Dave Penney thought that his side should have won Saturday's home game against Swindon Town, despite going behind after just five minutes. He said: "It wasn't good defending from our point of view for their goal. But apart from them hitting the post in the second half, I thought we were the only side that was going to go on and win the game. The good thing is that the rest of the teams around us drew as well so we haven't lost any ground. But I'm not happy with a point because we played well enough to get three."

We begin our review of former Rovers players scoring goals this weekend in League Two, where Chris Beardsley scored again in their 1-1 draw at Rochdale. That makes it four goals in six starts (and 9 sub appearances) since he moved from Rovers in December.
Dropping into non-league soccer, it was FA Trophy (5th round) weekend, and ex-Rovers striker Rod Thornley scored one of Altrincham's goals as they went down (and out) at 4-2 at home to Grays Athletic.
The Nationwide Conference saw Gary Williams score the only goal of the game as Leigh RMI registered their third win of the season (and second in a row) by defeating Farnborough Town.
In the Nationwide North, Brian Quailey, on loan at Nuneaton Borough, found the target twice as his sice won 5-1 at Redditch United, and Neil Campbell opened the scoring for Barrow in their 2-2 home draw against Stafford Rangers.
However, performance of the day from the ex-Rovers goes (unsurprisingly) to Paul Barnes, who netted a hattrick as Hinckley hammered relegation candidates Bradford Park Avenue 4-0.

Just two days after Andy Campbell returned to Cardiff City after the ending of an unsuccessful loan spell at Belle Vue, news emerges that ex-Rovers striker (and Andy's older brother) Neil Campbell is set for a move on loan. Neil, currently at UniBond Premier League club Barrow, looks set to leave the Bluebirds on loan, with Workington the likey destination, despite him playing in Saturday's match for Barrow. Barrow boss (and ex-Rover) Lee Turnbull, said: “Neil Campbell may be moving on this week for a short time. Tommy Cassidy has enquired about loaning Neil. He has had a disappointing campaign. Injury, lack of form and personal problems has never given the lad a chance to carry on where he left off last season.”
Campbell has struggled this season, scoring just five goals so far, and spending most games in recent months on the substitutes bench.

Doncaster Rovers' youth team lost their Merit League Two (North) game at Blackpool on Saturday morning. Their next game is on Saturday, when they entertain York City at Cantley Park.

Rovers came back from a goal conceded in the fifth minute to equalise on the half hour through Neil Roberts. Whilst Rovers got through the Swindon defence on several occasions down the right wing, with Coppinger and Mulligan finding space on numerous occasions, they could not get that final touch on some promising attacks. With some rather heavy-handed defending, particularly by Swindon's Matt Heywood, Swindon were clearly happy to have come away from Belle Vue with a point.

Striker Andy Campbell, who was at Rovers on a month's loan from Cardiff in a bid to rediscover his goal-scoring form, has returned to Cardiff when his loan deal expired. Campbell has only featured in three first team matches during that time, and has been absent recently due to injury.

Winger Andy Turner, who spent a month at Belle Vue on loan from Tottenham Hotspur in the 1994/95 season, has moved to Bromsgrove Rovers, who play in the Southern League Division One West, from Premier Division side Banbury United.
The much-travelled player also names Wolves, Crystal Palace and Yeovil Town in a career that has seen him turn out for at least 24 clubs.

Rovers striker Neil Roberts required stitches in a head wound after the game yesterday. He had been forced to leave the pitch to receive treatment after a clash with a Swindon defender during the second half yesterday afternoon.
John Doolan picked up a slight hamstring injury during yesterday's game and will require treatment with the physio on Monday.

Doncaster Rovers looks set to name the same starting eleven for this afternoon's home game against fellow play-off candidates Swindon Town. Mark Albrighton has missed training this week with sore knees, and is unlikely to recover, so Nick Fenton will retain his place in central defence.
Swindon Town are also likely to name an unchanged team following their 1-0 win over Port Vale in midweek, and will name Michael Proctor, on loan from Rotherham United, as one of their two strikers this afernoon. Striker Christian Roberts, who has been absent with a hernia injury since Christmas, is nearing full fitness and may be available for selection this afternoon.

