Rebels Make History as Southend and Sutton Set the Early Pace
By Dougie
Dugout AI round-up reporter · Enterprise National League round-up · Saturday 22 August 2026
Three games into the new National League season and already there are stories developing everywhere you look.
For Sussex, the biggest one is happening at Worthing.
The Rebels recorded their first home victory at Step One on Saturday, beating Wealdstone 1-0 at the Sussex Transport Community Stadium to make it two wins from their opening three matches following promotion.
At the top, Southend United and Sutton United remain perfect. Both have nine points from nine, while Harrogate Town and Boreham Wood sit immediately behind them unbeaten on seven.
Boreham produced arguably the performance of the weekend by going to previously perfect Forest Green Rovers and winning 3-0, while Woking somehow turned a 2-1 deficit into a 3-2 victory over AFC Fylde with two goals from the 90th minute onwards.
Carlisle United finally announced themselves by putting four past Hornchurch, Halifax responded to consecutive defeats by hammering Tamworth and Yeovil secured their first victory with a convincing 3-0 win over Gateshead.
Twelve matches. Forty-one goals.
Not bad for a Saturday afternoon.
WORTHING ARE NOT HERE TO MAKE UP THE NUMBERS
WORTHING 1 WEALDSTONE 0
Perhaps there were still people wondering exactly how Worthing would handle the jump into the National League.
Three matches in, we are beginning to get an answer.
Quite nicely, thank you.
The Rebels’ first-ever home victory at the fifth level of English football came courtesy of Ramell Carter, whose thumping strike on the stroke of half-time proved enough to defeat Wealdstone.
Carter struck in the 44th minute to send the hosts into the interval ahead.
The task became considerably easier six minutes after the restart when Wealdstone’s Dylan Kadji received his second yellow card, leaving the visitors to play almost the entire second half with ten men.
Worthing managed the situation, protected their advantage and collected another enormous three points.
And just look at their opening three games.
Carlisle United 2-3 Worthing.
Worthing 1-2 Forest Green Rovers.
Worthing 1-0 Wealdstone.
Six points from nine.
Ninth in the National League.
Five goals scored.
Four conceded.
That is some start for Adam Hinshelwood’s side.
There will undoubtedly be far more difficult afternoons ahead. Step One is relentless, the travelling becomes more demanding and there are clubs operating with resources Worthing simply cannot match.
But that has never really been the Worthing way anyway.
They have reached this level through identity, recruitment, attacking football and building something sustainable rather than attempting to become somebody else.
And Saturday felt significant.
Winning 3-2 away at Carlisle on opening day was spectacular.
Beating an established National League club 1-0 at home is different.
That’s the sort of result that says: we belong here.
SOUTHEND MAKE IT THREE FROM THREE
SOLIHULL MOORS 1 SOUTHEND UNITED 3
If early-season momentum matters, Southend United have plenty of it.
Kieron Dyer’s Shrimpers have now won all three of their National League matches and sit top of the division after coming from behind to win 3-1 at Solihull Moors.
Solihull actually struck first through Jake Wakeling after 14 minutes.
That lead lasted 14 minutes.
Oliver Coker equalised in the 28th minute before summer signing Josh Popoola put Southend ahead eleven minutes later.
It remained 2-1 until stoppage time when Charley Kendall struck in the 92nd minute to make absolutely certain.
Southend’s start reads:
Three played.
Three won.
Seven scored.
Two conceded.
Nine points.
Their opening 3-1 victory at Altrincham was followed by a 1-0 success against Scunthorpe and now this.
After last season’s play-off disappointment, Southend look like a club determined to remove as much uncertainty as possible this time around.
The table means very little after three games.
But nine from nine means exactly what it says.
Perfect.
SUTTON MATCH SOUTHEND STEP FOR STEP
SUTTON UNITED 2 HARTLEPOOL UNITED 1
Anything Southend can do, Sutton can currently match.
The U’s also have nine points from nine following a 2-1 victory over previously perfect Hartlepool.
Temi Babalola opened the scoring after 20 minutes before Emmanuel Osadebe doubled Sutton’s lead just seven minutes later.
Hartlepool responded through Corey McKeown after 34 minutes but could not find a second.
That leaves Sutton with six goals scored and just one conceded across three games.
Their results have been brutally efficient.
3-0 at Woking.
1-0 against Altrincham.
2-1 against Hartlepool.
Nine points.
The early table has Southend above Sutton only on goals scored, with both holding an identical plus-five goal difference.
Nobody at either club will be talking about title races in August.
Everybody else is already looking at them.
BOREHAM WOOD DESTROY FOREST GREEN’S PERFECT START
FOREST GREEN ROVERS 0 BOREHAM WOOD 3
This may have been the statement result of the weekend.
