Doncaster Rovers welcomed Harrogate Town to the Eco-Power Stadium in this rearranged fixture. This was the first ever league meeting between the two sides and that’s about as interesting as it got.
In the first half Rovers made so many lacklustre errors that it often became comical. The two Bens, Nelson and Close, were most culpable with mistakes that invited Harrogate to attack the Rovers goal, but thankfully to no avail. Luke Molyneux had a half chance that he fired straight at the keeper, and when the half-time whistle came it was met with a deserved chorus of boos.
The second half began in a similar fashion; Rovers still making numerous errors and struggling to put two passes together. Caolan Lavery who had looked isolated up front was replaced by the only other striker on the bench George Miller in a like-for-like swap that was met with jeers from the home support.
Shortly after Rovers forced a goalmouth scramble in the Harrogate box the visitors took the lead on 81 minutes. Luke Armstrong headed a free-kick against the post before placing the rebound in the goal. Three minutes later Harrogate scored their second when Tommy Rowe, much like the rest of the Rovers squad, went missing and the ball found Alex Pattinson in plenty of space on the left, and he duly slotted home with ease. Full-time was met by a wall of boos, and broad disbelief at how low Rovers have fallen.
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