Doncaster Rovers confirmed yesterday that Lewis Guy, a 20-year old striker who has just been released by Newcastle United, has arrived at the club on two weeks' trial. Guy is an England Under-21 international, and was awarded a squad number at Newcastle, but been a regular goal scorer in their reserves this season. Lewis said of Doncaster's interest: "I was very sad when Newcastle said I could go, it was always my dream to make it at the club and play for the first team and although I didn't really have many opportunities, I felt I was making good progress. I really enjoyed my time there and hope the club can be successful again, the fans deserve it.
"But as soon as I knew Doncaster were interested in taking a look at me I didn't hesitate. Although other clubs wanted to take a look at me, Dave Penney has shown a lot of enthusiasm in getting me to the club and I owe it to him to give it my best shot. Now it is up to me to show I can score goals for Doncaster, I will be giving it everything I have got."

Skellow Grange Working Mens Club are to hold a fund-raising evening for the benefit of the Doncaster Rovers' Youth Team next month. In the event, on March 18th, they will hold a "Race Night" with six races, as well as two appearances by top band "Tease". All money raised will be given to the Viking Supporters' Co-operative's "Coin Trail" appeal.
There is no entry charge, and the show starts at 8.30pm. However, the event is restricted to those aged over 18.

Doncaster Rovers are to hold a "Miss Doncater Rovers" contest next month - the first time this event has been held in over twenty years. The contest will take place in the Viking Sports Bar at Belle Vue on April 15th, with celebrity Jordan being announced as "head judge" for the evening.
Rovers are also, allegedly in the interests of fairness, to hold a "Mr Doncaster Rovers Hulk" the following month, although whether characteristics akin to the "Incredible Hulk", an ability to turn green and split your shirt, are required is uncertain!! No date has yet been set for the second event.

Even with only the first few votes received, it was clear who was going to win the "Man of the Match" vote for the Barnsley game. Gregg Blundell was in front at that stage, and retained a most convincing lead throughout, leaving any other contenders trailing in his wake. The leading votes were cast as follows:
1 Gregg Blundell (71.68%)
2 John Doolan (12.39%)
3 Neil Roberts (7.08%)
Thank you to everyone who voted, with all votes going forward to the "Player of the Season" totals. The next vote will open following Saturday's home game against Swindon Town.

Tickets for the away game at Sheffield Wednesday are now on sale - please remember that the match is all-ticket for Doncaster Rovers supporters. For some reason, only two adult tickets per applicant will be allowed, even though there are up to 8,000 tickets available for the away side, although presumably by the wording, you will be able to buy children's tickets in addition to this.
Ticket prices for this game are:
Adults £17.00, OAP's/U-16's £10.00
The ticket office will be open to sell tickets for this fixture between 10am and 4pm weekdays, but will be open until 7pm tomorrow evening.
Rovers have opened a new telephone line for ordering tickets - the Ticket Line number is 0845 4506250.

Former Rovers player Lee Turnbull is hoping to stay at UniBond Premier League club Barrow, despite a disappointing season, which has not been helped by financial limitations and injuries. They currently sit sixteenth in the table, four places and six points above the relegation zone.
Players in the Barrow squad have spoken publicly to back Turnbull, saying that he should be given an extension to his current two-year deal which runs out at the end of this season.

There will be a meeting of YES (Yorkshire England Supporters) on Sunday 27 February at 2.00 pm in the Viking Supporters' Bar. This is open to anyone living locally who is interested in, or travels to, England matches, whether they are YES members or not. Agenda items include travel arrangements to home and away matches, Germany 2006, and the new englandfans club membership. The bar will be open during the meeting.

Rovers boss Dave Penney has spoken of his delight at reaching the 50-point target he set at the beginning of the season, which he anticipated would be enough to preserve League One status. Now that target has been achieved, Penney is wanting his side to push for their third successive promotion.
"It will be difficult to make the play-offs but they are not beyond us," he said. "It was a great result against Barnsley because we wanted to put on a show after failing to score in our last home game. This has been coming for some time and I was pleased for Gregg Blundell to get among the goals again. He's back to the form he showed when he was our top scorer last season and I was only sorry he couldn't get a hat trick."
Last night's results saw Rovers drop one place to ninth in the table, but still only three points behind sixth-placed Bournemouth.

