Rovers v Hartlepool

Last Time Out...

A good night all around for Donny in the end.  Rovers ended a run of 5 games without a win; continued a sequence of 4 games unbeaten; recorded their fourth "double" of the season and moved to the top of the table with victory over Shrewsbury at the Greenhous Meadow.

But listening in, it looked like being one of those nights as Rovers continuously attacked a resilient Shrewsbury.  James Husband bounced a great effort from range off the crossbar and then Rob Jones met a cross which Chris Weale was fortunate hit him from close range.  The stop rebounded out hit Jones again and then hit the post.  Jones then did get the ball into the net in finishing a very similar move but was ruled offside by the linesman.  

Then the moment of controversy.  Dave McAllister's feet were off the floor as he jumped to make contact with a ball that was ahead of Iain Hume.  There was no contact between the Shrewsbury captain and the Rovers' striker but the referee awarded a straight red, apparently for reckless play.  I can imagine that this was a challenge that had it been seen from the wrong angle, would have looked bad.  But at the end of the day, it wasn't and quite rightly, the football league have rescinded the punishment.  Unlucky all the same for Shrewsbury as they had to complete the game with 10 men.

Second half and Rovers found the woodwork for the 3rd time.  Iain Hume ran through the middle of the Shrewsbury defence, passed to Husband who crossed for McCoombe to hit against the post.  The home side then when straight down to the Rovers end and Marvin Morgan should have at least made Gary Woods work.

But eventually, on 73 minutes the goal came.  Coppinger set up the impressive James Husband who scored his second goal in three games.  

The Shrews had never given up though and had shown that on the break they could be dangerous.  Woods saved well from Parry before embarrassingly pushing Tom Eaves effort that was straight at him, over his right shoulder and into the net.  That was the 89th minute and the air in Switzerland turned momentarily aquamarine with concentrated royal blue seen near Winterthur.  Donny predictably went for it.  Three minutes into injury time, a cross from Spurr came out to Kyle Bennett who smashed it straight into the top corner.  In the meantime, Notts County had done Rovers a favour and equalized against Tranmere.  Rovers are top of the league!

On the forums, I saw a question "Has a team ever jumped from fourth to first place in a league, so late in a season with all teams in action?"  I think, probably.  What I want to ask is has their ever been a team that was within 3 points of the top position of a table for 15 consecutive  matches without actually going top? That has got to be a record.

I don't know many decent statisticians but if everyone fancies it!

But in any case, a very good night for Donny.  Great performances from Hume, Husband and 19 year old Jon Lundstram.  Stats wise - 18 shots on goal with 8 on target, the off-target shots including three that found the woodwork are also Rovers' best this season.

Shrewsbury Town 1 : 2 Doncaster Rovers

Meanwhile...

Hartlepool weren't doing badly themselves at home to Crewe.

'Pool dominated the game and may have had things easier still had Crewe 'keeper Steve Phillips been punished appropriately for his blatant handball outside of the penalty area. But he wasn't and Phillips went on to play a large part in keeping the score down.  

They were having “Donny-Type” luck, but happily for ‘Pool, it only lasted until the 27^th minute.  On-loan striker Chris Wyke benefited from Jack Baldwin’s header being pushed out for him to fashion an unorthodox  finish.

Their second came in the 39^th minute.  James Poole  found Jon Franks who showed good strength to hold off his man to finish impressively from range.

Into the second half and Hartlepool kept their dominance going.  Wyke, Poole and Horwood all were denied by a very good goalkeeping performance.  But in the 90^th minute, having denied Wyke twice, Phillips was beaten by Monkhouse’s emphatic finish. 

An impressive night for Hartlepool and Chris Wyke looks like trouble for any defence meeting him.

Hartlepool United 3 : 0 Crewe Alexandra

Earlier This Season...

Donny, looking very impressive away from home visited Hartlepool looking wholly unimpressive wherever they played.  The result, a very well contested game, naturally!

Donny made the early running but couldn't get a break.  James Harper came closest, shooting into the side-netting.  Hartlepool took until the 56th minutes to get an effort on target.  James Poole curling one from distance that Gary Woods pushed over the bar.

The home team took the lead from the penalty spot in the 70th minute.  Quinn was adjudged correctly to have been holding his man.  Neil Austin converted the spot-kick.

It looked good for the home team to record just their second win of the season.  But Cotterill crossed for Jones to head home in the 89th minute and Rovers salvaged a point.

Hartlepool United 1 : 1 Doncaster Rovers

The Season so Far...

Hartlepool looked down and out at Christmas.  12 points adrift of safety with just 9 points.  But a win at Brammall Lane (I assure Monkey-Hangers - enjoyed by all who read this thread)  at the end of the year was the first indication that maybe all was not lost.  

