Lower League Roundup: November 1 2017

League One

It was curtains for Lee Clark on Tuesday night as Bury finally sacked the beleaguered manager following the Shakers’ fourth defeat in a row that saw them drop to 23rd in the table. People often associate Bury with struggles, but over the summer there were a number of high-profile and highly talented signings including the likes of Jermaine Beckford and Chris Maguire, so being in the position they find themselves is clearly unacceptable.

It will be interesting to see who gets the role to take over at the club, but personally I would love to see Phil Neville given an opportunity to prove himself as a manger after coaching with Valencia.

Elsewhere, Shrewsbury lost their first game of the season, a remarkable effort after 15 games unbeaten but it was a wonder goal from Marcus Maddison that was their eventual demise at Peterborough.

Wigan and Blackburn fought out a rather dire Lancashire derby, meaning the Latics missed the chance to go top and Richie Wellens lost his first game as manager of Oldham in their 3-2 home defeat to Scunthorpe despite battling back from two goals down.

Bradford did just enough to grab all three points at Portsmouth and Charlton also grabbed a win by beating AFC Wimbledon 1-0 in the most boring match of the day in League One. The Addicks won it late on thanks to an excellent free kick from star man Ricky Holmes.

Northampton picked up a massive result at Sixfield by narrowly defeating Blackpool by a single goal, but the shock of the day came at the New York Stadium where Gillingham beat high flying Rotherham 3-1 thanks to three headed efforts, two from Parker and the other from Tom Eaves. The result boosts caretaker boss Steve Lovell’s chances of landing the post full time.

League One results:

Northampton 1-0 Blackpool, Portsmouth 0-1 Bradford, Bury 0-1 Doncaster, Charlton 1-0 Wimbledon, Bristol Rovers 2-0 MK Dons, Peterborough 1-0 Shrewsbury, Fleetwood 2-0 Oxford, Oldham 2-3 Scunthorpe, Rotherham 1-3 Gillingham, Plymouth Argyle 1-1 Rochdale, Walsall 0-1 Southend, Wigan 0-0 Blackburn.

League Two

It was two excellent 3-0 away victories that stole the show in League Two where Coventry beat Luton at Kenilworth Road, and Swindon were triumphant against the resurgent Port Vale at Vale Park. These results propel both clubs into the play-off places and put them firmly in the race for automatic promotion race.

Chesterfield are still struggling at home and drew 2-2 with Carlisle to remain rooted to the bottom of the table, whilst Morecambe have slipped into the bottom two as yet more rumours about potential buyers circle around the Globe Arena*.

*Editor’s note: fantastic astronomy pun, this.

Frustrating times for Jim Bentley have been made worse by their 2-0 defeat away at Forest Green, who are on a mini-revival of their own with their third win on the bounce. Morecambe fan Roger Fitton provided this wonder account of his trip to a club that are doing things very differently indeed!

Elsewhere, Lincoln and Grimsby drew 0-0 at home to Crawley and Cambridge respectively, while Colchester continued their recent impressive run by beating Crewe 3-1 in Essex.

Kevin Nolan has got to be happy after his Notts County side beat Newport 3-0 at Meadow Lane to move clear at the top, taking advantage as Exeter drew at Mansfield and Luton lost at home. Accrington managed to keep up the pressure with a wonderful 4-1 demolition of struggling Barnet, and Yeovil won a bad tempered match at home to Stevenage by three goals to nil. There were three red cards in the match, and Stevenage fans are becoming increasingly frustrated with the team’s recent form.

However, the game of the day was at Adams Park where Wycombe and Cheltenham played out an entertaining 3-3 draw. The Chairboys led 3-1 thanks to a brace from Akinfenwa, but the Robins hit back to take a well-earned point home to Gloucestershire.

League Two results:

Accrington 4-1 Barnet, Chesterfield 2-2 Carlisle, Grimsby 0-0 Cambridge, Lincoln 0-0 Crawley, Forest Green 2-0 Morecambe, Luton 0-3 Coventry, Port Vale 0-3 Swindon, Yeovil 3-0 Stevenage, Wycombe 3-3 Cheltenham, Colchester 3-1 Crewe, Notts County 3-0 Newport County, Mansfield 1-1 Exeter