Football League Trophy Review: 1st September

The first round of the Football League Trophy got underway last night, with a number of exciting matches taking place in both the Northern and Southern sections of the draw.

Here at The Sport Lowdown we review the action from the opening round matches.

Northampton Town 3-2 Colchester United

League Two Northampton overcame League One Colchester at Sixfields, with substitute Marc Richards bagging the winner in a thrilling encounter.

Macauley Bonne twice got his side back into the match, after goals from Dominic Calvert-Lewin and Ryan Watson had put their team ahead, but Richards scored late-on to send the Cobblers through to the next round.

Morecambe 2-0 Walsall

Walsall may have been runners-up last season in this competition but they came undone against a team a league below them.

Morecambe are in impressive goal-scoring form as of late and this continued against Walsall, as efforts from Jamie Devitt and Tom Barkhuizen gave their team the win.

AFC Wimbledon 2-3 Plymouth

Plymouth came from two goals down to come back and down AFC Wimbledon at Kingsmeadow.

Adebayo Azeez and Lyle Taylor put Wimbledon ahead inside 25 minutes, but Jake Jervis scored before the break to give his side a glimmer of hope. After the restart Ryan Brunt equalised and then Carl McHugh scored the winner for Argyle to progress.

Luton Town 2-1 Leyton Orient

Luton overcame League Two pace-setters Leyton Orient with a late goal, despite Jack Marriott being sent of with 10 minutes left to play.

Danny Green put the home side ahead with a fine effort that powered into the top of the net but Orient equalised when Lloyd James scored from the spot after Scott Kashket was brought down.

Marriott was then sent off late on, but Luton still managed to win it with full-back Stephen O’Donnell scoring.

Cambridge United 0-2 Dagenham & Redbridge

Dagenham put their poor early season form behind them to record a deserved 2-0 victory against Cambridge at the Abbey Stadium.

Ashley Hemmings opened the scoring with a strike from the edge of the area and that was followed up with a goal from Matt McClure to send Dagenham & Redbridge through to the next round.

Hartlepool United 1-1 Sheffield United
(Sheffield United won 4-3 on penalties)

Sheffield United managed to overcome Hartlepool United thanks to a penalty shootout.

Ryan Flynn scored early on to put the Blades into the lead, but his effort was cancelled out by Scott Fenwick just after the break.

In the resultant set of spot-kicks Sheffield United were able to take the victory after the home side missed a couple of efforts, despite missing once themselves.

Scunthorpe United 1-2 Barnsley

Barnsley beat Scunthorpe thanks to second-half goals from Lewin Nyatanga and Marley Watkins.

Scunthorpe grabbed a 90th minute goal through Charlie Goode, but it proved to be no more than a consolation goal.

Newport County 1-1 Swindon Town
(Swindon Town won 7-6 on penalties)

Newport County and Swindon Town shared a 1-1 draw at Rodney Parade.

The visitors scored in the first half through Anton Rodgers, but County were back on level terms in the second half when Aaron Collins scored.

Will Randall stepped up at 6-6 during the shootout to give his side the win, who progress through to Saturday’s second round draw.