Doncaster Rovers (U23s) 2-3 Grimsby Town (U23s)

Doncaster Rovers (U23s) 2-3 Grimsby Town (U23s)
Central League
Tuesday 3rd December 2019

Doncaster Rovers squandered a two-goal advantage as they were beaten 3-2 by Grimsby Town at Cantley Park in their third Central League game of the season.

On a strange and unseasonably sunny day, Myron Gibbons put Rovers ahead with a calmly dispatched spot-kick just shy of the half-hour mark - despite the visitors having enjoyed large swathes of pressure up to this point.

Gibbons struck again not long after the re-start as Doncaster began to dictate proceedings, play on the front foot, and really test their opponents.

With as little as a quarter-of-an-hour to go, a comeback looked unlikely yet the Mariners, remarkably, struck three times in quick succession; capitalising on some poor defending in the process, to take all three points back to Blundell Park.

In reflection, though the result doesn't look good in isolation, there were still one or two positives to emerge that individuals may be able to take comfort in.

Branden Horton, wearing the captain's armband, posed all sorts of problems with his over-lapping runs down the left channel in the second half. Cody Prior kept things together well in centre-midfield; one of his best performances in a while where his value was clear to see. Myron Gibbons also looked determined and scored two goals which will only improve his confidence going forward.

With one eye undoubtedly cast towards the upcoming EFL Trophy clash with Leicester City, Gary McSheffrey fielded a side which consisted mainly of youth team players and first-year professionals. Additionally, there were also a couple of unnamed trialists - one who played at right-back, whilst the other was a left-sided attacker with a quick turn of pace.

Inadvertently, the line-up also suggests Shane Blaney, Danny Amos and AJ Greaves will be involved to some extent against the Foxes tomorrow night.

On a bright afternoon, Rovers got proceedings underway and created a couple of chances inside the opening 10 minutes with Will Longbottom testing the visiting 'keeper with a free-kick, before Cody Prior carved his way past a couple of opponents and also drew a save.

The Mariners had a lot of territorial pressure and their first attempt on target came on the quarter-hour mark. Ben Bottomley's hurried attempted pass out from the back wasn't precise enough and the trialist right-back, stretching in a bid to retain possession, was penalised for a mistimed tackle. From the resulting set-piece delivery into the danger zone, a visiting player rose highest but his powerful header was straight at Bottomley.

Grimsby kept up their pressure and soon squandered two good openings in quick succession.

In the first move, Branden Horton had to make a clearance off the goal-line after an opponent cleverly weaved his way into the area and tried his luck with a low attempt from a tight angle. Soon afterwards, another opportunity went begging as nobody connected to a cut-back across the area - this time coming in from the opposite side.

Even at this relatively early stage in proceedings, it seemed only a matter of time until Grimsby made their pressure pay as they continued to see plenty of the ball.

Just shy of the half-hour mark, however, it was Rovers who opened the scoring.

Myron Gibbons, who'd only just replaced Harrison Myring, got clattered as he received a pass and looked to turn and accelerate away. The referee judged the foul to have taken place inside the box and Gibbons dusted himself down before firing the resulting spot-kick into the bottom corner.

The goal breathed new life into McSheffrey's side who now began to press forward a bit more and they would have made it 2-0 if Max Watters' dipping 25-yard strike hadn't narrowly cleared the upright on 33 minutes.

Despite a couple of 'iffy' refereeing decisions which got both teams animated at different times, things were relatively tentative up to the interval, without too much goalmouth action, and Donny remained ahead.

Whatever was said during the half-time break, initially, it seemed to have a hugely positive effect as the hosts then played their best football of the afternoon and looked dominant.

On 47 minutes, Will McGowan had a shot which drifted over the upright following a cross into the box from the right channel and an intricate lay-off by Longbottom, who himself lashed a shot narrowly over moments later after a clever corner-kick routine initiated by McGowan.

The Mariners' back-line was being pulled here, there and absolutely everywhere and Rovers quickly made it 2-0. In a fast-flowing attacking move, Watters' burst down the right-flank and whipped a piercing ball into the box which found A.Trialist who laid it off for Gibbons to emphatically place into the net.

By now, confidence was evidently flowing and players were getting forward at every opportunity to either join in or supplement attacks - none more so than Horton whose overlapping runs were causing chaos for Grimsby's right-back.

It was through one of those devastating and driving runs that the hosts had the ball in the net for a third time; though it was disallowed as A.Trialist was deemed to be offside when he slotted home, having latched onto Horton's through ball.

Even though a speculative attempt at the opposite end cleared the woodwork, the visitors were now struggling to get possession for any decent amount of time.

Instead, Doncaster were pressing hard for a third goal, which nearly came when A.Trialist saw a drive parried away by the visiting 'keeper and Watters' subsequent follow-up blocked, whilst Longbottom also drilled a free-kick narrowly wide of the left-hand post, moments afterwards.

Horton again showed his potential with another turn of pace and charging, overlapping run which culminated with the 'keeper spilling his powerful cross into the six-yard box near to substitute Vinnie Steels, but in unorthodox fashion, the Mariners somehow got rid of the danger.

Gibbons scuffed a shot wide in another attack and Liam Ravenhill, within only a matter of moments of his introduction, went close with a curling strike.

