League Two Round-Up: Salford Stay Top as Port Vale Beat Grimsby

Port Vale had 16 shots to Grimsby's 11, seven of them on target to two, and a single goal from Kyle Dempsey was all they needed. The PA Media report counts it as only Vale's second win of the campaign, and it left Grimsby with a third straight league defeat and 11th place on 13 points.

Vale might have led inside three minutes. Onel Hernandez got in behind the Grimsby defence after a lofted ball and hit a low shot, which Christy Pym got down to and diverted onto the foot of a post. As Vale piled on the pressure in the opening half hour, Pym stopped a close-range effort from Max Watters, and Maldini Kacurri then cleared an attempt from George Hall off the goal line. The breakthrough came on 45 minutes, when Dempsey bent a spectacular effort into the top right corner from outside the area, with J. Headley credited with the assist in the BBC's key events.

On the hour Watters tested Pym again, this time with a prodded shot, and Charles Vernam struck the Vale crossbar from distance for Grimsby. A Vale breakaway goal was ruled out in stoppage time, with substitute Ben Waine the player the report names as denied by the assistant referee's flag. Grimsby had 51 per cent of the ball and two shots on target, which is possession as packaging: plenty of it, and not much inside.

Jon Brady's reaction was captioned 'Keep that belief going'. Vale were 23rd on five points before the game and are 22nd on eight from eight games, with four goals scored all season, which is level with Northampton for the fewest in the division. Grimsby were third and unbeaten after seven games, on 13 points. They have since lost at Newport, then at home to Shrewsbury, and now at Vale Park, scoring twice across the three games. They are at home to Northampton on 17 October.

Jorge Grant scored twice after Cheltenham were reduced to ten men, and Salford stay top of League Two. According to the PA Media report, the home side had matched them until the 78th minute, when Ben Stevenson was dismissed after denying Brendan Wiredu a clear scoring chance close to the edge of the area. Salford were ahead six minutes later.

The first goal owed as much to a challenge as to a shot. Freddy Willcox was lying on the ground and trying to clear from his own area when Grant's well-timed tackle sent the ball into the net, his first goal of the season. The second came three minutes into added time, Grant steering a fine finish into the top right corner after a pass from Kallum Cesay. Until the sending-off Cheltenham had barely troubled Will Norris, and Macaulay Langstaff had been denied by Wyll Stanway five minutes before the interval.

Salford had 12 shots to four and three on target to none, though the possession split was 51 to 49. It is their fourth successive League Two win, and across those four games they have scored eight goals and conceded one. They lead on 19 points, one clear of Barnet and Crewe on 18, and Peter Cklamovski's reaction was captioned 'Very proud'.

Cheltenham fall from fourth to eighth on 15 points, a week after a 2-0 defeat at Accrington in which Charlie McCann was sent off in added time. Steve Cotterill's reaction was captioned 'I worry for our game'.

Bristol Rovers led for 75 minutes and lost by two goals. Ellis Harrison put them ahead after four minutes, sweeping the ball into the bottom right corner from inside the area when a clearance of Shaq Forde's low cross fell to him, and that was the score at half-time.

Barnet were under heavy pressure throughout, the PA Media report says, and survived it. Adam Senior was left unmarked at the back post and made no mistake, levelling on 79 minutes. Six minutes later Rovers' Tommy Leigh was shown a red card for violent conduct, according to the BBC's live text, and in the next minute Zac Williams picked up the ball on the edge of the Rovers area and hit a thumping shot into the top right corner. Kabongo Tshimanga completed the turnaround five minutes into stoppage time, finishing a two-against-one break by tucking the ball under Brad Young.

The numbers are closer than the scoreline. Rovers had 18 shots to 17 and four on target to three, and Barnet scored with all three of theirs. Rovers had 40 per cent of the ball. The PA Media report says the result brought Rovers' record home winning streak to an end, without giving its length.

Barnet stay second on 18 points from eight games, unbeaten with five wins and three draws, and their 20 goals are the most in League Two. Rovers fall from fifth to ninth on 15 points after a second defeat in a row, following the loss at Crewe, and Steve Evans's reaction was captioned 'It's a sore one to take'.

Rotherham had 62 per cent of the ball and 12 shots, and still lost at home. Gillingham scored with each of their four shots on target, and the PA Media report says it was Rotherham's first league defeat at home this season.

