Doncaster Rovers 2-2 Hull City

Doncaster Rovers 2-2 Hull City
Pre-Season Friendly
Saturday 27th July 2019

This was an entertaining and enjoyable enough game and events on the pitch were certainly thought-provoking for all concerned ahead of the Football League season beginning next weekend.

The afternoon, thankfully, was without much of the predicted ‘judas’ nonsense involving Grant McCann, off the pitch, following his summer switch of allegiance to the visitors.

Yes, the Northern Irishman was booed at times and, yes, there was also the occasional muttering of inane drivel and nonsense from the odd idiot who sees Doncaster Rovers as the be all and end all in life.

But apart from the halfwits, most folk seem to have grasped McCann’s reasons for leaving.

Whilst they may not agree, it’s something which is already in the history books - and the appointment of Darren Moore since proves the club have already moved on.

Again, just like after Wednesday’s defeat to Huddersfield, there was a mixed bag of both positives and negatives that the new Rovers boss will be left to ponder as he saw his side come from a goal down to lead, only to be denied victory courtesy of a late equaliser.

Alex Baptiste (none of this A.Trialist b*llocks) definitely helped the defence after a shaky start and made some timely interceptions - in no small part thanks to his brilliant positioning and ability to read the game.

Jamie Ward (again, no A.Trialist b*llocks) also looked lively and had a couple of good goalscoring opportunities which he was unable to take. Others - notably Ben Whiteman and Madger Gomes - made a key contribution and James Coppinger’s low drive early in the second half means the veteran has now bagged in another campaign at the Keepmoat Stadium (if you choose to count pre-season games, of course).

On the flip side, it certainly won’t have gone unnoticed to Moore just how much his defence was cut apart in the early exchanges by Hull’s cute, incisive and sharp passing in and around the area - the best example of which led to the opening goal; or how full-back Brad Halliday left himself exposed on more than one occasion by pushing up too much.

There’ll also be concerns over Joe Wright who went off injured and the most pessimistic of folk will no doubt point fingers at the marking for Hull’s late leveller.

Nobody is stupid though - not Moore, not his assistant, not his players, nor the fans!

The results from these games, ultimately, are meaningless as they’re just glorified training match situations in a stadium environment.

There’s plenty to learn and mistakes will be made (it happens - that’s life) but I’ve got no doubt whatsoever that by 3pm next Saturday, when the stakes rise massively and the season properly begins against Gillingham, focus, preparation and commitment will be at 100% from everyone.

A special mention must go today to youth-teamers Max Jemson and Ethan Bojang who, collectively, spent about a minute trying to retrieve a ball which went under netting in the South Stand - only for the resulting ‘attempted’ throw to the ‘keeper to hit the advertising boards!

Great effort, lads!

You’ll undoubtedly see my best efforts at squandering seconds at one of your games later in the season, probably late in a game which you’re winning and when the opposition are screaming for it back with a bit of urgency.

Doncaster Rovers 0-2 Huddersfield Town

Doncaster Rovers 0-2 Huddersfield Town
Pre-Season Friendly
Wednesday 24th July 2019

Depending on whether one is an optimist or a pessimist, there will be differing views that supporters will have in the aftermath of tonight’s game at the Keepmoat Stadium.

Naturally negative folk will believe that Rovers were comfortably beaten by a better team, were played off the park and offered little going forward. They’ll probably also believe that Darren Moore needs a lot more playing personnel if the squad is to be ready for the season-opener against Gillingham in 10 days time.

Optimistic folk will recognise the hard-working performance of John Marquis and that the team created many openings - especially during the first half. They’ll also take comfort in the fact quite a few of the summer signings showed promise and that they’re capable of being a good asset.

The truth/reality probably lies somewhere between the two viewpoints and I’ve no doubt that Darren Moore and his new assistant will be analysing strengths, weaknesses, areas to improve/work on and further identify targets in the coming days.

Fans can get ‘hung up’ on pre-season results or carried away with them, depending on what they are, but ultimately friendlies count for absolutely nothing.

