Doncaster Rovers (U18s) 2-2 Mansfield Town (U18s)

Doncaster Rovers (U18s) 2-2 Mansfield Town (U18s)

EFL Youth Alliance

Saturday 4th March 2023

Will Flint’s last-gasp equaliser gave Doncaster Rovers a vital point in this game which might yet prove vital in the race for the North-East Youth Alliance title.

On a day when Rovers sometimes struggled to break down their perennial bogey team, the lads’ four-game unbeaten streak looked as if it was about to come to an abrupt end until Flint popped up in the 94th minute from a yard out; cue fist-pumps, adrenaline and screams of ‘YESSSS!’ at rescuing a point in adverse circumstances.

And there was a touch of irony about the goal because Flinty is actually from Mansfield with his cousin (Joe) having played in the Stags’ youth team back in’t day!

With Taylor Anderson and McKeal Abdullah (two of the chief tormentors from Mansfield’s 2-0 win in the reverse fixture at Field Mill back in November) both absent due to their involvement with Mansfield’s first team, plus Louie Turner (good ‘keeper) and Charlie Carter (another decent player) also missing from the line-up, at first glance of the two team-sheets before kick-off, this seemed like the ideal chance for a DRFC youth team to FINALLY beat Mansfield at Cantley Park - something which last happened in September 2018.

But that proved not to be the case!

The Stags were decent value in parts. They certainly began the brighter and after a chance apiece inside the early stages which saw Alfie King denied by a near-post save from Jacob Bryant at one end before a Sam Brown effort was kept out by Theo Avery at the other, the visitors deservedly took the lead when King reacted quickest and drove the ball through a crowded area and into the net from roughly eight yards out after a Louis Bonser attempt was blocked by Bryant.

Rovers’ response to that setback was really positive and within three minutes, Harry Wood was somehow denied what on any other day would probably have been a goal. Positioned at the back-post, he cleverly peeled off the shoulder of his marker to reach Jack Goodman’s right-wing cross and connected perfectly with a downward header, only to see Avery instinctively react and have the agility to palm the ball around the post. Woody’s technique was superb (couldn’t be faulted whatsoever); the save even better, and the couple of corners which followed ultimately came to nothing.

With their tails up, Rovers’ pressure continued and Alex Fletcher soon brought the ball forward with the first in a few lung-busting runs he made over the course of the 90 minutes, and after he played it wide and the resulting cross was partially only cleared as far as Tom Parkinson on the edge of the box, he hit the base of the post with a dipping volley. Agonising. Again!

A formation change instructed by Frank Sinclair saw Wood and Parkinson swap flanks and Rovers go to a back three - and it aided a couple more chances as the ball almost dropped for Justin Bennett inside the area only for Darien Wauchope to cut out danger in the nick of time, before an even bigger opportunity where Sam Brown found himself clean through on goal only for an advancing Avery to read the situation and make another quality save.

Even for the equaliser which finally arrived a minute later, Avery couldn’t be faulted. This time, he reacted instinctively to keep out Goodman’s glancing header from Parkinson’s cross with but unable to keep hold of the ball, Harry Wood pounced and made it 1-1 with the simplest of finishes which was all down to his quick reactions.

Mansfield then survived a couple of corners right at the end of the first half, and at the interval, there was a palpable sense that momentum was with Rovers.

Nevertheless, football can sometimes work in mysterious ways.

Despite Avery using his feet to deny Goodman and then being at full-stretch to keep out a Faris Khan free-kick from 25 yards out as Rovers began the second half aggressively, the Stags soon re-took the lead with Ronnie Kokkinos being afforded time and space to plant his shot into the bottom corner after Finn Flanagan picked him out with a cut-back from the byline.

As both teams made substitutions to give various lads all-important game-time, Rovers struggled a bit to make inroads in the last 30 minutes - partly down to lacking a bit of creativity in key areas, partly down to Mansfield being organised at the back and snuffing out a few bits of danger quite well, and also good ‘game-management’ in general which saw the boys in yellow shirts waste time both cleverly and effectively; taking their time at re-starts and throwing in a little injury when they needed to. You couldn’t fault them for it.

In the best of what few openings there were, Jack Goodman arched a header over at the back-post following a long cross which raised a momentary glimmer of hope, and whilst there were other bits of pressure and quite a bit of possession, etc, the overriding feeling as the game ticked up to, and then into, injury-time was that this would be another day where Rovers would come undone against their perennial opponents - even if Craig Collins (the DRFC analyst) was showing the pace of a greyhound in retrieving the ball every time it went out of play on the touchline where he was filming the game.

But this Rovers team aren’t on such a good run for no reason and one momentary lapse deep into injury-time was seized upon - and is ultimately what cost Mansfield.

The pressure was on after Rovers won a corner and although Will Green’s delivery was initially cleared, it was recycled from deep on the other flank, Owen Scattergood cleverly knocked it back across goal and although someone in a yellow shirt stuck a leg out, Will Flint smashed the ball home from a yard out to make it 2-2. Booyakasha! Boom! And everyone sprinted towards the opposite corner to where I was taking the photos to celebrate. Typical!