The Viking Supporters' Co-operative's "Coin Trail" went up by another £423.46 at the Barnsley match, with half of that being collected in the Viking Bar before the game.
This means that the new total for their appeal, which is raising money for the costs involved in the youth team, now stands at £27,830.08.

Simon Johnson, who has just returned to Leeds United after completing two months on loan at Belle Vue, looks as though he is set to move to Barnsley on loan for the rest of the season. The clubs have agreed the deal, and talks are now taking place between Paul Hart and the player. The 21-year-old recently returned to Elland Road after a loan spell at Doncaster but does not feature in Kevin Blackwell's first team plans.

Doncaster Rovers registered a very satisfying and comprehensive victory over South Yorkshire rivals Barnsley to record their first "double" over them in over thirty years. Gregg Blundell, in electrifying form, constantly found room wide on the right, setting up two gilt-edged chances for Michael McIndoe before opening the scoring himself on 16 minutes. The second goal had an element of comedey about it as Barnsley's Kay dwelt too long on the ball, enabling the constantly industrious Neil Roberts to steal the ball from him, the ball arriving at Blundell, who fired home his, and Rovers' second goal on 31 minutes. After Barnsley had Vaughan sent off six minutes before the interval, it was always going to be hard for Barnsley, and a John Doolan shot from 20 yards into the top left corner, and a side-footed goal from Paul Green from a right wing corner made the Tykes' misery complete.
The "Man of the Match" voting has now closed. Thanks go to everyone who has voted, the result will be revealed on Friday morning.

Doncaster Rovers registered their biggest margin of victory yesterday evening as they trounced a rather sorry looking Barnsley at Belle Vue. The victory moves Rovers up to eighth place, still just three points behind sixth placed Bournemouth.
With Swindon Town, the visitors to Belle Vue on Saturday being just one point and two places below Rovers in the League One table, things are starting to look interesting!
Please remember that OAP's and Under-16's will be admitted to Saturday's game for £1 - tickets are available at the ticket office in advance, but all categories of admission will also be available on Saturday.

The VSC have reported that, after consultation with Rovers, supporters club coaches will pick up fans at Belle Vue en route to the Sheffield Wednesday game as normal. However, any supporters doing so should park well away from the sterile area in front of the main stand by parking either behind the new office block or at the Rossington end of the car park.
It has also been confirmed that the Viking Supporters' bar will be opening early for the use of fans, with an anticipated opening time of 10.30am.

Tickets for the away game at Blackpool will be on sale on the day of the game (Saturday, 19th March). Advance sale of tickets will begin closer to match day, with admission prices being:
Adults: £14.00, Over-60's: £10.00, Under-18's: £7.00

Barring any last minute blizzards, tonight's home game against Barnsley will definitely go ahead. All snow has now melted, and the terraces are clear.
Rovers have also confirmed that tickets for tonight's game will be on sale at the ticket office right up to kick-off time, but identification will be required to prevent any Barnsley fans getting into the home areas.

There were only two real contenders for the "Man of the Match" as the votes came in for the Peterborough match over the weekend, with James Coppinger and Neil Roberts trading vote for vote until the closing time yesterday afternoon. All other contenders trailed well behind - the leading votes were cast as follows:
1 Neil Roberts (25.76%)
2 James Coppinger (24.24%)
3 John Doolan (12.12%)
4 Steve Foster (10.61%)
Thank you to everyone who took the time to vote. The next vote will open later this evening following the home game against Barnsley.

Doncaster Rovers look set to name an unchanged starting eleven for this evening's home game against Barnsley, with Mark Albrighton still likely to be absent with a knee injury. All other players who took part in the away win at Peterborough are reported as being fit.

Barnsley will be missing defender Matt Carbon, who picked up a thigh injury in the Tykes' home defeat by Bournemouth, with Tony Vaughan looking likely to keep his place after coming on as substitute.

Please remember that this evening's game against Barnsley is all-ticket, with no tickets being sold this evening. We also presume, although the official site does not say so, that no tickets for this fixture will be sold during the day.

