Gillingham 0–0 Newport County

🏟️ Priestfield Stadium

Gillingham and Newport County split the points in a 0-0 draw at Priestfield. The visitors were the more constructive side, finishing with 15 shots and five on target while restricting Gillingham to seven and one. Newport pressed without turning it into a goal. The result extends Newport’s unbeaten league run to four matches. Gillingham have now gone two league games without scoring.

⚽ Goals: No scorers recorded

Key Moment: Newport could not convert their pressure into a goal.

What It Means: Gillingham move to 13 points after nine games, while Newport move to 10 and remain a side capable of control without a cutting edge.

Exeter City 1–0 Rotherham

🏟️ St James Park

Anthony Scully marked his Exeter City debut with the decisive goal in a 1-0 win over Rotherham United at St James Park. Matt Taylor’s side started sharply and carried the better of the play, with Scully’s 51st-minute finish from a George Birch delivery breaking the deadlock. The win gives Exeter a second league victory of the season and lifts them to nine points. Rotherham remain on ten points after another stop-start result.

⚽ Goals: Anthony Scully (51′)

Key Moment: Scully’s goal just after half-time rewarded Exeter’s early pressure and gave them something to defend.

What It Means: Exeter’s second league win of the season lifts Exeter to nine points, while Rotherham stay stuck on ten points.

Rochdale 1–0 Swindon Town

🏟️ Spotland Stadium

Rochdale made it three straight wins with a late 1-0 home defeat of Swindon Town. Ian Watson’s side controlled long spells but struggled to find a cutting edge until the final minutes. The game tilted when Kaelan Majekodunmi was sent off after two bookings, allowing Rochdale to build pressure. Cian Hayes, on as a substitute, scored the winner two minutes from time. Swindon are now four league games without a win and have still not scored away from home in five attempts this season.

⚽ Goals: Cian Hayes (88′)

Key Moment: Majekodunmi’s second booking with the score level removed Swindon’s security and gave Rochdale the initiative.

What It Means: Rochdale move to 13 points and look increasingly durable, while Swindon remain on 11 and still cannot find an away goal.

Crewe 3–1 Bristol Rovers

🏟️ Alexandra Stadium

Crewe ended a run of six consecutive league draws with a 3-1 home win over Bristol Rovers. Jack Lankester gave the hosts a perfect start inside the first minute and added a second from the penalty spot midway through the first half. Jordan Gibson stretched the lead after the break, and although Bobby Kamwa pulled one back in stoppage time, the result was not in doubt. Crewe remain unbeaten through nine league matches, a sequence built more on draws than wins until Saturday. Bristol Rovers stay on 15 points and will rue a start that gave them no chance.

⚽ Goals: Jack Lankester (1′), Jack Lankester (21′ pen), Jordan Gibson (66′), Bobby Kamwa (90+2′)

Key Moment: Lankester’s first-minute goal set a tempo Bristol Rovers never recovered from.

What It Means: Crewe now have 15 points and remain unbeaten, while Bristol Rovers stay on 15.

Salford City 1–0 Fleetwood Town

🏟️ Peninsula Stadium

Salford City extended their unbeaten league run to six matches with a 1-0 home win over Fleetwood Town. The first half was goalless. Macaulay Langstaff scored the winner in the 65th minute. Salford kept a clean sheet. The defeat is a third successive league reverse for Fleetwood, who remain on ten points.

⚽ Goals: Macaulay Langstaff (65′)

Key Moment: Langstaff’s 65th-minute goal settled it.

What It Means: Salford move to 16 points with six league games unbeaten, while Fleetwood remain on ten and are now three league defeats in a row.

Accrington ST 2–0 Cheltenham

🏟️ The Wham Stadium

Charlie Warren came off the bench to score twice and give Accrington Stanley a 2-0 home win over Cheltenham. For long spells the game looked headed for 0-0, with clear chances scarce. Warren broke the deadlock in the 78th minute and added a second in the 87th. Cheltenham’s frustration was compounded when leading scorer Charlie McCann was sent off for a second yellow card in added time. Accrington move to ten points, while Cheltenham stay on 15 but lose ground in a splintered round.

⚽ Goals: Charlie Warren (78′), Charlie Warren (87′)

Key Moment: Warren’s first goal changed a fixture that had been drifting towards a goalless draw.

What It Means: Accrington move to 10 points with a morale-boosting home win, while Cheltenham’s second league defeat leaves them on 15 and slightly adrift of their recent standards.

Grimsby 1–2 Shrewsbury

🏟️ Blundell Park

Grimsby Town suffered their first home league defeat of the season as Shrewsbury Town won 2-1 at Blundell Park. Former Grimsby player George Lloyd put the visitors ahead in the first half, and Kian McMahon-Brown doubled the lead on the hour. Finlay Cartwright pulled one back for Grimsby with his first goal for the club, but Shrewsbury managed the closing stages effectively. Back-to-back league defeats leave Grimsby on 13 points, while Shrewsbury move to 11 and extend their unbeaten run to four matches.

