DONCASTER ROVERS 1 NUNEATON BOROUGH 1

Doncaster Rovers returned to Belle Vue for their first Conference match in three weeks, having played three successive matches away from home – two of them being in cup competitions, with a notable victory over Wigan eclipsing the narrow 2-1 defeat at Bournemouth in the FA Cup. With such large gaps between home fixtures becoming commonplace – the previous match to the Hereford game also coming three weeks earlier – Rovers had the misfortune to register their lowest home crowd of the season of 2,913 – with some of the crowd evidently getting “out of the habit” of turning out for a game on a Saturday afternoon. The irregularity of home matches is further highlighted as, although the next home game is next weekend – in a televised Sunday afternoon game against Woking – we then go from 1st December until Friday, 20th December for the next home game.

Rovers boss Dave Penney elected to make minimal changes to his starting eleven, with Steve Foster replacing the injured Dave Morley being the only change. The cup-tied Ben Muirhead, who was forced to sit out the FA Cup clash against Bournemouth, had to settle for a place on the substitutes bench. An improving Nuneaton side included former Rovers defender Jamie Squires, who had been reported as being injured earlier in the week. They included the impressive forward partnership of Mark McGregor and Mark Quayle as they attempted to turn the tables on Rovers, who had registered a 3-0 victory at Nuneaton earlier in the season.

Rovers kicked off in the first half attacking the Rossington End on a sunny afternoon, with the pitch wet on the surface after heavy rain in the past few days. Both sides struggled to control the ball in the early minutes as the greasy surface made it difficult for the players to keep their footing, with Tim Ryan being dispossessed by the corner flag in the first minute, although he managed to clear the poor cross that resulted from this. Nuneaton won a free kick in the third minute that came after a good run down the left by Andy Watson, with Albrighton fouling Ducros on the edge of the Borough penalty area. Barnes did well to shield the ball in the third minute, who threaded the ball through to Justin Jackson who had read Barnes’ intentions well, winning Rovers their first corner of the match in the fourth minute. The kick, taken by Paterson, was met by Foster, who headed the ball over the bar from six yards out. Jackson did well to get to the ball a couple of minutes, passing the ball back into the centre, but an offside decision was given before Rovers could threaten the visitors’ goal. Rovers had a very promising attack in the eighth minute when Jackson gained possession on the half way line, passed the ball out to Watson, who took the ball down the left wing to cross into the centre. Jackson did well to head the ball into Paterson’s patch, with the Scotsman unable to keep the ball down as his shot went over the bar. Another shot from Paterson followed on 12 minutes, but his effort from the edge of the area was comfortably caught by the goalkeeper, then Dean Barrick tried a speculative 35-yard shot seconds later which went high of target. Nuneaton hit back in the 14th minute, when an attack down their left wing led to Jamie Lenton shooting over the bar from 18 yards. Hudson had a goalbound effort blocked by former Rover Jamie Squires, with Paterson’s volley from the rebound being blocked by Nuneaton’s Terry Angus, winning Rovers a corner. Nuneaton’s first corner of the game came in the 19th minute, with another Rovers corner coming a minute later after a Marples cross being deflected behind the goal line. Nuneaton seemed to have little answer to the trickery of Jamie Paterson, seeming not to work out that whilst he was operating on the right wing, he is left-footed and would cut inside at the first opportunity.

The first of three or four “strange” decisions surrounding players cautioned occurred in the 24th minute, which followed a foul by Tim Ryan on McGregor in the centre circle. Nuneaton were duly awarded the free kick, but not before Nuneaton’s Quayle had been booked, presumably for dissent. This pattern was to be seen on more than one following occasion during the afternoon. Rovers continued on the attack as Justin Jackson’s goalbound shot from just six yards was tipped over the bar by McKenzie in Nuneaton’s goal. McKenzie’s handling of the ball must have caused some concern for the visiting defenders, as he failed to keep control of the ball on several occasions. Warrington was called on to keep the Rovers goal intact in the 30th minute when Nuneaton won a free kick 25 yards from goal, the ball swerving around the wall, with Warrington having to dive full stretch to his bottom left corner to stop the ball. Still Rovers pressed forward, winning another corner seconds later, but they still had to be vigilant, with an erratic performance from the match officials meaning that some unexpected decisions were bound to follow. Albrighton had a shot from 20 yards flying high and wide of target in the 39th minute, and Paterson having a similar ranged shot going high moments afterwards.

