STORMY TIMES FOR ROVERS
Manager Darrell Clarke endures an uncomfortable afternoon at the Memorial Stadium as he sees his side slump to a heavy defeat Pages
BRISTOL Rovers slumped to another dismal defeat as they went down 4-0 to playoff chasing Doncaster Rovers.
The visitors displayed a better cutting edge throughout and fully deserved their victory against a Gas side that showed a lot of effort but very little quality.
Despite a relatively bright start from the Gas, the visitors took the lead in the tenth minute when John Marquis found space on the left wing and cut inside before firing a superb shot into the top corner from long range. It was helped a little by a strong wind and gave goalkeeper Jack Bonham no chance.
Rovers should have equalised almost immediately when Joe Martin’s looping cross was spilled by Doncaster keeper Ian Lawlor under pressure from Tom Nichols, but Ollie Clarke cannoned the loose ball against the post. It was the same old story for Darrell Clarke’s men for the rest of the half as they put in plenty of effort going forward, working the ball into dangerous areas, only for their final ball to let them down.
Striker Stefan Payne stung Lawlor’s hands from the edge of the box and midfielder Liam Sercombe saw an effort turned round the post, but they were the only two times that the visitors’ keeper was really tested.
At the other end, a well-drilled Doncaster forward line caused a number of problems for the home defence, with Clarke switching from a 5-3-2 formation with wingbacks to a 4-4-2 on the half-hour mark to limit the amount of space the visitors were finding in attack.
Yet Doncaster made it 2-0 shortly before the break when Marquis headed against the crossbar and the dangerous Mallik Wilks bun- dled in the rebound. It was 3-0 in the 54th minute when Tom Anderson made the most of poor marking by the Gas defence to rise and head home Herbie Kane’s cross.
Five minutes later, Doncaster made it 4-0 when Wilks ran onto a through ball on the counter and outpaced Tony Craig before nutmegging Bonham.
The two quick goals took all the sting out of the contest and, although Kyle Bennett hit a post with ten minutes left, there was no way the Gas would get back into it.
Next up, the small matter of a trip to high-flying Sunderland.
Tough conditions at The Mem THE wind played a massive part in what were tough and testing conditions for both sets of players.
From the first whistle it was evident the wind was going to play a massive part as Bonham’s opening kick bearly reached the halfway line before angling out for a throw in.
When Rovers attacked the Thatcher’s End in the first half the ball was frequently caught in the
air, making it very difficult for Nichols and Payne to attack it.
In the second half, any balls forward that were even slightly overhit would go out for a throw-in or straight through to Lawlor in the Doncaster goal.
Although it was a disappointing performance from Rovers, the conditions played their part.
Rovers’ trial and error MANAGER Clarke persevered with the 5-3-2 formation which saw them beat Swansea Under 23s in midweek, only to change shape after half-an-hour.
Martin was left isolated against Shaun Cummings and Wilks on the Rovers left and, similarly, Joe Partington was left to marshal both James Coppinger and Danny Andrew on the left. Clarke brought on Bennett and switched to a 4-4-2, but they still didn’t have much joy on the flanks. If Rovers want to improve they need to find a system and stick to it.
The Gas were panicked by the
high press DONCASTER set out with the game-plan of not allowing Rovers any time on the ball and to press them high up the pitch.
Marquis especially didn’t allow the Rovers back-line any real time on the ball when they picked up possession. This seemed to cause panic in the home back-line and they were caught in possession multiple times, giving Doncaster a chance to break in the final third.
Everyone in the back-line was guilty of sloppy play at some point in the game, and they need to be become more assured in possession.
Offensively, there is still no
cutting edge
IT was another frustrating 90 minutes in front of goal for Clarke’s side.
If Ollie Clarke had found the net in the first half, the game could have been so much different for Rovers.
Payne and Nichols had very little service from midfield and, after the Ollie Clarke miss, they never really looked like scoring until Bennett hit the post ten minutes from time.
The conditions didn’t help, but it was the same old story for the Gas, who really can’t seem to find a source of goals from anywhere in their squad.
Rovers were comprehensively
outclassed
IT was an awful afternoon all round for Clarke and his team. Doncaster looked superior pretty much all over the pitch.
Defensively, they dealt with the wind excellently in the second half, with Rovers hardly troubling Lawler.
Offensively, Grant McCann’s side looked like scoring almost every time they went forward.
Rovers struggled to deal with the pace of Wilks, while Doncaster top scorer Marquis didn’t give the Rovers back-four any time on the ball during the entire game. They also dominated midfield, with everything going through the impressive Kane.