Teams sometimes go unbeaten in pre-season then struggle once the competitive games begin or vice-versa so my view, from experience, is just to let the manager get on with things and trust his decision-making.

Quicker decision-making, athleticism and being ‘cuter’ in possession is actually what won Huddersfield this encounter as they bagged a goal in each half.

Rajiv Van La Parra opened the scoring with a curling top-corner shot around the half-hour mark though both teams had seen chances come to pass prior to that, in what was a relatively open and entertaining game.

James Coppinger was then foiled by a diving save from Kamil Grabara, whilst Ben Sheaf made a last-ditch tackle at the other end just before the interval to prevent a tap-in - this after Van La Parra and Reece Brown had combined to launch a fluid attack down the right flank.

Rovers succumbed to a well-crafted set-piece routine early in the second half as Brown dinked the ball towards Juninho Bacuna who finished with aplomb from inside the area.

It was always going to be a long way back from this point and the task was made even greater, if not nigh on impossible, when Joe Wright ridiculously managed to get two yellow cards within the space of a couple of minutes to get himself sent-off.

He’ll now serve a ban and ultimately miss competitive games.

Therefore, the Rovers hierarchy would be well within their rights to throw the book at him and dish out a heavy fine as punishment.

It could be argued that the referee should have told the Rovers bench to substitute Wright to avoid him getting sent-off, but ultimately it’s not down to the officials to stop acts of idiocy and in the cold light of day, to get sent-off in a friendly is idiotic.

For the last half-hour, Rovers lacked any real punch or purpose going forward with Marquis cutting a pretty isolated figure despite the best efforts of substitute Will Longbottom.

Huddersfield continued to move the ball around well, as they did all game, and they’ll probably go back to West Yorkshire pleased with their night’s work.

Away from events on the pitch, it would be most welcoming at future games of this nature (certainly including the upcoming Checkatrade Trophy games) if the club didn’t herd folk like cattle into relatively small sections of the East Stand which the sun beats down on - especially when other areas of the ground, in the shade, remain closed.

Cash turnstiles to avoid excessive queues wouldn’t go amiss for games like this, either, regardless of which stands are open - and it would also prevent a repeat of the queues seen outside the ground before kick-off tonight.

I don’t expect things to change, however, as I’ve enough experience to know mega-rich club owners will go to great lengths to save a few quid on stewarding costs, even if it is to the great annoyance of their own fans who’ll always keep coming back for more.

Hamilton Academical 2-2 Partick Thistle

Hamilton Academical 2-2 Partick Thistle
Betfred Cup
Saturday 20th July, 2019

What could I possibly do on another Saturday in Scotland in the middle of summer when I've decided to stay here for a few more days? See another game in the Betfred Cup, of course!

In all honesty, this was a decent contest which I enjoyed from start to finish and events over the course of the 90 minutes will certainly give both managers plenty to ponder ahead of the league season starting in a fortnight.

Owain Fon Williams was the ‘hero’ as Hamilton secured what could turn out to be a vital bonus point thanks to a penalty shoot-out victory, but undoubtedly the 'keepers biggest contribution was a fantastic save to foil Kenny Miller who burst through in a one-on-one late on.

Having seen Partick last week, this was a much-improved display from their 1-0 win over Airdrieonians seven days ago, and they looked more relaxed, more confident and at ease going forward. Joe Cardle was their stand-out player, whilst Ross Cunningham looked good for Hamilton, yet despite the positives there were also negatives.

Both sides’ defence were cut open way too easily at different times, whilst Thistle also seemed to forget how to defend efficiently in the immediate aftermath of scoring both their goals.

As for the ground itself, New Douglas Park is a strange set-up with two permanent stands, a temporary unused golf stand on the far side and advertising/sight screens behind one of the goals.

The strangeness continued with how Accies’ stewards (nicknamed ‘Sturgeon’s Storm Troopers’ for this blog post) acted before the game - in their eyes, I must have been some sort of threat. Having purchased my ticket with zero problems, I was half-pointed in the direction of the bar which I was told I could use with it still being ages before the turnstiles opened.