After initially recording three matches without a win after that game, many may have thought this victory was a false-dawn.  But now, having gone 7 games unbeaten (5 wins), Hartlepool are off the bottom.  They are still 5 points from safety but I have a feeling nobody has told them that they are down.  My feeling is that at the moment they wouldn't listen anyway!

So sometimes, that comparison that I show on the right tells a few porkies.  This is one of those times.  Hartlepool are decent at the moment, to say the least!

Hartlepool Season High: 14th (September)

Hartlepool Season Low: 24th (October to February) 

...and so to the Game

Just look at how that table reflects Hartlepool's recent form!  All three of their away wins coming in their last 5 road-trips.  It also gives an impression as to what has changed.  3.1 minutes of possession per shot on goal is very efficient indeed and far better than than their 5.4 season average.  So Hartlepool are making more chances.  The very impressive 2 goal per game average and 21% shooting efficiency also demonstrates that they are taking them!

But even recently, Hartlepool continue to allow their opponents too many shooting opportunities.  They are improving in defending these opportunities but still, Donny can be clinical.  The clinical nature of the finishing has not been seen so much at the Keepmoat.  If Donny are to win today, it will need to be!

Like many teams, Hartlepool concede late on in halves.  In Hartlepool's case, its has been more extreme.  The question is whether it is still an issue.  Donny are one of the better sides late on in matches.  Could it be last-minute drama again for the Rovers?

Forum Corner

Naturally, there was considerable delight on the Donny boards at finally reaching the top of the league.  Regular poster and Rovers historical statistician, Dutch Uncle did not miss the fact that Rovers are now mathematically assured of not having a bottom-placed finish in their league for a second season in a row.  He also noted that this season, Rovers are also assured of finishing ahead of Portsmouth in the final standings.  This is a first!  We have never finished ahead of Pompey!  Poetic justice for the manner in which we have suffered at their hands over the last few seasons?

Elsewhere there was a lot of debate about Donny 'Keeper Gary Woods due to a second fumble in two games nearly costing the win and so our top of the table position.  And that's where I am on this, my friends.  It nearly  cost us.  It didn't actually cost us.  So here I am.  Top of the League and Having a Laugh rather than a whinge like I would have were I in Shrewsbury's league position.  You enjoy your football your way, I'll enjoy it mine.

Onto the Hartlepool boards and considering the recent outbreak of form up in Teeside, unusual calmity (I know its not a real word).  Hardly anyone has really mentioned it perhaps not yet daring to dream of the great escape that could be achieved.  And now we go back to records.  We all know that it is unusual for the bottom club at Christmas to survive come May.  Well Hartlepool were bottom at Christmas, 12 points adrift.  IF they manage to perform the great escape, will that be the largest gap ever closed in the period from Christmas to the end of the season?  

I can feel Poolies saying that I've said enough so I'll shut up.  They look like bringing a healthy following to Donny with the first 300 tickets they were allocated being snapped up. Expect getting on for 1000 away fans,  Rovers.  Perhaps the Poolies are not daring to dream just yet.  But I think they are enjoying the ride at the moment!

Enjoy the match everyone!

Shrews v Rovers

Last Time Out...

On Saturday Rovers made it five matches without a win and bagged their third point in a row.  What ever happens, February will go down as Rovers' worst month of the season so far with a maximum of just 6 from 18 points now being available.

But that's enough of being downbeat.  Saturday was a much better performance by Bryan Flynn's side against the form team of the division, indeed the league,  Yeovil.

It didn't start according to plan though and it was a "Howler" from Gary Woods that led to the Glovers taking a sixth minute lead.  Jamie McAllister's freekick looked an easy one but Woods' fumbled and it couldn't have fallen in front if a worse player from a Rovers' perspective.  In his current form, Paddy Madden doesn't need gifts, but he accepts them all the same.

That first 10 minutes was about all that the Glovers had of the game though as Rovers slowly began to dominate.  Paynter had a good effort tipped over the bar from just outside of the area and then had a "How do you miss that!?" moment.  He managed to head the ball from James Husband's great cross into the ground and then have it bounce up and hit the crossbar.  Not Billy's day again?  Not so!  Minutes later, on the stroke of half time, he rose to head a far more difficult opportunity into the bottom corner from the penalty spot. 

In the second half there was a great and unfortunate moment.  Unfortunate in that James Hayter was forced to leave the pitch with an injury.  Great because Hayter's hero status for scoring that goal at Wembley was acknowledged.  He left the pitch to chants of "One James Hayter from the Rovers faithful.

