A trio of Sky Bet League 2 teams will do battle for the Johnstone’s Paint Trophy team of the round prize after launching the 10th season of the tournament with eye-catching performances.
Morecambe, Northampton Town and Plymouth Argyle have been shortlisted for the award after booking their place in the next round with impressive victories.The winning team is set to be selected by a panel of judges over the coming days and will receive a supply of Johnstone’s Paint to utilise on a club project, as well as a trophy.
Richard Mazurkiewicz, marketing manager for Johnstone’s Paint, said: “There were 16 entertaining ties in the first round of the 10th Johnstone’s Paint Trophy and some fantastic performances.
“Morecambe, Plymouth and Northampton certainly deserve their place on the shortlist and it will be very interesting to see which way the judges go when determining a winner.”
Morecambe claimed a notable scalp by inflicting a 2-0 defeat on last year’s Johnstone’s Paint Trophy runners-up Walsall, thanks to goals from Jamie Devitt and Tom Barkhuizen.
Northampton also earned their nomination by beating higher-ranked opposition after seeing off Colchester United 3-2 in the southern section, Dominic Calvert-Lewin, Ryan Watson and Marc Richards on target to seal victory for the hosts.
Plymouth gave themselves a chance of Team of the Round glory by fighting back from 2-0 down to get the better of hosts AFC Wimbledon 3-2, with Jake Jervis, Ryan Brunt and Carl McHugh turning the tie on its head.
Johnstone’s Paint has been bringing colour to the beautiful game since it began sponsoring the Football League Trophy in 2006.