Lincoln City (U18s) 2-3 Doncaster Rovers (U18s)

Lincoln City (U18s) 2-3 Doncaster Rovers (U18s)

EFL Youth Alliance

Saturday 7th August 2021

Doncaster Rovers got their EFL Youth Alliance (North-East Division) season off to a bright start with a comfortable 3-2 win away at well-fancied Lincoln City.

Jack Goodman's two early goals put Rovers on course for three points and they came either side of an incident where Lincoln's 'keeper received a straight red card for a cynical challenge on Owen Scattergood (the striker formerly known as A.Trialist).

Substitute Corie Cole then made it 3-0 just before the hour mark but Lincoln gave a good account of themselves, created plenty of dangerous moments, and eventually bagged twice from set-pieces in the dying stages to add some respectability to the scoreline.

There were a couple of surprises in manager Gary McSheffrey's starting line-up as it included a first competitive youth team outing for Under 16s midfielder Will Flint (who also played in the pre-season defeat at Thorne Colliery in midweek), whilst Will Hollings appeared in an unfamiliar right-wing-back position.

Along with Luke Chadwick being named as 'keeper, Dan Wilds skippered the side alongside Michael Nesbitt and Bobby Faulkner in the heart of defence; Jak Whiting was at left-wing-back and partnering Flint in midfield was first-year scholar Josh Lindley. The attacking and wide options came in the shape of Owen Scattergood, Jack Goodman and Tom Parkinson, respectively.

Lincoln looked a taller and more imposing team and on a luscious grass surface they enjoyed the territorial advantage for the opening five minutes or so. The only chance they mustered up in that period was when one of their frontmen hit a snap-shot into the body of a team-mate from the edge of a crowded six-yard box after some decent build-up play down their left side.

Rovers responded to this with an uplifting half-hour of football during which they set a great benchmark and inflicted significant damage on their opponents' hopes.

The lads' first attack produced a goal as Goodman used his pace, awareness and acceleration very well to find space inside the box and subsequently latch onto Scattergood's piercing ball before slotting across the Imps 'keeper and into the net.

Lincoln continued to see a little more of the ball though Rovers' transitional play and intensity was good - so much so that on the quarter-hour mark it brought about a significant incident which had a massive impact on the ultimate outcome of the game.

Having won possession in the middle of the park, a forward-thinking move was neatly, cleverly and quickly sprung, the Imps' high defensive line was breached and Scattergood suddenly found himself in acres of space bearing down on goal in a one-on-one with an advancing 'keeper. He took a touch to try and go round the shot-stopper (which he no doubt would have done) but was deliberately body checked on the edge of the 'D' - leaving the referee with no other option but to give the 'keeper his marching orders.

Flint's low strike from the resulting set-piece drew a routine from the replacement custodian and two minutes later some excellent high pressing by both Goodman (with help from Whiting) saw an Imps defender dispossessed on the edge of his own box and it culminated in a half-chance where the Rovers forward poked an effort into the 'keepers midriff whilst trying to fashion a clear opening from a tight angle under pressure.

A man down and a goal down with still well over an hour remaining, if any of Lincoln's players were already having nightmares about what lay ahead, things soon got a whole lot worse for them courtesy of an explosive rocket-shot by Goodman!

Trying to play out from the back always has a risk element attached to it and the substitute 'keeper's attempted low pass to a team-mate on halfway was intercepted, eventually by Lindley, and played forward. Goodman picked up possession around 25 yards out, took a touch, looked up once to analyse the situation and unleashed a ferocious shot which carried with it interest, immaculate precision and unadulterated venom, flying straight into the top corner.

Some goals you clap. Some goals you applaud - and this one was a great example of ruthless and efficient punishment! There was no mercy shown whatsoever.

Now 2-0 up, everyone watching from the sidelines could see that Rovers were growing in confidence. In possession, there was a groove, aura and fluidity in how they were not only moving the ball but moving as individuals to find space, pick pockets, pose problems and create options for others. Out of possession, there was an evident hunger and desire to regain shape quickly and make it extremely difficult for Lincoln's 10 men to be able to breach them. It was a pleasure to watch at this point.

Flint curled an effort wide following a Hollings corner on 23 minutes, just a few moments before the right-wing-back received treatment due to a misjudged tackle on him.

