Crystal Palace were one of a number of teams to fall to penalties in a dramatic opening round of the Carling Cup.
Early exit for Palace
It took a penalty shoot-out at the Memorial Stadium for
Bristol Rovers to eventually qualify for the second round and send
Crystal Palace out of the Carling Cup at the first stage.
Rovers had some good chances and had a penalty appeal turned down in the first half, but it was
Palace who netted first via Dougie Freedman, who put the visitors in front after just over half-an-hour of play.
Rovers equalised in the second half, as Craig Disley sent the goalkeeper the wrong way to level the score line.
Still 1-1 after extra time, the result was eventually determined on penalties, with Bristol Rovers eventually coming out on top 4-2.
Conditions were quite testing at the Fraser Eagle Stadium but that did not seem too much of a hindrance to
Leicester, who came out 1-0 victors in their first round tie against
Accrington Stanley.
The Foxes took an early lead as James Wesolowski opened the scoring inside the opening five minutes, to score the only goal of the game.
Three goals in just over ten minutes, all in the second half, and it was
Barnsley who came out on top at Oakwell against
Darlington.
20 minutes into the second half Barnsley took the lead, as Istvan Ferenczi converted a corner from Robert Kozluk, with a header into the far corner.
Tommy Wright brought
Darlington back into the game just five minutes later, but again the Championship side regained their lead as Paul Reid netted from close range to seal the win.
It took 75 minutes for anyone to find the back of the net at Bloomfield Road and thankfully for the home fans, it was
Blackpool who did so.
Ben Burgess netted the only goal against
Huddersfield, in a very competitive first round tie to see Blackpool through.
Bristol City cruised through to the second round with a 3-0 win over
Brentford.
Marvin Elliot's powerful header gave City the lead early in the first half, before Phil Jevons doubled that lead just before the half-time whistle.
The third goal, and the final nail in the coffin, came just four minutes from time, as Jevons netted his second and City's third goal of the evening.
Despite recently sacking their manager the
Carlisle players appeared unfazed and needed just one goal to win at Gigg Lane.
Danny Graham gave the visitors the lead after just 12 minutes, netting the only goal in a very tight encounter against
Bury.
Roger Johnson eventually found the back of the net to send
Cardiff through to the second round in another incredibly tight encounter.
It took an extra-time goal from Johnson, whose header into the top right of the net after an additional 30 minutes, finally saw Cardiff through against
Brighton.
A gritty goalless draw in 90 minutes meant extra time at the Saunders Honda Stadium but neither
Chester City or
Nottingham Forest could find a winning goal.
Still 0-0 at the end of extra time, in a very competitive and hard-fought first round tie, Forest finally came through to win 4-2 on penalties.
A half-time talk by Iain Dowie seemed to do the trick for
Coventry, as they came out from a goalless 45 minutes to win 3-0 against
Notts County at the Ricoh Arena.
The Blues took the lead through Dele Adebola two minutes into the second half, with Leon Best building on that lead after just over an hour of play.
Robbie Simpson rounded off a successful night for the Blues, who recorded a comfortable opening round win.
Luton played confidently in their 2-1 win over
Dagenham to progress through to the second round.
The Hatters took the lead just before half-time as Matthew Spring converted from the penalty spot.
Jon Nurse brought down Drew Talbot late on in the first half, forcing the referee to award a spot-kick.
A smooth finish by Talbot sent Tony Roberts the wrong way, to net Luton's second goal and give them a deserved win.
There was, though, consolation for Dagenham as they pulled a goal back via Ben Strevens, fifteen minutes from time, but it was not enough to deny the Hatters.
Doncaster made easy work of their first Round opponents
Lincoln , cruising through to the second round with a 4-1 win at the Keepmoat Stadium.
It took Rovers 23 minutes to find the back of the net, as James Hayter gave the home side a 1-0 lead going into the second half.
Then two goals in five minutes early in the second half from Richard Wellens and Paul Heffernan, and a fourth from Mark McCammon, saw Doncaster easy victors.
Lincoln's only goal in the game coming from Jamie Forrester ten minutes from time.
It could not have been tighter at Blundell Park after
Grimsby and
Burnley played out a goalless draw in 90 minutes, taking the match into extra time, and it did not stop there.
Danny North rode a tackle to take the ball round keeper Brian Jensen, to give the home side the lead minutes into extra-time.
But their lead was short-lived as Andy Gray netted on 108 minutes of play, to bring it back level and take the game to penalties.
It was Burnley who held their own and dealt with the pressure of a shoot out, winning 4-2 on penalties.
Hereford were comfortable victors on Tuesday night as they beat
Yeovil 4-1, with all four of United's goals inside the first half.
Lionel Ainsworth scored a hat-trick inside the first 45-minutes to ease the home side through.
Clint Easton added his name to the score sheet, after converting a free-kick which again came in the first half.
Minor consolation for Yeovil, who started the second half much better than the first, was Lloyd Owusu's consolation goal.
Dennis Wise achieved another good result as
Leeds United progressed to the second round with a 1-0 win over
Macclesfield.
Macclesfield enjoyed most of the possession early on in the game, as Leeds struggled to find their feet and struggled to remain on-side.
A much better side in the second half, the Whites finally took the lead just 12 minutes from time.
Ian Westlake's volley into the top corner was his first goal in 30 games for Leeds and was enough to put the Whites through to the next round.
All credit to both sides in what was a thrilling encounter at the National Hockey Stadium, which eventually led to an
MK Dons victory, in a penalty shoot out win over Ipswich.
The home side started well, building a two-goal cushion, as Leon Knight from six yards out gave the Dons the lead, as an own goal followed soon after, as Alex Bruce found the back of his own net.
A penalty brought
Ipswich back into the game after Gary Roberts was felled by Alan Navarrro, with Alan Lee converting in added time.
And Ipswich pulled then pulled it level, with the second own goal of the game, this time by Kieran Murphy.
A goal from Owen Garvan and a penalty from Kevin Gallen took the game to penalties, with the Dons finally putting out the Championship side 5-3, in another dramatic shoot-out.
Northampton ran out 2-0 victors over
Millwall, in a fairly comfortable fashion.
Goals from Bradley Johnson and Andy Kirk sent the home side through to the second round.
And it was goals galore at Carrow Road as
Norwich blitzed
Barnet 5-2, with all of Norwich's five goals coming in the first half.
Jamie Cureton netted two whilst Simon Lapin, Mark Fotheringham and Darren Russell also made the scoresheet.
Jason Puncheon and Adam Birchall scored minor consolations for the visitors.
