akins’ driven effort and Turner saved brilliantly to thwart Keillor-Dunn after the Scottish striker had gone through on goal.

Warren O’Hora’s unusual own goal was enough for Harrogate to secure a 1-0 win at MK Dons.

Dons goalkeeper Craig MacGillivray’s clearance struck the unfortunate O’Hora and flew in four minutes before the break to settle the first-ever league meeting between the two sides.

The hosts applied early pressure and Harrogate goalkeeper Mark Oxley made two fine stops to deny Mo Eisa inside the first 10 minutes.

Oxley was called upon once again to keep out Daniel Harvie’s strike from range, but the visitors soon began to create chances of their own, with MacGillivray keeping out Sam Folarin before pulling off an even better stop to deny Kayne Ramsay.

Harrogate took the lead in bizarre style and the Dons struggled to create chances in the second half, with Harvie and Jack Payne missing the target with efforts from outside the box.

Matty Daly’s deflected effort was saved at the other end as Harrogate held on to record back-to-back wins, while the hosts are now without a victory in five league matches.

Stockport made it four wins in a row as they beat Accrington 3-1 at the Wham Stadium.

County opened the scoring after 12 minutes through top scorer Isaac Olaofe, who received the ball from Odin Bailey on the edge of the area and drilled it into the far corner of the net for his seventh goal of the campaign.

It was two four minutes later when Antoni Sarcevic sent Will Collar clear one-on-one with debutant Jon McCracken and he put the ball between the legs of the Norwich loan goalkeeper.

The visitors went close again after 29 minutes but Louie Barry couldn’t find the target when the ball came to him unmarked in the area.

Stockport made it three when they were awarded a penalty for a push on Bailey after 59 minutes and Barry sent McCracken the wrong way.

Substitute Jack Nolan fired home from 20 yards for Stanley after 86 minutes and Rosaire Longelo had a strike tipped onto the woodwork in added time but the home side couldn’t find a way back.

Tyrell Warren, Ged Garner and substitute Emile Acquah netted their first goals of the season as Barrow beat Doncaster 3-2 in Sky Bet League Two to record their first win in four games.

Warren had not scored since finding the net against Rovers in September 2022 but he rose superbly to convert Elliot Newby’s cross to give Pete Wild’s side a 12th-minute lead.

Grant McCann’s visitors were chasing a third successive league win but fell 2-0 behind eight minutes into the second half, Garner firing in a deflected free-kick after goalkeeper Louis Jones had been penalised for handling outside his area.

Doncaster gave themselves a glimmer of hope three minutes later when Joe Ironside headed in his third goal of the campaign.

However, Barrow’s hopes of recording only their second home league win of the season were boosted five minutes from time when Acquah, capped by England C’s non league side earlier this year, made it 3-1.

Mo Faal’s goal in the fourth minute of stoppage time ensured a nervy finale for the Cumbrians – but they held on.

Salford won at home for the first time this season and ended a run of six straight defeats with a 2-1 victory against Newport.

Matthew Lund’s opener was cancelled out by Bryn Morris’s strike but Declan Drysdale’s own goal on the stroke of half-time restored Salford’s lead.

The hosts went in front after 25 minutes thanks to Lund’s glancing header from Declan John’s corner.

It was nearly 2-0 a minute later when Stevie Mallan hit one from range and struck the outside of a post.

Salford’s lead proved to be short-lived as Morris steered home an equaliser after James Waite teed him up.

The game was almost completely turned on its head, but Alex Cairns’ outstretched leg denied Omar Bogle.

The Ammies went in 2-1 up at the break after Drysdale put through his own net following Kelly N’Mai’s low driven cross.

Will Evans thought he had levelled again for Newport on the hour when he bundled the ball home, but the linesman flagged for offside and Salford held on to secure an important victory.

Doncaster boss Grant McCann believes his side are only getting better after making it back-to-back wins with the 2-1 triumph over high-flying Gillingham.

Two excellent strikes from Ben Close, including an 87th-minute winner, saw Rovers collect their first home league triumph of the campaign, a week on from finally picking up a maiden victory at Forest Green.

