Tag: Doncaster Rovers

match reports

Scunthorpe United 1-2 Doncaster Rovers; 250 word match report

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Scunthorpe United 1-2 Doncaster Rovers; 250 word match report

I offered to write this before I knew my view of the left flank would be obscured by an iron girder, so can only imagine what Reece Wabara did in the first half.

Eight minutes in Rovers’ second corner was celebrated enthusiastically by the travelling support, who let off a smoke bomb.  I always think corner number five is the one worth getting worked up about, myself.

On twenty minutes a scramble in the Scunthorpe box saw an effort by Harry Forrester blocked, hooked clear and suddenly Rovers were outnumbered at the back, however Jed Steer made a breathtakingly good save, full-length to his right.

Shortly after, in worryingly similar style, one pass unlocked Rovers’ defence, one turn lost three defenders and Rory Fallon’s accurate daisy-cutter nestled in the bottom corner.  It wasn’t totally undeserved.

Rovers soon woke up and when Scunthorpe failed to clear a corner Jamie Coppinger swivelled and hooked home in super slow-motion to equalise.  Behind the girder I imagine Dickov and Horton celebrated with some tag-team break-dancing.

Into the second half and Furman won a crunching tackle in the middle, drove forward and played a perfectly weighted pass for Tyson who finished like Thierry Henry.

Rovers dominated for the remainder, but Scunthorpe still produced one or two heart in mouth moments highlighting that defensively we are still frail. Overall, a deserved victory, with some outstanding individual displays and neat one touch football to get excited about.  Marc de Val is ace and, today, so was Furman.

by Dan Jennings

match reports

Walsall 3-0 Doncaster Rovers; 250 word match report

by glen wilsonLeave a Comment on Walsall 3-0 Doncaster Rovers; 250 word match report
Walsall 3-0 Doncaster Rovers; 250 word match report

Sometimes 250 words is more than you could ever need. Rovers offered the square root of nothing as they failed to get a foothold of any kind in this game whilst a Walsall side – uninspiring but effective – took control without having to break sweat.

The first half passed with all the excitement and event of a tax self-assessment – forty-five minutes without a shot on any sort of target. Luke McCullough manfully stifled Tom Bradshaw, Rovers failed to support the hard-working but isolated Theo Robinson.

But then in injury-time came the breakthrough, a neatly worked free-kick caught Rovers napping and James Baxendale skipped in to drive a shot past Marko Marosi. The Slovakian keeper, on for the injured Jed Steer would do little but fetch the ball from his net all afternoon.

Second-half, and despite a couple of tactical shifts from Paul Dickov, anything approaching conducive threatening play evaded Rovers whilst Walsall took advantage of the gaps left by absent full-backs; Sawyer getting his second assist of the game to find the unmarked Bradshaw for 2-0.

A free-kick in off the post made it 3-0 and the game was over. Alex Peterson went on to run around in the vague vicinity of Robinson, but nothing changed. The quality and promise of Fulham evaporating into the exhaust fumes of the adjacent M6 traffic with every passing minute.

by Glen Wilson

match reports

Fulham 2-1 Doncaster Rovers: 250 word match report

by Jack PeatLeave a Comment on Fulham 2-1 Doncaster Rovers: 250 word match report
Fulham 2-1 Doncaster Rovers: 250 word match report

Craven Cottage is a lush away day. It’s got heritage, tradition, good burgers and it’s ten minutes away from my missus’ house. After a win at the weekend and with the memory of Watford away still fresh, I had high hopes for this one.

First half was one to forget, it was stale but we could have easily gone in three down. This was due to a frail defence and a lone striker acting like a dog fetching sticks. If Fulham had a little more panache the game would have been over after the first thirty minutes.

During the second half break Paul Dickov must have read my article advising that we play two upfront and get Forrester involved, because low and behold Theo Robinson came on for Richie Wellens and Harry Forrester replaced Kyle Bennett, who I hadn’t even realised was on the pitch. Coincidence?

Cue second half revival. The boys passed the ball with an eye on making chances. Nice triangle passing in and around the box before Coppinger netted and we were on for a comeback. Robinson received a luscious ball at the back post that was intercepted by a Fulham hand. Penalty awarded. Penalty squandered. Good save, but weak penalty.

It was a match of two halves, they deserved to be two up in first half, we deserved to score two in second, but that’s football. Tyson off in injury time, think it was a head injury. Coppinger man of the match by a country mile.

by Jack Peat

match reports

Doncaster Rovers 3-2 Chesterfield; 250 word match report

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Doncaster Rovers 3-2 Chesterfield; 250 word match report

A pleasantly mild but satisfyingly moist afternoon greeted the teams like a buxom barmaid, eager to please. Rovers’ recent form has been fairly flaccid, but after a quick toss the match started with Rovers – kicking towards the North Stand’s seething Chesterfield mass – passing it about like Milan in the late 80s.

Six minutes on the watch and Rovers were ahead; Nathan Tyson pouncing on a rebound.

Midway through the half Saturday Santa was spotted on his way to the toilet, unbuttoning his pockets as he went.

On thirty-three minutes it was 2-0, thanks to a gazelle-like Richie Wellens crossing for Kyle Bennet to crash in off the crossbar.

In the half’s dying embers Chesterfield were all over Rovers like a cheap suit and Sam Clucas pulled one back whilst the linesman looked sheepishly on.

Half-time and pork pies all round.

