Sky Bet League One
Tuesday 28th January 2020
You can only beat whatever is placed in front of you and that's exactly what Doncaster Rovers did as they condemned Southend United to yet another defeat.
Donny weren't in 'first gear' by any means; in actual fact, despite holding a two-goal cushion at the interval courtesy of two well-taken goals by Niall Ennis and Kieran Sadlier, there were many other occasions in the opening 45 minutes where either sloppy play or silly individual lapses almost let the Shrimpers break through on goal.
Sadlier made it 3-0 not long after the break following an excellent defensive-to-offensive transition and it put the result beyond any lingering doubt. Though the floodgates didn't open, other openings were created by Rovers - the best of which saw veteran James Coppinger rattle the woodwork before Ben Sheaf's follow-up cleared the target.
Southend did hit the post from distance and grab a late consolation goal which was the result of a heavy deflection on a speculative pot shot, but Sol Campbell's side never looked capable of setting-up a grandstand finish.
In truth, the visitors looked devoid of plenty - ideas, inspiration, courage, hope, and even the absolute bog-standard basics sometimes. In periods, it felt like a cup tie against lower league opponents - only in those scenarios, the underdogs actually have more about them!
The away bench were regularly on their feet, throwing arms about and dishing out a b*llocking or shaking their heads at what they were seeing. They knew it was such a weak performance, especially up to half-time.
It's hard, in one sense, not to feel sorry for Southend because they just had no threat, togetherness or anything at all to get excited about. It's not hard to see why they're bottom of the table, adrift, going down with a whimper and look absolutely demoralised.
With no money to spend and off-field issues as well, whoever is manager at Roots Hall next season (because I can't see Campbell staying put); they'll have a gigantic task on their hands to prevent the club from slipping straight through League Two.
They really were that poor and it's difficult to put into words alone just ineffective they were!
Incidentally, one of their players (Stephen Humphrys) has been linked with a move to the Keepmoat Stadium in recent weeks. If this was his 'audition' then the judging panel certainly wouldn't have been impressed. He barely tracked back, which culminated in stern words with Jason Demetriou a minute or so either side of the opening goal, cut an isolated (almost desolate) figure, and then suffered a nasty head injury in the move where he almost headed in an instant equaliser, ironically from Demetriou's left-wing cross towards the far-post. The injury meant he spent several minutes off the pitch, twice needed to swap a bloodied shirt, annoyed his bench who initially didn't know whether to leave him on or substitute him, though given how dazed he appeared, he was eventually taken off not long before the break.
Everything what could have gone wrong for him did seem to go wrong and, given the transfer talk/speculation, the appropriate question would seemingly be 'Where on earth do all parties go from here?' He definitely had one of those nights!
Looking at things from a Doncaster perspective again, in some ways it was a 'no win' scenario in pleasing some fans - a large victory would have been met with responses such as 'it's only the bottom of the league we were playing' whilst anything else would have been met with fierce criticism.
The home performance wasn't vintage, nor was it terrible. There will be tougher tests, yet that shouldn't hide the fact that some of the carelessness in passing and general sloppiness needs to be cut out as it would have been punished by better opposition.
Nevertheless, the display was enough and the job got done which means Darren Moore's side remain on the outskirts of the play-off positions.
Finally, the last word in this blog post goes to the referee, Darren Drysdale.
I try not to 'bash' officials as some of the criticism they get from blinkered fans is often way over the top, totally ridiculous and embarrassing by the rose-tinted morons who dish it out.
Nevertheless, Mr Drysdale is one of those officials who, seemingly, have been around forever and he's very unpredictable to say the least. On the one hand, during a game involving Chesterfield a few years back, he broke EFL protocols about touching players in order to stop someone from swallowing their tongue - which proves he has common sense (and will use it). On the other hand, there's been several occasions where he's come across as too 'Sargent Major' with his approach out on the pitch and dished out cards like confetti - thus agitating plenty of folk!
Despite having seen a lot of his games, I've never been able to weigh him up so to attempt to do so now would be pointless.
Thankfully, he didn't make any major blunders; generally trying to play advantage and let the game flow, whenever possible. His main 'contribution' was sprinting to Southend's bench to 'confront' Hermann Hreidarsson in an almost aggressive manner, after he'd moaned to the fourth official about a decision. I doubt that the Icelandic coach (or others in the away contingent) appreciated the manner in which he did it, though it sums up Drysdale to a tee.
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