The hosts led first. Kian Spence sent a ball into the box in the 17th minute, Paul Mullin muscled past Andy Smith and put it into the bottom corner, and that was his fifth goal this season. Ronan Hale levelled in the 34th minute with a volley into the far corner, and it was 1-1 at half-time.

On the hour Lamin Sillah drilled Gillingham in front after James Brophy had kept the ball alive. Seven minutes later goalkeeper Julian Eyestone gave away a penalty by bringing down Sillah, and Hale beat him from the spot for his second. The fourth also came from the spot, on 89 minutes: substitute Tom Eaves was fouled, picked himself up and took the penalty himself.

Gillingham climb from 10th to fourth on 16 points, six places, a week after a goalless draw with Newport. Rotherham fall from 17th to 20th on 10 after a 1-0 defeat at Exeter, and Gareth Ainsworth's reaction was captioned 'Superb - the goals are great'.

Crewe are unbeaten after ten league games, four wins and six draws, and this one came from a single low cross. Josh March delivered it in the 60th minute and Jordan Gibson swept it in. It is Crewe's second win in a row after six successive draws.

Swindon were the better side in a scrappy first half, according to the PA Media report, yet the first clear opening went to Ollie Clarke just before the break, and he glanced a near-post header from Jack Thomson's corner wide of the target. After the interval Connor Ripley rushed out to smother a shot from Joe White, and at the other end Tom Booth had to claw out Aaron Drinan's far-post header from a few feet away.

Gibson looked likely to add a second after carrying the ball into the area from the left and leaving the centre-half in knots, but he put his shot into the side netting. Matus Holicek then ran clear and Ripley saved with his legs, and he stopped March's drive minutes later.

Swindon had 57 per cent of the ball and 12 shots to 11, but one on target to Crewe's four. The PA Media report says Ian Holloway recently called himself a 'dead man walking' and that his side have not won since early September. They fall from 13th to 17th on 11 points, a week after losing at Rochdale. Crewe are third on 18, level with Barnet, who have played two games fewer.

Chesterfield led 2-0 and left without the win, and Crawley took their first point at home this season. Lee Bonis opened the scoring on 23 minutes with a first-time shot from Lewis Gordon's cross, his fourth in the league this season, and then blazed over from a Joel Randall pass as half-time approached. Louie Marsh doubled the lead on 56 minutes, stroking in after Lewis Richards had blocked Dilan Markanday's goalbound effort.

The response came off the bench. Gianmarco Di Biase arrived just before the hour, and two minutes later he converted a penalty awarded when Ryan Boot, the Chesterfield goalkeeper, fouled Priestley Farquharson. In the 66th minute he deflected Dylan Morgan's shot into the net to level it. Two goals in five minutes stopped a slide of three defeats in a row for Crawley, according to the PA Media report.

Chesterfield had 60 per cent of the ball, 21 shots to 11 and seven corners to one, with five shots on target each. The PA Media report says they were unchanged for a third successive league game, and they go from eighth to seventh on 15 points. Crawley are still last on five points from eight games, five behind Rotherham in 20th. Colin Kazim-Richards's reaction was captioned 'Great character'.

Fleetwood had 17 shots to eight and seven on target to two, and Walsall left with a point. Ronan Coughlan put the hosts in front just after the hour, driving the ball in once a Lewis McCann pass released him, and Aaron Pressley equalised on 82 minutes with a glancing header from Andy Dallas's cross, his sixth goal this season.

Walsall goalkeeper Jed Ward kept his side in it, turning away a Coughlan header inside the opening 10 minutes and making a low stop to keep out a long-range strike from Mark Helm shortly before the interval. Rhys Bennett's header flew narrowly over the bar for Fleetwood before the break. At the end, the PA Media report says, Reece Smith put another dangerous Dallas delivery narrowly wide, which it describes as Walsall's best chance to win the game.

Walsall are unbeaten after nine games, three wins and six draws, and sit sixth on 15 points. Fleetwood go from 18th to 16th on 11, and the PA Media report puts their winless run at five games. Lee Grant's reaction was captioned 'I want us to be better'.

Newport had 36 per cent of the ball and one goal, and the goal won it. Substitute Tanatswa Nyakuhwa, a Wales Under-21s international on loan from Cardiff City according to the BBC report, finished off a cross from Matty Jacob on the left on 79 minutes for his second goal of the campaign for Newport.

Before the goal there were chances at both ends. Beryly Lubala tried his luck from 25 yards and Jordan Wright gathered it, and Shaquille Gwengwe bent a shot past the post for the hosts in the first half. Matt Dibley-Dias fired wide soon after the restart, and at the other end Moses Sesay hit the outside of the post.