James Coppinger was always a threat, hugging the touchline like DLT at Granada Studios, and on forty-nine minutes rattled the post with a rasping drive.

Shortly after it was 3-1; Jamie McCombe reacting first to stab home after good work from Coppinger.

Chesterfield were back in it on the hour, the prolific Eoin Doyle prodding home an almighty scramble.

The Spirerites’ tails were really wagging and the final ten minutes were as exciting as you could hope for with both sides pressing for another goal.

A wasted chance at the death didn’t enhance Theo Robinson’s reputation, but Rovers had their win and Paul Dickov’s hair was safe for another week.

by Stu Leyland

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Doncaster Rovers 0-0 Crawley Town: 250 word match report

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Doncaster Rovers 0-0 Crawley Town: 250 word match report

In general, a night of frustration from Rovers and two points dropped rather than one gained against Crawley’s direct style. I say ‘from Rovers’, for the players appeared as frustrated as those in the stands.

Doncaster looked to have learned the key lessons from Saturday’s defeat; cut out the mistakes and stop Harry Forrester getting sent off.

However, this fear of making a mistake, along with Crawley’s insistence on keeping eight behind the ball delivered a dull first half.

Between the head-tennis, Jamie Coppinger and Kyle Bennett looked lively, but play was slow and lacked quality in the final third, with the loudest cheer generated by the ball being hoofed over the East Stand roof.

The second half was much the same, with Rovers’ taking more of a foothold over time. Theo Robinson is a trier, but one coated in Teflon; a poor pass or touch, too often breaking Rovers’ build up, with Coppinger twice visibly cursing the number nine.

The match required some magic, a game changer. And so to the last five minutes, where Rovers finally laid siege, with a crispness and an urgency that had been missing all night. Reece Wabara’s deep cross found Robinson; his point blank header saved brilliantly by Jamie Ashdown. Coppinger drilled low, this time Ashdown parried, and Robinson hit the rebound into the prone keeper. A cracking double save, but he should’ve scored.

A positive, but ultimately disappointing night – how we could’ve done with Harry.

by Stephen Lumley

match reports

Bristol City 3-0 Doncaster Rovers; 250 word match report

by Jack Peat1 Comment on Bristol City 3-0 Doncaster Rovers; 250 word match report
Bristol City 3-0 Doncaster Rovers; 250 word match report

Before penning this I noted down the title ‘Upset in Somerset’, a play on words as much as a premonition, but still, I had a bad feeling about this one.

The teams entered to a trumpet tune akin to the fanfare Ryanair play when the plane to Alicante arrives on time. After ten minutes, the first action with a Rovers penalty shout of the ‘seen them given’ variety, but it wasn’t and City’s first goal followed shortly after. Rovers failed to clear and paid for it with a clumsy goalmouth scramble ended by an easy toe in.

The second goal was a farce – embarrassingly bad. Cedric Evina dribbled the ball along the goal line instead of hoofing it clear allowing Mark Little to slide in behind him and poke the ball home, again!

After half-time the cause looked more lost when Harry Forrester booted the ball at the net from halfway, long after the whistle had been blown; missing the goal by a wide margin and receiving a second yellow card for his troubles.

Rovers did have a goal ruled out midway through the half; Nathan Tyson finishing well after the whistle. He didn’t get a cautrion; perhaps it’s dependent on the quality of the finish?

City’s third was another lacklustre defensive mistake leading to another easy tap in.

The game was evenly matched, but lost through four silly mistakes. I had 3-0 City on a betting slip before the game only to talk myself out of it. Dickhead.

by Jack Peat

match reports

Doncaster Rovers 0-2 Oldham Athletic: 250 word match report

by glen wilsonLeave a Comment on Doncaster Rovers 0-2 Oldham Athletic: 250 word match report
Doncaster Rovers 0-2 Oldham Athletic: 250 word match report

Dismal. Dire. Yep, Doncaster are at home. Whatever it is that’s enabled Rovers to become invincible on the road – winning four games from four – yet again fizzled and dissolved away when it came into contact with the kryptonite soaked pitch of the Keepmoat. Continue reading “Doncaster Rovers 0-2 Oldham Athletic: 250 word match report” →

match reports

Doncaster Rovers 1-1 Preston North End; 250 word match report

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Doncaster Rovers 1-1 Preston North End; 250 word match report

After the debacle against Port Vale at the weekend, Paul Dickov got the reaction he was asking for as Rovers grabbed a well-earned point against Preston.

The big talking point was the early exit of Rob Jones (who it appears is destructible after all), replaced by Liam Wakefield after picking up what looked to be another neck injury in the first minute.

But the makeshift defence, which included a game at centre-half for Reece Wabara, held out well with Marc De Val running the show from midfield and James Coppinger showing glimpses of his brilliance throughout.

The first half passed by with Coppinger the only player to go close to a goal with a shot from the angle deflected wide and a couple of long range efforts flying over, but it remained goalless.

It was going to take something special to break the deadlock and that’s what Chris Humphrey did on the hour, against the run of play. The winger smashed a superb volley past Jed Steer from 25 yards into the top corner to give the visitors the lead after a corner wasn’t cleared.

Despite Rovers pushing forward it appeared to just be one of the nights when Coppinger, Kyle Bennett and Cedric Evina all saw chances go begging as time ticked away for Dickov’s side.

However, Nathan Tyson came off the bench to replace Furman and the striker poked the ball home after a goalmouth scramble two minutes into added time to send the Keepmoat faithful home happy.

by Chris Donald