Back to the action and it was Rob Jones' turn to squander a decent opening as he headed over the bar from inside the 6-yard box.  James Coppinger missed another from inside the 6-yard area although on this occasion, the effort was a bicycle kick so a little more difficult than the previous two "sitters".  

After the squandering, the referee had to add insult to Rovers' injury.  David Syers was onto a loose punch from Stech when the Yeovil 'keeper was clumsy to say the least and up-ended the Rovers midfielder.  No penalty!

But Rovers had dominated.  Billy Paynter had a much better game leading the line and the contribution of debutant John Lundstram, on loan from Everton was also encouraging.  Add to that Syers and Hume both returning to action from the bench and this was a good day.  Play like that and winning ways will return to the Rovers.

Meanwhile...

Shrewsbury were taking another step towards having another season in League 1 by beating Stevenage at the New Meadow.  

They had to come from behind to do so as Stevenage drew first blood.  It was a great goal.  A long ball in to Marcus Haber who headed it down to James Dunne on the edge of the area.  Dunne then showed fabulous technique in chesting the ball before volleying into Chris Weale's top right corner.

It was a wake-up call for the Shrews and they duly did just that.  Stephen McGinn had already fired narrowly wide from range before Paul Parry hit into the bottom corner from 8 yards on the half hour mark.

After the break and Chris Porter should really have increased the Shrews' lead, heading far over the bar from inside the 6-yard box when totally unmarked.  But the Shrews were to get the lead and the points.  Four minutes from time, Jon Taylor cleverly found space on the right and crossed for substitute Marvin Morgan to squeeze home his finish.  The Shrews still had work to do to keep the points, however.  Chris Weale made a superb save from Mark Roberts' header low to his left and the home side held on to move 8 points clear of the drop-zone.

Shrewsbury Town 2 : 1 Stevenage

Earlier this Season....

An early penalty from Billy Paynter, awarded when Matt Richards brought down David Cotterill proved enough to give Rovers the points.  Rovers continued to dominate possession in the first half, but aside from a spectacular volley from David Syers, adjudged offside by the linesman, didn't create too much in the way of opportunities.

In the second and Marvin Morgan could have given the Shrews a share of the points when he broke quickly after Rovers gave the ball away cheaply in midfield but he could only find the side-netting.  At the other end, Syers achieved exactly the same result after a great passing move had put him in on goal.

In the end though there was plenty of effort by both sides but not too many opportunities.

Doncaster Rovers 1 : 0 Shrewsbury Town

The Season so far....

After their promotion from League 2 last season, Shrewsbury, for a while looked like making a quick return to the basement level of the football league.  One win per month is all they managed up until the February and in that time they dropped to their season low of 23rd in November.  But the Shrews form has seen text-book continuous improvement.  Since December, they may not have won too many, but they have become difficult to beat.  In fact they have only lost twice in 14 matches since the beginning of December.

February has been particularly good to the Shrews as they have achieved three wins from four by taking the scalps of Preston, Tranmere and Stevenage.  This tie certainly isn't a banker for three points for the Rovers.

Season High: 11th (August)

Season Low: 23rd (November)

...and so to the Game

As I've suggested, the Shrews will not be push-overs this evening but I think if we carry the performance from Saturday into this game, Rovers should have too much for them.

The stats would certainly bear that out.  Although they show the Shrews have improved of late in terms of not conceding, they also have deteriorated in terms of their own strike-rate.

Donny's defence has been tight as a drum away from home.  The last five matches haven't been as good but I think still good enough.  The Shrews will need to be much more clinical than they have been if they are to succeed tonight.

Looking at the goal-times chart, the Shrews look like they get better towards the end of the game.  But there's the period either side of half time where they suffer somewhat.  Indeed no goals at all in the first 15 minutes of the second half all season.  Strange!

Forum Corner

The Donny message-boards made generally nice reading after Saturday's match.  Rovers played well, the game was enjoyable and the fans appreciated it.

What I also appreciated is that Rovers have ditched goal-music!  Hooraaayyyyy!  This is football not bloody ice-hockey.  I do not need Tom Hark to be blared out to let me know I should be jumping up and down.  All that remains now is to get the entrance music right.  "Irish Rover" was a popular choice among fans when this was debated earlier in the season, although not for me.  Too many teams sing it for it to be identified as Donny's music.

From my experience out here in Switzerland, I suggested Hell's Bells by AC/DC.  The intro makes great entrance music and it has the benefit that it could become Hell's Belles for the ladies!

 

On the Shrewsbury boards what was the first thing I saw.  This !!  Apparently Shrewsbury are not the Shrews!  Well, it's 65 minutes to kick-off as I type.  There's no way I'm doing a big edit this late so please accept my apologies if I have offended.  Actually, the OP has largely been shouted down on the thread.  But in any case.  We're Donny and not the Dons (just to get that straight - no franchise here!)