Unable to find it, I then made the crucial mistake of asking the thickest of Sturgeon’s Storm Troopers where it was and I was bizarrely told that I’d have to change my ticket as Partick fans weren’t allowed in the home end. One problem... I ain't a Partick Thistle fan!

To say her shoe size was probably bigger than her IQ would be an understatement and, therefore, I went to a different turnstile block where two more of the super-dooper Storm Troopers were located and the fact they had a basic grasp of English (and common sense) was very f**king relieving.

Nevertheless, accessing the bar was still an issue, as having been escorted to the Main/Players Entrance, I was the made to wait whilst two more ‘suited and booted’ Storm Troopers consulted with the ticket office (who told me I could use the bar) to decide what to do next.

Then, after being told it’s ‘up the stairs to the left’ came the delayed 'chase-him-and-search-his-bag' rigmarole from Chief Storm Trooper!

The whole fiasco smacked of complete ineptitude and amateurism to say the least. It hardly reflects positively on Hamilton Academical, nor my view of their matchday arrangements considering this was my first visit here in nearly a decade. Quite what they were expecting to find - god only knows!

God only knows, too, how they’ll cope when the Old Firm rock up, or what they’d do in an emergency situation, or what their own fans think if they have to encounter similar needless stupidity on a weekly basis over something what's so straightforward.

Nevertheless, what Hamilton lack in common sense stewarding, they certainly make up for in decent music over the PA system with Chumbawumba’s ‘Tubthumping’ and Oasis, Swedish House Mafia and Mumford & Sons amongst the pre-match tunes that were as excellent as Motherwell’s offering last night.

On the pitch, the Accies initially begun sluggishly and had already survived one of their defenders being caught in possession on the edge of his own box, by the time Ryan Williamson did open the scoring on the quarter-hour mark.

That lead didn’t last though as less than 60 seconds later, Cunningham received a fine pass, opened his body up and let fly with a powerful low drive that gave the visiting ‘keeper no chance.

The game was spicing up nicely by the time Cardle appeared to catch the face of a Hamilton player whilst gaining possession midway through the half.

Seconds later, Ronan Hughes went in with a tough challenge on the Thistle playmaker yet somehow came off worse and needed lengthy treatment from the paramedics before he was replaced. It all seemed quite innocuous at first but the severity of the injury quickly became apparent and one can only wish him a speedy recovery.

It was a bit nip-tuck thereafter until the interval with Partick posing slightly more questions but being kept at bay by Hamilton’s good positional defending and their own attackers not offering quite enough space to receive a pass and open the defence up more.

In the second half, Brian Rice’s side finally began to get a better grip on proceedings with Cunningham smashing home his second of the afternoon and then a prolonged spell of pressure in which Partick were pushed back.

Nonetheless, it only takes a moment to equalise and that’s just what Partick did when Cardle and Lewis Mansell linked up on the right flank with the latter playing an inch-perfect ball across the area to Shea Gordon who finished with aplomb.

Partick’s downfall was they seemed to get over-excited again and less than a minute later, the referee was left with no choice but to give a penalty when Sean McGinty clumsily bundled over his marker inside the area.

Aaron McGowan stepped up with the resulting spot-kick and fired it high, wide and into the advertising hoardings - and it’s a good job they were there as if not, the ball would have probably ended up on Aisle 37 In Sainsbury’s supermarket, behind that part of the ground.

Thistle seemed buoyed in the final quarter-hour but squandered their big chance as Miller was played clean through and had time and space to pick his spot, only to be superbly thwarted by Fon Williams who was every bit the ‘keeper you’d want one to be in that situation.

Fon Williams saved again in the shoot-out and Accies live to fight another day in the Betfred Cup of 2019/20, yet nobody will be daft enough to not realise they’ll need to improve upon aspects of this performance to avoid a battle against relegation.

A special mention must go to Hamilton’s big frontman, Marius Obkmpoe who, whilst looking a handful, offered next to nothing most of the time and was rightly substituted in the second half.

