Lorent Tolaj scored a brace as Aldershot denied Oxford City a winning start to life in the National League with a comprehensive 5-2 opening-day victory at the EBB Stadium.

Jack Barham broke the deadlock after 13 minutes from close range before Josh Parker equalised midway through the first half.

The Shots re-took the lead through Haji Mnoga following a corner just after the half-hour mark before Tolaj made it 3-1 – thanks to a Barham assist – in the eighth minute of first-half injury time.

Aldershot continued to dominate in the second half and debutant Josh Stokes put away a low cross from Barham to extend their score just two minutes in.

Tolaj completed his double at the death as he put the score beyond doubt, while the visitors still had time to reduce the deficit as Parker added his second of the day in the seventh minute of added time.

Barnet held off a late fightback to edge a 3-2 National League victory over Hartlepool in their season opener at the Hive.

The home side took the lead midway through the first half as debutant Adebola Oluwo bundled the ball home after Harry Pritchard got a touch on a free-kick at the far post.

Hartlepool pressed for an equaliser as Chris Wreh and Josh Umerah tested Bees goalkeeper Laurie Walker before Tom Crawford fired over the crossbar, while Nicke Kabamba headed an effort wide at the other end.

Kabamba almost doubled Barnet’s lead just before the break and he made his presence count at the start of the second half as the former Pools striker headed home at the far post.

Danny Collinge netted another header as the hosts made it three, while Hartlepool struck twice in the closing minutes as Jake Hastie pulled one back before Umerah fired in the rebound after the visitors had a penalty saved in stoppage time.

Kidderminster earned a point at home to Woking in their first Vanarama National League match since 2016.

Harriers won promotion last season in remarkable fashion following a run of nine successive wins and they marked their return to the higher level with a creditable goalless draw against a Woking side that finished fourth last term.

The best chances of the first half at Aggborough came towards the end of the period, with Rhys Browne firing just wide for the visitors before Woking goalkeeper Will Jaaskelainen denied Christian Oxlade-Chamberlain with a fine save.

Jaaskelainen also did well on the hour mark as Harriers threatened again and, after Woking had gone close through Robbie Willmott and Scott Cuthbert, the promoted side almost snatched victory when Ashley Hemmings saw his stoppage-time effort hit the bar.

Southend put their off-field issues aside as they battled to a surprising 4-0 victory over 10-man Oldham.

Shrimpers boss Kevin Maher was only able to register 15 players for their Vanarama National League opener due to a transfer embargo that has been in place since September due to money owed to HMRC.

But they got off to a flying start when Callum Powell managed to squirm an effort in after Oldham struggled to clear their lines from a corner in the eighth minute.

The visitors were reduced to the 10 men in the 57th minute following Will Sutton’s lunge at Nathan Ralph.

Oliver Coker scored just seconds after coming on as a substitute with a 83rd-minute strike from 25 yards before Dan Mooney added to their lead with a calm finish four minutes later.

Southend fans were in dreamland when Coker turned provider as Harry Cardwell nodded home in the sixth of 10 minutes added time for a convincing opening win.

Kyle Morrison’s stoppage-time equaliser earned Solihull Moors a point at home to Eastleigh in their National League opener.

After a pre-match tribute to late Moors chairman Trevor Stevens, affectionately known as ‘Mr Solihull’, it was the visitors who made the quickest start as Paul McCallum went close and Enzio Boldewijn struck a post.

The pair were then both denied by home keeper Tommy Simkin before Jamey Osborne and Josh Kelly tested Eastleigh’s Joe McDonnell in a first half that finished goalless.

Boldewijn headed Eastleigh in front 10 minutes after half-time from Charlie Carter’s cross.

Kyle Morrison and Osborne went close to an equaliser and though Moors had Nico Gordon sent off with a minute of the 90 remaining, Morrison struck deep into added time to salvage a point.

A late leveller from Cameron Coxe earned 10-man Boreham Wood a 2-2 draw at Gateshead on the opening day of the new Vanarama National League season.

The hosts broke the deadlock in the ninth minute through Marcus Dinanga before Jordan Hunter made it 2-0 six minutes later after Dinanga had seen his shot saved by visiting goalkeeper Nathan Ashmore.

Ashmore then produced a smart save in first-half stoppage time to prevent Dinanga from making it 3-0 from range.

