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EFL League One Review: Matchweek 2

EFL League One preview

Welcome back to Last Word On Football’s League One review. This week saw one of the youngest sides in EFL history take to the field and put in a stunning display of resilience, while one team finally got their season underway after a week’s delay.

EFL League One Review

Bolton’s Boys Fight Until the End

After all of Bolton Wanderers’ senior players declared themselves unavailable for selection due to the club’s ongoing issues, Phil Parkinson was made to field a side with an average age of just 19. James Weir was the oldest at 24, while there were three 16-year-olds on the bench.

Opponents Coventry City actually found the net three times in this game but all were ruled out for offside, meaning Bolton held on for a point. It does little to change the position they’re in, and they still sit in the bottom two on minus points, but the fact they were able to field a team in such adversity and fight to gain a point shows that they’re not going to go down lightly this season.

They were greeted to rapturous applause when they entered the pitch and received the same reception when they left. The fans, and Parkinson himself, are well on the side of the players.

 

Healey’s Heroics Enough for Dons

Rhys Healey scored a 93rd-minute winner for MK Dons as they finally got their season underway at home to Shrewsbury Town. Paul Tisdale’s side were due to play Bury last week but saw the game suspended, so they kicked off their season against Sam Rickett’s Shrewsbury instead.

A game of few chances saw former Wolverhampton Wanderers midfielder Dave Edwards come the closest when his wonderful volley was tipped aside by Lee Nicholls, but the defining moment came right at the death.

Ben Reeves, making his second debut for the club, played in Healey, who was doing the same, and his curling shot was diverted past Max O’Leary by defender Ethan Ebanks-Landell to finally break the deadlock and get the Dons off the mark.

How Did We Do?

Each week we take a crack at predicting the results of each match. How did we get on this opening weekend? Actual results are shown in bold whereas our predictions are in italics.

Accrington Stanley P-P BuryNo prediction made

Bolton Wanderers 0-0 Coventry City  Bolton Wanderers 0-2 Coventry City

Bristol Rovers 0-0 Wycombe Wanderers Bristol Rovers 1-0 Wycombe Wanderers

Fleetwood Town 2-0 AFC Wimbledon Fleetwood Town 2-1 AFC Wimbledon

Gillingham 1-2 Burton Albion Gillingham 1-2 Burton Albion

Ipswich Town 1-1 SunderlandIpswich Town 2-1 Sunderland

MK Dons 1-0 Shrewsbury TownMK Dons 1-1 Shrewsbury Town

Oxford United 1-0 Peterborough UnitedOxford United 1-3 Peterborough United

Portsmouth 2-0 Tranmere RoversPortsmouth 2-0 Tranmere Rovers

Rochdale 1-1 Doncaster Rovers  Rochdale 1-2 Doncaster Rovers

Rotherham 0-2 Lincoln City Rotherham United 1-0 Lincoln City

Southend United 1-3 Blackpool Southend United 0-2 Blackpool

Two correct results! We’ll aim for some more next week.

Up Next

Games to take place on Saturday, August 17. 3:00 kick-offs unless otherwise stated.

Sunderland v Portsmouth – 12:30 kick-off

AFC Wimbledon v Accrington Stanley

Blackpool v Oxford United

Burton Albion v Rotherham United

Bury v Gillingham

Coventry City v Bristol Rovers

Doncaster Rovers v Fleetwood Town

Lincoln City v Southend United

Peterborough United v Ipswich Town

Shrewsbury Town v Rochdale

Tranmere Rovers v Bolton Wanderers

Wycombe Wanderers v MK Dons

 

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Embed from Getty Images

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