Doncaster Rovers (U23s) 2-2 Exeter City (U23s)

Doncaster Rovers (U23s) 2-2 Exeter City (U23s)
Premier League Cup
Monday 24th February 2020

Louis Jones' exceptional goalkeeping display ensured Doncaster Rovers earned a point against a dominant Exeter City in their final group stage clash in the Premier League Cup.

The young shot-stopper made a series of good saves to thwart the Grecians on several occasions and will earn some deserved plaudits for his impressive individual display.

Despite being on the back foot for most of the match, Rovers took a surprise lead on the stroke of half-time when Myron Gibbons latched onto AJ Greaves' through ball, took a touch, and slotted past visiting 'keeper Jared Thompson.

Jack Watson then made it 2-0 with a side-foot finish around the hour mark and at this point it seemed that Doncaster might get the three points which they needed to top the group.

However, it wasn't to be as the visitors quickly responded with two goals in the space of two minutes; the first being a solid near-post header from Alex Hartridge before a well-placed shot by Harry Kite also found the bottom corner.

Based on last year's format in the competition, Exeter will now have home advantage in their Last 16 match due to being group winners, whilst Rovers will travel to as yet unknown opponents having finished as runners-up.

Under 23' boss Gary McSheffrey named senior professionals Matty Blair and Madger Gomes in his starting line-up, whilst centre-back Alex Baptiste featured as he continues to get minutes under his belt following his time on the sidelines with injury. However, on loan youngster Jason Lokilo missed out due to being cup-tied and frontman Max Watters - a regular in this competition this term, was also unavailable as he joined Maidstone United on loan last week.

Exeter fielded a stronger, more experienced side with Alex Fisher, Lee Holmes and Gary Warren amongst their senior starters.

On a chilly night at the Keepmoat Stadium, the first few minutes were quite tentative with AJ Greaves' through ball almost putting Myron Gibbons in the clear, but some good visiting defending nullified the danger.

The Grecians, wearing their fluorescent change strip, began to see more of the ball and thus dictate -and Louis Jones made the first in a string of stops with an excellent acrobatic save to keep out a goalbound header from Lewis Wilson who had connected to a cut-back from the byline.

Fisher then twice went close in quick succession before the quarter-hour mark - firstly as he whistled a low drive narrowly wide before his headed attempt was kept out.

Exeter looked good on the ball with their experience, work-rate and pressing causing quite a few problems. Rovers, by contrast, spent large swathes of the night camped inside their own final third and struggling to work the ball into more effective areas.

Jones continued to be in the thick of the action as he tipped away a dangerous set-piece delivery into the area on 20 minutes, before Alex Baptiste then made a crucial clearance in Exeter's next attack which saw a free-kick (awarded for a foul by Greaves for which he was cautioned) played beyond the back-post area and subsequently knocked across the six-yard box. Had Baptiste not intercepted the danger, Fisher would almost certainly have had a tap-in.

It seemed only a matter of time before the visitors would grab the opening goal and they went close again when Fisher got an intricate flick to a right-wing cross to set-up Wilson, whose eight-yard shot cleared the woodwork.

At the opposite end, Gibbons cut a very isolated figure in Rovers' one-man attack though the youngster had a chance to stretch his legs when Jack Watson's clever, counter-attack release pass nearly set him free. However, some good covering defending meant he was unable to get a shot away.

Exeter were generally in good control by the half-hour mark, having enjoyed much more possession, openings, shots and set-piece openings to put the ball into the box and all they needed was a goal to show their efforts and endeavour.

Another visiting player hit a shot narrowly over the upright after a cleverly-worked short corner routine, before Fisher appealed in vain to the officials when he was brought down on the edge of the area by Madger Gomes on 34 minutes. It looked a convincing shout for a penalty/free-kick but the referee who was in close proximity, was having none of it.

Towards the end of the first period, Rovers began to get a firmer foothold in proceedings and see a bit more of the ball in open-play. Their passing, which had been sloppy at times and littered the overall performance up to this point, improved by a couple of notches as well.

A sign of improvement was highlighted on 38 minutes when Watson managed to get a shot away, even though it was off-target, after some good build-up play involving Gibbons and Rieves Boocock who assisted the youngster for the shot.

Nevertheless, Jones was in the thick of things once again and his vital save just two minutes before the break; a full-stretch diving save to keep out an attempt by Joel Randall who had cut inside from the left flank, ensured the scoreline remained goalless.

There's little doubt that Rovers would have taken 0-0 at the interval given just how much pressure they'd had to soak up, yet during the solitary minute of first half injury-time, they struck on the counter-attack with Gibbons showing skill, pace and composure to get on the end of Greaves' through pass and fire into the net.