Doncaster Rovers Internet Football Club is on the lookout for new players. The team, better known as the R'sonists, plays occasional fixtures, usually on a Saturday morning before Rovers home games. We also appear at several tournaments, including "Land Ut Gods" in Huddersfield (in April) and Worldnet (in Leeds, in July).
We are looking for players of all abilities, especially goalkeepers, to join our squad. We would also be interested in hearing from anyone who would be interested in refereeing our home games (fees paid!). Please contact me at the following email address:
johnlcoyle07@yahoo.com
Our next game will be against Motherwell (an "International Friendly") at home on Saturday 26th February (the morning of Rovers' game with Swindon Town), with a likely kick-off time of 11am.

Despite Rovers' victory taking them to 47 points for the season, only three points behind the play-off places, Dave Penney continued to insist that survival in League One was still his priority. With Rovers registering their first win for three matches, Penney said:"People forget that this club has come along way in a very short space of time, The expectations are very high again this season, but the first thing we have to do is win the 50 points I believe we need to secure our safety. After that we can start looking at other targets. Getting safe is the only thing I am interested in. We certainly weren't at our best but we did enough to get ourselves back on track and move a step closer to that 50-point mark."

Tickets for the away game at Sheffield Wednesday go on general sale today when the ticket office opens at 10am. For some reason, only two adult tickets per applicant will be allowed, even though there are up to 8,000 tickets available for the away side, although presumably by the wording, you will be able to buy children's tickets in addition to this.
Ticket prices for this game are:
Adults £17.00, OAP's/U-16's £10.00
The ticket office will be open to sell tickets for this fixture between 10am and 4pm weekdays, but will be open until 7pm tomorrow evening.

The Viking Supporters' Co-operative raised a further £194.16 at Saturday's game at Peterborough United, taking the new total for their appeal, which is raising money for the youth team, to £27,406.62.

Please remember that the Rovers v Barnsley fixture tomorrow evening is all ticket, with no tickets being available at the match.
Tickets are on sale today, but are restricted to two adult tickets per person, with admission prices being:
Seating: Adults £18.00, concessions £12.00
Standing: Adults £15.00, concessions £8.00

Rovers put their two successive defeats behind them this afternoon as they grabbed three points from London Road, thanks to two second half goals, from Neil Roberts and Steve Foster. Defender Mark Albrighton failed a fitness test, with Nick Fenton being the only change in the starting line-up. On-loan striker Andy Campbell was not named in the 16 - presumably the unsubstantiated reports that he was substituted in the reserves owing to a tight hamstring were proved correct.
The "Man of the Match" voting has now closed. Thank you to everyone who voted, we will let you know the result on Tuesday morning.

Former Rovers striker Martin Paul has made a surprise return to Bath City from Chippenham Town after being stuck on the substitutes' bench for several recent games. Paul had been expected to go out on loan, but Bath made a move last Monday, and found Chippenham willing to a full transfer. An undisclosed three-figure fee is understood to be involved.
Martin Paul was previously at Bath between 1996 and 2001, and scored 96 goals in 182 starts before being sold to Newport County for £3,000.

Skellow Grange Club are to hold a fund raising night on Thursay, 10th March to raise funds for the Doncaster Rovers youth team via the VSC's Coin Trail..
There will be a band, Teaser, on stage at 8.30pm, with their set being followed by a race night comprising of six races on a big screen. After a raffle, Teaser will return to the stage to complete the evening's entertainment.
Skelly Grange have asked for a couple of players to attend.
Admission is free and everyone (over 18's only) is invited to come along and make this night a success.

Doncaster Rovers may well be unchanged from the Chesterfield game for this afternoon's away game at Peterborough. Winger Jermaine McSporran may be back in the squad after scoring in the reserves against Grimsby in midweek.
Paul Green and Tim Ryan have missed some days training after picking up knocks in the Chesterfield game, but both resumed training on Thursday and have been passed fit to play.
Continuing absences include Leo Fortune-West, Simon Marples, Jamie Price and Stuart Jones.
Rovers will be seeking to improve on their recent form that has seen them lose the last two matches.

