Doncaster boss Grant McCann rued costly mistakes in what he believed was still an encouraging performance in a 2-1 League Two defeat to MK Dons.

Daniel Harvie and Warren O’Hara put Dons 2-0 up in the opening half at Stadium MK, both profiting from mistakes from the visitors on their way to finding the back of the net.

Luke Molyneux pulled one back for Rovers 10 minutes into the second half but they were unable to find an equaliser, despite applying pressure late on.

And McCann believed his side – who moved to the bottom of the table as a result – should have won the contest.

“I thought we were the better team today – simple as that,” said McCann. “They took the two mistakes we gifted them and scored. We didn’t capitalise on the opportunities we had.

“Last week, we showed nothing to get back into the game against Notts County, today we had a real identity about us and hopefully that’s us turning the corner and that we can start moving in the right direction.

“I don’t like losing games, of course I don’t, but when I see a team that shows a good performance, then I’m happy.

“We’re not going to win every single game and we need to start winning in the league, of course, but in terms of the performance, it was good. The result was obviously not so good.”

Victory continues a strong start to the season for Dons, who are looking to return to League One at the first time of asking following their relegation last season.

Graham Alexander’s side have won four of their five matches to begin the season and he is eager to build some real momentum in their promotion quest.

After Saturday’s win put them top, he said: “League position is irrelevant at the minute but 12 points from 15 is a good take.

“Positions will be important right at the end of the season but it’s important we keep on adding to our tally and keep giving our supporters something to get behind us with.

“There was great support all the way through the game both when we were on top and under the cosh a bit. That support was fantastic and we’ve rewarded them again with another win at home.

“I thought we started the second half OK but we let them back into it. It was a great finish from the guy but we’ll have a look how he got there.

“We had to keep patching up the team to get over the line. I’m delighted for the players again – they’re maxing out their efforts for each other and it’s a great three points.”

Newport manager Graham Coughlan believes his side passed an important test of character as they fought back from a goal down to beat Sutton 3-1 at Rodney Parade with three goals in the final 20 minutes.

The visitors struck first in the 53rd minute when Omari Patrick was in the right place to fire low under Nick Townsend’s dive, while Sutton defender Joe Kizzi headed into his own net from Adam Lewis’ cross to level the match after 70 minutes.

Harry Charsley headed in the Exiles’ second with 13 minutes remaining and Will Evans scored his seventh goal of the season in all competitions with another header three minutes from the end.

“I probably would have settled for a draw if you’d offered me that at 1-0 down,” admitted Coughlan afterwards.

“But we gave it a go. We put three strikers on the pitch in Seb (Palmer-Houlden), Omar (Bogle) and Will and we always create chances.

“When we get going and get into a rhythm, we are a dangerous opponent.

“We were brave, we opened up a little bit and we got back into the game.

“It wasn’t a great game. It was scrappy, it was a fight – typical League Two.

“It was a different test, a test of our character and we passed it. I’m really pleased with the lads.”

Sutton boss Matt Gray admitted he was left “shell-shocked” by his side’s collapse to a fourth-successive defeat that leaves them second-bottom.

“For 70 minutes I was very pleased,” he said. “Defensively we looked strong, set-pieces we looked a threat, we were strong in both boxes, there were some good passages of play, the wide players looked lively. I was really pleased.

“We got the first goal and I felt comfortable, to be honest.

“Suddenly we concede an own goal and the last 20 minutes was a shadow of the first 70.

“It’s hard to look on the positives after conceding three really poor goals at the end and I’m a little bit shell-shocked that we’ve lost the game.”

Mansfield boss Nigel Clough was delighted to see his side hit a higher gear in the second half as they twice came from behind to beat Stockport 3-2.

Stags remain unbeaten in Sky Bet League Two after a late Davis Keillor-Dunn double saw them to victory.

Clough said: “It feels like in six games we’ve had 20 games worth of thrills and spills and entertainment. We are certainly creating chances.

