Joel Shooter looks at the main talking points from the latest Sky Bet League One and Sky Bet League Two action.
Salford lose unbeaten start
After an unbeaten start to the season, Salford manager Graham Alexander was somewhat surprisingly relieved of his duties after his side let a 2-0 lead slip against a depleted Tranmere side last weekend.
His place was taken by former Oldham managerial flop Paul Scholes, who oversaw a first league defeat of the season as the Ammies fell 1-0 to fellow promotion contenders Port Vale.
It was a dramatic game which saw marksman Ian Henderson fail to add to his goal tally as the former Rochdale man missed a penalty, before mesmerisingly skying the rebound with the goal gaping. Cristian Montano was the man on hand for Vale to grab a late goal in an even game as the Colombian smashed in an 86th minute winner.
The result sees the Valiants get back on track after suffering consecutive defeats to Morecambe and Carlisle, moving above Salford in the League Two table.
MK Dons off the mark
MK Dons finally grabbed their first win of the season on Saturday with a 2-0 victory against an in-form Gillingham side. The Buckinghamshire side had struggled to put away their chances in previous encounters against Ipswich and Portsmouth, but managed to make their dominance pay against the Gills as Cameron Jerome struck to give them a first half lead.
Carlton Morris then finished off a fine passing move just after the break for MK Dons’ second as Gillingham were not able to respond. They fell to a first defeat since the opening day, seeing them move outside the play-offs.
The result also saw MK Dons move off the bottom of the table and out of the relegation zone. While the table at this early point in the season doesn’t hold too much sway, it will have been a huge relief for MK Dons to have finally gotten a win under their belts, particular after being very unfortunate in their past two games.
Mansfield’s failings continue
Lavish spenders Mansfield are again showing signs of falling way short of their lofty targets.
The Stags fell to a highly disappointing 21st place finish last season and despite assembling another strong squad filled with some recognisable League Two names, they are struggling once again. A 3-1 defeat at home against Bradford saw the Stags fall to a lowly 23rd in the table, with the goals summing up Mansfield’s miserable start.
Goalkeeper Marek Stech dropped a corner into his own net for the opener, before calamitous defending allowed for Connor Wood and Clayton Donaldson to extend Bradford’s lead.
Without a win in any competition this season and having lost key striker Danny Rose to Northampton this month, things are looking bleak for Mansfield who could be in for another season of defying expectations to struggle at the foot of the table.
Plymouth fly high while Northampton struggle
Plymouth enjoyed a highly successful 2019/20 season, sealing promotion playing attractive football under Ryan Lowe, with the former Bury manager rumoured to be in the running for the Bristol City job.
Lowe stayed and has overseen a fine start to the season for the Pilgrims as they lie sixth in the table. The same, however, cannot be said of fellow promoted side Northampton. After sneaking into the play-offs and blitzing Cheltenham and Exeter with their direct style to claim promotion, the Cobblers have struggled with just one league victory as they lie in the relegation zone.
The two sides met on Saturday with Plymouth claiming their second win on the bounce thanks to a late winner from Kelland Watts after Ricky Korboa had cancelled out Frank Nouble’s opener. After a draw and a win to start the season for Northampton, they have now lost four on the trot.
Ruthless Cambridge condemn Scunthorpe
Cambridge continue to be a surprise package this season. They sit top of League Two having scored and the most goals and conceded the second fewest, and recorded their second 5-0 victory of the season on Saturday against a struggling Scunthorpe side.
Paul Mullin crashed home two first half penalties for the U’s to take his goal tally to seven in six league games, before an own goal and two second half strikes from forward partner Joe Ironside helped fire Cambridge to top of the league on goal difference. Scunthorpe, meanwhile, have had an entirely different start to the season.
The Iron started in decent form with a draw against Newport and a win over Carlisle in their opening three matches, but since then have lost three in a row. This trio of matches have seen them concede 11 goals while only replying with a single goal.
With Scunthorpe tipped to struggle by some, things are not looking particularly bright for the Iron.
Oxford sink while Peterborough keep climbing
Last season’s play-off semi-finalists Oxford will have been hoping for another strong campaign. Instead, though, they currently lie bottom of League One with one win and four defeats.
Things looked like they had clicked against Accrington at the end of September after the Yellows took their chances to beat Accrington 4-1, but they then endured a frustrating weekend against Gillingham the following Saturday as they dominated but fell to a 3-1 defeat.
The U’s again had chances against Peterborough last time out, but were ultimately undone by goals from Joe Ward and Siriki Dembele. After a stuttering opening to the season with two defeats in their opening three matches, the Posh have since won three on the bounce and conceded just one goal in that time.
These results have seen Peterborough reach fourth in the table as they look to achieve their ambitions of promotion this time around.