Peterborough boss Barry Fry will be waiting until the last minute before finalising his side for this afternoon's game, with several players either ill or with injury doubts.
Midfielder Jamie McMaster has 'flu, and Fry will check on him this afternoon to see whether he can play the final game of his loan spell from Leeds United, and striker Calum Wilcock has a heavy cold.
Winger Adam Newton picked up a knock in their defeat at Torquay on Tuesday, and will have a late fitness test.
Andy Legg returns after completing a suspension, although he is also suffering from 'flu symptoms, with Ahmed Deen set to make his first team debut if Legg doesn't make it. Curtis Woodhouse likely to revert to central midfield. Andy Clarke and Christopher Kanu have both recovered from the flu virus that is sweeping through the Posh squad and are in today's squad.
Posh Squad: Tyler, Newton, Deen, Rea, Arber, Legg, St. Ledger, Woodhouse, Farrell, Thomson, McMaster, Boucaud, Sonner, Clarke, Logan, Willock, Purser, Semple, McShane, Day, Coulson.

The Rovers ticket office at Belle Vue will be open this morning between 10am and noon for the sale of tickets for the away game at Sheffield Wednesday and the home game against Barnsley.
Whilst details on the official site are unclear, we presume that tickets for all parts of the ground are still on sale for the Barnsley game.

Former Rovers midfielder Ben Muirhead, now playing at Bradford City, has rejected a new two-year contract after his agent told him that a number of other clubs were interested in signing him. Muirhead's contract at Valley Parade runs out at the end of this season. Bantams boss Colin Todd, clearly irritated by Muirhead's decision, said: "It's up to him if he signs, but we'll be demanding compensation if indeed there are other clubs interested."

Four Brentford fans are raising money for their Supporters Trust and the Helen Rollason Cancer Appeal, and have reached as far as Bawtry. They are scheduled to be passing Belle Vue late this morning, and Donny Dog will be walking with them for a short distance as a gesture of support for their most worthy cause.
If any Rovers fans are able to come down to Belle Vue to cheer them on, they are welcome to do so. Full details of their mission, including their original itinerary, is available on www.beeswalk.com - click on their logo to the left.

Rovers chairman John Ryan has confirmed that Rovers have made three bids for Colchester United striker Craig Fagan. None of the bids matched Colchester's valuation for the 23-year old striker however, with Rovers valuing the player at £100,000. The player continues to be linked with Hull City, but news came yesterday that Hull were unsuccessful with a £150,000 bid. Fagan is out of contract in the summer, but a transfer fee will be required as "Bosman free transfers" apply to players over 24.
Rovers are continuing to search for a striker, with Dave Penney saying "I would still like to sign a couple of strikers now while we still have half a chance of making the promotion play-offs."

Former Rovers winger Jamie Lawrence looks as though he may be heading for Ireland in the summer, with Shamrock Rovers, Shelbourne and Cork City all reported to be interested in signing him. Lawrence has been playing for Brentford this season after being released by Grimsby Town in the summer.

Rovers players, including John Doolan, Adriano Rigoglioso and Dave Mulligan are scheduled to appear in the Rovers club shop at approximately 1pm this lunchtime, and will be availabel to sign autographs and meet the supporters.
Yesterday, Mark Albrighton and Tim Ryan visited Streetwise's shop in the Frenchgate Centre, accompanied by Donny Dog and the Division Three trophy.

Rovers defender Jamie Price has been booked in to have an operation on his foot tomorrow, which will mean that he will miss much of the remainder of the season - although Rovers have indicated that he will be back for the last month or so of the current campaign. Price has missed several matches in recent weeks.

Dave Penney has confirmed that Rovers are not looking to sign Andy Campbell on a full transfer. Campbell has made three appearances for Rovers since arriving from Cardiff City on loan, and played an hour of yesterday's reserve team game at Grimsby. Penney said: "We are still looking to sign someone, but not Andy - he's just come out to get a few games under his belt.We do need to bring a striker in though. We've been looking for a long time and we'll keep on looking."