⚽ Goals: George Lloyd (19′), Kian McMahon-Brown (60′), Finlay Cartwright (75′)

Key Moment: McMahon-Brown’s goal on the hour, Shrewsbury’s second, gave Shrewsbury a cushion that forced Grimsby into chasing the game.

What It Means: Grimsby’s early home strength is fading, while Shrewsbury have turned a run of draws into a valuable away win.

⭐ Match of the Round: Chesterfield 4–2 Tranmere

🏟️ Proact Stadium

Chesterfield turned a 1-1 second-half grind into a 4-2 home win over Tranmere at the Proact Stadium. Dilan Markanday’s early goal put Chesterfield ahead after 15 minutes, but Dylan Jones equalised for Tranmere before the hour and the game threatened to drift into another frustrating afternoon for the hosts. Then the late scoring arrived in clusters. Louie Marsh restored the lead in the 83rd minute, Josh Koroma made it 3-1 two minutes later and added a fourth in stoppage time. Jacob Slater pulled one back for Tranmere with almost the final kick, but by then the contest was effectively over. The result moves Chesterfield to 14 points from nine games and back into winning form after defeat at Cheltenham.

⚽ Goals: Dilan Markanday (15′), Dylan Jones (59′), Louie Marsh (83′), Josh Koroma (85′), Josh Koroma (90+1′), Jacob Slater (90+4′)

Key Moment: The sequence between 83 and 90+1 minutes, when Chesterfield scored three times after Tranmere had drawn level at 59.

What It Means: Chesterfield regain momentum but still have a mixed season record, while Tranmere’s winless league run extends to four matches.

⭐ Player of the Week: Jack Lankester (Crewe)

Jack Lankester’s early brace did more than settle the score: it released Crewe from the tension of their six-match drawing sequence. The first-minute goal and composed penalty gave Bristol Rovers a two-goal deficit inside 21 minutes, and Crewe held the lead to the end.

🎯 Decisive Goal of the Week

Josh Koroma (Chesterfield) vs Tranmere — Koroma struck twice in the final five minutes plus stoppage time, turning a 2-1 lead into a 4-1 cushion and ending Tranmere’s chance of a recovery.

💪 Performance of the Week

Crewe‘s 3-1 against Bristol Rovers — Crewe finally turned their long draw sequence into a decisive home win, with Jack Lankester’s early double providing the platform.

In the Spotlight

Ian Holloway (Swindon Town) — Swindon Town are four league games without a win. ‘That is sickening for everybody,’ he said after the late 1-0 defeat at Rochdale. Without an away league goal all season and with 11 points from nine matches,

⚽ League Two Top Scorers

👀 Key Fixtures Next Week

• Oldham vs Accrington ST (Sat 10 Oct 12:30)
• Swindon Town vs Crewe (Sat 10 Oct 12:30)
• Rotherham vs Gillingham (Sat 10 Oct 15:00)
• Newport County vs Colchester (Sat 10 Oct 15:00)
• Bristol Rovers vs Barnet (Sat 10 Oct 15:00)
• Cheltenham vs Salford City (Sat 10 Oct 15:00)
• Fleetwood Town vs Walsall (Sat 10 Oct 15:00)
• Tranmere vs Rochdale (Sat 10 Oct 15:00)

🔮 Predictions Review

Correct Results: 6/8

Model Record: 21/42 (50.0%) this season (since 2026-09-07)

Best Call: The model called all six of the settled home wins, and the lowest-confidence hit was Crewe at 40.0% against Bristol Rovers, which hit as a 3-1 home victory.

Worst Call: The biggest miss was Grimsby vs Shrewsbury, where a home pick at 46.5% confidence was overturned by Shrewsbury’s 2-1 away win.

The model backed the home side in all eight settled fixtures, which was right six times and wrong in the draw at Gillingham and Shrewsbury’s away win.

📚 Five Things We Learned

1. Crewe’s six draws had looked like a curse of half-control, but a first-minute Jack Lankester goal showed how quickly that profile changes with a fast start.
2. Substitutes decided two matches: Charlie Warren’s two goals for Accrington and Cian Hayes’s winner for Rochdale.
3. Swindon’s Kaelan Majekodunmi red card demonstrated how a disciplined away performance can unravel once a second booking leaves them a man short.
4. Salford City are learning to win without needing volume: a single Macaulay Langstaff goal and a clean sheet were enough to extend their unbeaten league run to six games.
5. The split round makes table-reading unreliable — four fixtures remain outstanding, so points totals across the division are not yet comparable.