Harrogate Town (U18s) 5-2 Doncaster Rovers (U18s)

Harrogate Town (U18s) 5-2 Doncaster Rovers (U18s)

EFL Youth Alliance

Saturday 1st October 2022

This was a massive reality check for Doncaster Rovers Under 18s as they endured their first defeat of their EFL Youth Alliance season - being hammered 5-2 by Harrogate Town.

Previously unbeaten in six games, Donny didn't look one bit like a team in such good form and there was a surprising ease at which Harrogate’s players waltzed past those in red and white shirts at times. Rovers’ record of having not conceded from open play in over nine hours was also blown completely out the water, because all five of the hosts' goals came from open play.

Harrogate's best three players on the day all got on the score-sheet; Brad Williams bagging two, Finn O’Boyle also claiming a brace and Mani Illesanmi scoring one before he was ridiculously red carded.

Will Green and Chris Pooley (for the first time in his scholarship) got the goals for Rovers who ended up playing the final few minutes against nine men as Harrogate substitute Ellijah Samuels was also dismissed for violent conduct late on.

Match Report

It’s got to be said that conditions weren’t the best. The 4G pitch which the game was played on was both small (it certainly wasn’t a full-size one) and in a poor condition - and it was the first time Rovers have played on such a surface this term. 

Add in a referee who was inconsistent, unpredictable and pretty rubbish for both teams if we’re being brutally honest (and it was noticeable from an early stage that he seemed to love the sound of his own whistle), and the ingredients were always there for an eventful morning.

By all accounts this was the first time Harrogate had played on the pitch as well, so they didn't even have the advantage of being used to the surroundings.

Due to injuries, Rovers had to make four changes to the team which triumphed 3-1 against Scunthorpe United last time out. 

The most important of them came between the posts as Jake Oram missed out which paved the way for U16s ‘keeper Shay Buxton to make his Youth Alliance debut. Will Green also figured at LWB in place of Freddie Allen (who was on the bench), Jack Raper missed out altogether and was replaced by Harry Wood in the line-up, whilst Max Adamson started ahead of Owen Scattergood who wasn't in the matchday squad - again due to injuries.

Things were quite ‘bitty’ to begin with although Rovers created the first opening after four minutes when Adamson leaped high to meet a downfield ball and headed it on towards Wood, located on the edge of the ‘D’ and he flashed a volley just over the upright.

Harrogate’s Illesanmi was involved in a proper ‘defender vs forward’ physical battle with Charlie Petch from an early stage and after a few duels between them where the referee signalled his intentions to be whistle-happy, Illesanmi had the Sulphurites first chance when he headed wide from a set-piece.

It was then a midfield mistake by Josh Lindley on 18 minutes which paved the way for Harrogate to score the opener - and, in doing so, it brought an end to Rovers’ long record of having not conceded from open play all season.

After Lindley’s sloppy pass inside his own half was intercepted, the ball was quickly moved on to Illesanmi who drove forward with it through the centre and played in O’Boyle who’d made a good run to support the attack. The scorer got tight to the byline and hit what looked a cross-shot towards the back-post area which flicked off the inside of the post and into the net to give Harrogate a 1-0 lead. 

Did he mean it? Who knows? He'll certainly claim it though!

Despite going behind, Rovers’ initial response to the early setback was positive and they soon created a few chances from which they ought to have equalised.

Jack Goodman had the first when he latched onto a pass and did the hard work by taking the ball around a ‘keeper who was going to ground, only to blast his shot against the upright when a simple side-foot placement-type finish would have made it 1-1. Adamson then fired over from the rebound. 

Moments later, Petch went even closer as his connection inside a packed area from a right-sided cross looped up and over the ‘keeper, before it was spectacularly hooked off the goal-line by a Harrogate defender who was also being put under pressure from Adamson. There were some suggestions that the ball had crossed the line (from my position it was difficult to tell either way), but the officials weren’t convinced and Harrogate remained in the lead.

All that proved costly because, with Rovers possibly feeling a bit aggrieved at the goal-line clearance incident, just 60 seconds or so later the team in yellow broke away in another quick attack and doubled their lead. Williams was the scorer and he did brilliantly to find space out wide on such a tight pitch before receiving the ball, driving inside with it and unleashing a bullet-strike across Buxton and into the bottom corner. 2-0 - and superb play by Williams to exploit that situation to devastating effect.

Illesanmi and Petch then received a booking apiece for grappling at set-plays in an instance where the referee chose to brandish cards rather than be a human being and speak to the lads!

As was the case when Bradford’s U18s met Lincoln’s U18s recently; the Bantams went 2-0 behind before also losing 5-2, there was a growing sense that Rovers were in a spot of bother as the half-hour mark came to pass and the team performance remained largely disjointed.

A goal was needed from somewhere and after Goodman fired over from a free-kick, Green did even better with the next set-piece as his delicious 30-yard strike, awarded after the referee yet again blew for something soft, flew straight into the top corner to give Rovers a glimmer of hope with the half-time whistle approaching. 2-1.

