August 19, 2008
Stock out of Wales squad
Rovers midfielder Brian Stock has withdrawn from the Welsh squad for their game against Georgia on Wednesday evening owing to a back injury. He has returned to Doncaster to have treatment on the injury, in the hope that he will be fit in time for Saturday's away game at Queens Park Rangers.
August 19, 2008
Ryan challenges Rovers to "do a Bristol"
Doncaster Rovers chairman, John Ryan, has challenged the Rovers players to follow in the footsteps of Bristol City by going on to qualify for the play-offs this season. Bristol were promoted twelve months ahead of Rovers, and instead of struggling, found themselves in the promotion spots for much of the season before faltering to finish in a play-off place.
Ryan told Yorkshire Sport: "Everyone is saying we are going to be relegation favourites, which is fair enough. But I think there's a great belief in the lads that we can do a lot better than that and do a Bristol City. They were no great shakes when we were in the same division. Looking at it from one aspect, if we stay up, I'll be delighted. But we want to do better than that."
August 19, 2008
Nine arrests on Saturday
Nine people, "mainly" Cardiff City supporters, were arrested following a series of incidents in Doncaster town centre and outside the Keepmoat Stadium ahead of last Saturday's match. The match itself passed without incident.
The nine people have been charged and released on bail. They will appear in court at a later date - police will be applying for football banning orders against all of those charged.
August 19, 2008
Sam's the man
Sam Hird was voted as the clear "man of the match" for his great performance in Saturday's game against Cardiff City. Sam recived three times the number of votes as his closest rival, Matt Mills. With eleven players receiving nominations, the top three were:
1 Sam Hird - 41.86%
2 Matt Mills - 13.95%
3 Brian Stock - 11.63%
Thanks go to everyone who took the time to vote. The next poll will open following Saturday's game at Queens Park Rangers.
August 18, 2008
QPR ticket info
Tickets are now on sale from the Keepmoat Stadium ticket office for Saturday's away game at Queens Park Rangers. Rovers have received an allocation of 1,000 for advance sale, with a total allocation of 1,700 - presumably the other 700 will be available for sale at Loftus Road on the day or the match.
Ticket prices will be as follows:
Adults - £30
Under-16's/16-21's/Over 60's & Ambulant Disabled (no carer) - £20
Wheelchair disabled & carer - £15
We understand that the QPR programme will cost £5, as a special edition is being planned as a memorial for Ray Jones, with 50p going to charity.
August 18, 2008
QPR coaches
The Supporters Club are running coaches to the away game at Queens Park Rangers on 23rd August.
Coaches will leave Retford at 8.45am, Harworth 8.50am, Bawtry 9.00am, Rossington 9.00am, Hare & Tortoise 9.05am, Doncaster Royal Infirmary 9.30am and Keepmoat Stadium Car Park 1 at 9.45am.
The fares will be:
Members: Adults £20, Senior Citisens £18, Under 16 £16
Non Members: Adults £22, Senior Citizens £20, Under 16 £18
Please call Len South (01302 817347) or Paul Mayfield (0796 1727769 or 01427 880154).
August 18, 2008
Laws turns down Gilbert transfer request
After reporting Plymouth Argyle to the Football League for an alleged illegal approach for defender Peter Gilbert, Sheffield Wednesday boss Brian Laws has now confirmed that Wednesday have now turned down a transfer request from the player.
Laws said: "I understand Peter. He wants to play in the first team. I can't keep 20-odd players happy all the time. That's part of the game. Peter has to accept that, and he has done. We are rejecting his request unless somebody comes in with the right kind of fee, because I've got to replace him."
Gilbert, a former Plymouth player who has played twice under Argyle manager Paul Sturrock, played for Rovers on loan in January 2007, making four appearances for the club.
August 17, 2008
Rovers 1 Cardiff 1
Doncaster Rovers were denied victory two minutes from the end of the game, as a collision between Neil Sullivan and Adam Lockwood enabled the ball to run free to Ross McCormack, who cracked the ball home from close range. Until that point, it looked as though Rovers were set for a deserved second successive victory, with chances falling to Richie Wellens and Brian Stock coming in the early stages of the game. The visitors held firm in defence though, and it took until the 67th minute for the opening goal of the game. Lewis Guy latched onto a through ball down the middle from Matt Mills, and lashed home an unstoppable shot into the bottom corner of the net.
