Spennymoor Town 1-3 Doncaster Rovers

Spennymoor Town 1-3 Doncaster Rovers

Pre-Season Friendly

Wednesday 13th July 2022

Exactly a year to the day from when Covid kiboshed Doncaster Rovers' plans to visit Spennymoor Town, they finally made it to Brewery Field for this re-arranged pre-season fixture.

The game lacked the intensity or 'blood and thunder' that you'd find in a competitive game and having gone behind to an early goal from Mark Anderson, Rovers turned it around after half-time with Liam Ravenhill, George Miller and Ro Shaun Williams all getting their names on the score-sheet.

Rovers named three trialists in their starting xi (the best of which was Lee Tomlin) with another on the bench, whilst the second period also saw Harrison Biggins and Luke Molyneux pull on the red and white hoops for the first time. U18s left-back Jak Whiting appeared for the last 20 minutes.

Despite plenty of clap-trap in the media at the moment suggesting we're in the middle of a sweltering heatwave, the kind of temperatures which make life uncomfortable didn't appear to have reached the North-East as it was just a pleasant summer evening (complete with a few interesting cloud formations in the sky above).

Spennymoor, who are a mid-table National League North outfit with aspirations to go higher, put out arguably their strongest available side in the first 45 minutes and quickly went 1-0 up. Joe Olowu misjudged a ball in the air just inside the opponents' half which allowed Spennymoor to get in-behind and a swift and sweeping counter-attack culminated in Anderson getting on the end of a cross and finishing with a well-placed effort.

That meant Rovers had work to do in order to find a way back into the game and as the first half unfolded they certainly had more possession which was converted into a few chances. 

Tomlin made a good impression with his touch and the accuracy of his passing - pulling the strings from midfield to open up Spennymoor on a few occasions, Ollie Younger headed narrowly over from Adam Clayton's corner just before the half-hour mark, and when Rovers created something that was gilt-edged, Reo Griffiths couldn't convert it as he fired a first time shot over the target from a few yards when the ball reached him on the edge of the six-yard box following a cross by a trialist.

Both teams made multiple changes at both half-time and during the early stages of the second half and it took all of three minutes for Rovers to get back on level terms with Ravenhill equalsing from 10 yards on the back of some good work down the right by Molyneux.

Spennymoor lacked a focal point up top by this point after the withdrawal of Glen Taylor and it allowed Rovers to get even more of the ball and dictate things. After going close on a couple more occasions, they won a penalty just beyond the hour mark when the hosts' 'keeper was caught horribly out of position and clattered into a trialist on the edge of the box and Miller did the duties - sending the ball low down the middle as the 'keeper dived to his left, to make it 2-1.

The gulf in class was even more apparent when a third goal soon arrived from a corner where Ro-Shaun Williams was left unmarked at the back-post and sent a looping header over the 'keeper. It was a simple finish but plenty of questions ought to have been asked about the marking.

With about 20 minutes left to play by now, Whiting was introduced at left-back in place of the Scottish trialist whose name is out there somewhere and by and large, it was a case of 'going through the motions' as Rovers protected the lead with relative comfort barring one nervy moment for Louis Jones when he had to deal with an awkward low shot from 20 yards which looked as if it might evade him at one point.

Nothing too much can be read into this result or anything else although what's certain for me is that Rovers are undoubtedly better equipped to deal with the challenges of the season ahead than they were this time last year when Richie Wellens was going ballistic at everyone.

A few concerns will persist (particularly amongst the doom merchants who'll revel in last year's failings), there'll be worries about injuries and niggles and, clearly, some signings DO still need to be made in some positions, but with a full two weeks and various games still to be played out before pre-season is wrapped up, there's a long way to go. Rovers won't be the only club out there with these issues for this time of year and there isn't any need for people to hit the panic buttons right now.

Next Up: Alfreton Town vs Grimsby Town.