Throughout the second period, Rovers made several changes in order to give everyone game-time so they could test themselves in this environment. Steels and Elliott Walker were the first introduced on the hour mark, before Liam Ravenhill and Rieves Boocock came on with 15 minutes remaining.

Coincidentally or not, it was around this time in the game where Grimsby really began to seize the initiative, get on top, dominate and produce their storming finish.

The visitors seized upon some sloppy play on Rovers' right-flank and a low pass came inside towards their big, powerful frontman, who opened up his body and unleashed a powerful snap-shot from the edge of the box which flew straight into the bottom corner.

What the Rovers players needed to do at this stage was manage the game well, stifle things and not let their opponents dictate play, but instead that first goal was the catalyst for a comeback.

A minute later, remarkably, it was 2-2.

Grimsby had a corner out on the left which was played across the box, bounced, and was emphatically smashed into the roof of the net. No Rovers defender got close to preventing it, yet the goal was a simple training ground move that had been executed well. It was still, nevertheless, a poor and sloppy goal to concede.

Matches can sometimes be won or lost on momentum and, incredibly, despite Doncaster having been in such a dominant and commanding position only a few minutes earlier, it was now the visitors who were full of flair, confidence and attacking with intent.

The 'game-management' ability, so badly needed, just wasn't there for Rovers and only some quick-thinking by Bottomley; advancing off his line to thwart an opponent in a one-on-one, denied Grimsby from completing the turnaround on 84 minutes.

Gibbons scuffed another shot wide in what, by now, was a rare foray forward by the hosts, before the all-important fifth goal did come - for the visitors!

The Mariners enjoyed more success down Rovers' right-side to get in-behind and though Bottomley did well to get something on a subsequent low shot on goal, his block ricocheted away into the path of a grateful striker who tapped home to complete the turnaround.

There was a palpable sense of shock at what had unfolded during the previous 10 minutes or so and, unsurprisingly, the closing stages were every bit as unpredictable as what had gone on in the rest of the game.

On three separate occasions, A.Trialist went close for Donny; firing one shot over, drawing a full-stretch fingertip save with another effort and also striking the post from close-range. At the other end, Grimsby squandered a counter-attack with a player 'going for glory' when it would have been simpler to square the ball to a team-mate for a tap-in.

Ultimately, it finished 3-2, and this will no doubt go down as a massive learning curve in terms of 'game-management' for those players who were on the pitch at the final whistle.

Other than the experience which would have been provided by the aforementioned trio who are likely to be involved in the EFL Trophy tomorrow night, what was probably needed, in my opinion, was more leadership on the pitch at times.

It seemed awfully quiet for a lot of the game and in the closing stages, an organiser, a leader - someone to shout, encourage and 'bark out' instructions was sorely missing. Had there been someone, maybe at least one of the goals would have been prevented.

Whether that duty falls to Branden Horton, as captain (but playing at left-back) or Ben Blythe, who as the leading centre-back can see everything ahead of him, is open for discussion. However, it would have definitely helped in terms of managing the game from the point of the last substitutions up until the final whistle.

As stated at the outset of this post, there were positives today from individuals but there's still plenty for the lads to work on and improve in upcoming games.

Going through the players individually, Ben Bottomley recovered from what seemed like a nervous start with a couple of rushed clearances and poor kicks and was decent on the whole. There wasn't a lot that he could do about the goals.

Elliott Walker had a tough afternoon, probably his toughest of the season, in his half-hour appearance as he was up against a stronger, more experienced opponent who was able to dictate things. Nathan Dimou and Ben Blythe, generally speaking did okay - barring the collapse in the final quarter-hour for which the whole team has to take responsibility for. Branden Horton, at left-back, was very good, full of attacking intent, played some good balls at times and made some good runs, but, on the flip side, was probably too quiet for a captain.

Harrison Myring didn't make a huge impact before he was replaced by Myron Gibbons who scored two, looked a threat and imposed himself well on the game. He pressed quite often, thus applying pressure and was a nuisance. Cody Prior, as stated, had a decent performance and his value is probably best reflected in that after he went off, the midfield was opened up a bit too easily which led to Grimsby's comeback. Liam Ravenhill had a shot which nearly crept in though aside from that, he didn't make a big impression. He's still young, however, and experiences such as this will only aid his development in the long run. Will McGowan had a mixed afternoon as he got into things after a slow start, improved and then became influential during the really positive spell with his passing range, but then retreated in the closing stages. Max Watters started up top, then went out wide and was a threat - especially with a couple of direct runs in quick succession just after half-time. Vinnie Steels showed some nifty touches and looked bright and decent in an attacking sense but he was directly involved in the sloppy play which led to Grimsby's first goal.

Will Longbottom had a couple of shots and showed decent movement, etc, yet the reality is with time ticking away on his contract, he needs a really big performance and regular goals to get noticed and force his way into the first team frame. Rieves Boocock couldn't get into the game much by the time he came on as the ball was predominantly down at the other end of the pitch.

Team: Ben Bottomley, A.Trialist (Elliott Walker), Nathan Dimou, Ben Blythe, Branden Horton, Harrison Myring (Myron Gibbons), Cody Prior (Liam Ravenhill), Will McGowan, A.Trialist, Will Longbottom (Rieves Boocock), Max Watters (Vinnie Steels).