Funnily enough, and purely by chance Shrewsbury (see, I'm concentrating now!) are also debating entrance music.  Some interesting suggestions there.  The Radetzky March by Johann Strauss for those classical tastes (reminds me of the dressage too much); Hot Love  by T-Rex (would be great if it wasn't called "Hot Love");  Do you Wanna be in my Gang (YIKES! No Thanks)  and Thin Lizzy - The Boys are Back in Town (How original) being among those suggested.

If my comments there have helped - Glad to be of assistance!

Enjoy the game!

Rovers v Yeovil

Last Time Out...

Most Expats will tell you that one of the things they miss the most about living overseas is not being able to go and watch their football team so often.  We listen to every match on our respective team's player service; we watch the highlights of our last match; we read the opinions of fans who were there on the forums.  During games we sometimes hear fans moaning and complaining about the match and then we read the continued whinging on messageboards.  We think "You don't know you're born, you lot, try NOT being there!" 

Occasionally, our team gets an appearance on TV.  Bliss!  We expats get to see our team play live.  Its a real highlight for us.

Then we watch the utter crap that the team dishes up in the name of football and suddenly, not being able to see what is going on gains a certain appeal!

What an awful match Monday night's game against Crawley was!  I thought only Gary Woods, Rob Jones and James Husband gave an "average-plus" account of themselves.  The rest - poor with a few sinking as low as inept.

But we scratched a point out of the game.  A lucky bounce in a last minute goalmouth scramble and it would have been three.  Rovers would have moved to the top of the table possibly in the most unspectacular manner ever.  Some say that scratching points out of games when playing badly in a trait of champions.  I wouldn't disagree with this opinion, but I would say that teams exhibiting such traits generally play well, but have the odd poor day at the office.  They don't play poorly for four games in a row.  Rovers need to improve.

In fairness, I don't think this point is lost on the players.  I am certainly sure that if it hadn't dawned on the players that the team performance was awful on Monday, Bryan Flynn and Rob Jones would have clarified the point on Tuesday.  Rob's comment in his post-match interview was simple and lucid.  "NOT GOOD ENOUGH!"

Meanwhile...

Yeovil's last outing was on Saturday at home to Scunthorpe United, who went into the match on a four-game unbeaten run.  Watching the 20 minutes of highlights provided by Glovers' Player, I saw Yeovil completely dominate Scunny.

The game had a pattern.  The ball would come out of the Iron's defence into midfield where Yeovil won it by simply out-competing their opponents.  They then attacked quickly and stylishly.  One of the best moves saw a series of passes move the ball to Sam Foley who's shot was spectacularly tipped over the top corner of the goal by Sam Slocombe.

Unfortunately for Scunny, the save gave them no respite.  From the corner, Byron Webster headed in from inside the 6-yard box.

The second half saw Yeovil continue in this same, relentless fashion.  Hayter and Madden had both been within inches of extending the Somerset team's lead before the referee correctly adjudged Callum Kennedy to have fouled Foley in the box.  James Hayter cooly made it two.  Patrick Madden completed the scoring  with his 18th of the season, turning in a cross from the right.

On recent evidence, Rovers could be confused by Yeovil's apparent wish to dick about in midfield rather than attempting to boot the ball as far as possible in the direction of the opponents goal to give your striker a 50/50 chance, at best to do something.  This strangely familiar approach worked for Yeovil.  They repeatedly opened up the Scunthorpe defence through the midfield and, as their 16 shots in the game demonstrate, never seemed to lack the confidence  to have a dig at goal.

To put that figure in perspective, 16 shots is just one fewer than Rovers have managed in their last 270 minutes of football.  For Rovers to exceed the 13 efforts on target (including 3 goals) that Yeovil managed during this game, you'd have to include all efforts from the last four Rovers' outings.

Yeovil Town 3 : 0 Scunthorpe United

Earlier this Season...

Yeovil inflicted Donny's first, and until just two weeks ago, only away defeat at Huish Park.

It was fair enough really.  The scrappy first half, was notable only for a Rueben Reid effort that rattled Gary Woods' bar followed by a great last-ditch tackle from Rob Jones to deny James Hayter an easy rebound.  But Hayter was not to be denied the satisfaction of scoring against a former employer in the second half, when Reid placed a cross onto his head for him to give Yeovil the lead.  

Gozie Ugwu, on loan from Reading, came off the bench to chip Gary Woods to make it 2:0. A late consolation from Billy Paynter wasn't enough and Yeovil deserved the points.

Yeovil 2 : 1 Rovers

The Season so far...