“I am not too happy with the two we conceded today at all. But we’ve got the result and that’s the main thing.

“First half we were a bit lethargic. We were nowhere what we have been in recent weeks. We were a shadow of ourselves.

“It took us going behind for us to get on the front foot after half-time and I thought for the majority of the second half it was us in the ascendency and we could have scored more. They got some brilliant blocks in and the keeper made some great saves.

“It was much more like us in the second half.

“We got a bit fortunate with the equaliser with the deflection. But one had to drop for us.

“We had to come from behind at Doncaster and we did it at Grimsby and now we’ve done it for a third game running. It shows a lot of character. It was a brave second half.

“Losing play-off finalists, Stockport are one of the best teams in the league. So to get three points off them today, even this early in the season, is very important.”

Will Collar threaded in the lively Louis Barry down the middle for the sixth minute opener, only to see George Maris turn home a Stephen Quinn cross to level nine minutes later.

Fraser Horsfall restored County’s advantage with a far post header from a 25th minute corner and Barry should have made it 3-1 just before half-time but he missed the empty net from 35 yards after Christy Pym had raced out to clear and gifted the ball to him.

The hosts dominated after the break and Stockport goalkeeper Ben Hinchliffe made some big saves before Keillor-Dunn, who had already hit the bar, levelled via a big deflection on 70 minutes and nine minutes later curled the winner home from Quinn’s pass.

Stockport boss Dave Challinor said: “We expected them to come at us second half. We set up in a way that we accepted we might be a bit deep but thought we could hurt them on the counter-attack.

“We had opportunities to do that but didn’t take them.

“But you have to defend well and the goals were awful again. They were down to poor concentration. You can’t concede three goals and expect to win any games of football.

“We need to have more control when we have the ball – we gave it away too cheaply.”

Ben Garner dedicated Colchester’s first win of the season to their travelling fans after watching his team storm to a shock 3-0 victory at Gillingham.

Colchester had propped up Sky Bet League Two before their trip to the leaders but goals from Fiacre Kelleher, Samson Tovide and Bradley Ihionvien sealed a sensational win.

Garner believes there is work to do in the transfer window before his squad is in the shape he wants, but has now challenged them to kick on up the table.

“It’s a win for the supporters today as the start to the season has not been easy for them,” the head coach said.

“I’ll have four or five hours of relief before I’ll get back to it. We believe in the group and what we’re doing, but this is a big week for us now.

“We’re three players away from what we want to be as a squad, so hopefully we can strengthen in the last week of the window.

“That was thoroughly deserved. I’m really pleased for the players as they all put a huge shift in today. It’s fantastic to come here, play in that manner, and score three goals. We’ve got to kick on now.

“We spoke in the week about how Gillingham haven’t conceded a goal in the league, and asked the group what difference it would make if we went there and scored.

“Gillingham haven’t had to chase a game, they’re very good defensively, and they’ve shown that they’re difficult to break down if they go ahead. We weathered the early storm and dealt with their threats really well.

“I’m delighted with the clean sheet as that was our target at the start of the week; to get the three goals on top was lovely.”

Meanwhile, Neil Harris denied Gillingham had been served a reality check but admits his team “crumbled” in front of their own fans.

The Gills were top of the table and had won their first four League Two games 1-0, but crashed back down to earth and Harris insists Saturday’s result serves a reminder of how unpredictable League Two can be.

“I’ve been honest after the games we’ve won this season, which served as a reminder of the standards we set and how we need to maintain them,” he said.

“The first goal was vital and we had three chances in the first half to score it. Today we couldn’t break down Colchester’s defensive block, so that’s something we need to learn to do.

“I wasn’t surprised by Colchester’s counter-attacking threat today. But I’m disappointed that we didn’t hang in there after conceding the first goal. We crumbled a bit in the last half hour.

“We’ve got 12 points after five games, so I’m still really happy. That’s a magnificent return. We just need to park this one.”

