The Sporting Hack

Doncaster Rovers 1-1 Rotherham United EFL SkyBet League 1 Keepmoat Stadium, Doncaster (Att: 12,428) Saturday 11 November 2017 Rotherham snatched a point with the last kick of this encounter against bitter South Yorkshire rivals Doncaster. The Millers dug in to the very dark depths of their reserves to register an equaliser in the 96 th minute thanks to their on-loan hit man Kieffer Moore (right). In a region where a spade is called a spade, there was little getting away from the fact that it was a scrappy match that looked as though it was going to be decided by Richard Wood’s own goal just after the hour. If familiarity breeds contempt, then the absence of each other’s presence for close to eleven years led to Doncaster and Rotherham struggling to work each other out for the best part of the opening half an hour. Only James Coppinger’s well taken finish – which was ruled out for offside – and a half-hearted appeal for a penalty, when striker John Marquis took a...

PREVIEW: Doncaster Rovers v Rotherham United SkyBet League 1, Sat 11 November 2017 (12:30pm), Keepmoat Stadium. Teams representing two forgotten post industrial South Yorkshire towns - in Doncaster and Rotherham - go head to head on Saturday at “dinner” time, as the locals would call it. People in posh areas, like Sheffield – who boast a gleaming ‘Steel City’ derby – have lunch, while Rovers and Millers fans enjoy scraps, yet the allure of this fixture won’t be lost on the supporters who’ll revel in their share of the satellite spotlight. And while a culinary theme pervades, there is the sense that the reason these two old foes haven’t crossed paths for more than a decade is that they’re either feast or famine. Last season, the sides were two divisions apart, with the Millers dining among the Championship’s financially gluttonous elite and duly coming unstuck under the stewardship of three managers. The latest on that list, Paul Warne (below right), was an impish strik...

Courtesy of @drfc_official Doncaster Rovers 2-1 Portsmouth EFL SkyBet League 1 Keepmoat Stadium, Doncaster (Att: 7,211) Tuesday 17 October 2017 Doncaster recorded back to back wins for the first time this season and for just the sixth time at home since Portsmouth were last in town in January’s League Two encounter. Pompey were crowned kings of the fourth tier after the Yorkshire side spectacularly threw away a hefty points advantage in the race for the title. However the south coast side couldn’t repeat a similar feat over 90 minutes having put themselves behind the eight ball almost from the off. Doncaster’s Liam Mandeville, the forward with just four league starts this campaign, was deemed the only available striker at Darren Ferguson’s disposal. He simply shrugged off the notion that the responsibility may be too much for his youthful shoulders by notching inside the opening three minutes of the game. Tommy Rowe’s persistent run to the edge of the box and pr...

Courtesy of @drfc_official Doncaster Rovers 4-1 Southend United EFL SkyBet League 1 Keepmoat Stadium, Doncaster (Att: 7369) Saturday 7 October 2017 Ben Whiteman’s ten-minute hat-trick saw Doncaster come from behind in the second half to beat Southend.  The Sheffield United loanee slotted, thundered and caressed strikes home all within the space of 600 seconds to give Darren Ferguson’s men their first win at home since they sealed their promotion to the third tier in early April. It was all going so well for the Shrimpers who led through Anthony Wordsworth’s first half header but they must wince at the memories of trips to South Yorkshire having suffered a 5-0 defeat at the hands of Rotherham just two months previously. When Wordsworth struck, in the 38 th minute, some could argue that he was lucky to be on the pitch having given Doncaster – and their midfielder Jordan Houghton – a kick up the backside. Despite consulting his assistant and the fourth of...