Doncaster Rovers (U18s) 3-2 Notts County (U18s)

Doncaster Rovers (U18s) 3-2 Notts County (U18s)
EFL Youth Alliance
Saturday 7th March 2020

Luca Nelson’s last minute winner means Doncaster Rovers are on the brink of confirming top spot in the EFL Youth Alliance (regular season).

The forward pounced in the dying moments of what had been a competitive contest to spark joyous celebrations with his team-mates and cap off a stirring comeback.

Initially, things were going very much to plan with Marius Conradi striking early on to put the lads into a 1-0 half-time advantage, but two goals early into the second period meant the tide suddenly turned in the visitors’ favour.

Conradi equalised following a spell of persistent pressure on 75 minutes, which meant the stage was set for Nelson to grab his first goal of the season in the last minute - and being honest, he could hardly have timed it better given the context of the title race.

With title rivals Scunthorpe United suffering a shock home defeat to Chesterfield and Rotherham United pumping Mansfield Town, 4-0, it means Rovers can now guarantee top spot with a win in either of their final two games which are away at Rotherham United next weekend and then at last season’s champions Grimsby Town (still TBC).

A good day also saw Ethan Bojang make his long awaited return from injury, though a day with many positives was slightly overshadowed by an injury which Josh Clemitson sustained in stoppage-time; the youngster subsequently having to be stretchered back to the changing rooms.

Despite a string of youth team players being involved in last night's hastily-arranged Under 23s' Premier League Cup tie at West Bromwich Albion, quite a few of the lads (four in total) were also named in the starting xi for this fixture.

They were Ben Blythe, who skippered the side, Lirak Hasani, Liam Ravenhill and Junior Smith. Regular faces Will McGowan and Jack Watson, who was instrumental in the 1-0 victory in the reverse fixture in Nottinghamshire way back in August, missed out.

The first half was competitive, intriguing yet without too much goalmouth action.

Rovers began the better with Ravenhill looking bright, promising and he was instrumental to everything positive in the early minutes - showing no signs whatsoever of fatigue. The first-year scholar also played a part in the opening goal on 10 minutes; linking up with Lewis Cunningham on the left flank before releasing Smith who cleverly beat his man and slid an inviting ball across the face of goal which was emphatically slammed into the net by Conradi at point-blank range.

It was the perfect start and should have been a springboard for the lads to go on and put themselves in an even more commanding position.

However, most of the play was tentative, tight and in midfield areas. Matters weren't helped by the referee who made a string of bizarre and perplexing decisions to really frustrate both series - showing no consistency and not really communicating with either of his assistants.

The Magpies felt most aggrieved when they had a goal ruled out after a visiting player got to the byline and rode a challenge before his cross was headed in at the far-post. It looked a perfectly good goal to the referee who signalled to the centre spot for play to re-start but his attention was eventually drawn to his assistant who had raised a flag to signal the ball had gone out of play. Chaos and confusion reigned for a few moments before the 'goal' was eventually (and correctly) disallowed.

At the other end, Doncaster went within a whisker of doubling their advantage as both Owan Derrett and Smith got in-behind the defence following a through ball. It was Smith who took the shot on and despite having lifted it over an advancing 'keeper, it trickled agonisingly wide of the target.

Frustration towards the officials threatened to boil over just before half-time as Notts' captain Charlie Wilde angrily shouted at the assistant to keep her flag up if she was making a call. The incident came about when she raised her flag the wrong way to signal the ball had gone out of play for a throw-in, only to then put it down again once players had 'switched off' in expectancy of their opponents taking a throw-in. There was another incident where the referee ridiculously awarded the visitors a corner-kick which should have been a throw-in. Thankfully, that set-piece was easily cleared.

Given the unpredictable nature of the officials, the need for the lads to bag a second goal (and thus add some breathing space between themselves and their opponents) was evident to everyone watching from the sidelines.

Nevertheless, Notts rallied after the re-start and enjoyed their best period of the game between the re-start and the hour mark.

At the back they initially looked more organised whilst going forward they carried a bigger threat and it took only three minutes for their more positive-minded play to pay dividends as a cross from the left-flank caused problems and was headed past home 'keeper Ben Bottomley.

Rovers were reeling and their frustrations grew on 53 minutes after they went up the other end and came within a whisker of restoring their lead. The Notts 'keeper fumbled what looked to be quite a straightforward in-swinging corner and it caused an almighty goalmouth scramble with Nathan Dimou, Blythe, Smith and Conradi all trying desperately to turn the ball into the net to no avail.

It would prove costly as despite Lirak Hasani and Cunningham firing over the upright (and forcing Max Jemson to act as ball boy) it was County themselves, still looking bright and inventive on the attack, who went ahead just after the hour mark. They ventured forward in positive style - spreading a dangerous ball across the goalmouth from the inside-right which was tapped home at the far-post by a player in a seemingly offside position but the goal stood.

Behind, on the back foot and struggling to get their rhythm going, the lads needed to show guts and character if they were to take anything from the game.