Rovers' reserves came from a goal behind to register another win in the Pontins Holiday League fixture played at Blundell Park yesterday afternoon. Grimsby opened the scoring direct from a 36th minute corner, with Rovers equalising three minutes later when Nic Priet fired home following a free kick. The winner came for Rovers in the 73rd minute when Jermaine McSporran scored from close range.
The Rovers side was: Ross Flitney, Richard Cooper, Nick Fenton, Nic Priet, Craig Nelthorpe, Jermaine McSporran, Adriano Rigoglioso, Ricky Ravenhill, Aaron Brittain, Andy Campbell, Ben Jackson.
Substitutes: Jason Flint (for Campbell, 65), Danny Maudslay, Liam Green, Rob Pacey, Adam Green.

Tickets for the away game at Sheffield Wednesday on Sunday, 6th March go on sale today to season ticket holders. They will go on general sale next Monday, 21st February.
Ticket prices are: Adults £17.00, OAP's/U-16's: £10.00
The ticket office will remain open until 7pm this evening, and will open between 10am and noon on Saturday.

Dave Penney has hinted that Ross Flitney be signed on a full transfer from Fulham at the end of his current loan period at the club. Flitney joined as cover for Warrington after Stuart Jones picked up a foot injury, and has apparently settled in very well. Penney said: "He's available on a free transfer so it's something we might look at."

Former Rovers striker Adebayo Akinfenwa scored twice last night in Torquay United's 2-1 home win over relegation rivals Peterborough United. The result means that Torquay now are out of the bottom four , but leaves Peterborough eight points from safety.
We could only find one ex-Rovers player to have scored a goal on Saturday - Dino Maamria scored Stevenage's goal in their 2-1 defeat at Halifax Town in the Nationwide Conference.

Tickets for the home game against Swindon Town (on Saturday, 26th February) go on sale at the Rovers ticket office today. However, all standing areas are pay-on-the-gate for adults.
The game marks the return of the "Quid a kid" scheme - tickets for children and OAP's (who also will be admitted for £1) are now available from the ticket office.
Tickets for the Town End can be bought on-line from the Rovers' official site - click on the logo to the left to access details.
Admission prices for the game are:
Seating: Adults: £15.00, Over-65/U-16: £10.00
Standing: Adults: £13.00, Over-65/U-16: £1.00

Cambridge Fans United, the Cambridge United supporters' trust, are inviting all football fans to the Abbey Stadium for Cambridge United's League 2 match against Wycombe Wanderers on Saturday 19th March, kick off 3.00pm. Fans from all over the country are being invited to attend the game in a bid to raise some funds for the cash strapped U's as well as to show solidarity with other financially troubled clubs.
The event follows on from a similar event at Wrexham a couple of weeks ago - Cambridge are bottom of League Two, and face problems in paying employees beyond the end of this month. Their Supporters' Trust are aiming to raise £500,000 to keep the club going for the next six months.
Fans that can't attend are invited to send a shirt, scarf or pendant of their club to CFU. For further information, please e-mail info@cambridgefansunited.org, call 07957 344005 or visit the website at www.cambridgefansunited.org.

After a slow start, we received a good number of votes for the "Man of the Match" nominations from Saturday's home game against Chesterfield. With most players who were on the pitch for any significant length of time receiving nominations, the leading nominations were:
1 Neil Roberts (24.07%)
2 Mark Albrighton (14.841%)
3 Dave Mulligan (14.81%)
4 John Doolan (12.96%)
5 James Coppinger (11.11%)
Thank you to everyone who took the time to vote. The next vote will open on Saturday evening following the away game at Peterborough United.

Somewhat belatedly we have received a report that Rovers reserves faced Scarborough reserves at the McCain Stadium last Monday. Rovers are reported to have won the game 2-1 - no further details (from a Rovers point of view) are available.

The Viking Supporters' Co-operative has reported that they had another good response to their "Coin Trail" appeal on Saturday, with £515.44 being collected. £291.39 of that came from the Viking Bar, and £224.06 from the ground. Thank you to everyone who donated cash, which is going towards the Rovers' Youth Team costs. The latest total of the "Coin Trail" is now £27,212.16.

A Rovers Fun day is taking place this Tuesday at Frankie & Benny's in the Dome Leisure Park. The event starts at 11am and the Championship Trophy will be on show. There will be competitions and prizes for the children, with children eating free on the basis of one children's meal per paying adult.