Thorne Colliery 5-3 Doncaster Rovers (U18s)

Thorne Colliery 5-3 Doncaster Rovers (U18s)

Pre-Season Friendly

Tuesday 3rd August 2021

Video highlights of this game are available to watch by clicking here.

Doncaster Rovers' Under 18s ended their pre-season schedule on a disappointing note as they were soundly beaten 5-3 by Thorne Colliery at the quirkily-named Iqbal Poultry Stadium in Moorends.

Colliery's experience and know-how was the contributing factor in the scoreline and goals by Aiden Marshall and Shay Evans-Booth saw them ahead at the interval with Jak Whiting replying for Rovers in between.

A.Trialist (who was named over the incredibly loud PA system) made it 2-2 midway through the second period before something of a capitulation resulted in Thorne scoring three times within just five minutes; Callum Verhees, Danny Green and Dom Mellor all bagging, to effectively put the result beyond any reasonable doubt.

Rovers mustered up a response by netting the game's final goal in the final minute though thanks to midfielder Jack Raper's close-range finish.

Overall, credit has to go to the hosts who were efficient, strong in many areas and proved to be good opponents with some players in their line-up being a real handful and arguably better than a few who play a division or two higher in the Northern Counties East League.

From a Rovers perspective, it wasn't a stellar display by any means because the lads' inexperience told and in many respects they were masters of their own downfall with aspects of the defending leaving a lot to be desired - particularly when you consider that two of the goals were cheaply conceded from corners whilst the final one was through a driving yet unchallenged midfield run. The retention of the ball wasn't always great either and would be an area for much-needed improvement, whilst Tom Henson's injury which forced him off shortly after half-time is also a concern.

However, there were some clear positives. The creative attacking play resulted in three goals and for a bunch of youngsters to do that against any experienced men's team deserves praise. There were also a handful of neat and tidy passing interchanges (more so in the second half) where the ideas of what the lads wanted to do, and how they were trying to do it, were evident. And that's not forgetting the headline contribution from A.Trialist (yet again!) who has now scored four goals in as many pre-season outings and has certainly made the kind of impression that he'd have dreamt about before his trial begin.

With one eye turning towards the Football League Youth Alliance (North-East Division) season-opener against Lincoln City at the weekend, youth team manager Gary McSheffrey opted to field every player fit and available to him over the course of the game.

The first half team saw second-year 'keeper Luke Chadwick appear between the sticks with Alex Fletcher, Charlie Petch, Michael Nesbitt (the skipper) and Jak Whiting making up the backline. Elsewhere, there were starts for Under 16s duo Will Flint and Justin Bennett, plus regular pre-season goalscorer A.Trialist, whilst Jack Raper, Faris Khan and Corie Cole also appeared.

It became clear in the very early minutes that Thorne would provide a stern test of Rovers' capabilities - their players looking more experienced and physically stronger, and they quickly seized the initiative as the visitors spent quite a bit of time camped inside their own half.

Evan Fortune-West - the son of former DRFC forward Leo Fortune-West (who I'm sure I spotted watching on somewhere amongst the crowd) bore an uncanny resemblance to the physique of his old man, and proved to be a nuisance with the way in which he hustled and pressurised opponents.

The first such instance of this came on six minutes when Petch misjudged a long punt forward and, immediately under pressure from Fortune-West, Fletcher had to make a good covering challenge on the edge of his own box at the expense of a throw-in. The ball never left Rovers' half thereafter as Matt Gains, wearing No.4 (and a one-time scholar at Cantley Park), helped switch play from left to right and a corner was soon won.

Gains then provided the set-piece delivery towards the back-post area where Aiden Marshall rose both high and pretty much unchallenged, to plant a firm header into the back of the net to make it 1-0. It was a simple goal but frustratingly preventable and the youngsters had work to do!

Despite an attempt on target at the other end which drew a routine enough save from Thorne's keeper who was sporting a curious 'mohawk' hairstyle, Rovers remained on the back foot as they defended a few more corners and also a long-throw. The situation meant Cole, so often found further up the pitch, was having to drop back especially deep to carry out his fair share of the defensive work.

After what had been a nervous start, Petch defended well against Fortune-West to prevent the powerful forward from getting in-behind on 19 minutes and clear-cut chances for Thorne, in spite of their dominance in key areas, were actually quite limited.

It came as something as a surprise, therefore, when Doncaster's young guns put together a fine attacking move which culminated in an equaliser on 26 minutes.

Fletcher often showcases a good tenacity within his general play and charges up and down the right flank like a lad possessed in most games and his role in the goal was instrumental. After a neat passing exchange involving him, A.Trialist and Khan, he produced an intelligent overlapping run down the inside-right channel and was soon put in the clear by Khan before he then fizzed a low delivery across the goalmouth. The Thorne 'keeper got a hand to the ball but only succeeded in palming it straight into Whiting's path who followed up by emphatically smashing the rebound into the net.

The joy of having levelled soon turned to despair, however, because within a couple of minutes - so soon it was actually before the half-hour mark, the hosts managed to regain the lead.

Cole was deemed guilty (and probably correctly) of making contact with Thorne's No.11 who tumbled to the ground inside the area. The referee showed no hesitancy in pointing to the penalty spot immediately and Shay Evans-Booth stepped up and hit a low, hard drive past Chadwick to restore the hosts' advantage.