Notts County boss Luke Williams believes his side have grown up in recent weeks as they continue to impress in League Two.

The Magpies earned their third victory of the season thanks to goals from David McGoldrick and Connell Rawlinson before Josh Hawkes pulled one back late on.

And Williams explained that if they can keep up the momentum they have gained over the coming weeks, that his side will enjoy a good season back in the EFL.

He said: “The group have grown up a lot, I really do mean that.

“I think I have probably never witnessed as a group to that level and they are taking their work more seriously than ever before.

“If we can maintain that level, then I think we can look forward to a decent season and play a lot of good football – but that is the challenge now.”

The hosts had to finish the game with 10 men however as Cedwyn Scott was forced off through injury with Notts having already made all five substitutions.

“He felt something in his knee and another guy that tried to play on, he must have been in agony,” Williams explained on the result of Scott’s injury.

“We have to wait for everything to settle down to some extent before we can try and examine what is going on inside of there.

“Hopefully it’s less serious than we anticipate, but it’s very upsetting for us and the team.”

Tranmere boss Ian Dawes felt the result could have gone either way, but agreed the overall outcome of the contest was a fair result.

The visitors had great chances in both halves, with Kieron Morris unable to test Aidan Stone in the first half before Tom Davies rattled the crossbar in the closing stages.

“It was a fair result, but you can’t moan about luck and things like that,” Dawes said.

“Their first goal, it has ricocheted lovely for McGoldrick, but that happens and we have to get on with it.

“We have to stay compact. We had good chances in the first half and we have to take them.

“We knew that we would not get as many today and we had to take our opportunities in the second half.

“I thought we started the second really well but again, we kept turning the ball over and they had a spell of around five minutes when they really put pressure on us and scored the second goal.

“It’s then about trying to change that and getting back in the game, we did but when we changed it, we left gaps open and – on another day – the result could have been different.”

John Coleman believes that his Accrington team turned in their best performance of the season in a 2-1 win over Salford at the Peninsula Stadium.

Shaun Whalley and Josh Andrews were on target in the first half before Ryan Watson added a consolation from the spot for the hosts late on.

It was a display that certainly filled the Stanley manager with pride, with his side taking 10 points from their opening five games.

Coleman said: “I think that’s the best we’ve played. We had a set plan that we were going to sit in second half but we didn’t. In the second half, we should have scored another couple but didn’t.

“A nervy couple of minutes when they got the penalty but the lads have seen it out.

“I can’t fault anybody, there were some big performances in there and we should have got that third.

“That game plan was a long time in the making and we come up with a game plan that we practiced in training.

“We were going to try and stifle them and force them into areas that favoured us and consequently it worked because we took the ball off them in dangerous areas.

“When we do that we’re really good because we counter really well and we did that today, made numerous chances, and thankfully a couple went in.”

Salford went into half-time 2-0 down and when their frustrations continued in the second half, it forced Neil Wood to reshuffle his pack.

Stevie Mallan and Matthew Lund both made way for Watson and Ossama Ashley in a double substitution in midfield.

Attackers Connor McLennan and Marcus Dackers then came on for Conor McAleny and Theo Vassell as Salford went more direct.

Ammies head coach Wood said: “Slow start, we were poor for 25 minutes. We gifted two goals away from our point of view which is disappointing because we spoke about that a lot during the week.

“I think if we’d have started the game like we finished it we’d have been OK.

“We played a lot of backward passes in the first half, bringing pressure on ourselves and we didn’t need to do that.

“Second half we were much better but we can’t keep doing that for the first 25 minutes.

“We had two strikers on the pitch and the press was there for us to play over and we created chances and caused problems with that. If it needed to be a bit more direct then it was causing problems.

“I thought we were too negative and didn’t see forward passes enough and weren’t brave enough to play forward in the opening 25 minutes.”

