League Two Round-Up: Stevenage stun Luton, Morecambe & Crawley Town take advantage

Morecambe climbed to the summit of the League Two standings after recording their third league win on the bounce after narrowly edging past Yeovil Town 1-0 at Huish Park.

Veteran winger Kevin Ellison, 37, grabbed the headlines after his decisive strike in the 55th minute, seeing Jim Bentley’s men lead the division by a point after four outings.

Closely behind in second spot are Crawley Town, despite Barnet pinning them back to a 1-1 draw at the Checkatrade.com Stadium.

In-form striker John Akinde fired the Bees in front after just three minutes, only for defender Joe McNerney to level the tie after 67 minutes to preserve the Red Devils’ unbeaten start in League Two.

Leyton Orient are up to fourth, just a point behind Crawley, after recording back-to-back league victories after edging past newly promoted Grimsby Town 2-1 at Blundell Park.

Second-half efforts from Liam Kelly and Ollie Palmer saw Andy Hessenthaler’s O’s climb the league standings, despite an injury-time consolation from Dominic Vose as the Mariners couldn’t pull off a late comeback.

The shock of matchday four came at The Lamex Stadium as Stevenage celebrated their first league win of the season against Luton Town to knock the Hatters off top spot following their 2-1 triumph.

However it was Nathan Jones’ side who took the lead inside 15 minutes through midfielder Cameron McGeehan, although Connor Hunte headed home an easy equaliser at the back post just moments into the second-half. But it was to get even better for the hosts as forward Matt Godden waited until the sixth minute of injury-time to slay Luton after latching onto Tom Pett’s through ball, slotting it home and securing Stevenage’s first-ever home victory over the Hatters.

Roberts masterminded Portsmouth’s first league win of the 2016/17 campaign – Photo: Kieran Clarke / Offside.

Elsewhere; last season’s promotion contenders, Plymouth Argyle and Portsmouth, both enjoyed 2-0 home wins over Mansfield Town and Colchester United respectively.

The Green Army comfortably saw off the Stags at Home Park thanks to Graham Carey’s quick-fire brace in five first-half minutes, whilst Pompey were relieved to record their first win of the 2016/17 league term as Gary Roberts hogged the limelight at Fratton Park by netting a second-half double, including an 85th minute penalty, to ensure all three points were heading Paul Cook’s side’s way.

Meanwhile at the opposite end of the table, Exeter City crawled off the bottom of the pile after picking up their first points of the new campaign, sealing an impressive 2-1 victory at Accrington Stanley.

All three goals were scored in six second-half minutes after Ryan Harley’s unstoppable drive gave the Grecians the opener after 66 minutes, only for ex-Exeter midfielder Arron Davies to level the tie once more just four minutes later against his former club. However Paul Tisdale’s visitors had the last laugh as Jake Taylor got his side’s League Two points tally up and running at the fourth attempt after volleying home the match winner shortly after.

The other fixtures saw Cambridge United and Carlisle United play out an entertaining 2-2 draw at the Abbey Stadium, Doncaster Rovers narrowly saw off newly promoted Cheltenham Town 1-0 thanks to John Marquis’ only goal of the game and Jon Stead hit a 76th minute winner to give Notts County all three points at Hartlepool United in a 2-1 away win.

Sean Rigg popped up in the 81st minute to salvage a 1-1 draw for Newport County against Crewe Alexandra, whilst the only other result saw recently relegated Blackpool hold Wycombe Wanderers to a goalless encounter at Bloomfield Road.

Player of the Weekend: Graham Carey (Plymouth Argyle)
Team of the Weekend: Stevenage
Goal of the Weekend: Alex Kiwomya (Newport County vs CREWE ALEXANDRA)