And McCann feels his side are firmly heading in the right direction as they seek to make up ground on the promotion-chasing pack in the division.

“We had to be very good to win and I felt in the second half we were as good as we have been this season,” he said. “I thought we were really in control.

“We’re yet to have that full 90-minute performance. We’re still searching and that takes some doing, every manager will tell you that. Teams will always have a spell against you.

“I felt that Gillingham didn’t really have much of a spell against us and on a whole, I felt the second half was a real performance from us.

“I could feel the team taking on board the information we had given them, particularly in taking up the pockets of space to have that control of the game against a top, top team.”

Gillingham manager Neil Harris is still looking for his team to find the balance between defensive solidity and creativity after dropping points in South Yorkshire.

The Gills set the early pace in League Two with five 1-0 wins from their opening eight matches. But with Harris encouraging them to deliver more decisive scorelines, they have shown vulnerability in defence, which he is keen to see quickly banished.

“In the last couple of weeks we’ve been a lot more creative, we’ve had sparks, we’ve shown class and we want to continue that because if we do, we will wins games of football comfortably,” Harris said.

“We’ve won a lot of games so far 1-0 by being resilient. In the last couple we’ve not been as resilient as I would have liked but we’ve been really good with the ball. We’ve just got to find that balance between the two.

“The winning goal for Doncaster – he stuck it in the top corner but it’s poor from the restart, and it was from the first. To be a top team in League Two, we’ve got to be better than that from restarts.”

Despite his frustrations, Harris felt Gillingham should have won the game comfortably.

He said: “I’m baffled how we’ve not won the game. We’ve not won the game because we weren’t clinical enough. We should have been coming off (with) four or five goals but if you don’t take your chances, you don’t win games.”

Mansfield manager Nigel Clough praised his side’s patience as they moved up into third place with a 1-0 home win over Barrow.

Stags are the only EFL side unbeaten this season in all competitions but were made to sweat until Ollie Clarke drilled in the 72nd-minute winner.

A red card in the 84th minute Junior Tiensia then sealed the Bluebirds’ fate.

“We needed that win,” said Clough. “We are not quite as fluent as we were a few weeks ago, but you grind them out.

“With nine players out at the moment, that is probably a good reason why we are disjointed at times.

“But one good finish and you win the game – it was an important clean sheet.

“In a few weeks’ time no one will remember the game, just the three points which have put us back up to third in the league. And I think there are going to be quite a few games like that here where we are going to have to be patient.

“The crowd are going to have to be patient as well. We are not always going to be having 25 shots, as much as we’d like to.”

Barrow had the edge in the first half and Emile Acquah missed the target with their two best chances.

Rory Feely also sent a free header over from a 58th-minute corner.

But Mansfield took control and Will Swan saw his shot deflect over, skimming the top of the crossbar on the hour.

Calum Macdonald escaped with a yellow card for his challenge on 70 minutes before Clarke broke through with a low finish from 20 yards from Swan’s pull-back from the left.

Tiensia then saw red on 83 minutes for diving in on Aaron Lewis.

Barrow boss Pete Wild felt the game proved his side can live with the best and he felt Stags had the rub of the green on the red cards.

“I thought first half we played really well and it was a classic away-from-home performance,” he said.

“Second half as the home team they pinned us in and I didn’t think we got out enough and got on the front foot.

“It is fine margins and it didn’t go our way. But there were mitigating circumstances and I feel hard done by.

“The turning point for me was they should have had a red card before ours. He dived in and left the floor. Our lad’s was a red though, which didn’t help us.

“They won it with the one shot we haven’t blocked in the whole game.

“There was nothing between the two teams which shows we can live with the top teams at this level. But they have just edged it today.”

AFC Wimbledon boss Johnnie Jackson praised his side for not pushing the panic button after they missed a penalty and conceded an equaliser to 10-man Walsall before wrapping up a 3-1 win at Bescot Stadium.

The visitors led early through Connor Lemonheigh-Evans’ 20-yard strike and played most of the game a man up after Taylor Allen’s red card for a studs-up tackle on Omar Bugiel.

