Football League Youth Alliance
Saturday 8th February 2020
Doncaster Rovers’ youngsters kept up their 100% record in the EFL Youth Alliance since the turn of the year with a comfortable 3-0 win over Chesterfield at Cantley Park.
Midfielder Lirak Hasani opened the scoring with an early penalty, awarded after talisman Junior Smith was hacked down, before Nathan Dimou got his head to Will McGowan’s back-post corner to double the lead by the interval.
Jack Watson then wrapped up the points with a curling strike in the closing stages as the lads extended their lead to seven points over Scunthorpe United at the top of the table, though the Iron do have four games in hand.
With a week having passed by since the dramatic (and very, very, very lovely) last-minute win over potential title rivals Mansfield Town, manager Paul Stancliffe opted to make three changes to his starting line-up. Goalkeeper Ben Bottomley, injured in the build-up to the winner in Nottinghamshire, was replaced by Kian Johnson between the sticks whilst trialist Aziz Sankoh returned at left-back in place of Lewis Cunningham. The third change to the xi saw Marius Conradi named ahead of Owan Derrett.
Although Storm Ciara is expected to bring severe gales to the country at some point this weekend, the stormy weather held off for the game - meaning playing conditions weren't anywhere near as bad as they were last time out against Mansfield.
It was a scrappy opening, nevertheless, as Chesterfield did their best to make their presence felt in the game and tried to dictate the tempo. It's fair to say that Rovers took a few minutes to settle into any rhythm and the most nervous early moment came after eight minutes when the visitors won a free-kick in dangerous position on the edge of the box, though the effort was poor and easily blocked by the defensive wall.
Shortly afterwards, in their first notable attack, Rovers went ahead.
Smith, the top scorer in the youth set-up so far this term, showed intelligence to win the ball on the edge of the opposition box and he embarked on a driving run which only ended with a reckless tackle on him inside the area. It was an easy decision for the referee to subsequently make and he showed no hesitancy in pointing straight to the spot with the resulting kick was coolly dispatched by Hasani.
Although they've got the worst defensive record in the division, Chesterfield weren't in any mood to just sit back and take a hiding. Over the next few minutes, they pressed well and got close to Rovers players - even though they didn't see a tremendous amount of the ball.
When they did get the ball, they usually got it forward quickly and Johnson had to make a couple of saves, which were often the result of individual lapses and sloppiness. It was scrappy, bitty and far from pleasant to watch from the sidelines. The Spireites, undoubtedly underdogs, were working hard and making things as difficult as they possibly could.
However, without doubt, Rovers boasted more technical ability and nous than their counterparts, and it nearly showed when a quick and clever short-corner routine involving McGowan and Hasani only ended with a defender making an interception at a crucial moment, at the expense of a corner.
On this occasion, McGowan went direct and played an inviting corner-kick delivery towards the back-post area, where centre-back Dimou got his head to the ball and directed it into the net to make it 2-0. It was harsh on Chesterfield in some ways, given their endeavour, but precisely the tonic which Rovers needed at this point in proceedings.
The rest of the half continued in a similar fashion with the lads having more possession but sometimes over-playing and ultimately losing the ball. The individual lapses and sloppiness was an unwelcome trait and all the actual attempts on target, barring one, went in Chesterfield's favour. Despite the scoreline, the first half performance wasn't that good.
On the half-hour mark, the Spireites spurned a gilt-edged chance to reduce arrears when one of their strikers burst into a one-on-one with Johnson but he skewed his effort horribly high and wide of the woodwork with his team-mates looking on in despair.
The Rovers 'keeper then came up trumps again as he palmed away a low shot only a few minutes later, then he saved another effort from the edge of the box in the next attack.
Standards needed to improve by the time Liam Ravenhill was caught in possession and a counter-attack was sprung which culminated in a visiting player unleashing a powerful shot which cannoned back off the post and was blazed over by a team-mate on the follow-up.
Another free-kick on the edge of the box again came to nothing as the Spireites remained frustrated in their attempts for a route back into the game.
At the other end, Ravenhill was off-target with a speculative attempt and the visitors were forced into making a goal-line clearance; again, one of McGowan's set-piece deliveries caused problems and it was Ben Blythe who stabbed the ball goalwards before it was scrambled away to safety.
The half-time whistle couldn't come soon enough. Yes, Rovers were in a good position given the 2-0 lead, but the performance (and certainly the decision-making) required improvement.
Thankfully, after the re-start, the lads did get a better foothold in things and Johnson wasn't anywhere near as busy as he'd been during the previous 45 minutes. The shape, structure and concentration was much better although there wasn't a vast array of openings at either end; instead it was a case of both defences coming out on top in many of the duels as the minutes ticked away.
Charlie Bell replaced Ravenhill, who just moments earlier had been clattered under a heavy challenge, and the substitute put in a typical strong, committed and 100% determined performance in his short-time on the pitch - doing his chances of featuring more frequently no harm at all.
Bell, Hasani and McGowan all had attempts (of sorts) though it looked as though the game might meander to it's conclusion without any more goals until Watson struck for the third game in succession on 82 minutes - curling home a fine shot from the edge of the box which nestled in the 'keepers bottom-right corner.
The result was now beyond any reasonable doubt and first-year Luca Nelson nearly got in on the act in the dying minutes with a shot which the Spireites 'keeper did well to keep out.
Three minutes of stoppage-time were added on and the final act saw Johnson get clattered into inside his own goalmouth when he came off his line to routinely deal with a set-piece. Thankfully, he wasn't seriously injured and soon got back to his feet after a momentary cause for concern.
Overall, the lads will know themselves they can play better than they did today.
It wasn't vintage. It wasn't a classic. It wasn't a game which will live long in the memory, but in terms of title aspirations, they got the result they wanted beforehand and the 'pressure' now goes on other title contenders to achieve wins and make up some ground.
Onto the next one...
Team: Kian Johnson, Elliott Walker, Nathan Dimou, Ben Blythe (C), Aziz Sankoh (Lewis Cunningham), Lirak Hasani, Will McGowan, Liam Ravenhill (Charlie Bell), Junior Smith, Marius Conradi (Luca Nelson), Jack Watson. Unused Subs: Luke Chadwick, Owan Derrett.
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