Notts' contingent were again unhappy with the officials on 65 minutes when a visiting player managed to get past Dimou, just inside the hosts' own half, and would have advanced clean through into a goal-scoring position had the Australian centre-back not purposely tugged his shirt. It was a definite yellow card offence (and given how the lads' shape had been exploited, Dimou was left with little option but to commit the offence) and the visitors made their feelings known when the referee brandished a yellow card and not a red one.

Less than a minute later, it was Rovers who were left frustrated as Derrett was hacked down on the halfway line in close proximity to both the referee and lineswoman yet nothing at all was given and it summed up the officials' poor collective performance.

It was also around this period that a few changes were made. Bottomley, between the sticks, was forced off and replaced by Kian Johnson having sustained a knock only a few minutes prior to the visitors' second goal whilst a tactical replacement saw Luca Nelson replace Derrett.

Nelson's arrival brought about a serious momentum shift as he put in a game-changing display - chasing every loose ball, thus applying pressure and working the Magpies' defence.

Diagonal and forward-thinking passes from Elliott Walker and others were causing the visitors no end of issues and having threatened to get on the end of a couple previously, Nelson finally achieved just that feat on 74 minutes. As a result, he was behind the defence and in a clear one-on-one but the visiting 'keeper rushed off his line and got just enough on the forward's effort to divert it agonisingly wide of the post - the ball taking what seemed an eternity to trickle wide!

It should have been a corner but, in keeping with their inconsistencies, the officials gave a goal-kick.

Being thwarted wasn't to stop Rovers, nevertheless, and in their next sustained move after Nelson's 'miss' (and with a quarter-hour remaining) an equaliser finally arrived.

Initially, the County 'keeper did well to divert a shot wide which, remarkably, even the officials noticed. A vicious right-sided corner by Walker was palmed away by the 'keeper and then deflected into the path of Conradi who unleashed a vicious 15-yard strike straight into the net to make it 2-2.

With the Magpies camped back deep inside their own half, the lads' task was now absolutely simple; apply as much pressure as possible and score again to get three points!

Midfielder Charlie Bell would have been the match-winner if his attempt from inside a packed penalty area hadn't cleared the upright. Likewise Hasani, whose curling free-kick from distance just lacked the accuracy to test the 'keeper.

However, with the clock fast-ticking away, it was Nelson who was to cap off a truly superb individual performance and become a hero with a match-winning moment in the last minute of normal time.

The move began with Bell and Clemitson combining in the centre before Blythe floated an appetising ball towards the back-post area. The Magpies' back-line didn't sense the danger and Walker's knockdown found an unmarked Nelson lurking only a few yards out; the forward making no mistake in placing his shot beyond the 'keeper to spark joyous celebrations.

Rovers then held out during a prolonged period of added time; keeping their shape, showing professionalism and even wasting a few seconds when they could in order to wind the clock down and get yet another win.

The final few minutes were overshadowed by an injury which Clemitson sustained in the far corner of the pitch. His discomfort was obvious and, having been replaced by Ethan Bojang (who himself was returning to action following a prolonged spell on the sidelines), the youngster had to be stretchered back to the changing rooms just after the final whistle.

All in all, the performance could have been better and given what happened in the 15 minutes or so between half-time and the hour mark, they put themselves in a situation which required hard work, guts and character to recover from. However, they showed just those attributes in abundance and reaped the rewards of their endeavours by achieving a result which puts them on the brink of the confirming top spot - an achievement which, if it happens, they'll deserve praise for.

The biggest, most noticeable thing was the character on show. Six months ago, when the season was in it's infancy and there was a difficult series of results, it was something that was questioned - yet the development/progress in that aspect was perfectly on show today!

It wasn't vintage at times and it definitely wasn't easy or straightforward though as someone from the visiting contingent stated post-match, getting results and overcoming difficult scenarios in the process is 'what potential champions do'.

On an individual player by player level, Nelson's introduction was without any doubt game-changing as he worked relentlessly to pull, stretch and pressurise the visitors' back-line at every opportunity. Mentions must also go to Marius Conradi who scored twice and has been quite effective in a number of his appearances since the turn of the year and Charlie Bell who recovered from a bad day at Lincoln City two weeks ago with a stronger display today. The lads who featured last night also deserve enormous praise for showing great fitness levels, character and working hard until the final whistle in this game. It was also very pleasing to see Ethan Bojang back in action after a long time out through injury and hopefully this will be the start of a good run of games for him.

Having checked the results from today, top spot (in the regular season) can be confirmed next weekend given either of the following scenarios.

1) The lads win at Rotherham United.
2) Scunthorpe United don't beat Notts County (which is on Friday) and the lads avoid defeat at Rotherham United.

Should things not quite go to plan, then top spot can be confirmed either by a win at Grimsby Town in the still to be confirmed remaining away game or if both Rotherham and Scunthorpe dropping points in any of their remaining fixtures.

Onto the next one...

Team: Ben Bottomley (Kian Johnson), Elliott Walker, Nathan Dimou, Ben Blythe, Lewis Cunningham, Charlie Bell, Liam Ravenhill, Lirak Hasani, Owan Derrett (Luca Nelson), Marius Conradi, Junior Smith (Josh Clemitson (Ethan Bojang)). Unused Sub: Max Jemson.