For Partick, the old cliché ‘work in progress’ is probably most appropriate.

Again, whilst it was an improvement on last week, they’ve still got plenty of flaws to give Gary Caldwell food for thought as he too hopes his side can avoiding getting caught up in another emotionally-draining relegation battle like last season.

Motherwell 4-0 Greenock Morton

Motherwell 4-0 Greenock Morton
Betfred Cup
Friday 19th July, 2019

There are a few ways I could begin this particular blog post and each one would be justified.

I could wax lyrical about what was a tremendous performance from Motherwell with several positives that will leave manager Steven Robinson buoying with confidence about the upcoming Scottish Premiership campaign.

I could begin by stating that despite what the scoreline suggests, Greenock Morton aren’t actually a bad side and had they not come up against a team who played so well, they might have pinched a very respectable result.

Or, I could begin by stating even though I’ve seen him officiate several times now, I’ve still got no idea quite how Willie Collum is regarded as one of the best referees in Scotland. His dour demeanour and stony facial features remind me of David Elleray - a retired former top-flight official (and school headmaster) south of the border from back in the day, who also loved power, control and every last little drop of attention, too.

All three introductions would be perfectly justified!

Rare sunshine and dry weather last night always rendered it likely that it would p*ss it down tonight as a result (that’s just how it works in Scotland) and so it proved with a torrential downpour a couple of hours beforehand and then scattered showers during the game.

On the pitch, Motherwell were bloody fantastic and such a strong display won’t have gone unnoticed by their league rivals.

The Steelmen had a genuine zest to get the ball down and move it forward quickly.

With the pace of Sherwin Seedorf on the left flank and the skill of Jermaine Hylton on the opposite channel, they have the potential to rip quite a few players a new arse hole this coming season.

Morton just couldn’t cope with either player and the first goal, midway through the opening 45 minutes, was of pure quality. A fantastic, inch-perfect low ball from the middle released Seedorf and his hard work set up James Scott for the opener.

Morton were no pushovers, nonetheless, and gave as good as they got in more ways than one for the remainder of the half. Although there were no cynical fouls, ‘Well fans felt frustrated that they weren’t given more by the aforementioned Collum who always seemed like he could give absolutely anything with his next decision.

The visitors from Greenock, frustratingly for their 280-hardcore following, f*cked about too much during injury-time at the end of the half when they had two corners, yet insisted on playing both short and backwards when a simple ball into the box to create a potential goalscoring chance was evidently necessary.

Morton’s John Sutton didn’t threaten too much but received warm applause from the home fans when he was brought off against his old employers after the re-start.

Motherwell were keen and eager to get the ball forwards at every opportunity and their work paid dividends when Scott bagged his second of the night with a powerfully-placed finish from Liam Polworth’s clever lay-off inside the area.

Undoubtedly the star of the show was Hylton and having moved out to the left flank in the latter stages (once the electric Seedorf had been substituted), he bagged the goal of the night with a curling low shot from the edge of the area. 3-0. Game over!

A few Morton fans had already headed for the exits by the time Liam Donnelly slammed the ball home with a rebound attempt to make it 4-0 on 82 minutes after a move where, potentially, a penalty may have been awarded for deliberate handball had he not found the target with his shot.

All in all, a fantastic display from the Steelmen who will hope their wingmen can play with such zest and quality when the Old Firm (and all the others) rock up to Fir Park this term.

A special thanks as well to Wendy in the Motherwell Ticket Office prior to the game, who looked rushed off her feet, but took the time and effort to deal with my somewhat complex ticket request.

She’s an absolute credit to Motherwell Football Club.

Next up tomorrow, a trip a few miles down the road to New Douglas Park to see Hamilton Accies take on Partick Thistle and I just hope that both sides perform better than they did last weekend, otherwise it has the potential to be a mind-numbingly shite 90 minutes!