Nevertheless, two bits of poor defending coupled together in the same passage of play ensured that Harrogate very quickly restored their two-goal lead.

The first happened as O’Boyle beat Flint too easily to get tight to the byline. Although the danger wasn’t immediate, the Harrogate man’s cut-back went straight to the feet of an unmarked Illesanmi on the edge of the six-yard box. Nobody had picked him up properly and he was able to toe-poke a shot past Buxton, albeit at the second attempt, and make it 3-1. It was poor by Rovers.

Remarkably, the scoreline could have got even worse prior to the break. Whiting went through a Harrogate player (for which he was later booked) although the referee signalled for an advantage and Williams put a great ball in towards the near-post area where Flint got goal-side of Illesanmi which prevented the powerful frontman’s eventual shot from nestling in the bottom corner.

As Chad Gribble gathered the players together on the pitch for the half-time debrief, a few harsh words were no doubt said. Rovers’ performance needed so much improvement, especially in midfield where the ball wasn’t being retained anywhere near well enough, and two changes were made ahead of the second half as Adamson and Green were replaced by Pooley and Parkinson. 

A change in shape to a 4-3-3 formation also took place in an attempt to get back into the game - something which still felt possible given all that had happened.

Rovers tried to be more urgent in their play in the immediate minutes after the re-start but, despite having more territory and more possession, the majority of the big moments occurred down at the other end of the pitch.

On 54 minutes, Harrogate felt they should have had a penalty. The offside flag went up as someone in a yellow shot latched onto a through ball and was brought down by Buxton a few seconds later. It wasn't a penalty (and though the referee didn’t get much correct, he was right in this instance), although the home bench certainly weren't pleased and made their protests known.

They were celebrating just a couple of minutes later though as Williams replicated his first half goal by opening up space for himself in another quick and sweeping move which culminated in him blasting another low drive goalwards which seemed to go up and over Buxton before hitting the bottom corner. 

At 4-1, it was effectively game over.

With half-an-hour still left to play, the referee decided to make himself the centre of attention and brandish the first of two red cards. Illesanmi and Flint (I think) were involved in a tussle for the ball where the Harrogate forward had his hands across the Rovers defender. It was a height mis-match and Illesanmi did commit a foul but nothing else. It was nothing out of the ordinary yet the referee waltzed over and seemed delighted to dish out a second yellow card and instructed Illesanmi off the pitch.

Harrogate’s bench were flabbergasted (and rightly so) and although the referee will claim that he'd warned Illesanmi and others about grappling and tugging, etc, earlier in the game, he could have handled things so much better than he did - especially in this incident.

If you thought that was bad, O'Boyle was farcically booked on 72 minutes for coming back onto the pitch too early after receiving treatment - despite the fact that he'd been waved back onto the pitch.

In the passages of play between the referee acting like Kwasi Kwarteng as Chancellor, Rovers tried their best to find a way back into things but Harrogate were happy to sit back and maintain their shape (especially after Illesanmi's red card). It meant they were awkward to break down and only a left-foot shot by Fletcher, a wild drive from Whiting and a header that went wide from Goodman, were mustered up as chances as precious minutes ticked away.

Eventually, the advantage of having an extra man paid dividends as Rovers pulled a goal back. 

Although Fletcher’s right-wing cross was decent, the goal itself was scored in unorthodox fashion as the ball bounced off Pooley’s shins at the far-post and went into the net and with around 10 minutes to go, there was a hurry to grab the ball and get back to halfway in order to get the game re-started. 4-2.

Nevertheless, as soon as play did re-start, there was soon a feeling of deja vu because Harrogate quickly extended their lead with O’Boyle cutting in from the left side and finishing well - and it was game over yet again with any faint hopes of a comeback firmly extinguished. 5-2.

Rovers still attempted to build up a head of steam and with five minutes remaining, Freddie Allen was denied the first goal of his scholarship after he headed home another good cross by Fletcher, but was judged to have pushed a yellow-shirted defender in the back. It was the correct decision, for a change.

With time ticking down, Harrogate’s Elijah Samuels then showed naivety of the highest order as he needlessly picked up a red card - leaving his team with just nine players for the last few minutes. 

The ball was running out of play close to the corner flag when he pointlessly kneed Whiting in the back and sent the Rovers skipper tumbling. It happened just yards from the linesman and the card-happy referee came over and gave Samuels his marching orders for violent conduct - meaning he’ll now serve a three-game ban. It was all very avoidable and the biggest shame was Samuels had actually applied himself really well to hold the ball up and be a focal point, alleviating pressure on the defence, in his brief time on the pitch and in Illesanmi's absence. This will be a huge learning curve in his development.

Parkinson drew a fingertip save from Harrogate's ‘keeper with a top corner-bound effort in what turned out to be the last chance of the game but Rovers left the pitch well-beaten and having to reflect on what was a disappointing day from start to finish.