It all started well for Yeovil as they remained unbeaten for their first four games.  They then lost six consecutive matches before rallying with a sequence of 4 wins in five.  Their form remained very reasonable before exploding into a frankly superb 8-match winning streak.  They look to make it 9 today at the Keepmoat.

This run has seen the Glovers climb from 12th to an effective season high 5th (they were leading the table after the second game of the season).

Donny have got lucky.  While it's frustrating to think that had we picked up any more than 2 points from the last 12 available, we would be leading the pack and really should be pulling clear, somehow, our form has only caused us to lose one place.  We are still very much in the title race.

Yeovil Season High: 1st (August)

Yeovil Season Low: 16th (October)

...and so to the Game

Without any doubt, this is the biggest challenge faced so far by Bryan Flynn and sadly for the Rovers, they have to show much more than they have shown against Crawley and the MK Dons to stand any chance at all.

The table above shows Yeovil to be efficient in front of goal and able to create plenty of chances, obviously a winning combination.  The only slightly heartening point I can glean from the data is that they also allow their opponents plenty of chances. 

But even in this aspect, they have improved of late and are miserly when it comes to conceding goals.

The goal time chart shows that in the last 15 minutes of each half, Yeovil go nuts.  12 scored in the final fifteen minutes of the first half and 17 at the end of the second indicate fitness isn't an issue with the Glovers.  Oppoenents must maintain concentration levels.

From the Rovers' perspective, I think the important thing is who is available?  Thanks Neil Grainger, he got this from the horse's mouth.  Paul Keegan has been back in training and feels he should be in contention.  Keegs also reported Iain Hume and David Syers to be on their way back.  All three are very welcome.  Keegan is proving to be the grunt-man of the Rovers' team, doing all the ugly stuff  that keeps the team working.  We have missed Humey's work-rate and creativity up front and Syers has transformed himself this season from a player who could barely get a game in the division below to an integral part of a leading League 1 team.

The referee today is Eddie Ilderton.  In 24 matches this season, Ilderton has shown 81 yellow cards, including two "second yellows".  3.4 cautions per game is high but it looks like it has the desired effect for Ilderton.  Including the second yellows, only 4 players have received their marching-orders during his games.

Forum Corner

Funnily enough, I wasn't the only critic of the Rovers' performances this week.  Some fans are starting to voice discontent about the manager.  Here I don't agree.  I really don't think things are much different from when Deano was in charge.  Performance-wise, we haven't really torn up trees regularly all season, especially at home.  We have battled though, hence our league position.  Besides, do we really want our chairman getting into the bad habits of the chairmen at Wolves, Forest and Chelsea in sacking the manager whenever there is more than one cloud in the sky?

A thread I really liked was posted by Neil Grainger about how he received a phone call from Paul Keegan to thank him for buying a season ticket during their first week of sale.  Other fans reported calls from other players for the same reason.  We fans love our clubs and the players who represent it.  I absolutely love the fact that my local team, FC Winterthur have players who will stop me in the street to say hello!  All actions from clubs that show this level of appreciation for fans are truly excellent and long may they continue!

Onto the Yeovil boards and my my, aren't things positive, for some reason!  No doubts about their manager, Gary Johnson is being proposed for a peerage!  Apparently, Johnson, in his second successful spell in Somerset, already has the freedom of Yeovil.  An honour that allows him to drive cattle through the council chambers while the council is in session, or something like that.

Finally a thread, about a point picked up by both sets of fans.  The fact that League 1 is going down to the wire.  It certainly is, and isn't it great to be competing in a league where we're still talking about two from seven for the automatic places?  Sure, I'd prefer to be 10 points clear watching everyone else scrapping for second, but this is the next best thing.

Yeovil fans were not so impressed at the superficiality of their entry in that article, speculating that it could mean that they are slipping in under the radar.  Well tried, but an eight match unbeaten run kinda draws attention.  Try losing a few to remain inconspicuous.  Today would be a good time to start!

Enjoy the match everyone!

Crawley v Rovers

Last Time out...

A MK Dons team, who's form in the league is dipping seemed ideal opponents to get Rovers out of their own current dip in form.  By the final whistle, I'd listened to Donny get three shots (none on target) compared with the Dons' 13; commit 16 fouls to the Dons' 8 and win just one corner in the 90 minutes.  Reflecting on that, I was delighted with the goalless  draw.  But I can also say that that was 120 minutes I'm never going to get back!  

At the end of the game, because of an error by the commentators, along with many Rovers' fans, I thought we had gone top.  As if to demonstrate a little justice, the football world was spared our taking over at the head of the table in what would have been the most unimpressive manner imaginable.  Somewhat mercifully, only two and a half minutes of footballers shooting unimpressively were described as highlights by Rovers' player, so we will move on.

