Football Park's EFL Roundup: Late Winners, Hat-Tricks and Red Card's Galore - Saturday's EFL Action

Football Park's EFL Roundup

While much of the country breathed a huge sigh of relief as the Premier League returned for the first time in two weeks today, the English Football League went ahead as usual, garnering little fanfare but plenty of drama.

Let’s have a look at what went on in England’s second, third and fourth divisions on Saturday.

The Championship

League leaders Coventry City continued their unbeaten start to the season with a routine 2-0 home win over Blackburn Rovers, their fifth consecutive clean sheet in the league. Rover's own uncharacteristically slow start to the season has seen them drop into the danger zone - defeat saw Valerien Ismael’s side fall back into the drop zone for the second time this season.

Tight at the back & fluid in attack ⚽️

There is no stopping @Coventry_City 🩵 #PUSB pic.twitter.com/CvLaCdSlML

— Sky Bet (@SkyBet) October 18, 2025

Elsewhere there were wins for all of Coventry’s five primary chasers, as Stoke City, West Brom, Millwall and Bristol City all chalked up three points against their respective opponents, while second-place Middlesbrough grabbed a narrow 2-1 victory at home to Ipswich on Friday evening.

However, the Championship new boys didn’t fare quite as well: both Birmingham City and Wrexham tasted defeat at the hands of Hull City and Stoke City, respectively, though Birmingham could argue that they were extremely hard done by.

Boasting double Hull’s attempts on goal, and mustering 65% of possession, the 3-2 defeat at home to the Tigers will have been a kick in the teeth for Chris Davies and his side, and Jack Robinson’s first-half own goal followed by a red card on the hour mark will only add salt to the wound.

Jack Robinson with an absolute disasterclass for Birmingham City today...

Own goal in the first half and then two yellows within three minutes to get the red card! 😅 pic.twitter.com/W3EAl1hFPF

— Footy Accumulators (@FootyAccums) October 18, 2025

Wrexham struggled in their 1-0 loss to the Potters - in 90 minutes plus added time, the Dragons only took five attempts on goal and rarely looked likely to pick up a result.

Sheffield United will be particularly buoyed by Saturday’s results, as their 1-0 win over fellow strugglers Watford saw them pick up just their second league victory of the season, a result which lifted them off the bottom of the table in the process, as Sheffield Wednesday’s away defeat to Charlton Athletic saw them switch places with the Blades.

League One

England’s third tier is now guaranteed to have new leaders by the end of the gameweek, as Cardiff City took advantage of a Stevenage slip-up to top the table for the first time in over a month.

The Welsh outfit battled their way to a 2-1 win over Reading despite having got less than half the number of their opponents' shots off - a 65th-minute Yousef Salech finish would prove enough to claim maximum points.

Comeback kids 🤩#CityAsOne pic.twitter.com/IhPUkZaYuI

— Cardiff City FC (@CardiffCityFC) October 18, 2025

Though Stevenage lost only by a 1-0 margin, anyone watching the game will say they were luckier it wasn’t by more: they managed just four attempts and one on target in the entire 90 minutes, and goalkeeper Filip Marschall was on top form, making save after save to ensure the deficit remained manageable, if just outside his side’s reach.

Elsewhere, a draw against barnsley for third-placed Bradford City meant they couldn’t capitalise on Stevenage’s result in a game which saw Barnsley's Reyes Cleary score from within his own half, while Wimbledon produced an excellent away performance at Plymouth Argyle to move into fourth.

At the foot of the table, there was drama in Blackpool’s game with Wycombe Wanderers - Ashley Fletcher thought he had secured the relegation-threatened Seasiders just their third league win of the season with his finish on the stroke of half-time, but in the 12th minute of added time in the second period, Wycombe right-back Jack Grimmer broke Blackpool hearts, as he thumped home a heart-wrenching equaliser.

16 different goalscorers last season.
16 different goalscorers already this season.

It’s still October. pic.twitter.com/zLlh9QQKcE

— Wycombe Wanderers (@wwfcofficial) October 18, 2025

Peterborough eased the pressure on boss Darren Ferguson with a win over fellow relegation candidates Burton despite being reduced to 10 men for the final 10 minutes, while Stockport picked up yet another quiet statement victory over Exeter, with their 1-0 win dragging them up to fifth, into the play-off spots.

League Two

Saturday’s League Two action saw six red cards shown, bringing with it unexpected scorelines and no shortage of drama.

Gillingham were shown two of these six reds, with both Remeao Hutton and Jonathan Williams sent for an early bath before the 65th minute, and they could only watch from the stands as a Charles Vernam penalty proved the difference in their defeat to Manchester United’s FA Cup conquerors, Grimsby Town.

I've been a Gillingham fan for Twenty-Two years. Today is single handedly the worst refereeing performance I've ever seen. I am apoplectic that someone that incompetent is allowed to referee professional football matches. It simply isn't good enough. #Gills

— Luke (@Naylor94) October 18, 2025

The result pushed Grimsby into third, while it also saw Gillingham drop down to fifth - however, one side who failed to capitalise on the Gills' defeat was Swindon Town, who, after being shown a red card of their own, collapsed to a 4-0 defeat at Accrington Stanley.

Table toppers Walsall also saw their momentum come to an abrupt halt, after a remarkable defensive effort from 15th-placed Barrow saw them blunted, despite the out-of-form visitors playing with 10 men for the final 35 minutes.

Colchester United and Tranmere Rovers also notched confidence-boosting wins - the U’s dismissed Harrogate Town with a 3-1 thanks to a high-quality first half hat-trick from left-winger Harry Anderson, while Tranmere cruised to a 4-1 success against Bristol Rovers despite playing away from home.

A team performance, never say die attitude,

9/10 from every single player, special mention to Mbick and Tucker I thought were solid,

And, Harry Anderson you are in some fine form young man!

That’s 3 league wins in a row, Danny’s beard is growing!

What are your thoughts on…

— Up The U's (@OfficialUpTheUs) October 18, 2025

Relegation threatened Crawley Town and Newport County failed to help their respective survival cases - Newport crumbled at home in a 2-0 defeat to Cheltenham, while a red card for Crawley’s Harry McKirdy paved the way for Shrewsbury Town to seal victory five minutes from time.