Football League Youth Alliance
Saturday 14th December 2019
Doncaster Rovers' title hopes in the Football League Youth Alliance suffered a significant setback as they were beaten 3-2 by Scunthorpe United in freezing cold conditions at Cantley Park.
The Iron had decent shape, structure, kept the ball on the deck and did some excellent pressing to emerge as worthy winners thanks to Joey Dawson's first half opener and a brace from Harry Jessop after the interval.
Nathan Dimou and Junior Smith got Rovers' goals to make things interesting in the closing stages, but they were unable to find an equaliser.
The result means that Scunthorpe move into second spot in the league table - two points behind Rovers at the summit albeit with a huge four games in-hand.
It was a typical winter's morning for what was the last FLYA fixture before Christmas and there was a decent turnout on the sidelines including quite a few scouts - clearly attending in the knowledge this was two good teams going head-to-head.
Rovers fielded a trialist (Alex Andrassy-Escritt) at centre-back which meant skipper Ben Blythe moved across and played at left-back, with Lewis Cunningham named on the bench.
Despite sunshine as the teams took to the pitch, by kick-off the skies had turned grey and the heavens had opened with rain lashing down. A swirling wind, blowing towards the end which Scunthorpe were attacking, also meant it was freezing cold for the opening quarter-of-an-hour.
Unsurprisingly, during that spell, there wasn't much in the way of early goalmouth action.
The visitors adapted slightly the better, seeing more of the ball, and carved out their first opening after 16 minutes when Raynner Silva tried a speculative shot from the edge of the area which didn't have the accuracy to trouble Ben Bottomley.
Rovers 'keeper, however, was called into action for the first time soon afterwards when he got a hand to Jessop's close-range header - somehow diverting it wide of the post, before a couple of corners were defended.
Junior Smith drew a routine save at the other end of the pitch, whilst there was also a stoppage on the half-hour mark when Charlie Bell needed treatment following a 50/50 challenge.
By this point in proceedings, the rain had eased though it was still bitterly cold.
Scunthorpe had constantly pressed well, kept their shape and were working extremely hard, and they soon reaped the rewards for their efforts when Dawson latched onto Levi Gallimore's low cutback from the byline and emphatically smashed the ball home from eight yards.
It was a deserved lead after a fine, free-flowing move, but one they nearly squandered almost straight away because, only two minutes later, Smith seized upon a loose pass a few yards into the visitors' half, got behind the high defensive line and accelerated away towards goal. It looked for all the world as if he would keep his composure to finish, but the Iron 'keeper came out on top - spreading himself well to make a crucial save.
Rovers suddenly had momentum and Blythe went close when he hit a thunderous volley, straight off a corner, which had to be cleared from within a packed goalmouth. Elliott Walker then made a crucial goal-line intervention, off the counter-attack, to prevent Jessop from scoring.
The visitors remained ahead at the break, despite a bit more Donny pressure - mainly involving Jack Watson who was causing problems with his movement and general hold-up play.
After the re-start, the Iron got back on top, imposing their game-plan very effectively once more, though Finn Shrimpton wasted a chance when he was played through and saw a low 15-yard drive saved by Bottomley, when it would have been a better option to let fly.
However, the Rovers back-line didn't take heed of the warning signs and only a few minutes later, it was 0-2. Andrassy-Escritt was beaten too easily by the impressive Jessop, who worked his way down the left, opened his body up and picked his spot perfectly. It was a decent goal, deserved - collectively and individually, and the hosts now had a mountain to climb.
Paul Stancliffe's side did begin to knock the ball around better, and changed shape around the hour mark with Marius Conradi replacing Bell.
Opportunities to reduce arrears were still at a premium though. There were some good touches and intelligent lay-offs, including one or two by Conradi and fellow substitute Luca Nelson (who came on for Owan Derrett at half-time) but Scunthorpe were defending strongly.
On 65 minutes, the result would have been put beyond doubt if Bottomley hadn't made an instinctive stop on the edge of his box to deny Jessop, following a clever pass from Shrimpton.
Rovers then made another change as Max Jemson replaced trialist Andrassy-Escritt, but they were still struggling to carve out clear-cut opportunities and, although a header from a set-piece went wide, Tom Collins was rarely troubled in the visitors' goal.
On 80 minutes, the lads halved their deficit in fortuitous circumstances as Collins misjudged a vicious, wind-assisted free-kick into the box and fumbled it on the goal-line where Dimou gratefully smashed the ball into the empty net. The Scunthorpe 'keeper and his team-mates claimed that he'd been impeded, but the referee was having none of it and the goal stood.
All of a sudden, Rovers had a spring in their step and began applying more serious pressure and would have equalised if Watson had managed to get a shot away when a low left-wing cross reached him, at speed, at the near-post, but Collins plucked the ball from the striker's feet.
Then, almost straight down at the other end only a minute or so later, Scunny seemingly put paid to any hopes of a comeback as Dawson combined with Jessop, who tucked a low shot past Bottomley for his second goal of the game.
It was proving to be a topsy-turvy finale and the visitors came unstuck once again at a set-piece on the stroke of injury-time when Will McGowan's corner found Smith, whose perfectly-cushioned header reached the target.
Four minutes of injury-time were added by the officials and with the very last kick of proceedings, McGowan couldn't find the target - curling a left-foot free-kick over the upright, as Scunthorpe hung on to pick up a deserved three points.
