Pinchbeck United 0-2 Doncaster Rovers (U18s)

Pinchbeck United 0-2 Doncaster Rovers (U18s)
Pre-Season Friendly
Saturday 24th July 2021

Doncaster Rovers youngsters finally got their pre-season campaign underway with an encouraging 2-0 win away to Pinchbeck United thanks to two goals from A.Trialist.

The unnamed marksman made an immediate impact - scoring just seconds after his introduction at half-time before adding a second goal in the dying stages to extinguish any fears of a late disaster.

Having only resumed training earlier this week due to Covid-related issues, this was actually Rovers youngsters' first pre-season outing - something which was in stark contrast to their opponents who are well into their pre-season campaign and whose United Counties (Premier Division) season begins very soon.

New youth team manager Gary McSheffrey fielded arguably his strongest available line-up in the first 45 minutes with defender Bobby Faulkner amongst the names included following his first team appearance against Wakefield in midweek.

Wearing the new blue and white away strip, Rovers began proceedings brightly, got the ball high up the pitch and tried to be creative when in possession. The lads looked focused and measured in equal measure in their approach and demonstrated some neat passing interchanges though it was the final ball which let them down more than a few times in their attempts to create clear-cut goalscoring opportunities.

An early set-piece delivery into the box from out wide by Jack Raper came to nothing and, somewhat against the balance of play, the first opportunity (and an absolutely golden one) was for Pinchbeck.

A lofted ball forward caught out right-back Alex Fletcher in the air and slightly held up in the grass which caused oncoming 'keeper Luke Chadwick and a backtracking Faulkner to collide into one another. Subsequently, the loose ball was collected by Enoch Opayinka just inside the area and despite having pretty much an open goal to aim at, the home striker got his feet in a mess and produced a hopeful yet woeful effort which went horribly wide.

Chadwick then showed great confidence and handling under pressure to deal with a particularly awkward situation on 22 minutes when an inswinging set-piece from out wide caught the wind and looked as if it might dip underneath the woodwork. Nevertheless, the second-year shot-stopper readjusted his body really well to clench the ball out the air and into his grasp under very close pressure from three Pinchbeck players who were all inside the six-yard box waiting to pounce.

Despite the hosts enjoying the big moments, Rovers were continuing to knock the ball about quite well. There was some nice pattern play and passes in the midfield area but, as already mentioned, it was that final ball or delivery into a potentially dangerous area where things just weren't quite happening.

On the stroke of half-time, the youngsters were spared going 1-0 behind thanks to a significant slice of good fortune.

Josh Lindley wasn't able to win possession in the centre circle and the hosts quickly broke away when a cynical foul to prevent the attack might have been needed. It was Scott Walmsley who eventually carried the ball into the box and unleashed an utterly ferocious shot which Chadwick got fingertips to in order to divert it onto the underside of the bar. The ball bounced down at speed and appeared to have crossed the line, but it came back into play and was frantically scrambled away by the Rovers defence.

There wasn't any great appeals from those in Pinchbeck colours though judging by gut instincts and from also speaking to the handful of fans who were situated behind the goal when the incident occured, everyone was of the same opinion that the ball had crossed the line.

It's a good job, therefore, that VAR isn't used at the Sir Halley Stewart Playing Field!

Rovers then took full advantage of their lucky escape because within a minute of the re-start, the illustrious A.Trialist - who'd only just been introduced, broke the deadlock.

Will Hollings was the provider as his turn, silky driving run and through ball put the trialist in the clear, before he unleashed a powerful finish across the 'keeper and into the bottom corner. It was a quality moment and the type of ruthlessness which the youth team missed on more than a few occasions last term.

Already playing well, Rovers now had a spring in their step; a self-confidence and belief that they could win the game and they dominated the next few minutes. A nonchalant bit of link-up play involving Jak Whiting and Jack Goodman saw the other Jack (this time Raper) fire a shot narrowly wide before Fletcher soon forced a save with a cushioned header from a cross into the danger zone.

Pinchbeck gradually began to get a foothold in proceedings again and after a Ben Johnson chance which went wide, they couldn't make any inroads or get the ball into shooting positions which was partly testament to Rovers' discipline, shape and structure.

Their openings were sparse though they found one from a well-worked free-kick which saw a low ball slipped in towards an unmarked Fin Armond whose attempt only went into the side-netting of half-time sub 'keeper Tom Chambers' goal.