Pete Wild admitted his half-time rocket inspired Barrow to earn a point in their 1-1 draw at home to Wrexham.

The Bluebirds had been outfought and outplayed in the first half, but Wrexham only led by Elliot Lee’s 12th-minute penalty at the break after Tyrell Warren brought down Ollie Palmer in the box.

Barrow turned it around in the second half and equalised through Emile Acquah’s fine curling effort, though they could not force a second goal for an unlikely victory.

And Wild was happy that his players’ true selves showed up after half-time.

“It is a cliche but that was definitely a game of two halves,” Wild said. “The number one thing at half-time was that we were frustrated by the penalty.

“Our lad (Warren) has got a touch on the ball, none of their players and I think it’s a poor one, and that gave them the impetus in the game. They had the momentum and, let’s be honest, they were far better in the first half.

“We were holding on at half-time and I had a right go at them, which I don’t do often, because I just felt they paid Wrexham too much respect, they were first to everything.

“I said ‘lads, they’re in our league, they’ve come up from the league below – get into them, start winning tackles and start getting amongst them’. When we did that in the second half, it looked like we were the only team going to win the game.

“The second half team is them – that’s them, that’s what they’re like every week. They weren’t like that in the first half, maybe because it’s Wrexham and because of what comes with Wrexham, but I was really frustrated at half-time.

“There was nothing tactical said at half-time, it was just telling them to get into them.

“We don’t pay people too much respect here, we get after teams, and we just needed to do that.”

Wrexham manager Phil Parkinson admitted his team should have wrapped up the points by the break.

Though they have hit the most goals in the league so far this term, he was left to rue a host of missed opportunities when they had been in complete control.

“I thought it was a good overall performance in the first half, one that warranted us coming in two or three up,” said Parkinson. “We controlled it and created some great chances, but we needed to be a bit more ruthless in front of goal. They had a 15-minute period and a couple of decisions went against us.

“I think in any game a team will have a period where they’re on top. Sometimes a home team will come out with a response and they did and they got back in it. We wrestled back control, but we couldn’t quite find a winner.

“I’m disappointed we didn’t take some of those chances because there were some real gilt-edged opportunities.

“When it’s only 1-0 it gives them hope, and they’ve got some good players. It can be a difficult environment to come into. I’d loved to have got the three points but there were a lot of positives, we just need to be a bit more clinical.”

Crawley manager Scott Lindsey apologised to the fans after they were thumped 6-0 at Swindon.

Jake Young scored four second-half goals as the Robins blew the Red Devils away, with Dan Kemp and Tyrese Shade also on target.

Former Swindon boss Lindsey said: “I can only apologise to the fans. The goals were embarrassing. Marking in the box is something that I worked on tirelessly.

“But for one of the goals there were four men around Young yet he gets in between them all and nods it in. It’s the easiest goal he will ever score.

“Players out there didn’t do their job properly. And that’s why you come to a place like this against a really good side in Swindon and you get punished.

“We won’t be forgetting it. We’ll be using it to learn from. You know, we have to watch it back. We have to break it down. Look at it and understand it.

“And how do I approach this week? It’s called hard work, which the players didn’t do today.”

Danilo Orsi gave Swindon a massive let-off within 10 minutes as he was given the ball free in the middle of the box, but shot over.

Swindon took the lead after 34 minutes as Young and Kemp exchanged passes on the right, with the latter being slipped in behind to coolly finish across Corey Addai.

Young made it two, two minutes into the second half, when he raced beyond the Crawley defence and tucked the ball away at the near post.

Swindon were flying as after 51 minutes Kemp won the ball high and fed Young to slam home a third goal and he had his hat-trick on the hour mark as he tapped home at the back post.

Young added his fourth after 71 minutes as Tariq Uwakwe crossed to the back post and he leapt up to head home, before Shade converted in stoppage time.

Home boss Michael Flynn refused to get carried away after his team’s magnificent second-half performance.