But Armani Little’s spot-kick, after a Ryan Stirk handball, was saved by Walsall keeper Owen Evans and the Saddlers levelled through Freddie Draper’s fine finish on the turn.

Wimbledon kept calm, though, and Ali Al-Hamadi set up Jack Currie to fire them back ahead before sealing a third away in four league trips himself with a crisp 18-yard finish.

“We controlled the game for the majority of it and got what we deserved,” said Jackson.

“After the equaliser, I was thinking ‘how are drawing a game we’ve been in total control of?’ And you think ‘right, we’ll see what the boys are about now because we’ve been pegged back’.

“But we carried on playing well and doing the things that had got us success.

“I wanted to see what the boys were about and it was important we didn’t panic and start changing what we had been doing so well up to that point.”

Wimbledon were victorious despite the absence of injured top scorer James Tilley, who had netted seven of their 12 league goals – a point which pleased Jackson.

“James has been on fire for us but it helps when you’ve got replacements like Connor, when you’ve got these players who are raring to go,” the manager added.

“I didn’t doubt that we couldn’t score goals without Tilley. I felt like we should have scored a host more than we already have up to this point.”

Walsall hit the bar through Isaac Hutchinson moments before Allen’s dismissal, a stroke of bad luck boss Mat Sadler was left to rue.

“Fortune wasn’t on our side today but the frustrating thing for me was the way we started the game,” he said.

“We gave ourselves a mountain to climb and that’s twice within the last two weeks we’ve gone one down within six minutes.

“That for me is the frustrating thing. There’s elements from how we started the game that we need to learn from.

“I suppose the ‘sliding doors’ thing happens where you hit the bar and four seconds later you lose a man, that then ultimately takes it away from us. Those little fine margins.

“The red card felt harsh at the time. I didn’t see it coming and it didn’t seem like any of their players felt like it was a decision he was going to make, and that quite clearly alters our ability to really get ourselves into the game.”

Morecambe boss Derek Adams was full of praise for his young side as they picked up a battling point in a 2-2 draw with unbeaten Swindon despite being down to 10 men for much of the second half.

The Shrimps had experienced midfielder Yann Songo’o sent off on 55 minutes after he picked up two yellow cards in quick succession but battled to the end.

Substitute Ethan Walker earned his side a point with a goal 10 minutes from time, with Jake Taylor having equalised in the first half.

Adams said: “The character of the team was magnificent. To get the goal back with just 10 men was fantastic. We scored a brilliant goal and we could have gone on to win the game.

“We have a young side who are terrific to watch because they give their all for this club. They are doing everything they can for this club and we have competed really well against a team who have done exceptionally well.”

Adams was not happy though with the penalty that led to Swindon’s second of the game, saying:  “The referee has made a huge error.

“The challenge was outside the box but he got no help from his assistants and that has cost us a penalty and a goal in a game that we were well on top in.”

Swindon boss Mike Flynn was left frustrated after his team twice took the lead through Dan Kemp and a Charlie Austin penalty.

“It was definitely two points dropped and if we had taken our chances we would have won the game,” said Flynn.

“You have to give Morecambe credit because they kept going and going but we have to be disappointed with the goals we conceded because we had complete control of the game.

“At 2-1 up we got into some good positions and missed a couple of chances but we took our foot off the gas after about 70 minutes and that wasn’t the time to do it.

“Some of the football we played in the first half was a joy to watch and I am frustrated. We are still unbeaten but we should have had three points today.”

Matt Gray was delighted to see a “Matt Gray side” in Sutton’s 1-1 draw with MK Dons.

The U’s ended a dismal run of seven successive Sky Bet League Two defeats with the point picked up at Gander Green Lane.

Omar Sowunmi’s powerful header opened the scoring before Alex Gilbey’s low strike secured the Dons a share of the spoils.

“The most important thing was the performance and seeing a Matt Gray team again and we did that,” admitted Gray.

“It’s been a disappointing number of games and weeks where we haven’t looked like that.

“How we’ve been really successful in the past four years is by being hard to beat and we haven’t been like that in recent weeks.

“We need to be solid and really well organised and we were like that today.

