Doncaster Rovers 1-0 Gillingham

Doncaster Rovers 1-0 Gillingham

Sky Bet League Two

Saturday 29th October 2022

Having come up against Steve Evans' current club in the defeat to Stevenage at the Eco-Power Stadium in midweek, this was a meeting for Doncaster Rovers against his former employers.

And it's fair to say that Gillingham have a few problems.

Rovers put in another decent display overall - retaining the ball well and moving it effectively and they always looked comfortable and in control against a team who, if something doesn't change rather quickly, will soon be fighting to avoid the drop into non-league. 

The Gills have the most blunt attack in the Football League right now and went into this game having scored just six goals in 15 games and they never really looked like breaching a Rovers backline which has had its own share of problems in recent weeks.

After a goalless first half where Rovers enjoyed more possession but didn't create a great deal infront of goal other than James Maxwell shooting over, what proved to be the game's only goal occured on the hour mark as Harrison Biggins headed home from Kyle Knoyle's cross.

Knoyle and Biggins have been two of the better players in red and white shirts since Danny Schofield took the DRFC reigns less than a fortnight ago and Biggins' goal was definitely long-awaited given that he'd rattled the upright earlier in this game - plus he also struck the woodwork from the halfway line in the defeat to Stevenage and missed that gilt-edged chance in the closing stages too.

In usual circumstances, the opener would have mustered up a response from the opposition but the reality was Gillingham were so toothless they offered incredibly little in the last 30 minutes as the game petered out to a large degree - only playing one low cut-back into the area and, even then, Hakeeb Adelakun got a b*llocking off his manager for not driving with the ball and having a shot instead.

The visitors did pump a few balls into the area in injury-time but it always looked like the only way they'd equalise was from an individual mistake from a Donny defender in clearing one of those balls (always a possibility), rather than producing a piece of quality themselves. It was all too blunt, too predictable, and it wasn't difficult to see why they've got the worst attacking record in the Football League.

Something has to change because they've got a few decent players. Scott Kashket has scored goals throughout his career and Hakeeb Adelakun and Mikael Mandon (whilst not prolific) have both shown in the past they can contribute to success, plus Alex MacDonald isn't a bad player for League Two either. 

But something isn't going right somewhere; whether it be the service to them, the tactics, a lack-of-belief in the team/squad or deeper-rooted problems and if they don't start scoring more goals, then on their current average they'll not even reach 20 goals for the full season. If that happens it will mean almost certain relegation to the National League and potential local derbies with Ebbsfleet United, Maidstone United and a few other clubs they'd rather not be at the same level with.

Amidst the gloom and problems, one bright spark who did stand out in their team was Elkan Baggott. Tall, strong and operating at centre-back, he's on loan from Ipswich Town and made some neat interceptions during the first half. On the whole, he performed reasonably well and his name might be worth remembering because I've certainly seen a lot worse defenders in League Two.

From a Rovers perspective, they'll be pleased with the points and to have narrowed the gap ever so slightly on the Play-Off spots. 

I still don't think there's 'enough' in the team to gatecrash the top seven and achieve promotion - simply because there's better teams at this level, but they can only beat what's infront of them and that's precisely what they did in this game. Had it finished 1-1 or 0-0, it would have been 'two points dropped rather than one gained' and the serial squawkers (of which there's always plenty in the stands at Doncaster) would have been moaning about three games without a win under Danny Schofield.

Rovers' next task is to avoid slipping up in a banana-skin FA Cup First Round tie against Kings Lynn which has all the hallmarks of a potential upset.