The latest round-up for February/March 2022 featuring players who all appeared for Doncaster Rovers' youth team - a month which saw Roman's rubles frozen in West London and petrol prices go so high that 'Only Fans' seems like a reasonable future career path.
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| Liam Mandeville will soon be pulling on an England shirt (Photo: Getty Images). |
Not many players get to represent their country during their careers but that's something which Liam Mandeville will be doing in a few weeks because he's been selected to play for England.
Yep, you've read that correctly!
The 24-year-old will get to pull on the Three Lions shirt for England's 'C' team (which consists of the best non-league players) when they face Wales at Caernarfon Town at the end of this month.
Mandeville has scored three goals in 35 appearances for Chesterfield this season although the Spireites' promotion hopes have gone a bit awry since the last update as quite a few points dropped means they've now been leapfrogged by big spending Stockport County at the top of the National League with under a dozen games to go.
Another ex-scholar who'll also be playing in Wales in the near future is Ben Blythe as he's set to join Swansea City's U23s this summer.
The news was revealed last week by Gary McSheffrey who confirmed that a deal has been agreed in principle, DRFC will receive a fee, and that the defender has been training with Swansea for roughly the past month.
Ben will depart Rovers having made seven first team appearances in all competitions though arguably his best contribution was captaining the Under 18s to the Youth Alliance title in 2019/20.
Whilst I'm absolutely delighted for him on a personal level as he'll now have a great chance to go on and forge a 'proper' 10-15 year career at a good level, the move is tinged with sadness considering he was one of several good players (particulary left-foot defenders) which the club had on its books two years ago. He'd have almost certainly flourished in the Under 23s set-up had the decision-makers in the boardroom at DRFC not decided to scrap it altogether and then blame Covid for everything!
Those at the top, who make those decisions, will never realise quite how good that squad was and it'll take years to re-establish something on a similar level with so much potential. If only...
Good luck Ben!
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| Ben Blythe's new home is Swansea City! |
Elsewhere, despite a turbulent first half of the season, York City have been motoring up the National League North recently and have climbed into the Play-Off positions.
They're currently 11 games unbeaten and their impressive form is partly down to Jack McKay who was on the score-sheet against AFC Telford United. AJ Greaves (on loan until the end of the season) made his debut in the FA Trophy tie against Morpeth Town but went off injured as they beat Darlington last week, whilst Lewis Cunningham is still yet to appear in York's first team but has spent the past month on loan at Glossop North End (a deal which has just been extended for a second month) where he's gained invaluable senior experience.
The Minstermen seem to be in a particular groove right now and they're also in the FA Trophy Semi-Finals following a dramatic penalty shoot-out win over Dagenham & Redbridge on Saturday. They'll be definite underdogs away to Bromley in their Semi-Final yet a win will see them playing under the arch at Wembley Stadium in May. If they do get there, Jack McKay won't be able to play any part, however, because he's cup tied having featured for Curzon Ashton in an earlier round just prior to his move.
Jack's twin brother, Paul McKay is also facing a similar scenario at Queen Of The South.
He's currently out injured (and probably won't be back until next season) and as a consequence he won't be able to feature in the slightly less illustrious SPFL Trust Trophy Final when they play Raith Rovers early next month. He has just signed a new contract extension though which will keep him at Palmerston Park up until the end of the 2023/24 season.
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| Paul McKay (wearing blue) earlier this season playing against Partick Thistle (Photo: Getty Images). |
Meanwhile, Bobby Faulkner has earned plenty of plaudits and has just completed a second month on loan at Frickley Athletic - playing the last game of his loan against Ossett Town.
The no-nonsense centre-back won four successive 'Man Of The Match' awards for Frickley which unsurprisingly led to him being voted 'Player Of The Month' for February and his displays have caught the eye of other clubs who've had him watched in recent weeks.
It remains to be seen whether he'll extend his stay at Frickley or move higher up the pyramid on a loan elsewhere in the coming weeks, but he's certainly been a popular figure at Westfield Lane and has impressed everyone with his style of defending.
One of Frickley's recent wins came away at Pickering Town and that's who Ben Bottomley has just joined on loan. The 'keeper made his debut as they drew 3-3 at home to Yorkshire Amateur last Saturday and, bottom of the table, Pickering will need to pick up some more points quite quickly if they're to remain in the NPL (East Division) beyond this season.
