Doncaster Rovers 1-1 Rochdale

Doncaster Rovers 1-1 Rochdale
Sky Bet League One
Saturday 8th February 2020

When the dust settles on this game, it's a point which Doncaster Rovers should largely be happy with as it was earned despite against pretty decent (and underestimated) opponents.

Jon Taylor's first-minute opener was cancelled out by Oliver Rathbone's late equaliser and, in the minutes in between, it was a close contest with two evenly matched teams. There's little doubt, also, that Rochdale's league position definitely lured some folk into believing it would be a straightforward win.

Personally, I expected a draw beforehand, and that's exactly how it unfolded.

Something which was confirmed, in my mind, whilst watching the game is that Rathbone would make a good signing for many clubs both at this level and in the Championship. The 23-year-old was decent on the ball, showed good technical sense, creativity and 'pulled the strings' for the visitors; it's not surprising to learn also that he came through the academy ranks at Manchester United. His equaliser was a direct consequence of too many defenders backing away (simply put), thus allowing a shot, but his overall contribution was huge. He's impressed when I've seen him previously; notably in the 1-1 draw with Newcastle in the FA Cup last month - though his team-mates Luke Matheson and Aaron Wilbraham grabbed all the plaudits in the aftermath of that clash. If injuries don't scupper his chances, Rochdale will do extremely well to keep hold of him during the next transfer window.

Despite Rathbone's creativity and the problems he posed, Rovers, nevertheless, could have actually still snatched all three points deep into injury-time - though, instead, the game ended in controversy.

Brad Halliday went to ground inside the penalty area having got by a visiting defender who was quite clearly tugging his shirt in an effort to get back. It looked contentious and those in red and white hoops, plus the coaching staff, immediately appealed for a spot-kick, yet the officials allowed play to continue. The linesman was in a perfect position but was unmoved and the only rational explanation for a penalty not being given is the officials must have felt Halliday went to ground too easily. Other referees would have disagreed and given the penalty.

Ultimately, if a defender is daft enough to get in a poor position and then subsequently goes tugging at an opponent's shirt who has broken away and is goal-side, then he's only got himself to blame if he gets penalised.

So Rochdale 'escaped' with a point, albeit fortuitously, but on the balance of what actually happened in the game it was a well-deserved one from their perspective!

The visitors made the worst possible start; conceding in the first minute when Kieran Sadlier's teasing in-swinging ball was flicked into the net via Taylor's shoulder. There wasn't any great appeals for handball from Rochdale's players; Matheson being the only one to glance to the referee in hope rather than expectation. That said, if the same goal had been scored in the Premier League, then with the previously haphazard use of VAR, my gut-feeling is that it might have been disallowed.

Despite the dreadful first minute, however, Rochdale pressed and probed for the rest of the half and played on the front foot. There were just too many times in which the hosts collectively (and almost subconsciously) either dropped too deep and backed off. Quite a few intended passes by Rovers went astray and ball retention wasn't the best - which didn't help anything either!

The visitors were unlucky not to equalise on a couple of occasions - most notably when Seny Dieng screwed up in dealing with some pressure and Paul McShane hit the upright. Equally though, they could have found themselves 2-0 behind when Sadlier twisted and turned past Matheson on the edge of the box to carve out a shooting angle with his effort ricocheting back off the post. Around a minute or two afterwards, Matheson actually performed a really good piece of defending to prevent Sadlier from getting 'goal side' and latching onto a dangerous ball towards the back-post from the right flank.

It was obvious by half-time that things needed to improve from a Donny perspective yet credit had to go to Rochdale who had recovered well from their early setback.

Not long after the re-start, Brian Barry-Murphy's side enjoyed another shade of fortune as Devante Cole somehow poked an effort over the target from two yards out, whilst Sadlier saw a goalbound attempt blocked on the line during a spell of pressure.

For long periods of the half though, the visitors still dictated a lot of things and they looked very good, composed and dangerous on the ball. Wilbraham (who I was surprised to see not included in the starting line-up) came on and although they tried to go direct to him a couple of times, that threat was actually nullified very well.

It looked as though Rovers might hang on to claim the three points before Rathbone's equaliser in which he collected possession drifted forward against a back-peddling defence which was an open invitation for him to unleash a shot. He got power and precision with a strike that nestled in Dieng's bottom-right corner and it was 1-1 with less than 10 minutes to play.

The closing stages were tetchy, a bit open and the crowd were certainly a lot more excitable at this point than what they'd been for the majority of the game - the atmosphere at times being very quiet to say the least! That excitement morphed into unadulterated venom, particularly towards the linesman, with the aforementioned penalty shout deep into injury-time.

The debate for that could go on endlessly, but a point apiece was a fair result.