The openings continued to flow and no doubt enjoying his new position, Hollings was next to try his luck with a stinging attempt (again after more good probing high up the pitch) which was initially palmed a few yards in the air by the 'keeper and then recovered in the nick of time with Parkinson lurking dangerously in close proximity and ready to pounce on any mistake.

Lots of good things were happening on the pitch and Whiting at left-wing-back was another top performer in dominant form as the clock ticked beyond the half-hour mark.

Nevertheless, at no point were Lincoln ever just going to lie down, throw the towel in and accept defeat and slowly but surely as the half-time whistle approached they turned the possession stakes back in their own favour and created some danger.

A deflected 20-yard shot went narrowly wide at the expense of a corner and although Rovers counter-attacked on that particular set-piece and had a penalty appeal waved away; Scattergood opting to go down in the box somewhat easily when he perhaps should have just pulled the trigger, the Imps responded at the other end with another curling strike from further out which hit the upright.

The visitors suddenly needed either the half-time whistle to regroup a little or a third goal to completely put a stamp on their superiority. In the final chance of the first 45 minutes, Hollings had the ball inside the box and was only thwarted when the 'keeper used his feet to save his low drive.

Lincoln continued to dictate a lot of the play in the early stages of the second half and only a good covering challenge from Faulkner prevented them from getting a shot away on 51 minutes. 

Rovers remained resolute as they dealt with a couple of Imps set-pieces before an incident where Hollings was down on the deck injured and calling for the physio saw the lads, instead, play on. However, they contrived to concede possession and Lincoln quickly sprung a counter-attack which ended with both Lindley and Faulkner diving in with tackles - one just outside the box and one clearly inside it.

There was momentary panic when the referee blew his whistle though he opted to penalise the earlier challenge and award a free-kick right on the edge of the box, though a poor resulting effort straight into the wall meant it came to absolutely nothing.

It was obvious to everyone that Rovers needed to score again and a goal duly arrived thanks to Corie Cole's first real involvement in the contest.

Having replaced Parkinson in a double change only a matter of moments earlier (the other substitution seeing Alex Fletcher replace Whiting at left-wing-back), second-year Cole was in the perfect place to scoop the ball home from a few yards out. Lincoln had tried to play out from the back and failed with a stray pass being easily intercepted on the edge of the box by Hollings whose effort hit Cole who subsequently put the ball into the empty net. The linesman had flagged very early for a potential offside but he was overruled by the referee after a brief consultation and the goal correctly stood.

At this stage you'd have been forgiven for thinking that the remaining half-hour would be a formality for Rovers considering the game was effectively wrapped up but Lincoln had other ideas.

Straight from the re-start the hosts went close as a corner was swung into the box and met with a header which went narrowly wide. Faulkner soon also had to produce another chance-preventing challenge inside his own box after being sold short on a pass from Wilds.

The lads were still creating bits and pieces at the opposite end and one free-flowing move saw Lindley, Cole and Goodman combine before the latter of that trio, still on a hat-trick, got to the inside-left byline and floated an inviting cross towards the edge of the six-yard box where Scattergood's on target header was saved by the 'keeper.

More substitutions were made by manager McSheffrey as Tom Chambers came on for Chadwick between the sticks, Jack Raper replaced Goodman and Charlie Petch was introduced for Fletcher (who'd come off worse after a 50/50 tackle) and the changes meant Nesbitt went to right-wing-back for the final quarter-of-an-hour.

The Hartlepool-based defender didn't score last season and eyebrows were raised when he went on a marauding 30-yard run, cut inside and shaped to shoot just as he was brought down with a strong challenge on the edge of the box. The referee gave the free-kick but Nesbitt's resulting set-piece strike bouncing agonsingly wide of the 'keeper's right-hand post.

Lincoln had seen quite a lot of the ball during the final half-hour and always looked a threat despite the fact Rovers still had an extra player because of the red card in the early stages.

Any hopes that may have been flickering towards the possibility of keeping a clean-sheet (which would have equalled last season's shut-out tally of one) were dashed, however, when the Imps scored from a set-piece on 86 minutes - a ricochet/partial clearance from the initial corner being picked up by an attacker who drove home a low and hard effort from about 10 yards.