A double substitution was made at half-time as Ben Blythe replaced Danny Amos - a switch which meant Branden Horton moved across to left-back for the second 45 minutes, whilst Gomes was withdrawn in favour of A.Trialist.

Despite the changes and the surprising scoreline, the one-way traffic nature of the game didn't alter much during the second half as the hosts were once again indebted to the excellence of Jones who saved well from Fisher's close-range header on 48 minutes.

He soon made a more spectacular save - using his fingertips to get just enough to be equal to Alex Hartridge's 25-yard thunderbolt drive which caught the faintest of deflections off Baptiste to make it even more difficult than it already was.

Exeter continued to press; akin to throwing the toolbox, hammer and entire contents of the living room at their younger counterparts - never mind just the proverbial kitchen sink, and just shy of the hour mark the 'keeper saved Donny once more with some instinctive near-post reactions to deny Fisher who'd got his head to a long-back post cross from the right flank.

It seemed rough justice for the Grecians to be losing at this point so what happened next was all the more surprising but a testament to Rovers' ruthlessness up top.

Horton got into a clever position high up the left flank to supplement a set-piece and it was his improvisation and ball into the box which picked out Watson who unleashed a first-time, side-foot finish past the visiting 'keeper to make it 2-0. It was a pinpoint assist followed by a pinpoint finish.

With Rovers now heading to the top of the group, Exeter knew they had less than half-an-hour to respond if they were to wrestle top spot (and a home tie in the knockout stages) back from their counterparts.

The Devon team went straight down the other end and conjured up a couple more shots on target but this time they were routine efforts which were comfortable for Jones.

By no means were Exeter going to just let things just peter out and settle for defeat, however, and eventually they managed to break Rovers' resistance. Initially, Jones again did well to tip wide another headed attempt from Fisher, but from the resulting right-sided corner, Hartridge rose to meet the near-post delivery and his glancing connection was enough to finally find the net.

What Rovers needed to do now, at 2-1 up, was manage the game as well as possible but they were unable to heed the warning signs and less than a minute after the goal which halved the deficit, Exeter got back on level terms.

This time, a visiting player worked hard on the inside-right flank to get the better of Rian McLean and his hooked ball towards a central goalmouth position was met with a backwards flick which fell kindly for Harry Kite who let fly with a sweet low strike to equalise.

It was harsh on Rovers to have had their lead cut to ribbons in such a small space of time but totally deserved on the balance of play.

With a quarter of the game remaining, it seemed that if anyone was going to grab a winner then it would be the team playing in yellow - even though it was Doncaster who needed to win in order to seal top spot because a draw wouldn't be enough.

Exeter's comeback nearly became a total turnaround on 68 minutes as an opponent unleashed an audacious 25-yard drive, having seized upon some sloppy midfield play between Greaves and A.Trialist. The ball looked for all the world that it would hit the back of the net as it had a full-stretch Jones beaten, yet it crashed back off the woodwork and was scrambled up the pitch as far as Boocock who saw a speculative shot blocked at the other end.

Another attack, soon afterwards, by the visitors saw Fisher accelerate away into a dangerous position before the ball was eventually worked back to Josh Key who skewed a low, gilt-edged shot horribly wide from 15 yards when he may have been better feeding a simple pass to Joel Randall who was in acres of space, unmarked, on the blind side of the defence.

The closing stages of the game didn't create too many more openings. Exeter still looked the more probing and threatening, whereas Donny knew they'd have to pounce on a counter-attack or transition to muster something up.

Ben Blythe and substitute Lirak Hasani both went into the referees notebook for respective fouls and Rovers actually ended the game with 10 players as A.Trialist was unable to continue having suffered a nasty-looking knock to his foot.

Ultimately, although Rovers pressed a bit more in the dying stages and during injury-time, there were to be no further goals. A draw probably doesn't reflect the balance of play as Exeter created so much and were just thwarted by the outstanding Louis Jones, but the result is certainly a positive which the hosts can take.

There's plenty that many of the Under 23s squad who featured can glean from this experience. Playing against what Exeter fielded is a definite 'step up' from what the lads will be used to and it's the best way for them to learn and improve. The more frequently they play against opponents of such a decent calibre, the more they will be able to 'bridge the gap' in regards to the difference what was highlighted in this encounter over the 90 minutes.

Team: Louis Jones, Rian McLean (Lirak Hasani), Danny Amos (Ben Blythe), Branden Horton, Alex Baptiste, Matty Blair, Madger Gomes (Trialist), AJ Greaves (C), Myron Gibbons, Rieves Boocock, Jack Watson. Unused Subs: Kian Johnson, Will McGowan.