Irish bhoys Niall McGinn and Darren O’Dea had mixed fortunes as they made their debuts for Brentford and Leeds United.
McGinn enjoyed a satisfying 2-0 home win over Yeovil but O’Dea found himself pitched into a Leeds team that struggled to contain newly promoted Southampton with the 3-1 scoreline flattering the Yorkshire club.
Leeds pre-season win over Newcastle last weekend prompted a mini twitter led crisis at the Premiership side but it was back to earth with a bump for Simon Grayson and his side.
The Leeds boss admitted: “I am shocked. The passion and quality we showed against Newcastle a few days earlier was not there. There are no excuses. We need to learn from that.”
O’Dea played at left-back in a Leeds side that also contained Robert Snodgrass, Ross McCormack and former Hearts defender Patrick Kisnorbo.
At the Riverside Stadium it was a familiar story for Tony Mowbray as he watched Middlesborough chuck away a two goal advantage over Portsmouth to end up with a point with Stephen McManus, Barry Robson and Scott McDonald in the ‘Boro side.
Down a division it was all smiles for McGinn as he helped Brentford to a winning start against Yeovil.
The London side, managed by former Manchester City striker Uwe Rosler, have emerged as one of the promotion favourites with the German impressed by his side’s winning start.
He said: “I thought it was important to take the momentum from pre-season into the league.
“The lads did remarkably well especially in the first half, I felt we had a very good balancing between playing the way we want to play but also showing some toughness and directness.”
In the bottom tier Adam Virgo was the villain who spoiled the return to league football of AFC Wimbledon with Virgo’s 85th minute penalty giving Bristol Rovers a 3-2 win.
Whilst technically a new club AFC Wimbledon claim the moral history over Milton Keynes Dons with their return to the Football League against Bristol Rovers capturing most attention in League Two.
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