Plenty of 'roll on, roll off' substitutions took place as the minutes ticked away and Chambers was next called into action in the final five minutes of proceedings - showing strong wrists to palm away Harrison Tyler's 20-yard drive which was more or less straight at him.

Hollings responded with a shot on target for Rovers who then, with what was the final attack of the game, settled any nerves and made it 2-0. That man, A.Trialist, was the hero once more as he slipped the ball past the 'keeper from inside the area and was mobbed by team-mates following a neat bit of attacking play.

Overall, the performance by Rovers was positive, encouraging and pleasantly surprising.

This was a challenging match for various reasons and it was always going to reveal something about both the character and quality in the crop which Gary McSheffrey has put together for this season. Which players in the team would step up to this test? Could they step up? Would it be too much of a test and too soon - especially given all the Covid-related problems that has prevented training from happening for the best part of the last three weeks? What would the team spirit be like and would it be evident in any way?

The lads answered all those questions reasonably well. Sometimes the final ball wasn't quite right or the deliveries could have been better and the out of possession stuff is always an area to work on. However, more often than not, the ideas were right and you could see what the lads were trying to do on the ball and how they want to play. There are bits to improve (by no means was it perfect) but as a starting point for the season ahead, it wasn't a bad one whatsoever.

Special mentions must go to Josh Lindley who, apart from not winning enough headers early on (though he did following his re-introduction in the latter stages) and possibly where he should have just took one for the team and hacked the player down to stop the attack just before half-time, is someone who I could watch forever and a day due to the simplistic nature of what he offers to the team and how he does things. Every team needs a player like him and with the next two years to train full-time, become better, improve and learn lots (including also from Paul Green who has coached him in the past), I'm really looking forward to seeing him blossom even more.

The defensive pairing of Dan Wilds and Bobby Faulkner (or trio as it was in the second half when Charlie Petch came on) looked strong as a collective unit and showed their worth. Testament to that would be the fact that in this game they've equalled the competitive clean-sheets tally from the entirety of last season which isn't a bad thing to do in your first pre-season game!

Jak Whiting and Alex Fletcher played reasonably well at left and right-back, respectively; Fletcher looking very focused in what he was doing on the ball as well as winning it back a couple of times whilst Whiting put in arguably his best performance since his first appearance in March (away at Hull City).

Another pleasing aspect was Jack Raper's tenacity - showing that he's not going to pushed around and instead standing up for himself when one of Pinchbeck's players tried to intimidate him. Also, Tom Parkinson did well to deal with and not react to the silly, albeit expected gamesmanship of 'nipping' and needless 'treading' which was going on a couple of times at re-starts.

Will Hollings got better and improved as the game went on, Tavonga Kuleya had snippets of good stuff during the first 45 minutes and Alex Wolny's strength was as present as ever - though he's got some competition now on the frontline thanks to A.Trialist who'll get the headlines courtesy of his goalscoring exploits. The trialist gave himself the opportunity to score simply by getting into the areas where no other player did for pretty much the entirety of last season and it's reflected in the scoreline. Jack Goodman, albeit after a slow start following his half-time introduction, was another who added something and had made a very useful contribution by the end of the game.

Credit also to the two 'keepers who made important saves to register the clean-sheet (and in Tom Chambers' case not break any of the recording equipment used to film the game - as what happened on the final day of last season) and the other lads who came off the bench and played their part.

There was good communication across the team - from Bobby Faulkner and Dan Wilds telling others where they needed to be in defensive scenarios, to players on the same flank being vocal with each other. It's not something which always happens with youth football, even though it should be a given, and it's a small but pleasing trait which will help to form part of the bigger picture.

Once again, the performance was pleasantly surprising. It exceeded my initial pre-match expectations and it's a good initial blueprint for what lies ahead. Nevertheless, it's just one game, it's only a start, it's only pre-season and the acid test will be the first few games/performances in the Football League Youth Alliance (North-East Division) season which are against Lincoln City and Grimsby Town.

If they can replicate this display, working on what needs improvement and eventually producing better quality with the execution of their ideas, then I've got my fingers crossed they can achieve the reasonable target of competing in the top half of the FLYA table - as has been the case for most Doncaster Rovers youth teams over the past decade or so.