Goals Fly In In Latest Bristol Street Motors Trophy Encounters

Goals Fly In In Latest Bristol Street Motors Trophy Encounters

The all-action start to the 2024/25 Bristol Street Motors Trophy continued after the latest round of fixtures in the group stage, with only one of the 32 teams in action in the first games of September failing to hit the net.

Prior to those fixtures, two matches had been scheduled to take place a week earlier, with the Northern Group E fixture between Crewe Alexandra and Liverpool U21 ending in a resounding win for the League Two side at Gresty Road.

Debutant Fin Roberts opened the scorer for Crewe before Liverpool equalised through a penalty from Dominic Corness, but a double from Chris Long put the home side 3-1 up at half-time. Ryan Cooney and Adrien Thibaut both then scored their first goals for the club in the second half to complete a 5-1 success.

The planned game between Grimsby Town and Manchester City U21s in Group G was postponed to a date to be determined after the Mariners made it through the second round of the EFL Cup – losing at home to Sheffield Wednesday.

Northern Section:

After three wins from four games in League One, Stockport County maintained a strong start to the new season with victory in their opening Group A fixture away at Accrington Stanley.

An early strike from Ash Hunter had put the home side ahead but two goals in three minutes from Jack Stretton put Stockport in front by the break. Callum Camps and Louie Barry then added two more in the final ten minutes to wrap up the win.

Port Vale made it two wins from two in Group B, although penalty kicks were required to see off the Wolverhampton Wanderers U21 side after late drama at Vale Park.

Wolves took the lead in the first half through Tom Edozie before Lorent Tolaj equalised on the hour mark with his first goal for the Valiants. Fletcher Holman put the visitors back in front with just four minutes to go but an even later strike from Ronan Curtis earned Port Vale a shoot-out, which was won 5-4 to secure the extra bonus point.

Group C kicked off with two away wins, with more late drama at Brunton Park as Carlisle United went up against Nottingham Forest U21s. After Joe Gardner put Forest in front, Carlisle drew level thanks to Jake Allen with just two minutes remaining, only for the Academy side to grab the points in stoppage time through Archie Whitehall.

Wigan Athletic meanwhile dominated possession at home to Morecambe but were unable to make the most of it to secure victory. Goals from Harvey Macadam and Lee Angol either side of a reply from Joe Hugill ensured the Shrimps took all three points.

Group D also got underway, with Aston Villa U21s rolling out the big guns for the trip to League Two Fleetwood Town.

Former England international Ross Barkley and Argentine midfielder Emiliano Buendia both started for the visitors, with Buendia scoring twice on his return to action after a serious knee injury to put Villa 2-0 up at half-time.

Ronan Coughlan and Ademipo Odubeko hauled Fleetwood level after the break but Kyrie Pierre grabbed a late winner to give the Villans the points.

The away side was also victorious as former winners Bolton Wanderers visited Barrow, who took the lead through Sam Foley in the first half.

Bolton battled back after the break and scored three times in an eleven minute spell through John McAtee, Aaron Collins and Kyle Dempsey. Andrew Dallas managed the find the net for a second Barrow goal, but the Cumbrian side was unable to grab an equaliser.

Crewe followed up the victory over Liverpool in Group E with a disappointing 4-1 loss to Blackpool, who named Steve Bruce as their new manager following the game.

Veteran forward Jordan Rhodes opened the scoring before a double from CJ Hamilton and a fourth from Sonny Carey put the Seasiders in control. Omar Bogle’s first goal for Crewe proved to be nothing more than a consolation.

A Yorkshire derby in Group F saw Doncaster Rovers beat Huddersfield Town after goals from Ephraim Yeboah and Joe Ironside either side of a reply from Danny Ward, whilst Chesterfield remain unbeaten in Group G after a Connor Cook goal was good enough to beat Lincoln City at Sincil Bank.

Bradford City, beaten at the semi-final stage last season, came from behind against Newcastle United U21s, with goals from Oliver Sanderson and Andy Cook after Ben Parkinson had scored for the Magpies.

An injury time equaliser from Josh Donaldson however took the game to penalties, where Newcastle emerged victorious to take the bonus point.

Southern Section:

Big money signing Jay Stansfield was named in the Birmingham City line-up for the game with Walsall at St Andrews but a crowd of nearly 10,000 was silenced when Charlie Lakin put the visitors ahead early in the second half.

Christoph Klarer equalised late on to force penalties, where Walsall emerged on top to score the victory.

Bromley debuted in the competition in the first game in Group C, where two goals from Marcus Dinanga earned the lead against Cambridge United only for Liam Bennett, Dan Barton and Emmanuel Longelo to all find the net to put the visitors ahead.

Olufela Olomola grabbed a Bromley equaliser in the final minute before hitting the winning penalty in the resultant shootout.

Defending champions Peterborough United kicked off their campaign with victory on the road against Gillingham, with Ricky-Jade Jones and Bradley Ihionvien both on target before an injury time consolation from Elliott Nevitt for the hosts in the first fixture in Group D.

Josh Robinson and Ismeal Kabia scored either side of an effort from Daniel Happe as Arsenal U21 won 2-1 at Brisbane Road against Leyton Orient in Group E whilst Exeter City top Group G after a home win by the same score against Swindon Town.

Joel Cotterill fired a quick equaliser for Swindon after Ed Francis fired Exeter in front, and the Grecians grabbed all three points through former Scotland youth international Jack Aitchison.

Cheltenham Town meanwhile also won 2-1 in their first game in the competition this season, with Harrison Sohna and Joel Colwill on target in a comeback victory against Newport County at Rodney Parade.

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