Scunthorpe United run out to Sham 69’s If The Kids Are United. However, they ended this game divided, shattered and broken as Rovers somehow salvaged a point.
Doncaster started dreadfully at Glanford Park; Ian Lawlor momentarily forgetting he can use his legs, swiping wildly at Joe Wright’s back-pass to allow Tom Hopper the easiest of finishes.
Minutes later the same two Rovers players combined in comical fashion as Wright inexplicably fired the ball at Lawlor who proceeded to display the most errant first touch seen on a football pitch since Emile Heskey’s glory years. Hopper rounded Lawlor and then threw himself to the ground with the goal at his mercy. It could well have been a penalty but Scunthorpe fans should be furious, firstly that they support and presumably live in Scunthorpe, but also that Hopper chose to try and engineer a red card for Lawlor rather than put his team 2-0 up in the derby.
The second half began with Scunthorpe still on top until an unlikely turning point. Neil Bishop had already taken a bit of stick from the Rovers faithful for a first half booking but that doesn’t excuse the distasteful reaction to the former Bradford midfielder sustaining a serious injury. Shouting abuse at someone being taken off on a stretcher isn’t a good look.
The tide turned after this and Rovers pressure eventually came to fruition when Tyler Garratt’s cross was guided home by the beautiful head of Alfie Beestin. Cue pandemonium in the away end.
by Rob Johnson
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