halfaperson
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Doncaster Rovers (a) 1st April 2008Well yet another first ticked off the list, this festering loiter in the lower leagues does have its advantages for us ground anoraks. So it was Second Time lucky for the trip to Donny after the icy debacle of February. This time by car up the M18 into the featureless flatlands of Doncaster’s outskirts. The Chilling breeze a much preferable option than the insipid corporate outlets that litter these developments like chewing gum on the pavement.
After the shenanigans at Port Vale  it was a No Alcohol policy at the stadium. Such was the paranoia that even the pies and coffee supply had to stop after the kick off. A beer fight may well have been expected but surely not a coffee and pie fight  . Anyway £2.40 for an acceptable pastie and it was into the seats. Ours were second from the front in-between the 6 yard box and penalty area with the goal to our left. The Sickie I was considering throwing in was suddenly beginning to look not such a smart move after all. The mighty Donny boys pen West Stand Army  to our right made us chortle with the your not famous anymore chant as the first time full house at the keep moat stadium greeted the Kick Off
Bit of a surprise seeing Fraser at Right Back but after Maccas less than lukewarm assessment of Kenton on Saturday, maybe not. Once again we had make shift midfield flanks with Kilkenny and Johnson. Dougy and Howson in the central engine room.
It was Donny who immediately took the initiative and put us on the back foot with some quick sharp passing and robust forward play. Huntington (in for Rui) and Ludo had there work cut out as balls came at them high and low. Most were cleared but too many were getting through causing panic in and around our box and some desperate scrambling defence. Dougy threw himself acrobatically cut out a cross that epitomized our defensive doggedness. His rotund Geometry literally flying in the face of aero dynamic laws
Eventually either Donny Tired or we recovered some composure and Midfield Passing, probably a bit of both. The great thing was we dug in and played our way back into the game. Kilkenny and Frazer after some slow and tired defending in front of us conjured up some space and penetrating forward moves. In fact we were getting some decent crosses for once from both wings. Unfortunately we just didn’t have the attacking aggression to get on the end of them. Freedman and Beckford are just not those sort of strikers.
We asked most of our attacking questions around the edge of the box. We do seem very reluctant to shoot from these positions preferring to pass the ball into the goal. This indeed has been a perennial issue to me for at least three seasons now.
Despite our growing influence on the Game Donny still came at us with strength and guile. We did however manage to break up a lot of their moves and break ourselves reasonably quickly. Dougy was fouled (blatantly  ) about 20 yards out to the left of the goal and it appeared that Howson and Douggy himself were lining up to take the free kick when Sheehan sent a terrific left foot curler across the goal into the top right corner.
Your just a town full of Leeds fans was the chant as pockets of Leeds fans celebrated the goal all around the ground much to the aggressive indignation of the home crowd and police.
I thought it was a deserved goal for our dogged defence and desire to play our way out of pressure.
As expected, back came Donny with renewed vigor and for a while we came under intense pressure. Kilkenny headed one of the line when their forward put in a great header himself. It was the type of header from a cross that given our height in defence he shouldn’t have but Kilkenny saved the day with a great clearance.
The game got held up when one of their players got stretchered off. Don’t know who it was but I sensed Donny suffered a bit by his absence. We were finding space and half chances up front more often. I think it was Freedman who wasted a great close range chance when he tamely sent a volley straight to the keeper (Sully).
Considering it was such an entertaining game and their big game the Donny fans were not very vocal. The sight of one of their numpties to our right wearing a scum shirt was perhaps an indication why. Half time came and we went in leaving me with the impression it would be a tense game that needed another from us to ensure three points.
The Fratellis Chelsea dagger announced the kick off for the second half and Donny once again came at us with even more purpose. It was going to be an enduring second half and it seemed unlikely we would hang on. Crosses were skimming across our goalmouth with our goal yawning. Good chances were blasted over our bar and a bobbling effort knocked the RH Post.
We were struggling to find an outlet to clear the pressure. It was the one big disappointment of last night. As Donny pressed they were leaving space. Bravely we left two up front and given their supposed class and space and amount of possession they had we could and should have got a second. Beckford did a lot of running but he simply has not got the touch, control and vision to use the ball well. Only a couple of times did he produce a good pass. One of those occasions He did get a head to the returning cross but had no power or purchase on it and it rolled to Sully in goal.
Freedman was producing a few fine flicks and touches but he and Beckford were not linking well at all.
Howson once again demonstrated our woeful shooting when he pounced on to a loose ball in bags of space only to lean back and sky the shot high into the waiting Leeds fans. That was cue for the customary keep ball that will eventually get us a reputation for bad crowd behavior if we are not careful. Can you imagine that?
Hughes came on for the increasingly ineffective Johnson who I guess was suffering from Saturdays knock.
As the minutes drained away so too did Donnys Gusto and fervor. Our Back Four grew in strength and stature and it was in fact us who looked more likely to score on the break. Alas Beckfords waning speed and lack of composure spurned a couple of chances. All in all though he worked hard and caused them enough problems to keep them occupied.
Incredibly their fans drifted away a good five minutes from time as the 3000 traveling Leeds Fans (some further than others) sensed an unexpected victory and went into a huge Marching On Together. Phones were held aloft and panned around in readiness for the You Tube assault as the final whistle went.
The majority of the Leeds fans stayed to send of the celebrating team in usual style but we scuttled off to break through South Yorkshires finest lines to make our way to the car.
Listening to the Donny fans you would think that they had been robbed but that simply wasn’t the case. They were disputing the fee kick that led to our goal and a denied penalty but to me that is desperation. Both the Ref and Linesmen I thought were very fair in that they were by enlarge penalizing the same things for both teams. In fact we had a semi shout for a pen when Beckford was blatantly pushed when going for a challenge. I guess the ref looked at his track record of winning such challenges and waived play on.
So it was back in the car expecting Five Live to produce a full report and analysis on the game but incredibly they were focusing on some other game in blood Italy of all places. It really is a waste of British license Payers money squandering it on these minor continental diversions. We pondered this and other wastes of tax as we patiently waited at the roundabout whilst around 22 Leeds Coaches were shepherded out of town by police vehicles at least their equal in terms of numbers. I do not think I have seen as much police overkill in South Yorkshire since oo err let me see, yes it was 1984 .
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cardboardbox?Youwerelucky
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great report halfa 
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nlag
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Great review. Enjoyable read ....Thanks Halfa.
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Baldy
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Talented bugger aint he..
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Gopher
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Yes, but a shocking taste in music.  
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