Doncaster Rovers (U18s) 1-0 Blackpool (U18s)

Doncaster Rovers (U18s) 1-0 Blackpool (U18s)

EFL Youth Alliance Cup

Saturday 20th August 2022

Two games played and two wins recorded - plus a first clean-sheet; it’s been a good start to the new season for Doncaster Rovers U18s.

After last week's hammering of Hartlepool, this was winning in a very different style because for large parts, it was a scrappy contest. It wasn’t pretty; it was tight, tentative and there wasn’t really anything to separate Rovers and Blackpool until Max Adamson came off the bench and bagged the match-winner on 82 minutes to send the Seasiders home empty-handed.

Bravo, Maxwell!

On a weirdly sunny but windy morning and playing on a bone dry surface, Chad Gribble made two changes to the Rovers starting line-up with Charlie Petch coming in for Freddie Allen at centre-back whilst Faris Khan (offering height) was preferred ahead of the creative Jack Raper. This was Blackpool’s first game since their pre-season trip to Bilbao and they included Jake Daniels who bagged 30 times last year and is widely regarded as one of the best players in the North-West Division.

To Rovers’ credit, they nullified Daniels’ attacking threat relatively well, but if there’s one lesson the lads can learn, it’s they showed their opponents too much respect to begin with and gave away a handful of chances which could have been punished.

Inside the opening 10 minutes, Jake Oram produced a classy fingertip save when Dannen Francis got the better of Alex Fletcher and let fly with a 20-yard drive which seemed destined for the top corner. Then Zack Littler headed narrowly over from the edge of the six-yard box after Daniels cleverly mugged Jak Whiting and moved the ball out wide for a cross, before Will Flint had to make a last-ditch block inside his own area to prevent a near-certain goal. Daniels also forced a save from Oram during another attack.

It was all rather ropey from a Rovers perspective and much of Blackpool’s early play went through Toby Oliver (No.8) who picked up several second balls and drove forward with intent. 

Slowly but surely, Rovers began to have more possession, impose their own ideas and spend some time inside Blackpool’s half of the pitch. It led to a chance when Sam Brown saw a wickedly deflected low snap-shot from Jack Goodman’s lay-off bounce an inch the wrong side of the post with the ‘keeper already beaten.

That aside, the Seasiders seemed organised and efficient in doing their jobs. They were difficult to break down; being marshalled excellently by Josh Nyame and Johnson Opawole and by the first half midway point, most of the play was scrappy, tight, and in midfield areas.

Blackpool almost bagged what would have been a seriously contentious goal thanks to the referee though.

Despite Ethan Harrison having clashed heads with an opponent which left both players on the ground and despite pleas to stop the game, he ridiculously allowed play to continue. The visitors kept possession, moved the ball forward and eventually put in a cross towards the back-post where Fletcher made a vital headed clearance under pressure from a striker who was bearing down on goal, waiting to convert, and had an almost open net infront of him. 

Had Blackpool scored then it’s likely all hell would have broken loose - and it was only after the chance (some 30 seconds after the initial head collision), that the referee finally stopped the game. More incredibly, despite a three-minute stoppage which followed so the pair could receive treatment, no injury-time was played at the end of the first half… work that one out?

When play eventually re-started, things continued to be mostly scrappy.

Flint underlined his value with another goal-preventing block as the Tangerines used the width in an effort to stretch Rovers before half-time. Shortly after the break, Daniels pinched the ball off Josh Lindley and hit a speculative shot from distance which was straight at Oram. Other bits and pieces of pressure also came to nothing - including an instance where Whiting put his body on the line inside the six-yard box following a corner and made a good block.

At the other end, Rovers’ chances were sporadic. Goodman and Harrison were kept quiet and the best openings for Rovers actually fell to Fletcher who skewed one shot from a tight angle over the upright before the interval and put one on target early in the second half although a deflection took the fizz out of that effort.  Raper (not long after replacing Brown) also side-footed a shot straight at the visiting ‘keeper with about a quarter-of-an-hour to go as the game remained goalless.

A stalemate seemed inevitable until Max Adamson’s introduction won the game for DRFC.

The nippy striker caught out Blackpool’s backline with a defence-splitting run to get on the end of a classic ‘route one’ ball over the top by Flint and with the ‘keeper committing to but losing the subsequent foot race, Adamson was left with the easiest of tasks of tapping the ball into an empty net from just a couple of yards out. Strikers score goals and it’s what Max does best - and holding his arms aloft and running to the photographer (take note lads because you get good photos when you do that), the joy was etched all over his face.