Because of the time wasted during the second half, plus all the substitutions, there were still a couple of minutes left to play and Rovers probably sensed a finish of ‘Agueroooooo’ proportions when they won another corner with what was literally the last kick of the game. It was tense; this was it, this was the moment if there was to be one - and although Green’s left-footed delivery was put into a good area, Mansfield held firm, cleared their lines and then probably breathed a sigh of relief upon hearing the final whistle.

Overall, although it wasn’t a vintage Rovers performance, the lads still got a point to extend their unbeaten streak to five games - and it shows the spirit in the team to do that on a day when they weren’t at their best by any means.

And who knows how important that might yet prove to be in the title race?

Despite the performance aspect, Rovers still created both more chances and by far the better chances, and on another they would probably have put some of them away had it not been for Theo Avery who was excellent for Mansfield. 

For some reason, the Stags always have the best ‘keepers in the Youth Alliance and this showing really highlighted what he’s about. The sprint from his goal-line to make an interception in the corner early on was as bold as it was brave because if he hadn’t got there first, one way or another he’d have been in big trouble. Along with that, his saves were quality and instinctive, his commandment was good, he was barking out instructions throughout the second half like a lunatic (which reminded me a lot of the big GOAT, Owen Mason) and it was just a very positive and confident performance in a lot of aspects. I also didn’t mind his bit of gamesmanship in the latter stages where he went down and needed treatment followed by a drink from his water bottle after it - and I've got no doubt the scoreline at the time had a lot to do with that. He’s being taught well and it's no surprise to find out that he's been with Republic Of Ireland already.

Both Mansfield scorers put in good shifts. Alfie King pulled a lot of strings, caused problems because when he got on the ball he was dangerous. He very much deserved his goal and was probably the outfield Man Of The Match overall, whilst Ronnie Kokkinos’ movement and intelligence was clever and I picked up on that from about 15 minutes into the game with the runs he was making - so it wasn’t a great surprise when he was in the right place at the right time to eventually score in the second half. Darien Wauchope was strong at the back throughout, Cormac Maher got better as the game went on and snuffed out quite a few things inside the box in that 65-85 minute period, and between the pair of them it was easy to tell they’d done a lot of homework and preparation in how to counteract the threat of Jack Goodman (which they generally did well). Bravo!

From a Rovers viewpoint, even though it was quite an open game at times in the first half and they wrestled the initiative after a crap start, they probably missed Jak Whiting’s presence to some extent - especially if he’d played and produced the sort of performance that was very good against Bradford last week.

Bar a bit of composure infront of goal (which will come) and an instance early in the second half where he should have released the ball quickly to slip Harry Wood into a one-on-one but instead held on to it and got the free-kick, Sam Brown looks a terrific player. His vision, passes and engine are good and as he’s still only an U16, then he will get better and there’s not a modicum of doubt in my mind about what he could offer to this team in the next few seasons. He’s learning on the job and getting better for it. Things to improve but a good player!

Harry Wood has done exactly what I expected since he scored his first of the season against Peterborough and, with the goals now flowing for him, he’ll be happy to have got his third of the season. It’s a shame he didn’t get another (shout-out again for that Theo Avery save from his header) and I actually thought Woody was unlucky to be subbed at the time he was in this game because he was looking sharp, lively, his link-up play (especially with Sam Brown) was decent at times in the first half, and I thought he’d have been able to cause more problems.

And, of course, Will Flint will be buzzing with his second HUGE injury-time contribution in the space of a week - this time against his hometown club, and an equaliser which could yet impact the title race. A goal to cap off another steady performance.

With Harrogate having won at Hartlepool, they’re still top of the North-East Youth Alliance table and probably the favourites at this moment in time but in that comes pressure - they’re perceived as the best, they are there to be beaten, and they still have two massive fixtures against Lincoln (a very good team) which they’ve got to successfully navigate before the ‘regular season’ draws to its conclusion.

And if you can guarantee one thing with Lincoln, it’s that there’ll be goals!

All Rovers can do in the meantime is focus on their own counsel, battle hard and do what they need to do in their own games (the next of which is against Bradford on Tuesday) in order to maintain that pressure.

Doncaster: Jacob Bryant, Will Flint, Charlie Petch, Alex Fletcher, Freddie Allen, Justin Bennett, Faris Khan, Sam Brown, Tom Parkinson, Harry Wood, Jack Goodman. Subs: Kasper Williams, Owen Scattergood, Will Green, Jack Raper, Josh Lindley. 

Mansfield: Theo Avery, Elliott Hartman, Louis Bonser, Cormac Maher, Darien Wauchope, Tyler Whyle, Finn Flanagan, Bailey Hamilton, Jakub Kruszynski, Alfie King, Ronnie Kokkinos. Subs: Leech, Aynsley-Johnson, Organ, Walsh, Whitman-Brown.