Rangers 6-0 St Joseph’s

Rangers 6-0 St Joseph’s
Europa League Qualifying (First Round, Second Leg)
Thursday 18th July 2019

It’s no understatement that Rangers will face much sterner challenges on their way to conquering all in the coming months than that offered by St Joseph’s, but the near-capacity Ibrox crowd were certainly entertained as the part-time minnows were comfortably dispatched.

Leading 4-0 from the first leg in Gibraltar, there was never going to be any comeback or a cock up of Progres Niederkorn proportions. Instead, this would always be a night where the goals would flow and those in attendance would ask themselves ‘How many can we score?’

As a veteran of 16 seasons and over 930 competitive games in the UK, I’ve seen plenty of weird and wonderful things - from squirrel-led pitch invasions to kit men forgetting to bring the kit - but even this one represented a new occurrence as St Joseph’s players wrote a song titled ‘Forever Blue’ to commemorate undoubtedly the biggest night in their careers.

In reality, St Joseph’s should be forever grateful to the officials, who disallowed three goals and failed to give a stonewall spot-kick as without any of that (plus some wasteful finishing at times) it could quite easily have been 10-0 on the night, let alone 10-0 on aggregate!

For those who’ve never been to Ibrox previously, it’s a lovely hour-long stroll down the River Clyde from the city centre if the weather is nice (a rarity up here). Or, if you’re feeling lazy or it’s p*ssing it down, the subway is situated a couple of minutes walk from the stadium with multiple stops in the city centre to either board or alight.

On the pitch, it was difficult not to feel sympathetic towards the visitors when they went a goal down inside the first few minutes with Joe Aribo finding the target.

Nevertheless, for the majority of the first half, they did enough to frustrate a completely dominant Rangers by packing men behind the ball - forcing Steven Gerrard’s side to play the ball backwards much too often.

Despite Alfredo Morelos having a goal ruled out for offside and youngster Jake Hastie smashing a shot high and wide when he should have done much better, it wasn’t until first half injury-time that Rangers did eventually double their lead with Morelos heading home from a perfectly-worked corner routine.

Morelos made it 3-0 with a spot-kick not long after the re-start after Greg Doherty was barged over just inside the box, and the Colombian soon completed his hat-trick with a superb flick-finish following yet more good work by Doherty in and around the box.

With the Gibraltans tiring and the floodgates now well and truly open, they must have been relieved to see Morelos substituted immediately after the goal which gave him the match ball.

They probably weren’t pleased to see that an experienced international with over 100 Premier League goals to his name in Jermaine Defoe, was his replacement though!

It came as no surprise that the ex-England forward wreaked havoc and bagged a couple of goals - firstly when he guided the ball home from a Matt Polster cross, then when he emphatically slammed a shot past Jamie Robba (once of Torquay United) after more intricate build up play.

Amidst the tidal wave of incessant second half pressure, St Joseph’s did have one golden opportunity to leave with a bit of a smile as Wes Foderingham and Andy Halliday combined to deny Juan Pena, who managed to create an opening from a corner.

The last time I recall watching Foderingham was in a game at Preston North End in September 2012 when he was playing for Swindon Town.

Subbed off by Paolo Di Canio early on that afternoon, he booted a water bottle down the touchline before storming down the tunnel in what was probably the biggest show of dissent at the Italian’s over the top army-like regime and was threatened with ‘punishment’ in the aftermath.

Seven years on, Foderingham’s clearly gone on to much better things whilst the scalded maniac that is Di Canio is virtually unemployable now in an industry where even Joey Barton and Steve Evans can get jobs!

Deep into four minutes of injury-time, Connor Goldson picked up the most pointless yellow card in history when he was baited and ended up involved in some heated exchanges with a couple of the St Joseph’s players.

When you’re 10-0 up on aggregate with a matter of seconds remaining, you don’t need to be Albert Einstein to work out that laughing in their faces, calling the opponents shit, or blowing a kiss might be a better retort if they’re trying to wind you up.

But it couldn’t take the shine off a pleasant night at Ibrox.

Even more pleasant was being in a seat between the directors box and press box and managing to blag both a team-sheet and programme, free of charge.