“It was an outstanding first-half performance and they scored a goal out of nothing early in the second half.

“The important thing was being strong a solid and we did just that. We’re very pleased with a lot of the performances and us as a team.

“We were excellent. The longer the first half went on I wanted us to convert that pressure and we did that by getting the goal from a set-piece. It was a great delivery and a superb header.”

Graham Alexander was left with a sour taste in his mouth after being forced to settle with a point.

He said: “We’re disappointed with a point, but more disappointed with how we approached the first half.

“We didn’t drop enough in the first half. We weren’t as committed as we were in previous games.

“I was trying to see how the game panned out and they scored from a set-piece, which we knew they would be a danger from.

“I thought second half we passed the ball with a purpose and commitment and deservedly got back into the game.

“We should have taken advantage to get another goal. But you’re wary that you have to defend against Sutton and the balls they put into the box. We had to manage both sides of the game.

“I thought we got dragged into a game that didn’t suit us and we need to learn from that.

“What we see Monday to Friday are players who run with purpose and train hard and commit. We do it in spells of games, but not in a full performance.”

Mark Hughes praised Andy Cook after the striker reached 50 league goals for Bradford with a hat-trick in a 4-1 win at Newport.

The 32-year-old struck twice in the first half and again in stoppage time as City won on the road for the first time this season.

City boss Hughes, a former Manchester United and Wales great, said: “I was always a bit streaky when I was playing, but Andy is used to scoring week in, week out.

“At the start of the season he wasn’t where he needed to be. He wasn’t happy with his form but today he enjoyed the opportunities he got and the amount of chances that were created for him.

“He’s a confidence player and he was able to build a performance. It wasn’t just his goals I was pleased with, but his general play – and he’s gone home with the match ball under his shirt.
“At this level he is very difficult to stop. We’ve missed him and he’s come back and made a massive impact for us and everyone is delighted.

“We took them aback in the first half with the quality of our play and we knew there would be a response from them in the second half. They had a go and tried to ask questions with balls into the box.

“We had to defend correctly and be vigilant and we were able to do that. It wasn’t easy for us in the second half because we had to stand up the challenge and we did that quite comfortably in the end.

“It was a great result for us and we’ll be very confident after that as we look forward to playing Middlesbrough on Tuesday night.”

It was quite the opposite reaction from Newport boss Graham Coughlan, who saw his side go 3-0 down inside half an hour. Cook’s first-half brace came either side of Rayhaan Tulloch’s goal before Omar Bogle gave County a lifeline which they failed to build on.

“We were poor and the first half an hour was terrible,” said Coughlan. “The goals that we conceded were unacceptable and it was a really bad day for us all.

“I feel for the supporters because the players left them short today, so I am really annoyed and frustrated.

“I don’t want to stand here and make excuses but we have a patched-up side at the moment and I need to get players fit and healthy. I need one or two back otherwise we will continue to labour and limp along.

“Having said that, some of the individual performances today were not acceptable or good enough.

“That is not me or this football club’s DNA – one or two of us went missing and shied away from a fight and a battle. That is what is sticking in my gullet and annoying me the most.

“We weren’t at the races today, we weren’t good enough individually and we weren’t good enough collectively. When they put it up to us and were on top, we went missing.”

Harrogate boss Simon Weaver believes attacker Abraham Odoh can “reach for the stars” after ending a 20-game goal drought.

Odoh secured a 3-2 win for the Sulphurites over bogey side Salford, who they had failed to defeat in 12 previous league contests.

His clinical 80th-minute strike came after efforts by George Thomson and Sam Folarin had been cancelled out by visiting replies from Curtis Tilt and Matt Smith.

It was Odoh’s first goal since March for Rochdale, where he only netted four times in 91 outings.

But, on his number nine’s potential, Weaver said: “He’s been outstanding since coming to the club and his goal was the icing on the cake.

“He had a great effort before that and I think the goal has been coming. He’s a player who, with a little bit of belief, can reach for the stars.”

Harrogate went into the game as the lowest scoring team in Sky Bet League Two’s but they also hit the frame of the goal three times.