Raper responded with a rapsing attempt which was narrowly wide as Rovers immediately sought to re-establish a third goal cushion but deep into injury-time, the Imps pulled another goal back as a corner (from the same side as the one had been scored just over five minutes earlier) was met with a powerful headed connection which saw the ball rebound off the underside of the woodwork and cross the line. The defending really wasn't good enough though there wasn't any time remaining for Lincoln to do more damage because the whistle was sounded straight from the re-start.

Overall, it was a mixed bag of a performance with some very good things produced and other things which are a notable cause for concern.

During that dominant 30-35 minute period before half-time, there were loads of positives. The pressing and quick transitional play brought about two goals and quite a few other genuine scoring opportunities. The movement and passing was also good whilst the desire, attitude, application, shape and structure - especially out of possession was of an impressive standard. That period was a pleasure to watch!

However, it wasn't maintained across the pitch over the full course of the 90 minutes. There were little bits here and there but as things wore on those early standards slipped, the previously crisp and clean passing became a bit looser and more wayward, Lincoln (despite their numerical disadvantage) got in the ascendency more and were allowed to influence things from midfield. Their two late goals, both conceded cheaply from corners (again!), is irritating and it cannot keep happening because every team must be ruthless and give nothing away when defending set-plays.

The Imps were more physical and had a height advantage and it showed to some extent - as did their better fitness levels which was probably down to the fact they had a less-disrupted pre-season schedule than Rovers who didn't return to full training until mid-July due to Covid issues. In all likelihood, they'll probably be one of the top teams in the EFL Youth Alliance this term.

If the lads can replicate their performance from 5-35 minutes over the course of a full game, including every aforementioned facet of why that period was so good, they'll likely win more often than they'll experience defeat and one or two teams will also get a walloping. On the flip side, if the collective performance from 35-90 minutes plus injury-time is replicated too many times then that winning feeling is going to be a lot harder to come by. Finding that consistency to dominate opponents, plus being ruthless at the back, will be critical in terms of achieving positive results.

Individually, there were some notable things. Although the team played themselves into trouble and caused their own problems on two or three occasions, Bobby Faulkner produced no fewer than three well-timed shot-preventing tackles and it was his best performance to date this season. As a back three, he looked stable alongside Michael Nesbitt and Dan Wilds.

Josh Lindley showed snippets of the good stuff he can produce (which I've picked up on previously), Jack Goodman had a phenomenal first 45 minutes where he took his chances, ran the lines when needed and caused problems. Will Flint didn't look out of place on his first start and the experience will serve him well. Jak Whiting had a good showing in the left-wing-back slot before he was replaced close to the hour mark and likewise Will Hollings on the opposite flank will be happy with his contribution. Luke Chadwick kept a clean-sheet during his time on the pitch and Jack Raper was quite involved in an attacking sense, albeit for only a short spell following his late introduction, on the back of a relatively quiet pre-season considering the levels he can reach.

Some other players were 'hit and miss' but again, the standards which were so good from 5-35 minutes just weren't maintained throughout and it's everyone's responsibility to do both more and offer more for the full duration in future outings.

If that happens and everything comes together then make no mistake, some poor team who perhaps aren't as good as Lincoln will get hammered.

To finish on a positive, other smaller but significant things within the team haven't gone unnoticed to these eyes. The communication and spirit amongst the lads has improved notably compared to 2020/21 and, during the prolonged positive period of play, there was plenty of talking and encouraging going on right across the pitch. It wasn't silent as has sometimes been the case in previous years.

Finally, the referee needs a well-earned mention because he handled the game very well, got decisions right, applied common sense when it was necessary and always tried to let things flow, along with quickly nipping in the bud any gamesmanship or trivial stupidity. Certain other referees who are a certain way inclined might have flashed a few more yellow cards, especially with the way some lads (from both teams) spoke to the officials but it's testament to this referee and the good authority he showed that there weren't any major problems.

Well done though, lads. Three points are in the bag!

Team: Luke Chadwick (Tom Chambers), Will Hollings, Michael Nesbitt, Dan Wilds (C), Bobby Faulkner, Jak Whiting (Alex Fletcher (Charlie Petch)), Josh Lindley, Will Flint, Jack Goodman (Jack Raper), Owen Scattergood, Tom Parkinson (Corie Cole).