Forest Green arrived having won their opening two matches, including a 2-1 victory at Worthing last Saturday.
Boreham Wood were having none of it.
Zak Brunt scored after only two minutes before Lewis Richardson doubled the advantage in the 18th.
Forest Green were suddenly staring at a mountain.
Matt Rush made it 3-0 ten minutes into the second half, with Brunt providing the assist, and there was no route back for Robbie Savage’s side.
Forest Green’s afternoon got even worse when Tom Pemberton was sent off in the 87th minute.
Boreham Wood remain unbeaten.
A 3-3 opening-day draw with Tamworth has been followed by a 3-1 victory at Halifax and now a 3-0 win at Forest Green.
Nine goals in three matches.
Seven points.
Fourth place.
And Matt Rush is already proving a serious problem for opposition defences.
Wood look very dangerous.
WOKING PRODUCE THE COMEBACK OF THE WEEKEND
WOKING 3 AFC FYLDE 2
For 89 minutes Woking were heading towards a third consecutive league defeat.
A few minutes later, they were celebrating one of the most dramatic victories we are likely to see all season.
Fylde led through Danny Ormerod’s 37th-minute header before Matthew Ward capitalised on a defensive mistake to level for Woking midway through the second half.
The visitors immediately responded.
Harvey Broad restored Fylde’s advantage after 73 minutes.
2-1.
Then came madness.
Roy Syla smashed home the equaliser in the 90th minute.
Surely Woking would settle for the point?
Apparently not.
In the 93rd minute, Taylan Harris scored the winner.
From losing 2-1 entering the 90th minute to winning 3-2 at full-time.
That is the National League.
Woking climb to 18th with their first three points.
Sometimes a season needs one moment to get started.
That might have been theirs.
CARLISLE FINALLY CLICK
CARLISLE UNITED 4 HORNCHURCH 1
Carlisle’s return to non-league football had begun with a surprise 3-2 home defeat against Worthing followed by a 1-1 draw at Yeovil.
Saturday was rather more convincing.
Miguel Azeez opened the scoring with a spectacular long-range strike after 29 minutes.
Within a minute of the second-half restart, Harvey Bunker made it two.
Joe Kizzi reduced the deficit after 51 minutes, but Bunker struck again in the 66th minute before Regan Linney completed the 4-1 victory with 15 minutes remaining.
It was Hornchurch’s first defeat after opening the season with two victories.
For Carlisle, it was a reminder of why many expect the former EFL club to eventually become a major force in this division.
Four points from three leaves them 12th.
The first win is on the board.
Now the challenge is building from it.
HALIFAX HIT FOUR
FC HALIFAX TOWN 4 TAMWORTH 1
Halifax needed a response.
They got one.
After losing their opening two matches, the Shaymen produced a devastating first-half performance against Tamworth.
Conor Carty opened the scoring after 18 minutes before Zak Gilsenan struck twice before half-time, scoring in the 42nd and 45th minutes.
Three-nil at the break.
Ben Tollitt made it four just four minutes into the second half.
TJ Bramble grabbed a consolation for Tamworth after 76 minutes, but the damage had been done long before.
Four goals and three points suddenly transform Halifax’s opening fortnight.
For Tamworth, the concern is at the other end.
They have now conceded nine goals in three matches and sit 22nd.
EASTLEIGH EDGE A FIVE-GOAL THRILLER
EASTLEIGH 3 SCUNTHORPE UNITED 2
Eastleigh and Scunthorpe exchanged blows at the Silverlake Stadium, but it was the Spitfires who eventually emerged with the points.
Harry Sidwell opened the scoring after 37 minutes before Alfie Beestin equalised six minutes after the restart.
Aaron Blair restored Eastleigh’s advantage in the 55th minute.
Scunthorpe responded again through Joe Gale after 71 minutes.
Two-all.
Just two minutes later, Josh Lundstram struck the winner.
Eastleigh now have two wins from three and sit eighth.
Scunthorpe remain without a victory and have one point.
There is no crisis three games into a campaign.
But the Iron will want that first victory sooner rather than later.
YEOVIL CLAIM THEIR FIRST WIN
YEOVIL TOWN 3 GATESHEAD 0
Yeovil had drawn their opening two league matches.
On Saturday, they took the handbrake off.
Stephen Walker scored after only two minutes, giving the Glovers the perfect start at Huish Park.
The score remained 1-0 for most of the afternoon before captain Luke McCormick struck twice in the final ten minutes to turn a narrow lead into a convincing 3-0 victory.
McCormick found the bottom corner around the 80th minute before producing another composed finish late on.
Yeovil are one of only five clubs still unbeaten, sitting 11th with five points.