Colchester had the edge on shots, 12 to 11, with four on target each. Newport are unbeaten in five League Two games and have not lost at Rodney Parade this season. The BBC report calls this their second home win in a row, and it lifts them from 15th to 12th on 13 points. Colchester stay 19th on 10 points from nine games, their three-game run of draws over. Danny Cowley's reaction was captioned 'Tough one to take'.

Between them Oldham and Accrington managed a single shot on target, and it was Accrington's. The PA Media report calls the game drab, and the goalless draw at Boundary Park stopped four consecutive defeats in League Two for Oldham.

Oldham had a single attempt at goal in the first half, and goalkeeper Mat Hudson made only one save all afternoon, from a shot on the turn by Alex Henderson on the half-hour. Accrington had more of the ball and more shots, 10 to four, and nine corners to two, though the PA Media report says they did not ask Hudson enough questions. According to the report, Kane Drummond brought some energy and pace to Oldham after coming on, without a final ball to go with it. Oldham wanted a penalty when Keenan Appiah-Forson's cutback hit the hand of Devon Matthews, and the referee awarded a corner.

Stefan Mols went close with a free-kick in stoppage time for Accrington, who are unbeaten in four league games and sit 15th on 11 points, up from 16th. Oldham are 21st on eight points from nine games. John Doolan's reaction was captioned 'We could have had all three'.

Sonny Cox had been on the pitch for eight minutes when he settled it for Exeter. The 21-year-old substitute placed the ball into the bottom corner on 86 minutes after a clever pass from George Birch, scoring for the first time since August 2025, the PA Media report says. It gave Exeter consecutive league wins for the first time since January.

A goalkeeper kept it goalless until then. Jack Bycroft, on loan from Manchester City, tipped a Josh Ruffels strike over the bar, denied Isaac Fletcher from close range after the break and later turned a deflected George Lloyd strike over, with Lloyd also seeing an effort ruled out for offside around the half-hour. Arkell Jude-Boyd hit a post as the game moved into its final 10 minutes, and Charlie Cummins nodded wide for Exeter.

Shrewsbury had 13 shots to five and three on target to one, and Exeter scored with their only one. Exeter climb from 20th to 14th on 12 points, six places, and Shrewsbury fall from 14th to 18th on 11, a week after their win at Grimsby. Gavin Cowan's reaction was captioned 'We beat ourselves today'.

Tom Conlon scored first, on 15 minutes. Rochdale let the ball run out for a Tranmere throw-in, and Conlon seized on the error and drove a shot from 25 yards into the top left corner, which the PA Media report calls an early wonder goal. Tranmere ought to have been further ahead at the break, the report says: Tom Ince missed a glorious chance in the six-yard box, and Dylan Jones sent a shot wide with Aden Flint closing him down just before half-time.

Rochdale levelled on 57 minutes, Dajaune Brown tapping in from close range after a cross from Charlie Tasker, and the report says the earlier misses proved costly. Ince then sent a long-range effort against the underside of the bar, and Rochdale held on for the point.

Tranmere had 15 shots to seven and four on target to one, and Rochdale had 59 per cent of the ball. Rochdale are unbeaten in five League Two games and climb from 11th to 10th on 14 points, and the PA Media report says Tranmere are winless in five after a sixth draw of the season. They are 13th on 12 points, and Ian Watson's reaction was captioned 'A proper football game'.

York were chasing a 14th straight home league win, which would have put them level with the club's class of 1964/65, the PA Media report says, and they failed to match the record. Northampton scored first. In the 10th minute York could only clear Lee Evans's corner as far as Joe O'Brien-Whitmarsh, who hit a first-time shot from 15 yards past Alfie McNally.

York answered with two Ollie Pearce efforts that found the net, both flagged offside, and Northampton came close to a second before the break when Elliott Moore's header struck the crossbar. The equaliser arrived late, Jeff King's cross dropping to Pearce, who finished past Zach Jeacock.

York had 77.5 per cent of the ball and eight corners to four, and the shots were 13 to 14, with two on target to Northampton's three. They are fifth on 15 points from nine games, up from sixth. Northampton are 23rd on seven from eight, and the PA Media report says they have won only one of their last 27 matches, a run that goes back to February. Scott Lindsey's reaction was captioned 'We have to do better', and Chris Hogg's 'It's a good day, it's a point and we move forward'.