Prior to the match, I made light of our current situation and whether the wheels had come off the promotion wagon.  I haven't changed that opinion.   But for the first time, I do have to question the team Brian Flynn sent out.  Six defenders at home?  Lee Fowler, who has been impressive since joining from Wrexham on the bench?  There would even be arguments for leaving one defender at least out for either Kyle Bennett or James Harper even if those two players haven't had the best of seasons.

But in the end, its one game.  Even if you want to call it a bad three-game run, it's not a reason to be starting to criticize the management of the club for appointing Brian Flynn.  Its not as if they'd made a decision that threw away the whole culture and philosophy of the club.

....Meanwhile

Crawley Town were sitting at home, mercifully spared a cold Tuesday night of watching something with the entertainment value of Holby City.  

They were in action on the previous Saturday however, traveling to sunny Scunny to take on the Iron.

Sides that are in the lower reaches of the table are not ideal opponents for anyone at this stage of the season, especially opponents like the Iron, who are far from convinced at the necessity of competing in a relegation battle.

Scunny dominated the first half but Crawley were able to limit them to half-chances. This didn't stop Sodje and Hawley from scratching the paint of Crawley's crossbar however.

Matt Sparrow then did what players do when playing against their former clubs and put Crawley ahead early in the second half.  It was a straight forward goal as he was left unmarked in the area.  Crawley, with one attack all game had the lead.  But Scunthorpe were deservedly back in it when a determined run and cross down the Crawley right found Michael Collins.  His shot was parried into the path of James Ryan who had a very easy finish.  Crawley very nearly restored their lead when a fabulous cross from Nicky Adams found Jamie Proctor stopping to head against the crossbar.  But a set-piece goal in the end gave the Iron the points.  Niall Canavan rising highest to head in Proctor's deep corner.

Scunthorpe United 2 : 1 Crawley Town.

Earlier this season....

Crawley became the first team to suggest that Rovers might have an issue at home in the first ever meeting between the sides.

Rovers were lively enough in the first half, with Billy Paynter in particular proving a real handful for the Crawley defence.  But As they say in these parts of the world, "Das Runde muss ins Ekige" and it didn't.  But it wasn't for lack of want or trying.

At the other end, Crawley also looked reasonable and they certainly finished the better.  It took until 87 minutes for Nicholas Ajosé to claim the goal after Josh Simpson had done the work.  A bit of smash and grab in the end for Crawley and Rovers were left to rue the chances they had squandered.

The season so far...

Newly promoted Crawley started well enough and generally maintained a place in the play-off places until mid-November.  But since then, their form has dipped.  From a Rovers' point of view, their form graph looks worryingly like that of MK Dons.  Crawley were just a little more consistent in the first months of the season.  Now they have just three wins since November and have dropped to a season-low 15th position.

Season High: 1st (August)

Season Low: 15th (February)

Rovers have now finished their last 7 games in 2nd place but as the Rovers' fans know its not been the story of the last three games.

Its all going wrong isn't it?  Well perhaps not all.  Looking at the vast range of Stats that I use to produce this thread, I'm seeing that Rovers are in general shooting more (Tuesday's match aside) and gaining more possession than they were under Dean Saunders.  With more shots going in, you would think that the generally excellent shot conversion rates that the Rovers achieve will lead to more goals.  The only question for me is whether these players can play a more possession type of game.  

...and so to the Game

Really looking forward to this one, as I do every rare occasion that I get to see the Rovers play live.  I just hope we put on a show that doesn't tempt Sky into removing our match from the Bank Holiday Monday schedule.

Crawley haven't got a history of starting too well.  Only the 17th best 1st half record in the league.  But Rovers need to be careful because in the 7 matches where they have gone in leading at the break, they have never lost.

There's lots of positives for the visitors.  Crawley's form has put paid to any play-off chance as even if they gain 6 points from their games in hand, they will still be six-points short of sixth place.  That's a lot of sixes.  But being 12 points clear of 21st with two games in hand, they look a safe bet for a second season in league 1.  The season is all but over for them and they are not trying to impress to gain a place in the team for a cup tie.

As for Rovers, well despite that loss to Bury, its still an excellent away record.  The game has more riding on it for the visitors as a win would take us two points clear at the top.  But then there's the injury situation.  Iain Hume, Chris Brown and David Syers, players we have missed badly of late will be out for Monday's game.  Paul Keegan missed the MK Dons match after suffering a dead-leg against Walsall.  If it's just a dead-leg, I'd expect him back, which would very welcome.  

But it's up front where we have problems.  Billy Paynter's performance on Tuesday was a long way off his best and Emile Sinclair has yet to impress in a hooped shirt.  Flynn has spoken of bringing in two loan-players for Monday night's game.  While typing this on Sunday evening nothing has bee announced.