Rovers then defended in numbers during the final few minutes, limiting Blackpool to zero chances, to get their cup campaign off to the perfect start. Three other group fixtures against Accrington, Port Vale and Shrewsbury will follow over the coming months.

Team: Jake Oram, Will Flint, Charlie Petch, Jak Whiting (C), Alex Fletcher, Will Green (Tom Parkinson), Josh Lindley, Sam Brown (Jack Raper), Faris Khan (Owen Scattergood), Ethan Harrison, Jack Goodman (Max Adamson). Unused Sub: Freddie Allen.

Overall Thoughts

The lads should take confidence with how they grew into the game after a sloppy start and matched Blackpool for 80 minutes; negating certain threats and limiting them to mostly 'pot shots'. The defending as a unit was good and it's always a positive to get the first clean-sheet of the season - especially when it didn't happen until October last season. 

It shows clear signs of progress and improvement, as does 'winning ugly', and although this game wasn't pretty to watch, there are positives to emerge from it.

Last week against Hartlepool, there were some strong individual contributions from attack-minded players who demonstrated their qualities really well. This week, it’s the defenders who I feel deserve a lot of credit.

Jak Whiting led by example as the skipper. He was demanding higher standards straight after the goal (which doesn’t go unnoticed) and he even produced a fantastic ‘tactical squeal’ in the second half which achieved the desired outcome. Charlie Petch was solid and reliable in the middle of a back three; dependable and just a ‘round peg in a round hole’ who did his job well, whilst Alex Fletcher produced that fantastic headed clearance which was worth its weight in gold because it could have been a game-changer if Blackpool had scored in that attack.

Jake Oram made his best saves during the dicey early spell and he’ll be happy to have kept a clean-sheet and Will Green (outstanding last week) had a few runs but wasn’t able to get on the ball that much - which makes me strongly believe Blackpool did their homework and saw Will as a very specific threat.

Nevertheless, the ‘Man Of The Match’ was Will Flint because he was superb!

He was put under lots more pressure in this game compared to last week and responded with a mature display. He made two vital interceptions in the first half to stop certain shooting opportunities (which would most probably have been goals), he was composed under pressure (e.g. in one instance when Jake Daniels was closing him down, he got out of it through reading the situation and being quick with his feet to turn out of danger) and then he got an assist late on. It’s testament to his quality that he’s already made the right centre-back position his own and looks so comfortable in this team. Keep it up!

Elsewhere, Sam Brown was lively in snippets for a period before Blackpool got a handle on him, Faris Khan and Josh Lindley competed well in their respective midfield roles with Josh doing lots of the dirty work (i.e. standing players up/closing down and his running stats should be good). Individually they’ll both be pleased to have got lengthy game-time.

And, of course, Max Adamson came on and did exactly what he did last week - showing athleticism and a pure willingness to make runs between the lines. It makes him difficult for defenders to track (especially when they’re tired and he’s coming off the bench), it paid dividends against Hartlepool when he caused problems and got an assist; it paid off here with his match-winning goal and he’ll put himself in contention for a start before long. He can take a lot of satisfaction in his contributions so far.

Blackpool have some good players and some mentions for their players are as follows:

Josh Nyame (No.6) and Johnson Opawole (No.5) both looked accomplished in defence, read the game well bar the goal they conceded, and (similar to how Rovers did a job at the other end), they kept two good players in Ethan Harrison and Jack Goodman quiet for much of the game.

Toby Oliver (No.8) was very influential in the opening period; Jake Daniels (No.10) whilst not as much of a goal threat as he’d have wanted to be (mainly due to the job the Rovers defence did), still left an impression with how he twice nipped the ball off opponents to create something. That was down to his own sharpness and alertness and recognising when to seize an opportunity to do it, plus he had a decent run late on at 0-0 when his strength took him past two players only for his momentum to see him fall over at the vital moment. I didn’t mind his defensive contributions; three near-post clearances at set-plays and although this just wasn’t the game for him to shine with how it so scrappy, I’d still back him to rack up a reasonable goals tally for the season. He's not a bad player and he’s achieved what he has already for a good reason.

Zack Littler (No.11) was direct on the ball and decent at times with his running; Dannen Francis (No.7) probably went closest to scoring for the Seasiders and Bobby Bjork (No.3) made several intelligent overlapping runs which was a threat and that will pay off at some point in future games without a shadow of a doubt.

Nobody should get carried away after just two games but there are reasons to be optimistic that this DRFC team might have a good season and the most pleasing thing after 180 minutes across two matches is that different players have stood out and made some solid contributions.

Next up is a trip to Rotherham - everyone knows precisely what to expect (because Rotherham never change) and it’s down to the lads to deliver another display with certain characteristics. 

The first goal could be vital...