Doncaster Rovers (U18s) 1-1 Grimsby Town (U18s)

Doncaster Rovers (U18s) 1-1 Grimsby Town (U18s)

EFL Youth Alliance

Saturday 1st April 2023

Missed chances were the story of this game - and they proved costly for Doncaster Rovers who were denied three points thanks to Alex Markham’s injury-time equaliser for Grimsby Town in the first game of the new ‘Merit League’ season.

A point apiece was probably a fair outcome on the balance of play, albeit Rovers looked for a long time that they might pinch all three thanks to Justin Bennett’s first half header.

Frank Sinclair made a few changes to the team which lost at Grimsby (ironically) in their last competitive outing a few weeks ago; one of which was enforced as usual captain Jak Whiting was suspended and replaced by Kasper Williams at centre-back, whilst Jake Oram returned between the sticks for his first appearance in a while having recently provided ‘keeper cover for the first team.

With perhaps one eye looking towards next year, WIll Flint was named as skipper.

Grimsby, by contrast, named the majority of their second-years in their line-up and it was they who looked much brighter early on - particularly Harry Milner who showed a flash of quality when he cut inside from the right flank, got to the byline, and provided a cutback which had to be cleared for a corner where Henry Moore’s glancing downward header went just wide.

Despite the Mariners having had the majority of territory, it was Rovers who took the lead on 25 minutes when Jack Raper was deliberately pulled back which allowed Will Green to use his left-foot and float a teasing ball into the box from the resulting set-piece which Justin Bennett guided home. 1-0.

Will Hodgson shanked a shot over the fence (not one he’ll ever want reminding about) as Grimsby sought to respond with a quick equaliser, but Rovers also squandered a golden chance when the trialist playing up top mugged Markham on the edge of his own box, rounded the visiting ‘keeper and seemed certain to ‘bury it’ only to hit the post with a sliding Henry Moore providing just enough of a covering presence to distract the striker.

It should have been 2-0 there, but it should have been 1-1 on the flip side, when Grimsby’s No.11 missed his own sitter at the other end just before half-time when the ball was laid back to him unmarked on the edge of the six-yard box on a plate, only for him to somehow hit the side-netting when it seemed impossible to miss.

After a speculative Will Green cross-shot gave the Grimsby ‘keeper something to think about just before half-time and forced him into a back-peddling save where he also collided with his post, the next player to be guilty of not burying a glorious chance was Rovers’ Harry Wood because five minutes after the re-start, he burst through and fired straight at the ‘keeper in a one-on-one.

How it was still 1-0 at this stage, as substitutes from both teams started to be introduced, was something of a mystery because both teams really ought to have had something (more) to show for their efforts.

Rovers started to look like they were ‘hanging on’ a bit as Grimsby forced a couple of chances in quick succession through DRFC mistakes; firstly as Harry Milner drew a low save from Jake Oram after the ball hit Sam Brown square in the face and ricocheted to him, and then when Will Green’s backpass was picked up by Oram which put Rovers under pressure. Everyone in red and white hoops dropped back to defend the subsequent indirect free-kick and although they survived that incident, a minute later Shakeel Brown found half-a-yard of space inside the box and curled an effort narrowly wide of the far-post.

Still, Rovers squandered one more good chance to make it 2-0, when the trialist again capitalised on a mix-up between the Grimsby ‘keeper and Henry Moore right on the edge of their box but again the Grimsby defender provided just enough of a presence to make life difficult and the eventual shot wasn’t on target.

And then in the first of six minutes injury-time came Grimsby’s equaliser - in a set-piece which bore lots of similarities to how Rovers had got their goal earlier in the game.

Will Flint was penalised for a push midway inside his own half which allowed Grimsby to get bodies forward and with the cavalry up from the back, Shakeel Brown delivered a great set-piece into the area. Nobody properly tracked the run of Alex Markham and in a ‘proper’ captain’s contribution, he rose highest, got his connection right and watched in delight as the ball dropped into the back of the net - before instinctively grabbing it and sprinting back to halfway in the hope that a comeback was still on.

Immediately from the re-start, the Rovers trialist flashed a shot wide and there was one last moment of hope for Rovers when Jack Raper got into the box and looked as if he might shoot but was ultimately thwarted.

Overall, a point apiece was a fair reflection of what unfolded. Rovers probably had the better chances and the two for the trialist and one for Harry Wood were all ones which should have been buried, but likewise Grimsby had their own moments - notably the miss before half-time by the No.11 and Will Hodgson’s one prior to that (albeit that one was probably harder than it looked). It happens, that’s football, but in those big moments composure was needed. Goals change games and if any of those four or five chances had been put away, it would probably have changed the game dynamic.

Both teams will probably feel a bit frustrated with their collective performance because neither were at their best, but individually there were some decent performances. Jack Raper had a really strong first 30 minutes and also came into things more during the latter stages - a shame he didn’t get his shot off earlier right at the end, but he should be happy with how he did overall because it was a good performance. Harry Milner was a constant threat for Grimsby and lively whenever he had the ball, Louis Boyd was bright on the left-hand side a few times, and Henry Moore also deserves credit for providing enough of a covering presence during the trialist’s two big chances to keep the ball out of the net on both occasions. And, bar the free-kick conceded right which led to the goal, Will Flint led by example for Rovers - was decent in organising, communicating and trying to help others, played a lovely switch ball to Jack Raper in the second half (quality that one was and executed to absolute perfection) and he’s just a ‘square peg in a square hole’ and reliable every week. It all gets noticed.

This Rovers team is largely inexperienced in terms of playing together and at times that showed and there are lots of areas to improve, (which is to be expected at this stage anyway) but on the flip side, despite all that, there was some good bits of play, these lads nearly beat a team who’ve been consistently good at this level, and I can see the ‘raw potential’ in a few of the younger players already - examples being Kasper Williams who’ll get better and improve things like his awareness with more exposure to game-time but already has the basics to be a really good ‘no nonsense’ defender in the long run, Jacob Bacon who came on and did alright in his half-an-hour or so, and Sam Brown who wasn't at his best but has shown on various occasions in the past few months, the quality that he can bring to the team.

Good luck to the lads at Grimsby over the next few weeks. I’ve always had a lot of time for how they play, how they operate as an academy, the players they produce, and they’re always a team I enjoy watching. It speaks volumes when a team isn’t necessarily at their best but can still grind out a point; they did that in this game, and it’s better than nothing.

Team: Jake Oram, Will Flint, Kasper Williams, Freddie Allen, Alex Fletcher, Will Green, Justin Bennett, Sam Brown, Jack Raper, Harry Wood, Trialist. Subs: Kenzie Dillon, Jacob Bryant, Trialist, Jacob Bacon, Jamie Tomlinson.