Cardiff looked most unlikely to score an equaliser for the rest of the game until that fateful collision in the dying minutes of the game.
August 17, 2008
O'Driscoll - no blame for mix-up
Rovers manager Sean O'Driscoll refused to put the blame for the mix-up that led to Cardiff's late equaliser yesterday, which would have given Rovers a second win of the season.
Rovers looked to be on the way to three points when Ross McCormack, who spent some time at Rovers on loan from Rangers three years ago, pounced as the ball ran free following a collision between Adam Lockwood and Neil Sullivan.
O'Driscoll said: "It was a disappointing mix-up but it's pointless picking out someone to blame. What pleased me is that I thought we upped our game from last week's performance when we won at Derby. I thought there was a lot of hype after that match but we played a good passing side today and matched them and that's the pleasing aspect from our point of view. I didn't think we eased off, it was just a mix-up that cost us the points but we got a draw and that's another step in the right direction. I think our play probably deserved three points overall but it wasn't to be."
Cardiff boss Dave Jones said of the match: "It looked like it was going to be a stalemate anyway and their goal resulted from mistakes from our part. The only time they played a 60-yard pass throughout the match they opened us up and that was disappointing."
"I thought we probably shaded the first half and they shaded the second. We probably nullified each other because there was a lot of midfield passing from both teams but no cutting edge. This is a difficult place to come and Doncaster passed the ball well but we stuck to our task and maybe they got a bit nervous. I thought probably overall it was a fair result."
August 17, 2008
Goals round-up
We begin our review of former Rovers players scoring goals yesterday in the Premiership, where Middlesbrough defender David Wheater scored one of their two goals to defeat Tottenham Hotspur 2-1.
In the Championship, Paul Green opened his account for Derby County, with his second half strike giving County a draw after they had gone behind in the 23rd minute agianst Bristol City at Ashton Gate.
Down into non-league football, Andy Campbell scored for Farsley Celtic in their 3-1 home defeat against Hinckley United.
The first day of action in the UniBond Premier Division saw two Rovers players scoring in the Witton Albion v Frickley Athletic game. Rod Thornley scored the opener for Witton in the 14th minute, with Robert Pell equalising from the penalty spot in the 34th minute.
We now head north of the border, where Colin Cramb scored in the first minute for East Stirling in their game against new-boys Annan Athletic. However, Athletic came from behind to score the winner in the 89th minute, leaving East Stirling one place off the bottom of Scottish Division Three.
What money would there be on the top team in the SPL not being either Rangers or Celtic? At the moment, newly promoted Hamilton sit on top of Scotland's premier division, albeit on goal difference from Rangers. Yesterday, they scored a 1-0 win at Inverness Caledonian Thistle (who included ex-Rover McGuire in their side), thanks to a strike in time added on at the end of the first half by Richard Offiong. Hamiltion also included ex-Rover Chris Swailes in their ranks.
Moving over to Wales, where the Welsh Premier League saw its first weekend of action of the season, ex-Rovers striker Neil Roberts scored one of Rhyl's three goals to beat Newtown.
Finally, across the water in Ireland, ex-Rovers striker Peter Hynes scored one of Sporting Fingal's goals that beat Carrick United 3-1 in the FAI Ford Cup, finishing well from eight yards out on the hour mark.
August 17, 2008
Duane after promotion for Rovers
Former Rovers striker Duane Darby, now manager at British Gas Business Southern League Division One Midlands club Bromsgrove Rovers, says winning promotion is the only aim for his squad this season. Bromsgrove began their season at home to Kevin Horlock's Bury Town yesterday as they look to bounce back from last season's relegation, with Darby believing they have a squad capable of returning at the first attempt. The season didn't, in that case, start according to plan, with Bury Town winning the game 1-0.
Darby said: “Promotion is the only target we have got. I feel we have a much stronger squad than last year. I am in no doubt that we can get promotion with this squad. It’s going to be new to us but I am just concerned about ourselves and if we do it right we will be fine. It’s going to be a tough season so we have got to make sure we get a good start. I am looking forward to it. I hate pre-season but now it comes down to the proper thing. The pre-season results don’t matter, now they do.”
August 16, 2008
Rovers v Cardiff
Doncaster Rovers have no further injuries to contend with ahead of the first home game of the new season. Sean O'Driscoll made five changes to the side for Tuesday's defeat against Notts County, so we expect that a number of the players who missed out after playing last Saturday will be restored to the side.