Flynn said: “I thought we were fantastic, we could have scored more and we started sloppy and they should have gone a goal up, if I am brutally honest.

“Our passing went amiss, and we were getting caught on the counter as we were leaving too many gaps.

“It is important (not to get too high or too low) and you learn that through experience, I was like that as a player.

“It is an emotional game, but sometimes you have to put that to the side and be professional.

“After last week’s shenanigans (drawing 5-5 against Wrexham) I will never take being three or four-nil up for granted.

“I have got faith in my players and I knew that today would not be a repeat of what happened last week.”

Davis Keillor-Dunn was Mansfield’s hero with a late brace as they twice came from behind to beat classy Stockport 3-2 in a Sky Bet League Two thriller.

An entertaining first half saw Stockport slice down the centre with a series of passes on six minutes, with Will Collar finally delivering to Louie Barr for a low finish into the bottom left corner.

Nine minutes later Stephen Quinn put the ball in from the left and George Maris reacted quickly to guide home an equaliser first time from eight yards.

However, Stockport were ahead again on 25 minutes as unchallenged Fraser Horsfall rose at the far post to bury a header from Ibou Touray’s corner across Christy Pym.

Four minutes later Keillor-Dunn controlled a George Williams cross but saw his finish hit the top of the bar from 10 yards.

Just before the break Pym ran out of his box to clear the ball but instead gifted it to Barry who, with an open goal to hit, was wide from 35 yards.

Ben Hinchcliffe made two brilliant saves to deny Keillor-Dunn and Maris in the 69th minute.

However Keillor-Dunn saw his low 18 yard shot find the net via a big deflection from a 70th-minute corner.

Nine minutes later he collected a pass from Stephen Quinn and curled a superb 16-yard finish across Hinchcliffe and inside the far post to win it for Mansfield.

MK Dons moved top of the table after holding on to claim a 2-1 victory over Doncaster to make it four wins out of five in League Two.

Daniel Harvie gave MK Dons the lead, before fellow defender Warren O’Hora doubled their tally later in the first half.

Substitute Lee Molyneux pulled a goal back for the visitors, but Rovers were unable to find an equaliser and moved to the bottom of the table as a result.

Doncaster arrived in Milton Keynes seeking a first League Two win this season, but the hosts struck first, as a deflected Jonathan Leko cross fell kindly for Harvie to place the ball beyond Ian Lawlor.

Just after the half-hour mark, O’Hora headed in a Dawson Devoy corner to give the Dons a second goal.

Half-time substitute Molyneux thumped a drive into the back of the net – just after coming on – to halve the deficit for the visitors.

Tommy Rowe would later have a goal disallowed for offside, before the away side could not take advantage of later chances and corners as the Dons held out to win the game.

Colchester upset the form book by beating Sky Bet League Two leaders Gillingham 3-0 at Priestfield.

Without a point prior to kick-off, the basement side scored three times in 18 minutes after the break to emphatically end the Gills’ run of four league victories without conceding a goal.

Midfielder Tim Dieng squandered a brilliant opening for the hosts after seven minutes when he headed straight at goalkeeper Owen Goodman.

Gills keeper Jake Turner reacted quickly to keep out Samson Tovide’s driven effort midway through the first half.

The visitors broke the deadlock after 64 minutes when substitute Fiacre Kelleher fired home from close range, after the Gillingham defence had failed to clear Noah Chilvers’ corner.

Goodman saved brilliantly to prevent former Colchester striker Macauley Bonne drawing the hosts level with a powerful header.

Tovide doubled Colchester’s advantage 13 minutes from time with a brilliant solo goal.

Bradley Ihionvien then sealed the win as he broke the offside trap before chipping the ball over the helpless Turner.

Gillingham’s miserable afternoon saw substitute Ethan Coleman dismissed for a challenge on Arthur Read three minutes from time.

Newport fought back from a goal down to claim a 3-1 League Two victory over Sutton thanks to three goals in the final 20 minutes at Rodney Parade.