Weaver added: “I thought their first goal was a blatant foul and it got them back in a positive mindset.

“Their second then looked soft from our point of view, but it became a test of our mindset and, to win 3-2 after they came back at us, makes the three points feel even better.

“We said at half-time that, whoever got the next goal, I didn’t want us to change the gameplan. I wanted us to stay on the front foot and keep creating chances and that’s what we did.”

The defeat saw Salford extend their longest-ever losing sequence as an EFL outfit to a fifth match, heaping the pressure on manager Neil Wood with the watching Ryan Giggs strongly rumoured to be on the verge of succeeding him.

Wood pointed to an injury crisis that saw his seven-man bench boast just three EFL starts between them, declaring: “Nobody puts themselves under more pressure than myself. I know it’s part of the job.

“We were in the play-off positions for virtually the whole of last season. Now, we’ve hit a bit of a bump and have had a dip, but it’s coincided with eight or nine of our players being on the injury list and we have only got what we have got.

“In a way, that’s great for the young lads because they are getting experience and we will throw them in and give them a go. That situation won’t change in the next few weeks, so everybody has to dig in together.”

Wood’s team have now failed to keep a clean sheet in 11 fixtures and he added: “I’m not sure it was a penalty and I think you could tell that by the reaction of the players around the incident.

“But we got ourselves back level and, then, we went long and lost the ball when we know their main threat is on the counter-attack.

“They have some athletic players going forwards and it was a really soft goal to concede but we are not defending well as a team and that’s a big problem that we’re trying to address.”

Crewe boss Lee Bell saluted his players for showing gritty resistance as the Railwaymen held firm in the face of a strong Colchester fightback to claim a 2-1 victory.

Chris Long struck twice in the opening minutes to put Crewe in early control but Samson Tovide set up an intriguing second half when he cut the arrears soon after the break at Gresty Road.

Crewe were hanging on at times as Colchester dominated before the hosts were able to record their third win in four games.

Bell, whose side were indebted to captain Luke Offord’s goal-line clearance from Joe Taylor, said: “These are the best type of wins when you have to work your way through to get a result. We couldn’t stop Colchester’s flow, but we worked so hard.

“They played some good football and I don’t think their current position is a reflection on them at the moment. After the early goals we wanted to carry on with our attacking but we sat back a bit and let them back into the game.

“We did stay strong in the second half and our skipper cleared that one off the line late on with a brilliant recovery. We under a bit of pressure, but the lads kept their heads and discipline which was really pleasing.

“I was delighted with the early goals. Mickey’s [Demetriou] throws are a real threat and then Longy took his penalty really well. But I thought everyone in the team put in great effort and they were all excellent.”

Demetriou’s long throw caused problems for the Us defence and Long fired the loose ball into the corner of the net to give the hosts a third-minute lead.

Long then took his tally for the season to five by converting from the spot in the seventh minute after Shilow Tracey was bundled over in the box.

Colchester’s response saw Taylor volley over and Noah Chilvers crack an effort onto the post.

But it was after the break the Essex side stepped up their onslaught after Tovide finished off Taylor’s driven cross over the six-yard box in the 53rd minute.

Tovide, Arthur Read and substitute Jay Mingi all went close before Taylor was thwarted in stoppage time.

Colchester boss Ben Garner said: “We won’t concede a worst goal all season for their first and I thought the penalty was really soft. But after that we were brilliant and we absolutely killed them.

“The number of chances we created, we dominated the ball and for 80 minutes that was our best performance of the season.

“When we got the goal I thought we’d go on and win the game, but we couldn’t just get the next goal. We got into some really good positions and had one cleared off the line.

“If we’d performed like that over the whole 90 minutes we’d have won the game comfortably.

“The second half was as dominant display as you will have seen. It was just a case of whether we’d get the goals, but I thought Crewe defended set-pieces well and threw their bodies on the line, but we should have taken at least a point.”

Nigel Adkins is targeting getting Tranmere away from the Sky Bet League Two drop zone after a 2-0 win over 10-men Accrington.

