Doncaster Rovers 0-1 Charlton Athletic

Doncaster Rovers 0-1 Charlton Athletic

Sky Bet League One

Saturday 26th March 2022

There's been a sense of inevitability about Doncaster Rovers' fate for quite some time and after another desperately disappointing matchday, relegation to League Two is a big step nearer.

For a good few reasons, I wasn't optimistic beforehand that this game would herald any kind of positive outcome, nor did that change at any point during the course of the afternoon, and ultimately my worst fears were well-founded.

Charlton battered Rovers, 4-0, in the reverse fixture at The Valley earlier in the season and a similar kind of scoreline could easily have been racked up by half-time on this occasion.

The Rovers defence might have been better going to Donny Races for the afternoon because they certainly weren't at the races in this game during the opening half-hour or so. Their display was painful to watch with Aidan Barlow mercilessly ripped apart at right-wing-back on so many occasions.

There was a big fat warning sign in bright red flashing lights when Ben Jackson made a goal-line clearance inside five minutes. The warning wasn't heeded and Kyle Knoyle's clumsy collision soon afterwards resulted in a penalty which saw Connor Washington denied by Jonathan Mitchell.

If that isn't a case of 'riding your luck' then Charlton also squandered two gilt-edged chances presented to them on a silver plateau by virtue of Mitchell giving the ball straight to opposing strikers whilst trying to play out from the back. Jayden Stockley saw a free header saved from only a few yards in a bonafide attack and a low cross was also fizzed through the Rovers six-yard box; the kind of which was begging for any sort of connection from an attacker with it being so close to goal. And there were other chances!

No team at any level can give that much away and expect to win games but it's precisely what Rovers did before 3.30pm. Even if just half of those opportunities had resulted in goals, the Addicks would have been 3-0 up and cruising and it'd have been 'Goodnight Vienna' as far as Rovers' chances of taking any points were concerned.

By some miracle the score was still 0-0 and from that point... well it's just the hope for another miracle that kills you!

In fairness, the 15-minute spell either side of half-time wasn't too bad. Rovers certainly lacked quality, composure and a type of cohesiveness within their play, but they had 'snippets' and spells of pressure inside the visitors' half where they just couldn't get any success out of a strong backline in which Sean Clare looked particularly strong. Charlton were limited to just one more good chance on the stroke of half-time with Corey Blackett-Taylor poking the ball narrowly wide after the ball reached him from Adam Matthews' long-throw.

Although things were tightened up defensively when Barlow was hooked in a 'You Are The Weakest Link, Goodbye!' type of substitution which saw Ollie Younger replace him ahead of the second half, and Matt Smith offered a brief glimmer of hope when he scuffed a shot wide, the inevitable (and familiar story) soon unfolded as Rovers went 1-0 behind on 67 minutes.

Ironically it was Younger who was at fault because he was outmuscled way too easily by Blackett-Taylor who got to the byline and played an inviting cutback for Stockley to slot into the net. It wasn't a classic goal by any means; it was simple and straightforward!

Things could have quickly got worse as a tiring Ro-Shaun Williams was out-paced by Washington who broke through into a one-on-one where he was denied by Mitchell before Stockley followed up on the rebound with a venomous effort which cannoned back off the crossbar and got scrambled away to safety.

Charlton ought to have been well ahead and the problem with protecting a one goal lead is that it's always such a slender advantage. Naturally, Rovers pressed for an equaliser and had gone close through Jordy Hiwula before Tommy Rowe forced Charlton 'keeper Craig MacGillivary into a desperate save with his feet deep into injury-time. Had that gone in for an equaliser then it'd have been possibly the greatest robbery since Dick Turpin's days. Not that anyone would have complained!

Ultimately, however, it was just another sub-standard afternoon and whilst the proverbial fat lady isn't singing quite just yet she's got the songbook in her hand and is flicking through the pages. It's 'Red Light Spells Danger' she's listening to at present, but the only question is whether she'll belt out her version of 'Money's Too Tight To Mention', 'Down Down Deeper And Down', or 'Runaway Train Never Coming Back' when the inevitable happens!

Quite honestly there was nothing in this display whatsoever to suggest that Rovers can pull off a 'Great Escape'. It was turgid. Whilst there's been a few good results this season (such as the 'double' over MK Dons or the win at Sunderland) and you never know what could happen, on the flip side the team hasn't even scored a goal in March and you're never going to win games when that happens!

The equation for relegation is actually now quite straightforward:

Rovers lose at Wycombe and Oxford (probable) and drop points in ANY of their other four remaining games. Gillingham beat Fleetwood. Fleetwood pick up six points in the rest of their games (which include clashes against Crewe, Wimbledon, Lincoln and Accrington).

If all that happens then it's done and dusted.

It'll need a few stellar performances by Rovers in the coming weeks to stop the big woman from singing crystal clear very soon and, again, there just isn't any evidence right now to suggest that 'stellar performances' are around the corner with this team.

But to end on a positive, I'm sure 'Club Doncaster' have a good chance of winning the Family Club Of The Year Award yet again or making pennies from the next car boot sale.

Because that's what really matters... isn't it?