McCANN PRAISES DOGGED DONNY
GRANT McCann was delighted with his Doncaster Rovers side’s effort in rescuing a point, but felt they should have won a ‘onesided’ game.
“It’s two points dropped,” he said. “Any points lost here are dropped.
“My last message to the boys before they went out for the second half was if you can’t win, don’t get beat.
“We got back to 2-2 and then, for five or 10 minutes, we stopped doing the stuff that got us back to 2-2.
“Credit to Paul Taylor, he redeems a mistake from one of his team-mates, and that is the belief and character we’ve got in the changing room.
“Credit to the boys, for the character they showed in the second half to get us back level.
“I think it was one of the most one-sided games you’re ever likely to see.
“We had 39 shots on goal and 15 on target. We were on the front foot, especially in the second half.
“First half we moved the ball too slowly, we let them get their shape back, we struggled with how many touches we were taking on the ball.
“But in the second half, credit to them, we came back into the game and should have won.”
Doncaster controlled play from the start but were hit after seven minutes when Barry Fuller drilled in a superb volley from 30 yards.
The hosts pushed for an equaliser but Gillingham widened their advantage after 24 minutes with an excellent individual effort from Tom Eaves.
Doncaster got their lifeline in the 51st minute when John Marquis turned in from close range to claim his 10th of the season. The equaliser finally came after 67 minutes when Mallik Wilks headed in from close range. Max Ehmer drilled Gillingham back in front with a volley from a corner in the 88th minutes
But Doncaster substitute Paul Taylor smashed a shot from 25 yards which deflected in to level the scores again in added time.
Disappointed Gillingham boss Steve Lovell was left to bemoan bad luck for his side after they netted three goals at the Keepmoat but failed to win.
“It was a gutsy performance us coming to Doncaster and playing like we did, going 2-0 up,” he said. “Obviously they’re a good side who will come at you and throw everything at you but mostly we dealt with it all very well.
“When you’re luck’s out, your luck’s out. They score two goals inside the six-yard box when the ball is bouncing around, it falls to them and it goes in.
“The third one is a deflected goal. It’s going into Tomas Holy’s hands until Max Ehmer gets an inadvertent touch on it and it goes in.
“I’m so disappointed for the boys because they’ve given such a great effort.”
DONCASTER ROVERS: Marosi 4, Mason 6, T Anderson 6, Butler 6, Andrew 6, Blair 7 (J Anderson 69, 6), Whiteman 7, Kane 6 (Crawford 52, 5), Coppinger 7 (Taylor 84, 7), Marquis 7, Wilks 7. Subs not used: Lawlor, Beestin, May, Horton.
GILLINGHAM: Holy 7, O’Neill 6 (Nasseri 74, 5), Ehmer 7, Zakuani 7, Fuller 7, Lacey 6 (Bingham 57, 6), Byrne 6, Reilly 8, Stevenson 5 (Ogilvie 56, 6), Eaves 7, Parker 6. Subs not used: Garmston, List, Rees, Hadler.