Doncaster Rovers (U18s) 1-2 Burton Albion (U18s)

Doncaster Rovers (U18s) 1-2 Burton Albion (U18s)

Football League Youth Alliance
Tuesday 10th November 2020

The match report from today's game - penned by yours truly, will appear on the Doncaster Free Press website at some point over the next few days.

A depleted Doncaster Rovers youth team saw their four-game unbeaten streak come to an abrupt end as they were beaten 2-1 by Burton Albion earlier today.  

Things were initially going well for the youngsters who opened the scoring through Owan Derrett’s strike just past the half-hour mark before the Brewers levelled from a free-kick close to the interval. Albion dominated thereafter and having already rattled the upright, their endeavour was rewarded as Said Idouarab bagged his second goal of the game with a close-range header on 72 minutes.  

Rovers’ woes on an already bad afternoon were compounded as they were forced to complete the final quarter-hour with just 10 men after skipper Ethan Bojang sustained a head injury in an accidental collision with Luca Nelson.  

Boss Paul Stancliffe was already facing a shortage of players with only 13 faces being available for selection going into the game. Midfielder Charlie Bell and centre-back Max Jemson missed out due to respective ankle and hamstring injuries sustained in last week’s FA Youth Cup win at Coventry Sphinx whilst ‘keeper Ben Bottomley was also unavailable as he’s now in the first team ‘bubble’ ahead of the clash with Wolverhampton Wanderers’ U21s in the EFL Trophy.  

Despite the shortage in numbers, Rovers began the game positively - knocking the ball around with great fluidity and purpose. Having blocked one shot to screams of 'hand ball' at the defensive end of the pitch, Bojang was the first player in red and white hoops to go close with a low drive which was narrowly off-target on 12 minutes.  

Lewis Cunningham's then posed Burton further problems when he found space deep on the inside-left channel and drilled a low ball across the six-yard box which caught a deflection to carry it goalwards until it was turned wide by the 'keeper.

Despite being under pressure, the Brewers caught a tiny glimpse of goal on the counter-attack but some good covering defender by first-year Michael Nesbitt where he demonstrated concentration aplenty, ensured nobody was able to get a shot away, and the danger quickly fizzled out.

Rovers were forced into more defensive work around the half-hour mark as a series of set-pieces (two corners and two free-kicks - both from wide areas) had to be dealt with efficiently.

That was something which ultimately preceded what was the lads' best spell during the game and also their first significant attempt on target. In a great example of 'pass and move' play which cut the visitors open, Cunningham began the attack with a simple pass inside to Dan Wilds who, in turn, found Bojang in a better position. The midfielder then linked-up with Nelson whose pull-back from the edge of the box was perfect for Will Hollings and his powerful 20-yard drive towards the top corner drew a decent save.

On top and playing good football, Donny then made a breakthrough as Josh Clemitson and Nelson combined outside the area with the latter slipping a tidy pass into Derrett’s path. His powerful shot was too much for the ‘keeper who managed to get a hand to the ball in order to turn it onto the post, but the spin/ricochet off the inside of the post carried it across the goal-line.

What the lads needed to do now was build on their advantage, yet they missed a golden chance to do so less than two minutes later. Again, Derrett was put through - this time thanks to Corie Cole’s clever through ball, but the talisman couldn’t hit the target with his effort. 

It proved to be a costly miss as Burton, whose threat up to this point had been sporadic - despite the fact they clearly had some talented player in their ranks, soon levelled. The goal was a direct result of Hollings conceding a cheap free-kick following a poorly-timed challenge on the edge of the box and the punishment was executed to perfection as Idouarab’s right-footed effort over the defensive wall was too accurate for Donny ‘keeper Luke Chadwick who was rooted to the spot.  

Almost straight away, the equaliser signalled a noticeable change in momentum and the Staffordshire youngsters began to dictate the tempo whilst also having much more possession.

There were no further goals up to half-time despite Chadwick being forced into a routine save to keep Rovers on level terms, whilst Hollings attempted to redeem himself with a long-distance strike which lacked accuracy and cleared the woodwork. In the seconds immediately prior to the half-time whistle, the diminutive Cole crept in-behind and unleashed a drive which drew a comfortable near-post stop by the visiting custodian.

After the re-start, the team wearing yellow shirts were almost constantly in the ascendancy although Doncaster did muster up a half-chance on the hour mark when Cole’s bursting run-and-cross from down the right flank fell kindly for Nelson, stationed inside the 'D', but his scuffed downward attempt bobbled off the surface and easily into the 'keepers arms.  

