Morecambe, Oldham and Burnley get first wins

Adam Evans scored the winner at Macclesfield

Those two clubs, Tranmere and Wrexham, have both played just one game with Tranmere gaining a win and Wrexham suffering a defeat. For the other five teams in the league, they've all played two and have won one and lost one.

There were three games this week with the winners all teams that had lost in the first round of games.

Morecambe should have travelled to Chorley on Wednesday to face a Preston side that beat Burnley convincingly in the opening games. However, the clubs switched the fixtures and instead Preston went to the Globe Arena on Tuesday.

There they suffered a 2-0 defeat with Lewis Alessandra scoring twice in a four minute spell midway through the second half. Incredibly, it was a first defeat at reserve team level for Preston since October of last year when two Wes Fletcher goals gave the Clarets a 2-0 win against them at Chorley.

Coach David Unsworth had another strong team out, including such as Ian Ashbee and Darel Russell, and said after the game: "It was a disappointing performance and result in horrendous conditions, it was a shocking night to play football.

"Fair play to Morecambe, they have had two shots on goal and have managed to score both times which is disappointing for us. I didn't think our strikers got on the ball enough and ask too many questions of their back four.

"We have had a couple of half opportunities, Juvhel Tsoumou should have scored in the second half when he hit the bar and if that had gone in who knows what would have happened. Honestly I don't think we deserved anything from the game, we were not at the races last night."

That result ensured Burnley went into the game at Macclesfield the day after in bottom place but it was Oldham, the team Macclesfield had beaten previously, who kicked off first at Wrexham. Oldham won 5-2. Matt Smith and Ryan Brooke both scored twice with Kirk Millar also finding the net.

The Oldham coaches weren't, however, impressed with the defensive display. They conceded twice, through and admitted that with any luck Wrexham might have had more.

Smith and Brooke had given Oldham a 2-0 lead before a familiar figure to Burnley fans pulled one back for the Welsh club. That was Gareth Taylor who then hit the post when he looked set to draw Wrexham level.

Smith got his second before Sam Fitzgerald scored for Wrexham to take the score to 3-2 in Oldham's favour at the interval.

Wrexham were unfortunate in the second half and twice came close as Taylor, and Glen Little, linked well but two goals just past the hour, from Millar and Brooke completed the scoring.

Seven goals, and there were seven too in our game at Macclesfield as we ran out 4-3 winners after coming from 1-0 and 2-1 behind before grabbing a late winner through Adam Evans.

Jason Blake said on the performance: "It wasn't ideal preparation (the late arrival after the coach breakdown) but the bottom line remains, whatever happens you still have to go out with the right attitude. I was pleased with that because it can easily let excuses slip in."

"Yes it's important we play the right way and try and keep learning and developing but at the same time we want to breed a winning habit. They need to push to try and get into the first team and in that environment you need to win games.

"It's no different here. As much as we talk about development, there's still got to be that desire not to concede, that desire to win the defensive elements of the game and that desire to go and play and create chances and score goals.

"Maybe technically our finishing needs to improve off the back of today and we will do some work on that, but it was pleasing that after they pulled it back to 3-3 near the end we kept playing and going forwards and we won the game from it."

Macclesfield coach, Glyn Chamberlain, said: "It's never nice to lose a game so late on, especially as we had only just scored to bring it back to 3-3. I think that would have been a fair result but fair play to Burnley who went straight up the other end and grabbed the winner.

"It was an entertaining game and I think that showed as those who came along stayed to applaud both teams."

Below are this week's results, the next fixtures, the league's leading goalscorers and the current league table.

THIS WEEK'S RESULTS

Tuesday 6th September
Morecambe 2 Preston 0

Wednesday 7th September
Macclesfield 3 Burnley 4
Wrexham 2 Oldham Athletic 5

NEXT FIXTURES

Tuesday 27th September
Oldham v Burnley (2:00 p.m. at Oldham's training ground)

Wednesday 28th September
Macclesfield v Wrexham
Tranmere v Preston

LEADING GOALSCORERS

3: Ryan Brooke (Oldham), Mustafa Tiryaki (Tranmere)
2: Lewis Alessandra (Morecambe), John Grant (Macclesfield), Matt Smith (Oldham)

BURNLEY'S GOALSCORERS

1: Adam Evans, Mehdi Lazaar, Dave Lynch, Shay McCartan, Ross Wilson

CURRENT LEAGUE TABLE