Josh Hawkes’ penalty gave Tranmere the advantage before Stanley’s Jay Rich-Baghuelou received a straight red card after a poor tackle on the goalscorer, whose second after half-time ensured victory.

The win leaves the Prenton Park side still in the relegation zone, but a point from safety after a first victory since the middle of August.

Tranmere interim boss Adkins hopes the victory can build forward momentum in the Wirral outfit’s season once again after a first win in charge.

“I’m really pleased with the players’ application, you can see the togetherness with everybody. The crowd were great as well, getting right behind the players, because this was a challenging game,” he said.

“I think it was clear for everybody to go and see and I think we’ve matched that very, very well in the situations we had to.

“You’ve seen a togetherness for everybody, which is important, a bit of structure and organisation on how we need to keep improving because ultimately we can’t be where we are in the division.

“It stops the rot, it stops that negative momentum that we’ve had and we’re trying to get a forward momentum. We’ve got to get a momentum about ourselves and that only comes by everybody pulling in the same direction.

“It’s like that big boulder that’s there and we’ve had a negative roll on it, and we’ve kind of stopped it and now it’s how can we start rocking it to get that forward momentum going and today you could see it.”

Accrington boss John Coleman had no complaints with the result or the red card for Rich-Baghuelou, which proved so costly.

“There’s no excuses, we didn’t perform like we can perform. Our travelling fans were brilliant, they supported us for long periods of the game and we didn’t give them enough to cheer about,” he said.

“We let Tranmere get on to the front foot. There’s nothing in the game, they scored from a penalty and there’s still nothing in the game. No real chances getting made, but we weren’t asking any questions going forward.

“We were loose with our possession, we didn’t press, we let Tranmere outpress us, and they were a little bit more enthusiastic than us in the first half ,despite there being nothing in the game.

“The sending-off has obviously hamstrung us, no complaints, you can’t challenge like that. That ultimately has cost us the game.

“I think we’re still in it at 1-0, a chance to regroup and make positive subs gets eliminated when you’re down to 10.”

Stockport boss Dave Challinor showered praise on hat-trick hero Isaac Olaofe after his side comprehensively thumped Wrexham 5-0.

Olaofe, signed from Millwall in January, bagged his first English Football League treble in front of a sold-out Edgeley Park.

Challinor said: “Tanto is still young to the Football League, and he took himself out of his comfort zone down south to join us in January.

“But he’s been great ever since. He’s worked hard, backed himself, and he’s got a really bright future in the game.

“He maybe still needs to sharpen up a little bit, but he’s got all the raw attributes and the pace and power you need to be a successful striker at this level and above.

“He was brilliant today, and this will give him the self-belief you need as a striker.

“I’m really pleased for him, because he’s a really nice kid who looks after his family, and he’s a popular member of the squad.”

County soared to their third straight win in breathtaking style.

Challinor added: “I’m most pleased that we’ve been able to back up our last two wins with a performance like this.

“It’s a bit of a statement win, and one we thoroughly deserved.

“Even at half-time I didn’t necessarily feel comfortable because situations can change in a milli-second, but we kept asking questions in the second half and we got our rewards.”

Two from Olaofe and Louie Barry’s sixth goal in six matches had the hosts in cruise control by half-time.

Olaofe headed home his third shortly after the restart, before substitute Paddy Madden wrapped up a huge win for the hosts.

Wrexham crashed spectacularly to a first away defeat of the season, and a first loss since the opening day.

Boss Phil Parkinson appeared unsurprisingly perplexed.

He said: “So many times we’ve given the ball away far too cheaply, and that’s very frustrating for us. We put ourselves under too much pressure too often, and Stockport have capitalised.

“The players have got to learn not to give the ball away in areas which the opposition can hurt us. We were sloppy throughout, and we’ve got to take our medicine tonight.

“It’s a bit baffling because we’ve done OK on the road so far this season, but credit to Stockport – they were a yard quicker and a yard sharper than us.

“Too many of our individual performances were well below par. We got ourselves into some good situations, but again, too often our decision-making wasn’t good enough.

“We broke into the final third often enough, but some of our delivery just wasn’t good enough, and this is the result. We’ve got to shake this off quickly, and go again.”