The Pikes are also running a crowdfunding page in aid of Omar Sanyang who sustained a broken leg in a game against Ossett Town last month - and you can contribute by following the link to this page.
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| Rossington Main are going for promotion |
Elsewhere, with the NCEL (Division One) season fast-approaching its finale, Rossington Main remain on course to achieve a Play-Off spot for the first time ever.
The ex-scholars at Oxford Street have all played their part with 'keeper Kian Johnson now comfortably into double for the amount of clean-sheets he's kept this term - which include three in succession in wins over FC Humber United, Retford and Armthorpe Welfare. Myron Gibbons, who has copped for some stick on Twitter for getting an agent, bagged the winner against FC Humber and the timing couldn't have been more vital as it came with practically the last kick of the game!
Main are five points above sixth-placed Retford at present and have also bolstered their strength in depth with the signings of both Josh Meade (who was at Oxford Street last year) and Brad Grayson on a dual-registration deal from Gainsborough Trinity.
Grayson scored in last Saturday's 1-1 draw with Swallownest which preceded a 4-0 defeat at North Ferriby in midweek in what could well be a dress-rehearsal for the Play-Offs considering Ferriby's title chances are theoretically over after they lost a crucial 'title six-pointer' at Hallam last Saturday.
In other news since the last update:
- Rieves Boocock was a 'hat-trick hero' (or something along those lines) as he found the net three times in Maltby Main's 4-2 win over Hemsworth Miners Welfare. The only problem was that his 'bullet header' was an own goal. Where's that facepalm emoji?
- Charlie Bell aka 'The Freshman' scored on his debut for Missouri Bears (at the right end) in a friendly win against Oral Roberts University last week.
- Declan Howe finally passed the 20-goal mark for this term; scoring twice for Staveley Miners Welfare in a defeat at Winterton Rangers last month. The Trojans are currently mid-table in the NCEL (Premier Division) with five games to go.
- Alex Peterson scored his eighth goal of the season as Belper Town were pegged back in the last minute in a 1-1 draw at Cambridge City last week. The Nailers are still in the Play-Off positions in the NPL (Midland Division).
- Lirak Hasani recently joined Basford United in the NPL (Premier Division) on loan and made his debut in a 1-0 win at Hyde United; playing the full game. Basford visit FC United Of Manchester on Saturday with a 1,000+ crowd expected.
- Max Jemson has joined Newark Town who are competing with Retford United, Thorne Colliery and Clay Cross Town to win the Central Midlands League at Step 7.
- Elliott Walker has continued his climb up the non-league pyramid by moving from Stocksbridge Park Steels to Mickleover. Sports also have Liam Ravenhill in their squad at present as he's on loan from DRFC right now, and their captain is former academy player (and penalty taker) Mason Warren.
- Tyler Walker, who is the old brother of Elliott Walker for anyone reading this who doesn't know, got an assist as Goole AFC beat Maltby Main last weekend. Goole are just in the top half in the NCEL (Premier) right now.
- Branden Horton made his 40th first team appearance for Doncaster Rovers when he came on as a substitute in last month's win over Accrington Stanley.
- Ethan Bojang could be in action twice for Peterborough United's U23s in the next week or so. The Posh youngsters face Barnsley at Oakwell tomorrow (18th March) before visiting Bramall Lane to play Sheffield United on 29th March.
- Aron Gordon got the winner for Grays Athletic against Heybridge Swifts last month and was on the score-sheet again as they hammered Barking earlier this month. Grays are in fourth position in the Isthmian Division One (North) with a decent chance of promotion.
- Cameron Foulkes is the latest former scholar to have signed for a club thousands of miles away from home. Having recently emigrated to Australia, he's joined Coomera FC who are based in the Gold Coast, compete in the FQPL2 (the fourth tier) and will have local derbies against Magic United and Surfers Paradise Appollo - something which certainly sounds different to away games in the Northern Counties East League.
- Conner Williamson scored his first goal since his move back to Armthorpe Welfare as they won 3-0 at Worsbrough Bridge Athletic last month.
That (I think) just about covers everything for another month but as always if I've missed anything, let me know, call me stupid, and I'll include it in the next update.
In the meantime, feel free to click on the following links if you've missed any previous articles on former DRFC scholars which features dozens more names and stories:
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