Boreham Wood flew out of the blocks in the second half and got a goal back through Kwesi Appiah in the 60th minute.

Timmy Abraham was sent off for the visitors in the 84th minute but Coxe’s volley in the third minute of added time saw Boreham Wood leave with a point.

Harry Phipps scored with a last-gasp header to salvage Dagenham a point from a 1-1 draw at Altrincham in the Vanarama National League.

Dagenham’s Myles Weston hit the goal frame in the 24th minute and Altrincham came close to opening the scoring deep into first-half stoppage time as Chris Conn-Clarke’s shot was deflected out for a corner.

Conn-Clarke came knocking again in the last 20 minutes but his attempt was kept out and Regan Linney skied the rebound.

Altrincham finally got off the mark in the 79th minute after a touch from Dior Angus was pounced on by Conn-Clarke.

But Phipps met Josh Hare’s corner to level the scores in the eighth minute of stoppage time.

Wealdstone left it late to kick off their Vanarama National League campaign with a 2-1 win over 10-man York.

The Minstermen started brightly as Maziar Kouhyar saw a shot blocked by Wealdstone defender Jack Cook before Dipo Akinyemi and Adam Crookes were denied from the subsequent corner.

York went ahead when Levi Andoh’s cross picked out Lenell John-Lewis, who teed up Akinyemi for a debut goal.

Max Kretzschmar levelled from the penalty spot on the hour mark after Kouhyar was adjudged to have used his hand to block a shot.

The match took a decisive turn seven minutes from time when York defender Callum Howe saw red for bringing down Corie Andrews while he was clean through and in the 88th minute Kretzschmar set up Jaydn Mundle-Smith for the winner.

Substitute Joe Quigley scored a dramatic late winner to spare Chesterfield’s blushes as the Vanarama National League promotion hopefuls came from behind to beat Dorking 4-3.

Paul Cook’s Spireites – who finished third last season – got their new campaign up and running as Ryan Colclough hammered home the opener in the 23rd minute.

Yet semi-professional Dorking were soon level as Jason Prior poked in a Josh Taylor cross.

Prior then turned the tables on the hosts by firing Dorking ahead from the penalty spot in the 52nd minute.

Parity was restored, however, when Colclough got down the left after the hour mark to pick out Liam Mandeville for a point-blank strike.

Seven minutes from full-time, Mandeville sent the home fans into raptures with a fine free-kick.

But three minutes into 14 added on, Sebastian Bowerman turned home a cross for a dramatic late leveller.

There was of course plenty of time left for Quigley to deliver a fantastic headed winner to seal all three points for Chesterfield.

Alex Whitmore headed a late equaliser as AFC Fylde salvaged a 2-2 draw at Maidenhead on their return to the National League.

Last season’s National League North champions went behind in the 12th minute when Reece Smith nicked the ball off a defender and slotted home.

Maidenhead doubled their advantage seven minutes later as Emeka Obi diverted a cross into his own net.

Obi was denied at the other end with Craig Ross saving his close-range header before Fylde started their comeback in the 33rd minute courtesy of Nick Haughton.

Ashley Nathaniel-George hit the crossbar for Maidenhead, while Ross produced a brilliant close-range save to deny Jonathan Ustabasi.

After Connor Barrett was sent off for Fylde late on for a reckless tackle on Smith, the visitors levelled thanks to Whitmore’s header from a corner in added time and almost stole the points as Haughton’s effort came back off the crossbar.

Jack Evans scored on his debut as Halifax beat Bromley 2-0 in the National League.

Evans’ strike early in the second half was added to by Millenic Alli as last season’s FA Trophy winners started their campaign in style.

Bromley, who reached the play-offs last term, were denied a first-half opener when home goalkeeper Sam Johnson parried Adam Marriott’s shot and then brilliantly tipped over Jude Arthurs’ follow-up.

But Halifax improved after half-time and almost took the lead when Ryan Galvin’s left-wing cross was headed over by Robert Harker.

And the opener came in the 53rd minute when Evans was played in by Galvin and confidently finished past Chelsea loanee Teddy Sharman-Lowe.

Alli wrapped up victory with 16 minutes remaining by tapping in after being teed-up by Max Wright.

Non-league Southend have been given more time to clear a £275,000 tax debt.

HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) has issued a winding-up petition.

A judge in a specialist court was told on Wednesday that the sale of the National League club was in progress.

Judge Sally Barber, who oversaw an Insolvency and Companies Court hearing at the Rolls Building in central London, said the case would be reconsidered in six weeks.

She was told by Southend chairman Ron Martin that more time was needed to complete the sale of the club and clear the debt.

Another judge had adjourned a hearing in May after being told that the sale of the National League club was under way. The size of the debt emerged at the hearing in May.

Martin represented the club at Wednesday’s hearing and he told Judge Barber: “We are seeking an adjournment for 42 days to complete the sale.”

HMRC has issued a number of winding-up petitions against Southend over unpaid tax in recent years.

Southend, who dropped out of the Football League at the end of the 2020/21 season, featured in an Insolvency and Companies Court hearing in March, after HMRC issued an earlier winding-up petition over unpaid tax. Another judge heard how that debt had been cleared.

Despite the on-going financial issues, the Shrimpers finished eighth last season – just missing out on a place in the National League play-offs.

Wrexham's first-team coach David Jones does not see why the club cannot dream of achieving Premier League status following their promotion from the National League.

The Welsh outfit ended a 15-year exodus from the English Football League with promotion to League Two this season, Phil Parkinson's men finishing as champions with a record 111 points.

Under Hollywood owners Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney, the Red Dragons have experienced an explosion of fortunes both on and off the pitch.

Any prospect of top-flight football is still several seasons away at the very least, but reflecting on their impressive rise, Jones does not see their hopes as fanciful.

"I think with the way that the owners have come in and started to put infrastructure in the club, they're doing it the right way," he told Stats Perform.

"The way that they've got that connection with fans, with players, they've really got together [and] united the whole club.

"Anything's possible, especially with these owners and what we've witnessed in the last two years. 

"Obviously, we're not naive enough to say that it's not going to be a difficult challenge to get to the Premier League.

"Many teams try and do it every year, and they're already in the Championship, investing huge sums of money. There's no guarantee of anything in football.

"But with the current manager and the staff that he's put in place, they're experienced football guys who know what it takes to get promoted and get through the leagues, and what the club needs to progress.

"If those things are in place, you stand a better chance of success. I think it's a realistic aim, if we keep doing the things that we've been doing for the last couple of years."

Eyebrows were raised when actors Reynolds and McElhenney took over at Wrexham, but any fears the move was a mere publicity stunt have abated amid the club's revival.

Jones applauded the owners for uniting the city, highlighting how they have not sought to cut corners in helping to turn matters around after a decade-and-a-half in the doldrums.

"With that kind of energy, anything's possible," he added. "From the word go, they've done everything the right way. They've done fantastically.

"To be able to enter the football world and to be able to have the impact they have done is very difficult. Sometimes it's a closed shop, and if you don't speak the football language it is difficult for people to have to buy in.

"The way that they've done things, they have the respect of everybody. I can't speak highly enough of the job they've done."

Former Wrexham defender Neil Taylor has told the club’s Hollywood owners Rob McElhenney and Ryan Reynolds to stay clear of signing big-name “over the hill” players and avoid a “circus”.

Actors McElhenney and Reynolds have transformed Wrexham since buying the club in February 2021, with the Dragons set to end a 15-year absence from the English Football League after winning the National League title.

Wrexham’s promotion has seen them linked with several prominent names, among them former Real Madrid and Wales star Gareth Bale, who McElhenney and Reynolds attempted to lure out of retirement.

Former Wales forward Hal Robson-Kanu and ex-Blackburn and Norway midfielder Morten Gamst Pedersen, now 41, have also offered their services to Wrexham since promotion to the fourth tier was won.

“It can’t become a circus. It’s still a football club that needs to be successful because no one will pat you on the back if you don’t do it properly,” said Taylor, the former Swansea, Aston Villa and Wales full-back who began his senior career at Wrexham.

“Leave those players that are over the hill. I’d say to Hal ‘I don’t think you’re getting in over Paul Mullin. You’re retired now and he’s a top-class striker’.

“People think League One and League Two is easy but they’re not. It’s really hard football, harder arguably than when you play higher up with the amount of games, travel and some of the grounds you play at.