Rovers will be missing Darren Byfield, Jason Price, Sean McDaid and Gordon Greer today, but apart from that, all others should be available for selection.
Former Rovers loan striker Ross McCormack looks set to be in the side for Cardiff City's first visit at this level to Doncaster for fifty years, although boss Dave Jones has a selection problem for the game with his strikers - after winning their opening game of the season last Saturday against Southampton with Ross McCormack and Steve Thompson, he changed the strike pairing for Tuesday's Carling Cup game, with Jay Bothroyd and Paul Parry put in impressive performances.
Gavin Rae and Kevin McNaughton are expected to be fit after recovering from knocks, but Glen Loovens' inclusion is doubtful as his future at the club hangs in the balance as he looks to be bound for Celtic, with Darren Purse likely to replace Loovens. Tony Capaldi misses out with a knee injury, and midfielder Gavin Rae will miss up to two weeks after chipping a bone in his leg.
August 16, 2008
Jones ready for Rovers threat
Cardiff boss Dave Jones is wary of the threat of Doncaster Rovers ahead of this afternoon's clash at the Keepmoat Stadium, but is confident that his players are up to the challenge.
"It's their first home fixture, so they will be pumped up for this game - big-time. We have to be prepared for that," Jones told the South Wales Echo.
"We know from last season's reports that they like to play football and we will have to be at our best if we are to achieve anything there."
Cardiff are unbeaten in their two matches so far this season, and also went through their entire pre-season campaign undefeated.
Jones also said: "We expect a big, passionate home crowd but we're more than capable of dealing with that. They enjoyed a good win against Derby and they will catch a few teams by surprise - but that won't last for long."
August 16, 2008
Big crowd anticipated
Rovers are certain of a five-figure crowd for this afternoon's first home game of the season, with around 8,000 season tickets sold and 3,000 tickets being sent to Cardiff.
Sean O'Driscoll is keeping his team line-up under wraps ahead of the game to keep his Cardiff counterpart guessing - Adam Lockwood, who has yet to feature this season, has a chance of coming back into the back four.
Looking ahead to today's game, O'Driscoll said: "It is all about trying to play against a team who have high aspirations of getting promoted this season. It is not for me to speculate how well they'll do this season. But I would imagine that David Jones, his board and the club's supporters would expect them to be there or thereabouts at the end of the season."
"They have used the money generated from their FA Cup run to strengthen the team and I wouldn't be surprised if they strengthened it again before the transfer window shuts. Both sides will be looking to play football so it could be quite an entertaining game."
"It is going to be tough because Cardiff will be there or thereabouts. But I have confidence in my players and, more importantly, they have belief in themselves."
August 16, 2008
Man of the Match
New signing James Chambers was the clear winner of the "Man of the Match" voting for Tuesday night's match at Notts County, gaining almost half of the votes received. A total of six players were nominated, with the most votes going as follows:
1 James Chambers (45.45%)
2 Gareth Roberts (22.72%)
3 Jos van Nieuwstadt (13.64%)
Thank you to everyone who took part. The next vote will open following this afternoon's home game against Cardiff City.
August 16, 2008
Rovers arrange Chesterfield game
With no reserve team to bring players back into action, Rovers will again rely on arranging behind-closed-doors friendly fixtures to bring injured players back to full match fitness.
A match has been arranged against Chesterfield next week to enable Jason Price to improve his fitness. Price has missed both matches so far this season and only resumed full training on Thursday.
August 16, 2008
O'Driscoll - lack of "know-how" let us down
Rovers are likely to revert to the line-up that beat Derby County last Saturday, with Sean O'Driscoll admitting that the changes made on Tuesday didn't work.
He said: "The changes we made upset the balance in the side. I don't think there was a problem with the application, workrate or attitude - it was 'know-how' that let us down. We lacked the ability to break them down and got frustrated with each other. There is a lesson for us to learn there because we are going to have setbacks in the league as well and it's how we react to them that is going to be crucial to how well we do this season."
He continued: "Tuesday night's result was a massive disappointment and it's something we have to learn from. Obviously the league is by far the main priority but we don't like losing any game and we wanted to make progress in the cup as well as keep the momentum going after Saturday's win."
August 16, 2008
Match officials
The match officials for this afternoon's match will be:
Referee: M Halsey
Assistant referees: T Massey, J Collin
Fourth official: N Swarbrick