Overall Reflections

Overall, the DRFC performance was poor. The ball wasn’t retained well enough in midfield, it was a poor day for the defence - and they were given a torrid time by a good player in Mani Illesanmi (for which he deserves credit). 

The one thing which this game highlighted was Rovers’ need for a midfield enforcer who'll put his foot in, ‘rat about’, scrap, battle and be that player who'll take things by the scruff of the neck and give everything -very much in the AJ Greaves mould. Sadly, those type of attributes weren't evident in this game.

Shay Buxton might be disappointed with one or two of the goals he conceded (especially the fourth as the ball seemed to bounce up and over him) but before any blame is attributed his way, the bigger inquest needs to focus on why Harrogate were allowed to drive with the ball three times from midfield. That is a much bigger concern - not to mention the two bits of poor defending, especially the loose marking, which contributed so heavily to the goal scored right on the stroke of half-time. 

That said, the result could turn out to be a blessing in disguise because it will slam the lads back down to earth with an almighty bump, prevent them from getting carried away about things, and it's up to them to deliver a big response away at Lincoln City in the Professional Development League Cup next Saturday - where they'll come up against the best player I've seen in the Youth Alliance this season (Julian Donnery).

The positives from this game:

- The initial response at going 1-0 behind wasn't bad and on another day, there would have been an equaliser or the scoreline might have even been turned around altogether.

- Will Green’s wand of a left-foot (proof being his quality free-kick which was pinpoint 'Top Bins').

- Alex Fletcher putting in a few decent deliveries in the latter stages.

- Tom Parkinson looking lively when he was brought on for the second half.

- Chris Pooley's first goal of his scholarship.

- Harry Wood picking up some decent positions at times in the first half (but the ball didn’t get played to him often enough).

 

As said, Harrogate’s three best players in this game were the lads who scored their goals.

Mani Illesanmi caused so many problems with his strength and power and he bullied the Rovers defence at times. His presence drew players tight to him and that inadvertently created space for others so it was a very good contribution. His second yellow card by an abysmal referee should never have happened because never in a million years was it an offence which deserved any punishment. A 'proper' referee wouldn't have interfered anywhere near as much as this guy - only when he really needed to!

Brad Williams put in a tremendous performance; exploiting space to utterly devastating effect, wreaking havoc down his flank and he took both of his goals superbly. He was involved in other pieces of intelligent link-up play; a flick for Illesanmi on the half-hour and then a good near-post cross just before half-time. Despite playing at RWB, he really showed his qualities in an attacking sense. He was Harrogate’s best player in the 5-0 defeat to Donny this time last year, has a football background within his family, and will do them all proud if he maintains this kind of form. He was a pleasure to watch today and, from what I've seen in the past and on the whole, his name ought to be right up there amongst the discussions when it comes to handing out professional contracts. I'll certainly be rooting for him to earn one because he's got talent and is a good player.

Finn O’Boyle also worked hard and earned my respect. Twice he got whacked on his ankle early on and needed treatment yet he got up, soldiered on like a warrior, played like he'd run through a brick wall for his team-mates, and it left a positive impression. His movement, partnerships with others were positive and the two goals he scored were fully-deserved. I had to check exactly why he was booked late on because it was so trivial and, again, he shouldn’t have been booked but it says volumes that he wanted to continue even after yet another knock. Bravo!

As a team, Harrogate did really well at keeping and maintaining their shape when they didn't have the ball. Even in the time it was 0-0, it was clear they were well-drilled and would be difficult to break down and in the second half when they ‘sat in’ after the first red card, they limited Rovers to very few chances despite almost accepting that they would concede territory in doing so. It was good defending as a team, to compliment the ruthlessness and fluidity shown elsewhere, and Bobby Attree (No.5) was just about their best defender.

I don't want to say too much more on the referee but he was the first I've seen this season - and that includes one who lost the plot in a game in the Lowland League in July.

He didn’t impact the outcome because Harrogate were by far the better team and deserved to win, but he was inexplicably poor for both teams. The inconsistency was ridiculous; allowing players to tell him to ‘F**k Off’ (albeit I thought that was good advice) to punishing other trivial things by brandishing cards. He got some things correct yet far too much wrong, I suspect very few players had any great deal of confidence in him - and surely he can't be happy when he goes home and tots up his card tally, when it wasn’t a particularly vicious game? He just failed to handle it sensibly, maturely and was one of those absolutely awful referees (everyone knows the sort) who pop up from time to time.

God help him if he ever has to referee Rotherham's Under 18s because, considering their style, it would probably be seven-a-side by half-time if he was let loose!

Other results this weekend:

Burton 3-5 Lincoln (not 1-0 as PA have incorrectly reported it).

Rotherham 2-3 Huddersfield (still no win for Rotherham).

Grimsby P-P Mansfield (Covid is still a thing in 2022).

Bradford 5-0 Hartlepool (a resumption of normal service in West Yorkshire).