Taking charge of the game is Andy D'Urso.  Andy has taken charge of 27 games this season (12 Championship, 6 League 1, 5 League 2 and 4 cup-ties).  He shows an average of  2.25 yellow cards per game.  5 players have received their marching orders from Mr. D'Urso, 4 with straight red cards and he has awarded 4 penalties.

Forum Corner

There's been a conspiracy of late to pee off the Donny fan.  Poor results and equally poor football of course triggered it.  But the irking has found other angles from which to approach the average Rover.

Fans at the MK Dons game were first subjected to the logic of Rovers' refreshment booth staff who told them that they had to queue again if they wanted a chocolate bar with their beer.  Bovril and beer served to the same customer was also a no-no.  All of these refreshments are available at the same booth of course.  It's just that you don't mix your beer and your bovril!  

Having negotiated that issue, usually by not bothering with one refreshment or the other, fans were pleased they had saved their money when they found their cars had been ticketed in a Blitz by a parking consultants.  Good advice on Viking Chat for this one.  If you did get ticketed, just ignore it.  The ticket is actually an invoice, which you can chose to pay or not.  Chuck it in the bin if its not from the council or the police.  The company concerned will threaten you, bug you, irk you but they'll get bored eventually.

So lets improve the footie Rovers.  Start there and everything else will get better, I promise!

Interestingly, the VSC forum has run a poll on where Rovers will finish this season.  As I voted (for champions) I noticed that despite the last three games, the majority of voters still believe Rovers can do it.  1 in 3 have Donny gaining automatic promotion.  

Lets hope we're right!

Rovers v MK Dons

LAST TIME OUT....

Have the wheels come off the Rovers promotion-wagon?  Is this the plunge to mid-table mediocracy?  Rovers have now lost two in a row!

To be honest, I fancied an entertaining draw on Saturday and from what I could gather listening in, I got it half right.  It was entertaining.

So in the end, we lose by an odd goal in three to a very attractive Walsall side.  Is it time for the hemlock?  No, not at all.  Walsall were in great form coming into the tie, and started like a train.  Just two minutes needed for Andy Butler to get on the end of a free-kick and head in at the near post.  Lots of finger-pointing in the Rovers' defence, finger-pointer in chief was Rob Jones.  Frankly, he should have pointed it at himself.  For the first 5 minutes, Rovers were shaky but then gradually came back into it and I wasn't surprised at all when Billy Paynter slotted home Chris Brown's "knock-down".

Rovers then created chances-a-plenty, predictably most having something to do with David Cotterill, the best of them, a stunning volley against the crossbar which Rob Jones was unable to finish off.  But then, somehow, Walsall were allowed to come right back into the game.  Rovers were definitely hanging on as Febian Brandy took a stroll through the their defence to score the winner.  Rovers didn't roll over but couldn't get back in the 10 or so remaining minutes.

Its jitters time for the promotion candidates.  Tranmere, like Rovers lose for the second time in a row and Swindon can only draw at home to bottom of the table Hartlepool.  Its all led to a concertina effect at the top of the table, with just a point covering the top-4.

.....Meanwhile

The MK Dons travelled to Boundary Park for the meeting of the League 1 giant-killers.  On the day, the conquerers of Liverpool proved too much for the conquerers of QPR. 

Dean Lewington failed to deal with a long ball out of the Oldham defence, giving the ball away to  Croft who crossed for Lee Barnard to shoot in from a tight angle for Oldham's first.  The highlights show three occasions (one either side of the goal) where the Dons defence was charitable to say the least before they managed to equalize.  Daniel Powell running onto a fine pass from Jon Otsemobor before finishing confidently.  But there was still time for a predictable Oldham set-piece goal before half-time.  Jean-Yves M'voto easily dropping his marker to head in a free-kick.

In the second half, the Latics third came after more defensive blunders by the Dons.  This time it was Harley heading Powell into trouble.  Oldham capitalized with Chris Iwelumo scoring at the second attempt.

On the day, not so much offered up front by MK Dons and plenty of food for thought for Rovers due to the errors at the back.

The Season so far...

As we know, the Dons are currently on a very impressive run in the FA Cup, beating Sheffield Wednesday 2 : 0 in a replay before that 4 : 2 victory at Loftus Road.  Well done and congratulations to them!

But in the meantime, their league form has deteriorated.  The Dons started the season as one of the promotion favourites having made the play-offs last season but have been inconsistent.  In September they delivered the 2nd best results in the league while in November, they went one better.  In between these months, 18th best.  

