Doncaster Rovers 2-3 Newcastle United

Doncaster Rovers 2-3 Newcastle United

Pre-Season Friendly

Friday 23rd July 2021

Another night, another pre-season fixture - this time as football infront of fans occured at the Keepmoat Stadium for the first time since February 2020.

It was nice to experience something close to 'normality' following the various trials and tribulations of the past 16 months though having been fortunate enough to see several non-league and youth games in recent months then I wasn't as overcome with emotion as many others were.

On the pitch the result followed the expected script with Newcastle United emerging as deserved 3-2 winners despite what is best described as a 'spirited' showing by Doncaster Rovers.

The Rovers display, overall, wasn't perfect nor was it dreadful. Mistakes were made, and things could only really get better after a sloppy start in which they found themselves 2-0 down early on, but in the end there were enough good moments to take comfort from.

For multiple reasons my visits to the Keepmoat will be very limited this year and I've also got to admit that I wasn't watching this game too intently or focusing on which players (or trialists) performed the best. Ultimately, pre-season fixtures are mainly about match-fitness and experimenting - whether that be with individual personnel, the shape and structure in how a team is set-up, or playing to a certain formation. The fact there are so many trialists - nevermind the obsession with them from a lot of people, dilutes my interest further and it just makes me wish the season will hurry up and begin!

As mentioned, Rovers' start was slow and sloppy and they were probably guilty of 'backing off' too much and showing too much respect to their Premier League opponents early on. The Toon Army, whose 3,000+ following never stopped singing, had reason to cheer as both Ryan Fraser and Sean Longstaff struck infront of the South Stand inside the first 20-odd minutes to open up what looked to be a clear and commanding two-goal advantage.

Rovers rallied and Tommy Rowe's strike to reduce arrears was perhaps fortuitous given that the initial shot from one of the many trialists may have been going wide anyway, only for the Newcastle 'keeper to palm it straight into the path of the returning Rowe for a simple finish.

The second half produced the same typical pre-season fare as the first 45 minutes and Callum Wilson rounded off a really slick counter-attacking move to re-establish Newcastle's two-goal lead, before chances were missed at both ends - another trialist going close for Richie Wellens' team whilst Dwight Gayle missed something of a sitter right infront of the travelling Toon Army.

Omar Bogle then reduced arrears again - making it 3-2 with a well-placed header which was to the amazement of plenty of Doncaster fans given he's come in for some ferocious criticism at times, ever since his arrival at the club earlier this year, but there were no further goals as Newcastle ran-out winners.

When my next trip to the Keepmoat Stadium will be, who knows? I've seen enough pre-season games this summer now to be at the point where I'm looking forward to seeing a full-blooded, comeptitive encounter where three points are at stake, an awful lot more.