Albion remained on top, nevertheless, and went within a whisker of taking the lead on 67 minutes when a pacey left-sided cross was met with a glancing point-blank header. A goal seemed inevitable yet somehow the ball cannoned back off the underside of the crossbar - thus allowing the Rovers defence to scramble it away to safety. Around this time and amidst mounting pressure, Chadwick also showed superb reflexes to tip away a separate 'top corner' attempt from the edge of the box.

However, good fortune for Stancliffe's young side was short-lived. 

Whilst Bojang was off the pitch receiving treatment following a clash of heads with Nelson inside the Brewers' penalty area, the visitors launched an attack which saw play switched from right to left and, eventually, a dangerous floated ball across the six-yard box was guided home by Idouarab at close-range. It was a disappointing goal to concede but, in truth, it had been coming for quite a while!

A comeback now appeared unlikely; more so given that the lads were forced to play out the closing stages with only 10 players as Bojang couldn't continue despite having had his head bandaged up and the two available substitutions had already been made.

However, they did create a trio of late chances - all of which fell to Alex Wolny!

The substitute frontman, on for Derrett, was gifted the first of the three opportunities as Burton's otherwise confident and solid 'keeper pretty much passed the ball straight to him when he was situated on the edge of the box but Wolny's low effort under pressure was tame by his own high standards and a comfortable save was made.

Burton, for some reason or another, suddenly appeared to be struggling and they survived more nervous moments when Cunningham knock-down from a long ball into the box fell for Wolny whose goalbound attempt brought about another save, whilst the striker flashed a shot narrowly wide on 88 minutes after some good-link up play involving Tavonga Kuleya and Corie Cole.

Ultimately, the late storm of pressure wasn't anywhere near enough to extinguish Burton's fire and the defeat means that Rovers have missed the chance to put themselves right amongst the team's challenging at the very top of the table. They'll be hoping for a more favourable outcome in their next outing when they travel to Bolton Wanderers in the EFL Youth Alliance Cup.  

Having had a few hours to think about the game then, in my opinion, the best team got the three points and there's every likelihood that Burton will be competing for the Youth Alliance title come the end of the season - this win, incidentally, actually puts them top of the table.

The lads could (and perhaps should?) have been further ahead than they were at the point which Burton equalised but thereafter, the Brewers dominated, dictated play, set the tempo, created the more dangerous openings and everything about their performance was a level above what Rovers produced. Although it's easy to point fingers and attribute fault to Will Hollings for needlessly conceding the free-kick on the edge of the box which led directly to the equaliser, the collective response in the 50 minutes thereafter wasn't good enough - nor was positional play at times and too many passes went astray. The word which sums it up best is 'disappointing'.

It's also frustrating because the lads can produce so much better than what they showed, overall, during the course of this game and in isolation there were actually some bright points. For instance, some of the neat, one touch, passing football at times was amongst the best they've played as a team so far this season whilst the overall start to the game was stronger than the 'slow starts' which have littered many previous outings this season. Nevertheless, there's no hiding away from the fact that no player will have left the pitch feeling 'happy' with how the game went or what they produced. It wasn't good enough over the 90 minutes - it's one of them things; it happens! Burton are a good team and that should be underlined, however, they were allowed to impose far too much of their 'game-plan' and dictate matters as opposed to it being the other way around.

Given the injuries to a few players and others such as Ben Bottomley and Liam Ravenhill (more loosely) being unavailable for selection, plus the fact that it's not currently possible to include any of the Under 16s squad, it's likely to be a challenging few weeks ahead so nobody should get too down or too disheartened by one result, but the lads need to remember their qualities, as well, and showcase them better than how they did in this game. Every player is in this squad because they're good enough, they deserve to be there and they've earned the right to get a scholarship, play football every week and have something to offer on a football pitch. Defeats aren't necessarily a bad thing as they can be a learning curve and if every player is able to take one piece of feedback from this disappointment, whether it be from the coaches, team-mates or elsewhere, and implement it within their own games, it's only going to make them better players. 

There's no need to get too downhearted as there's a cluster of games coming up, barring any postponements, which means the opportunity is there to put things right and produce more positive performances over a more sustained spell.

Team: Luke Chadwick, Tom Henson, Josh Clemitson, Michael Nesbitt, Lewis Cunningham, Dan Wilds, Ethan Bojang (C), Will Hollings (Tavonga Kuleya), Corie Cole, Owan Derrett (Alex Wolny), Luca Nelson.