Mark Albrighton became the second player to go into the book after being fouled in the 43rd minute – again, the only reason can have been that it was for dissent. Albrighton had the only other noteworthy shot in the remainder of the first half when he let fly from 30 yards in the 45th minute of play.

Rovers recommenced play in the second half, and immediately launched into an attack following a long kick down the left by Warrington, with Barnes intelligently flicking the ball into Jackson’s path, but Nuneaton’s defence held firm on the edge of the area and repelled the attack. A 48th minute cross in from the right found Watson in a central position, with the transfer-listed winger’s shot from six yards going straight at the goalkeeper. Watson had another go two minutes later, but his shot from 18 yards again found the goalkeeper who caught the ball without too much difficulty.

The deadlock was broken in the 56th minute – but the goal went against the run of play. An attack down the Nuneaton right got down to the goal line after beating Barrick for pace, with Quayle meeting the cross with an angled header from six yards, the ball eventually going in off the left post to give Nuneaton the lead. This stunned Rovers into action once more, and Jackson had a shot from the edge of the area caught by MacKenzie shortly afterwards. Rovers had an appeal for a penalty turned down in the 58th minute after a determined run by Paterson from the halfway line led to a pass to Jackson on the edge of the penalty area, who appeared to be impeded as he went for the ball. Not surprisingly, the none of the match officials seemed to notice anything was wrong. Another header from Jackson came in the 63rd minute as Rovers kept up the pressure, but the attempt lacked power and the keeper caught the ball.

The Rovers pressure paid dividends in the 66th minute as a long ball was aimed at Jackson in a central position just short of the area. He quickly gained control, turning and charging into the area, to be tripped by Clarkson just as he was about to shoot. Even though the defender was the last man, and it was a clear goalscoring opportunity, the referee decided to show just a yellow card – after the furious waving of a linesman’s flag, Angus also followed Clarkson into the notebook. Barnes stepped up to take the kick, striking the ball firmly into the bottom left hand corner of the net to give Rovers the equaliser. Further bizarre happenings followed in the 74th minute after Ricketts fouled Mark Albrighton in the centre of the field, winning Rovers a free kick. Again, presumably for dissent, Dean Barrick was then booked as he prepared to take the free kick. The players were clearly getting frustrated with the way some of the decisions were going, with Paul Barnes also showing his frustration at some of the challenges that went unpenalised – it was eventually to lead to him being booked in the 80th minute.

Jackson tried to loop the ball over the keeper in the 81st minute, but did not quite judge the flight of the ball correctly, with the keeper managing to get hold of the ball before it went past him. A Barnes header from six yards went wide in the 85th minute. Nuneaton counterattacked from this escape, with a charge straight down the middle of the pitch, with Steve Foster being judged to have fouled Quayle on the edge of the area to give Nuneaton a penalty with less than five minutes to go. A decision that looked rather harsh – and was the offence inside the penalty area? Quayle stepped up to take the kick – Warrington correctly guessed which way to dive and brilliantly managed to get a hand to the ball to save, with the Rovers defence combining to get the ball clear. A long run by Muirhead, a late substitute for Watson, ended with him shooting from five yards short of the penalty area, with his shot towards the bottom left hand corner of the goal being saved by the keeper at full stretch. Not much short of the 90th minute, Muirhead’s pace again caused Nuneaton trouble, and was hacked down by Ricketts who became the last player of the afternoon to be shown the yellow card. Shots from Paterson and Jackson into injury time were foiled – either being blocked or saved, and Rovers were to be denied the winner that their play and possession deserved.

Yet another match where the decisions of the match officials seemed questionable on several occasions, with the referee seeming to have to resort to booking players to maintain control in a game that was never all that physical. Having said that, since the majority of the bookings were presumably for dissent, the players are somehow having to overcome the frustration that incorrect decisions undoubtedly cause, and learn that they must not talk back to the referees, no matter how wrong the decisions may be.

Other results of the afternoon meant that Rovers stayed in third place, although they lost ground on Yeovil and Chester, with a three point gap now opening up ahead of them. On the plus side, this was one of the best home performances of the season, and hopefully sets things up well for next week’s televised home game against Woking.