On reflection, though it wasn't a dreadful performance by any means, the visitors worked harder off the ball, pressed brilliantly to force Rovers backwards, and imposed their game-plan for long periods. In open play, they were never properly cut open; both goals came from set-plays and Smith's big one-on-one chance came from a misplaced pass. Also, the 'keeper wasn't worked anywhere near enough to warrant achieving a positive result.
Credit has to go to Scunthorpe and on this display, they're worthy title contenders. They've got good players all over the pitch such as Charlie Barks at the back, Harry Jessop up top (who is very similar in movement to Jack Watson and an effective player), and also in wide areas.
So absolutely fair play to them and I've got no complaints with the result.
Team: Ben Bottomley, Elliott Walker, Alex Andrassy-Escritt (Max Jemson), Nathan Dimou, Ben Blythe (C), Will McGowan, Charlie Bell (Marius Conradi), Liam Ravenhill, Owan Derrett (Luca Nelson), Jack Watson, Junior Smith. Unused Subs: Lewis Cunningham, Kian Johnson.
Junior Smith drew a routine save at the other end of the pitch, whilst there was also a stoppage on the half-hour mark when Charlie Bell needed treatment following a 50/50 challenge.
By this point in proceedings, the rain had eased though it was still bitterly cold.
Scunthorpe had constantly pressed well, kept their shape and were working extremely hard, and they soon reaped the rewards for their efforts when Dawson latched onto Levi Gallimore's low cutback from the byline and emphatically smashed the ball home from eight yards.
It was a deserved lead after a fine, free-flowing move, but one they nearly squandered almost straight away because, only two minutes later, Smith seized upon a loose pass a few yards into the visitors' half, got behind the high defensive line and accelerated away towards goal. It looked for all the world as if he would keep his composure to finish, but the Iron 'keeper came out on top - spreading himself well to make a crucial save.
Rovers suddenly had momentum and Blythe went close when he hit a thunderous volley, straight off a corner, which had to be cleared from within a packed goalmouth. Elliott Walker then made a crucial goal-line intervention, off the counter-attack, to prevent Jessop from scoring.
The visitors remained ahead at the break, despite a bit more Donny pressure - mainly involving Jack Watson who was causing problems with his movement and general hold-up play.
After the re-start, the Iron got back on top, imposing their game-plan very effectively once more, though Finn Shrimpton wasted a chance when he was played through and saw a low 15-yard drive saved by Bottomley, when it would have been a better option to let fly.
However, the Rovers back-line didn't take heed of the warning signs and only a few minutes later, it was 0-2. Andrassy-Escritt was beaten too easily by the impressive Jessop, who worked his way down the left, opened his body up and picked his spot perfectly. It was a decent goal, deserved - collectively and individually, and the hosts now had a mountain to climb.
Paul Stancliffe's side did begin to knock the ball around better, and changed shape around the hour mark with Marius Conradi replacing Bell.
Opportunities to reduce arrears were still at a premium though. There were some good touches and intelligent lay-offs, including one or two by Conradi and fellow substitute Luca Nelson (who came on for Owan Derrett at half-time) but Scunthorpe were defending strongly.
On 65 minutes, the result would have been put beyond doubt if Bottomley hadn't made an instinctive stop on the edge of his box to deny Jessop, following a clever pass from Shrimpton.
Rovers then made another change as Max Jemson replaced trialist Andrassy-Escritt, but they were still struggling to carve out clear-cut opportunities and, although a header from a set-piece went wide, Tom Collins was rarely troubled in the visitors' goal.
On 80 minutes, the lads halved their deficit in fortuitous circumstances as Collins misjudged a vicious, wind-assisted free-kick into the box and fumbled it on the goal-line where Dimou gratefully smashed the ball into the empty net. The Scunthorpe 'keeper and his team-mates claimed that he'd been impeded, but the referee was having none of it and the goal stood.
All of a sudden, Rovers had a spring in their step and began applying more serious pressure and would have equalised if Watson had managed to get a shot away when a low left-wing cross reached him, at speed, at the near-post, but Collins plucked the ball from the striker's feet.
Then, almost straight down at the other end only a minute or so later, Scunny seemingly put paid to any hopes of a comeback as Dawson combined with Jessop, who tucked a low shot past Bottomley for his second goal of the game.
It was proving to be a topsy-turvy finale and the visitors came unstuck once again at a set-piece on the stroke of injury-time when Will McGowan's corner found Smith, whose perfectly-cushioned header reached the target.
Four minutes of injury-time were added by the officials and with the very last kick of proceedings, McGowan couldn't find the target - curling a left-foot free-kick over the upright, as Scunthorpe hung on to pick up a deserved three points.
On reflection, though it wasn't a dreadful performance by any means, the visitors worked harder off the ball, pressed brilliantly to force Rovers backwards, and imposed their game-plan for long periods. In open play, they were never properly cut open; both goals came from set-plays and Smith's big one-on-one chance came from a misplaced pass. Also, the 'keeper wasn't worked anywhere near enough to warrant achieving a positive result.
Credit has to go to Scunthorpe and on this display, they're worthy title contenders. They've got good players all over the pitch such as Charlie Barks at the back, Harry Jessop up top (who is very similar in movement to Jack Watson and an effective player), and also in wide areas.
So absolutely fair play to them and I've got no complaints with the result.
Team: Ben Bottomley, Elliott Walker, Alex Andrassy-Escritt (Max Jemson), Nathan Dimou, Ben Blythe (C), Will McGowan, Charlie Bell (Marius Conradi), Liam Ravenhill, Owan Derrett (Luca Nelson), Jack Watson, Junior Smith. Unused Subs: Lewis Cunningham, Kian Johnson.
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