Perhaps more significantly, they have conceded only twice.
A solid foundation.
BARROW BREAK HARROGATE HEARTS
HARROGATE TOWN 2 BARROW 2
Harrogate were seconds away from joining Southend and Sutton on nine points.
Then Innes Cameron arrived.
Ethan Bristow gave Harrogate the lead after 15 minutes before an unfortunate Cathal Heffernan own goal made it 1-1.
Heffernan thought he had made amends when he scored at the correct end in the 85th minute.
Harrogate 2-1 Barrow.
Six minutes of stoppage time were announced.
With almost all of them played, substitute Cameron headed home in the 96th minute to steal Barrow’s first point of the season.
Harrogate remain unbeaten and sit third with seven points.
Ten goals in three matches also makes them the league’s highest scorers.
They will just be wondering how they aren’t sitting on nine.
NINE-MAN ALDERSHOT SOMEHOW EARN A POINT
KIDDERMINSTER HARRIERS 1 ALDERSHOT TOWN 1
This might have been the strangest result of the afternoon.
Kidderminster led through Lewis Walker’s 28th-minute header.
Aldershot then had Jacob Borgnis sent off after 39 minutes.
If playing more than half the match with ten men wasn’t difficult enough, the Shots were reduced to nine when Hakeem Sandah was dismissed after 75 minutes.
Surely game over?
No.
In the 87th minute Tristan Abrahams equalised.
Nine-man Aldershot had somehow escaped Aggborough with a point.
Kidderminster will view that as two points dropped.
Aldershot may view it as one of the most valuable points they collect all season.
BOSTON EDGE OUT ALTRINCHAM
BOSTON UNITED 1 ALTRINCHAM 0
Boston United made it consecutive league wins after Ken Aboh’s 57th-minute strike defeated Altrincham.
Aboh finished from Jamie Grimes’ assist and the Pilgrims protected the advantage to collect another three points.
Boston have rebounded superbly from their opening-day defeat against Aldershot and now sit sixth.
Altrincham’s situation is already rather more uncomfortable.
Three matches.
Three defeats.
One goal scored.
Zero points.
Only Solihull sit below them on goal difference.
Again, it is August.
But zero from nine gets people’s attention.
SATURDAY’S NATIONAL LEAGUE RESULTS
Boston United 1-0 Altrincham
Carlisle United 4-1 Hornchurch
Eastleigh 3-2 Scunthorpe United
FC Halifax Town 4-1 Tamworth
Forest Green Rovers 0-3 Boreham Wood
Harrogate Town 2-2 Barrow
Kidderminster Harriers 1-1 Aldershot Town
Solihull Moors 1-3 Southend United
Sutton United 2-1 Hartlepool United
Woking 3-2 AFC Fylde
Worthing 1-0 Wealdstone
Yeovil Town 3-0 Gateshead
THE EARLY NATIONAL LEAGUE PICTURE
After three matches, the standings make interesting reading.
1. Southend United — 9 points
2. Sutton United — 9
3. Harrogate Town — 7
4. Boreham Wood — 7
Then comes a group on six points containing Hartlepool, Boston, Hornchurch, Eastleigh, Worthing and Forest Green.
Yeovil remain unbeaten on five.
At the bottom, Scunthorpe, Barrow, Wealdstone and Tamworth are all on one point.
Altrincham and Solihull Moors have none.
The table will look completely different in a month.
But some early patterns are already difficult to ignore.
Southend look strong.
Sutton look organised.
Harrogate are scoring goals for fun.
Boreham Wood are dangerous.
And Worthing?
Worthing are currently sitting alongside established National League clubs with six points from their first nine available at Step One.
DUGOUT NEWS VERDICT
This was another reminder that reputation means absolutely nothing once a National League game begins.
Forest Green were two from two.
Boreham Wood went there and beat them 3-0.
Hornchurch were two from two.
Carlisle put four past them.
Hartlepool were perfect.
Sutton beat them.
Woking were seconds away from losing their third straight match.
They somehow won.
Aldershot finished with nine men.
They somehow didn’t lose.
And Worthing, playing their first season at this level, are already showing that promotion has not intimidated them in the slightest.
For Sussex football, that might be the biggest story of all.
The Rebels have gone from Step Three to Step Two and now Step One without changing what they are.
Three matches into the biggest league season in their history, they have beaten Carlisle away and Wealdstone at home.
Six points.
Ninth place.
And absolutely no sign that they have arrived in the National League merely to enjoy the scenery.
Southend and Sutton lead the way.
But behind them, this division already looks beautifully chaotic.
If this is what the first three weekends have given us, the next eight months could be ridiculous.
First published in Dugout News, Issue 3, 23 August 2026. Republished here in full.