After a scrappy first half, when Will Evans and James Clarke went closest to breaking the deadlock for the home side, the second half was a much more entertaining affair.

Sutton struck first in the 53rd minute when Omari Patrick was in the right place to fire low under Nick Townsend’s dive after the goalkeeper had saved a Lee Angol header.

Searching for a way back into the game, County brought on last season’s top scorer Omar Bogle for his first appearance of the campaign after injury.

And his presence up front made the difference as the hosts piled on the pressure.

Sutton defender Joe Kizzi headed into his own net to level the match after 70 minutes.

Harry Charsley headed in the Exiles’ second with 13 minutes remaining and Evans scored his seventh goal of the season in all competitions with another header three minutes from the end.

Troy Deeney scored his first Forest Green goal to secure a 1-1 draw at AFC Wimbledon.

The former Premier League striker lobbed the ball over goalkeeper Alex Bass with 15 minutes to go, cancelling out James Ball’s first-half strike.

James Tilley missed a golden opportunity to put AFC Wimbledon ahead after 15 minutes with a close-range header.

Forest Green responded when Charlie McCann’s effort just glanced off a post, while Matty Stevens had a close-range header that was well saved by Bass in the 27th minute.

Ball opened the scoring seven minutes later with a thunderous header from a corner sent in by former Rovers midfielder Armani Little.

There were few chances in the second half until Nathan Holland forced a save from Bass in the 62nd minute.

But Deeney kept his cool under pressure to lob Bass and score Forest Green’s third goal of the season to draw his side level on his second substitute appearance for the club.

AFC Wimbledon almost won it, but were guilty of some poor finishing late on as the two teams shared the spoils.

Notts County continued their impressive start to life in League Two but survived a late scare to beat Tranmere 2-1.

Goals from David McGoldrick and Connell Rawlinson gave the hosts a deserved advantage, with Josh Hawkes reducing the arrears late on.

Having dominated the opening exchanges, Luke Williams’ side were rewarded in the 12th minute – McGoldrick taking the ball in his stride before firing it in off the post.

The hosts almost doubled their lead moments later, but Macaulay Langstaff was unable to turn home Jodi Jones’ teasing delivery.

The hosts saw two efforts denied by the woodwork along with Dan Crowley putting a his shot wide from close range early in the second half.

However, they finally made their dominance count as defender Rawlinson finished from inside the area.

But having used all five substitutes, Cedwyn Scott was forced off through injury, meaning the Magpies played the remaining five minutes plus injury time with 10 men.

Ian Dawes’ side did pull one back when Hawkes swept the ball beyond Aidan Stone, but the hosts were able to hold on.

Harrogate ended a run of three successive defeats with a 2-0 home triumph over 10-man Morecambe.

Luke Armstrong and George Thomson got the goals as the North Yorkshire team registered their first home win of the season in Sky Bet League Two.

A sorry afternoon for the Shrimps was summed up by the misfortunes of centre-back Farrend Rawson, who conceded a first-half penalty, converted by Armstrong, before being yellow carded for his protests.

He was then sent off for a second bookable offence in the 66th minute after fouling James Daly, with Thomson going on to curl the subsequent free kick into Stuart Moore’s top-right corner.

Thomson had earlier seen his 19th-minute shot on the turn parried by Moore, with Rawson adjudged to have handled Sam Folarin’s follow-up effort.

The Shrimps defender vehemently argued that the ball had thudded into his ribs but Armstrong drilled the spot-kick into Moore’s bottom-left corner, with Rawson and fellow centre-back Jacob Bedeau cautioned for their continued remonstrations.

Thomson went on to spectacularly rub further salt in the wounds from 25 yards after Rawson’s dismissal.

The visitors did not manage their first – and only – shot on target until the 86th minute, with Adam Mayor’s firm drive from the edge of the box tipped over by Mark Oxley.