“So I’d say to Wrexham, stay clear and go for players who know the league and have been successful in it, players who are hungry to get higher up.”

Taylor, who grew up in north Wales at nearby Ruthin, predicts Wrexham will mount another strong promotion challenge in League Two next season.

Several members of Phil Parkinson’s squad – among them top scorer Mullin, Ollie Palmer, Elliot Lee and skipper Ben Tozer – have extensive experience playing in the EFL.

“Hopefully that success continues and I don’t see any reason why not with the squad they’ve got,” said Taylor.

“They will strengthen this summer but it’s already a ready-made team to do well in League Two. But if you’re a good player in League One or League Two and Wrexham knock on the door, you’re going to go there.

“You’ll look at the brand and the commercial value of it and see how Paul Mullin’s gone from Tranmere to having a book out.

“It shows how good going to Wrexham can be for your career and agents will clamour to get their players at the club.

“But they’ve got to be careful who they get through the door because, in my mind, there’s no bigger pull than Wrexham below the Championship.”

Taylor was 19 when he was part of the Wrexham side relegated from the EFL in 2008 and he admires McElhenney and Reynolds for their impact on the football club and the wider community in general.

He said: “When I started there – and I was carrying the water for the first team at 16 – the Racecourse was full.

“But by the time you’re getting relegated, there were 2,500 in the stadium and you see the decline.

“It was tough for many years, so to see them promoted was emotional because I know many people connected with the club who are still there when I was.”

Hollywood owners Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney say they will not get bored at Wrexham as they build a “sustainable business” at the newly-promoted club.

Wrexham ended a 15-year absence from the English Football League last month as the two actors’ investment in the Welsh club paid handsome dividends.

The pair took over the club from the Wrexham Supporters Trust in February 2021 and have invested heavily on infrastructure and strengthening manager Phil Parkinson’s squad since, with some reports suggesting an outlay of over £10million.

“I find it fascinating there are people who assume this could ever be boring in any stretch of the imagination,” said McElhenney, speaking on the Fearless in Devotion podcast.

“The things we have done and felt in the last two-and-a-half years just don’t exist in our worlds – or any world that I can think of.

“So getting bored would never be on the list of things that would happen.

“But I also think about any cynicism or criticism that we might get, that is simply by nature just not creative in any way or helpful in any way, is generally just a reflection of how someone is feeling about themselves or something they may have gone through in their life.”

Reynolds has made it clear that he wants to take Wrexham to the Premier League and admitted that his involvement in football has become an “addiction”.

He said: “We don’t pretend it’s just salad days ahead. It’s a journey.

“It’s making sure that no matter what we do as stewards of this club we are avoiding stasis or backtracking at all cost.

“That can sometimes happen, at least from when I’ve observed other clubs, you can get in this cycle where you’re just keeping your head above water.

“So we always want to be on that inexorable march forward, not just as a club but as a community, and Rob and I love Wrexham about as much as two human beings could love anything on this planet.”

Wrexham are expected to strengthen again this summer in order to make a League Two promotion challenge next season.

Reynolds and McElhenney insist they were serious over their failed bid to lure former Real Madrid and Wales star Gareth Bale out of retirement to play for Wrexham, but are adamant they will not be “writing cheques to keep the business of the club afloat”.

McElhenney said: “From the beginning we’ve been talking about what our short-term strategy is and what our long-term strategy is because we’ve always said we want to build a sustainable business.

“We look at the entire club as a massive investment – an investment in the club, town and future.

“And neither one of us wants to put ourselves or the club in a position where any one of us are just writing cheques to keep the business of the club afloat.

“Everything we’ve done since we’ve come in is to ensure no matter who comes in – and hopefully it’s us for the rest of our lives – we are building a sustainable business. Whatever that might mean in the future, who’s to say?”

Deadpool star Reynolds said he was contemplating Wrexham’s future within hours of them capturing the National League title.

Reynolds said: “Almost the next day I was so excited to dig in to what’s next for the club, which I’m proud to say and deeply regretful to say because I should have enjoyed that moment, which I did.

“But I’m so excited to repeat that feeling as much as possible and just grow, grow, grow as big as we can possibly get and continue to deliver.

“The great moments we’ve had so far do not exist without the bad. That’s football.

“It’s a heart-breaking sport and I’m addicted to it now and you have to have both.”