Bristol Rovers 0-1 Northampton Town

Bristol Rovers are back in League Two after winning promotion from the Conference last season.

Bristol Rovers' return to the Football League ended in defeat as John-Joe O'Toole scored against his old side to give Northampton an opening day win.

Northampton's Marc Richards shot wide early on, while Rovers' Matty Taylor lost control after latching on to a poor back pass and rounding Adam Smith.

O'Toole finally put the Cobblers ahead with a bullet header from six yards.

Rovers rarely threatened but should have equalised when Ellis Harrison fired straight at Smith late on.

Bristol Rovers manager Darrell Clarke told BBC Radio Bristol:

"It was a disappointing day to be honest - we never got ourselves going.

The first 45 minutes was a typical first game of the season. I asked the lads to calm down a little bit in the second half and get our football going.

"We had a great chance to take the lead, which is disappointing when a good chance comes along. We didn't deserve anything from the game."

Northampton Town manager Chris Wilder told BBC Radio Northampton:

"It's a great day for us, it was a great effort from our supporters too.

"We had to defend and we had to defend well. When we passed it around we opened them up; Marc got into some good positions.

"John-Joe had a tough year last season. He has to do better, but we backed him today and it was a great goal."