Ethan Bojang at the African Nations Cup

Players competing at international tournaments whilst on Doncaster Rovers' books have been few and far between over the years which makes Ethan Bojang's recent achievements all the more remarkable.

Remember the name! (Photo: @Bojang_Ethan)

The 18-year-old youth team skipper helped Gambia to the Semi-Finals of the recent U20 African Nations Cup in Mauritania - and in doing so he joined a very select band of players including Luke McCullough (Northern Ireland - 2016), Dean Furman (South Africa - 2014), Mark McCammon (Barbados - 2007) and Dave Mulligan (New Zealand - 2004), who've also featured at an international tournament as a Rovers player, since the club returned to the Football League two decades ago.

Whilst the crux of Gambia's squad were home-based players, there was also a sprinkling of lads who ply their trade in Europe such as Musa Juwara (Bologna), Serine Sanneh (West Ham United), Tali Jallow (Milton Keynes Dons) and Malick Lowe (Volendam).

Bojang made his first ever appearance for the Scorpions in a pre-tournament friendly against Cameroon and followed that up with both a place in the starting xi and an assist in a win over Burkina Faso.

In the AFCON tournament itself, Gambia were placed in a challenging group with Morocco, Tanzania and Ghana and were on the end of a scandalous decision in their opening game as they were narrowly beaten 1-0 by Morocco. A 1-1 draw with Tanzania followed on matchday two which meant they had to beat Ghana (who were eventual tournament winners) in their final group fixture.

Their task was made all the more difficult when their opponents took an early lead but Mattar M'Boge's youngsters showed courage in the face of adversity to overturn the deficit and record a remarkable 2-1 win with Kajallay Drammeh and Tali Jallow finding the target. 

Ethan Bojang in action in the Quarter-Final (Photo: Unknown).

The comeback success ensured a Quarter-Final meeting with Central African Republic and they were swept aside with confidence - Gambia cruising to a 3-0 victory, before a twist of fate meant their next opponents, this time in the last four, would again be Ghana.

Despite their best efforts in that Semi-Final meeting, the Scorpions weren't able to replicate more success - succumbing to a narrow 1-0 defeat, but the tournament wasn't over just yet for them as Tunisia were next up in a Third Place Play-Off to decide which country would take home the Bronze Medal.

After a relatively uneventful 120 minutes of football which saw no goals, excitement followed in the way of a tense and nail-biting penalty shoot-out and it was Gambia who triumphed - emerging as 4-2 winners over the North African nation to end the tournament in third place.

Bojang featured twice over the course of the tournament - in the opening game against Morocco and then as a substitute in the Quarter-Final win over Central African Republic, adding to his two earlier caps in the pre-tournament friendlies. 

For everyone in the Gambian set-up - from the management team to the players to the support staff who were present, the memories created over the past few weeks are certain to last a lifetime and Bojang will no doubt hope that more appearances for his country will follow in due course.

But for now, he can take pride at becoming the latest in a very small selection of Doncaster Rovers players to have competed at an international tournament.

It might be a while before someone else does likewise!

Gambia celebrate scoring against Central African Republic (Photo: Unknown).

Medal Winner (Photo: @Bojang_Ethan)

In Doncaster Rovers colours at the start of his scholarship in August 2019.