It meant that Rovers were chasing the game once again but in the quarter-of-an-hour period which followed up to half-time, the young lads in red shirts did muster up a couple of openings.

A clever through ball by A.Trialist towards Cole was prematurely ended by a linesman's flag but just moments afterwards the Thorne 'keeper read a potentially dangerous situation extremely well when he came right off his line towards the edge of his area in order to claim Fletcher's floated ball ahead of Cole who was applying the pressure.

Thorne were still looking a significant threat at the opposite end and went close when an effort was hit narrowly over the upright after Rovers had cheaply given the ball away. Fortune-West also tried his luck with a speculative 25-yard drive four minutes before the half-time whistle but, again, that shot lacked accuracy.

A number of changes were then made by both teams at the interval as Thorne withdrew some of their more experienced and troublesome players in favour of slightly younger ones whereas Doncaster retained only Raper and Cole from their first half line-up. They introduced nine new faces - namely Tom Chambers, Tom Henson, Bobby Faulkner, Dan Wilds (now the skipper), Tom Parkinson, Josh Lindley, Will Hollings, Alex Wolny and Jack Goodman.

There was a change in the balance of play almost immediately from the whistle to signal the beginning of the second 45 minutes as Rovers began to see a lot more of the ball and particularly inside Thorne's half.

Despite the hosts' being pushed back, Rovers weren't able to muster up any early chances and instead they suffered a set-back when Henson was caught with a late challenge which required treatment. It soon became clear that he wouldn't be able to continue which led to an impromptu re-appearance of the energetic first-year Fletcher on the right flank.

The story of the territorial dominance by Doncaster continued past the hour mark, nevertheless, and three chances soon arrived in quick succession of one another. The first saw Wilds denied from a headed attempt following a good delivery into the area from a wide position and just a few minutes later it was Goodman who found himself in-behind after some good interplay, though he was thwarted by the home 'keeper at the expense of a corner.

Raper delivered the resulting set-piece towards the back-post area where Faulkner, up from the back, managed to make a connection. The ball eventually dropped to Cole whose goalbound attempt was blocked on the line before Thorne ultimately succeeded in clearing the danger once and for all.

With the scoreline still 2-1 at this point, many amongst the 194 crowd may have felt that if Rovers were to get back on level terms, they could go on and win the game.

An equaliser was finally forthcoming on 73 minutes and it was scored by the lad who can't be named (officially - though it was revealed over the PA system!) and who had only just minutes earlier returned to the pitch as a substitute - the illustrious top scorer in pre-season, A.Trialist. 

He owned the situation superbly by scattering his body to good effect and finding space inside the six-yard box for what was a predatory finish after a clever ball into him by Hollings who claimed the assist. Quickly mobbed by team-mates, the joy during the celebration was evident and it's clear to see already that the un-named trialist will be a popular and useful addition to the team should his trial be successful.

Success, however, is a word which cannot describe the final quarter-of-an-hour of this game as Rovers completely fell apart by conceding three goals in the space of five mental minutes.

Having been back on level terms for less than 180 seconds, the first of the three goals conceded was unlucky and unfortunate in equal measure because 'keeper Chambers did well to prevent an initial shot from going in only for Callum Verhees to follow-up on the rebound and make it 3-2.

A minute later, Rovers succeeded in both losing possession pretty much straight after their own kick-off and also in conceding a corner. Sloppy marking meant the subsequent near-post delivery was met with an intricate flick-on further into the danger zone by someone in a blue shirt towards where Danny Green was able to force the ball home much too easily from a couple of yards. 4-2.

As if things couldn't get any worse for the youngsters, Thorne then scored again - this time as a driving midfield run against a standoffish defence caused problems and ended with Verhees bringing the ball down superbly inside the area and laying it off towards Dom Mellor who curled a powerful right-foot shot beyond a full-stretch Chambers to make it 5-2.

A collapse. A capitulation. Call it whatever you want, but it certainly highlighted the flaws and vulnerabilities within this Rovers team and it's something that will need to be worked on to ensure it doesn't happen again.

With the lads themselves probably still shell-shocked by the manner in which they'd gone from a hopeful situation of earning a positive result to having zero chance of earning one, Raper salvaged some pride (and thus ensured the loss was only by a two-goal margin) with a good cushioned finish from the edge of the six-yard box in the final minute. Goodman claimed the assist following a good bit of link-up play with Hollings close to the byline.

Again, there are plenty of things that can be learned from this defeat and some harsh lessons need to be learned quickly because if you score three goals, you shouldn't be losing a football match. During the latter stages, if jobs had been done after the difficult set-back of conceding the third goal, the fourth and fifth goals for Thorne wouldn't have happened and a draw would have been salvaged by Jack Raper's late strike - something which is quite frustrating given the promising aspects of the performance which existed and I've highlighted towards the top of this piece.

There were sloppy bits of play though in both halves and whilst pre-season results aren't necessarily important, if the same (or similar) mistakes are made in league games where points are at stake and there's a league table to measure collective success and failure of the team, it'll hurt a lot more.

To end on a positive though, well done to Thorne Colliery for being good hosts and providing not only a stern challenge on the pitch, but also a bloody loud PA system which had a bizarre yet sublime eclectic mix of Europop Dance Tunes, Britpop Classics, plenty of bangers from yesteryear and a couple of odd tunes which have been stuck in my head all evening.