Doncaster Rovers 0-0 AFC Wimbledon

Doncaster Rovers 0-0 AFC Wimbledon
Keepmoat Stadium
Tuesday 1st May 2018
League One

A very boring game with a predictable outcome

Sometimes there are games that offer excitement, intrigue and are nail-biting from start to finish - the sort where you can't take your eyes off the action for not knowing what will happen next.

Then, on the flip side, there are boring matches which could cure insomnia and watching it is like some sort of 19th century punishment that you wouldn't wish on your worst enemy.

I don't know what crap was on BBC Two tonight but it was probably a damn sight more exciting than the snore-fest that was Doncaster Rovers versus AFC Wimbledon in League One.

If you stayed at home and gave the game a miss, well done - you made the right choice!

Anyone who stayed away made the right choice

It'd require a lot of thought and creative writing to make the first half sound exciting so the best way would be to tell it as it was; a shockingly bad 45 minutes with no excitement, lots of purposeless back-passes, no proper chances and absolutely boring to watch.

Rovers had the better openings in the second half with John Marquis directing a header straight at the visiting 'keeper, shortly before Rodney Kongolo made a plonker of himself when he had time and space inside the area yet fired harmlessly wide.

Donny's former big-time-charlie Harry Forrester, now of the visitors, got a surprisingly warm reception when he came on with around a quarter-of-an-hour remaining. However, pretty much like most of his career with Rovers, he flattered to deceive and in keeping with the game he did absolutely nothing to impress.

In the light it was boring...

The Keepmoat Stadium sometimes comes in for criticism for being a purpose-built soulless bowl where the atmosphere is flat and fans struggle to create any noise.

There were plenty of periods in tonight's game where the atmosphere was non-existent and the usual suspects with big voices were louder than usual, but when the team doesn't give the fans in the stands anything to shout about, the murmurs of discontent and grumbling is perfectly understandable and to be expected.

...and in the dark it was boring, too!

Darren Ferguson's decision to also deny young Danny Amos a starting place was also very strange.

After an encouraging performance in Saturday's goalless draw at Oldham, you'd have expected the teenager to be one of the first names on his team-sheet but instead he was only named on the bench.

Considering Rovers are safe and there's zero riding on results of the next few games, it's the perfect time to blood youngsters and how else is Amos (and others) going to get invaluable experience at first team level if they don't play games?

The 'Spirit of Doncaster' statue - possibly the most pointless statue outside a ground in the UK?

Maybe Ferguson dropped him to prove some sort of point, but it was petty to say the least as he was clearly fit and available for selection otherwise he wouldn't have come on as a substitute late in the second half.

Rovers are expected to confirm their budget for next season in the next couple of days.

I won't hold my breath that the changes which are actually needed to make Donny exciting to watch again are actually going to happen though and I fear that if Ferguson sticks around then it may be a long old monotonous campaign.