Doncaster Rovers 0-1 Coventry City

Doncaster Rovers 0-1 Coventry City
Sky Bet League One
Saturday 18th January 2020

Jordan Shipley's speculative strike gave Coventry City a well-deserved win over Doncaster Rovers to enhance their promotion challenge.

Though Donny didn't play either particularly well or as badly as some of the restless, knee-jerk, natives would have you believe, sometimes you just have to appreciate the quality of the opposition and what they possess.

The Sky Blues moved the ball better, were good in and out of possession, difficult to break down and worthy winners; so impressive that I'd describe them as one of the best teams to have visited the Keepmoat Stadium to date this term.

Rovers' forward line didn't offer enough to warrant a result and sometimes looked rather anonymous as a collective; Niall Ennis struggled throughout whilst Rakish Bingham did incredibly little in his 45 minutes after replacing Kieran Sadlier at the half-time interval.

Boss Darren Moore chose to leave things as they were in the closing stages (as opposed to making substitutions) when his team were chasing the game and the overall performance just underlined the need for an out-and-out front player.

All that said, Coventry were decent, did their jobs and deservedly won. The only criticism which could be labelled at them was their inability to get a second goal as it resulted in a nervous finale as they had to 'shut up shop' and defend things out. In a different game, against a side with more attacking depth, they might have come unstuck and lost a couple of points.

Donny did muster up a few openings; one early in the second half where James Coppinger hooked a dangerous ball across the goalmouth which needed clearing, whilst the visitors gave away a few set-pieces in dangerous positions on the edge of the box that they weren't punished for.

Ennis possibly should have been awarded a penalty just before half-time when he spun away and got past his marker inside the box before going to ground. My instinctive reaction was that he had a justifiable shout for a spot-kick, though it wasn't given and the game continued.

On the whole, I was far from 'bowled over' by the collective display from the officials as they missed quite a bit - especially as the game progressed, but it's by no means an excuse in regards to the final result.

From the outset, the visitors who were backed by a quite lively following of at least 2,000 supporters, got in the ascendancy, dictated the middle battle and enjoyed quite a bit of territorial pressure - with their forward-play and movement allowing for some decent openings.

Sam McCallum was their chief threat and enjoyed a couple of openings - one where his volley was blocked at a set-piece before the subsequent rebound shot was blazed over the upright by Liam Walsh, and in another move where he was in a good position to capitalise on a dodgy half-clearance by Tom Anderson but lacked accuracy with his attempt.

Shipley was also foiled in another attack - and in truth, the only thing which was missing from Coventry's performance in the opening 25 minutes was a goal.

It eventually came just a minute later, when Shipley picked up possession just inside the Rovers' half and was allowed to venture forward with it. Despite having the option to slide a ball out wide towards the advancing right-winger, he instead capitalised on the 'backing off' and unleashed a powerful low drive which flew past Seny Dieng into the bottom corner. 0-1.

The Sky Blues were now filled with confidence and continued to move the ball about really well; again their forward play was excellent and the hosts' defence needed to be alert and 'on their toes' to prevent any further damage to the scoreline.

Towards the end of the first period, the officials - who up to this point hadn't missed anything significant, began to 'lose the plot' a bit - starting in the incident where Kieran Sadlier was left with a bloodied nose during a spell where Rovers put some good balls into the danger zone.

It culminated in no penalty being awarded when Ennis went to ground inside the area - and going on my gut reaction; it was a spot-kick, but the referee said play on. Subsequently, only moments later, Ben Sheaf flashed a header wide from Jon Taylor's cross.

In the first quarter-hour period following the interval, after a dodgy couple of minutes, Doncaster began to enjoy their best spell as they seized the initiative (to an extent) and put some more balls into dangerous positions.

In one quick, counter-attack, veteran birthday boy James Coppinger received the ball on the inside-right and floated a teasing delivery across the goalmouth that required attention from his former team-mate and current City goalkeeper Marko Marosi.

Taylor and substitute Bingham (who'd replaced Sadlier at half-time) then had half-attempts on goal, though crucially Rovers weren't able to muster up a clear, decisive 'gilt-edged' opening to get back on level terms.

Instead, as the second half progressed, the defensive shape and organisation of Mark Robins' team began to stand out above everything else. With few out-and-out attacking options on the bench aside from youngster Max Watters, Robins' counterpart in the opposite dugout, Darren Moore, opted against making any further changes - with his best team available already out on the pitch.

It was frustrating to watch but a sign of where the home team are currently and, at the same time, a realisation was needed that Coventry are just a good side who are slightly ahead of Rovers in certain key areas at present.

However, that said, the Sky Blues couldn't add a second goal. Callum O'Hare struck a post with a long-range effort in one move whilst a dangerous counter-attack from the visitors, where they initially had a 3-on-2 also came to nothing.

Naturally, Rovers pressed more as the minutes ticked away and the visitors respected what they had and 'defended things out' - owing to some excellent shape which you could tell is something they've worked hard at on the training pitch.

There was to be no equaliser as, ultimately, it was one of those frustrating afternoons of realisation. From a Rovers perspective, not much was learned in this game that wasn't already known beforehand - but there was certainly no need to get overly negative (as some fans did) at the final whistle.

In my opinion, the game was probably won in the middle as Coventry's midfielders stamped their authority on proceedings better, which allowed them to create more and get the goal. Ultimately, as has been proved time and again, goals change games and had it gone the other way, a different result could well have happened - just like the recent Oxford United encounter!

Barring the penalty shout, Niall Ennis had a poor game against a decent and organised defence (it happens - he's young and will have games like this during his development), Rakish Bingham didn't offer a vast amount having come off the bench, whilst Kieran Sadlier hadn't effected things or made any significant impact up to the point where he was forced off. Jon Taylor was the best of the attacking bunch though lacked an end product.

Looking forward and not dwelling on Rovers’ weaknesses (as despite them I’m still more than content with the season to date), the next League One game represents something of a free-hit.

It’s against a Sunderland team who pretty much wiped the floor in South Yorkshire to deservedly win three weeks or so ago, yet now they’re in good form, on their own patch and it’s hard to see anything other than a tough night at the Stadium Of Light.