For the last two months, they have been in the lower half of the table form-wise and have slipped in the table as a result.  With just two league games in February so far, they are bottom of the league 1 form table, two places behind our very own Donny Rovers.

Looking in a bit more detail, the home and away comparison shows the Dons do allow their opponents chances, indicated by a very low 3.6 minutes of opponent possession per shot against.  Couple that with the big increase recently in the opponents shooting efficiency and you start to see why they are losing a few.

But as a warning to Rovers, the Dons shooting efficiency has also picked up.  They are creating the same number of chances, but scoring more of them.  I think Rovers certainly need more than one goal tomorrow.

Season High: 2nd (November)

Season Low: 13th (February)

...and so to the Game

Whoa! That's a new graph Fuzz!

  - Yes it is, do you like it? Its a Histogram comparing the two sides in terms of possession.  What you see is that the Dons like the ball more than the Rovers. 

So there's quandary number one for Brian Flynn.  There are two ways to play a possession side.  You can play possession yourselves so denying them the possession they crave.  This works if you are a possession side yourselves.  Can Rovers play possession?  Well recent results and performances would suggest Rovers are getting better at this game with Saturday being the exception that proves the rule.

The other way of dealing with possession sides is to let them have it and play a very disciplined pressing game.  If the Dons aren't given the chance to make the dangerous passes, why not let them have the ball?  Rovers have been doing this all season away from home so I'd suggest this to be a better way of going.  I'll bow to Mr. Flynn's experience on this one though!

Back to the familiar goal-times chart and you see the Dons have a habit of scoring just before half-time and so wrecking team-talk plans.  Its a nice trick if you can do it!  Its just a shame that they lose a few goals in the 15 to 30 minute period.  

So what to expect.  The Dons will try to keep the ball and may provide an early onslaught.  If Rovers weather that, they can expect another push just before half-time, especially if we score.  

To win, Rovers need to weather those storms that will come.  Then they need to get the strikers performing like we know they can perform away from home.

As I've seen and shown with the stats, the Dons do allow their opponents a few chances.  If the 25%+ strike-rate lads turn-up tomorrow evening, Rovers will win comfortably.  But if the 12% strike-rate lads we've seen at home of late take to the pitch, its far from a forgone conclusion.

David Webb takes charge of tomorrow's game.  He's refereed 23 games so far this season (Championship and League 1, 6 each and 8 in League 2).  72 yellow cards have been awarded including two "double yellows".  Only one player has received a straight red from Mr Webb and he has awarded 5 penalties.

Forum Corner

Well, there's been a little unrest in the Donny corner after the two defeats but I'm happy to say most are keeping their heads.  There's been some discussion on our Captain Fantastic, Mr. Rob Jones, who in recent games has stopped wearing his undercrackers outside of his shorts.  I love footie fans.  Jones' appointment to the role of Player-Coach was met with almost universal acclaim.  A Leader on the Pitch can just as well become a leader off the pitch was the general con-census.

Lose two matches with Jones not quite being super-human and its time to take the coach role away from him and let him concentrate on his game.  Interesting thing is that if you look at Jones' performances in the four matches since the departure of Deano, he was awesome in the first two matches as Assistant Manager and player-coach.  Then there were the two less impressive performances, the last of which came after he was relieved of Assistant Manager responsibilities (in other words, his workload had been reduced).  But do we need to reduce his role at the club further?  How do the fans know he's not simply peed off with not being assistant manager any more?  Its typical football fan behaviour.  Lose two games and something has to be changed, even if Rovers are in second position (still) and are still in the best position of the top 6.

On the Dons thezone:mk there is more concern.  The Dons' league form has dipped alarmingly and there are calls for manager Karl Robinson to go.  There's  a lot of allegations about the lack of a plan B.  Sound familiar Rovers fans?  You know what?  One day, I'll try my hand as a football cliché-writer!  Here's a thing you guys wanting a plan B.  Why isn't plan A working?  Answer that and you may do better!

Anyway, its good to see at the moment at least, its not a fully fledged lynch-mob waiting for Robinson.  Other fans are looking more to the ownership of the club and their lack of backing for the manager in the transfer-markets.  It sounds like and looks like Robinson likes to play football.  You need players who can do that and if they're not there, it doesn't work.  Reference: Sean O'Driscoll's last 18 months at Doncaster.

Robinson himself has asked the players to step up to the mark.  Here, I think we could have an answer.  This set of players have beaten higher league opposition three-times in cup competitions this season.  OK, even if one of them was Sheffield Wednesday I think this shows the players can do a job, but lets not let them start doing one tomorrow.  Let them save their enthusiasm for Barnsley in the cup on Saturday.  All Rovers fans will wish you well in beating them!

Enjoy the game everyone.