Report: Doncaster 2-1 Portsmouth

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 presence of mind to find the unmarked Rodney Kongolo was as gratifying as the square ball laid on a plate for Mandeville to tap home from close range.

It was a quick start from Ferguson’s side, the quickest to date this season in fact, and it was about to get better. No sooner had the visitors kicked off, the hosts duly struck again to double the advantage, with Rowe heavily involved. He powered Harry Toffolo’s drifted corner goalwards and a deflection took it past a hopelessly wrong-footed Luke McGee who found himself picking the ball out of the back of his net for a second time without having had a save to make.

Doncaster found the breathing space that their breathless start had given them somewhat restrictive and they were caught in a quandary as to go for broke to seal the game or sit back. Whether intentional or not, they opted to do the latter and Portsmouth were afforded chances by a defence boasting the return of Mathieu Baudry, making his first appearance since April.

Very few of Pompey’s chances were clear cut however; ex-Doncaster winger Kyle Bennett hooked Oliver Hawkins’ knockdown over from a tough angle before Matty Kennedy’s out-swinger was met by the head of pony-tailed centre back Christian Burgess who rose to nod the ball past Ian Lawlor but Ben Whiteman was on hand to clear off the line midway through the first half.

Conor Chaplin was introduced at the break for the visitors and Kenny Jackett’s substitution so very nearly proved to be an inspired one just six minutes after the restart. Joe Wright’s robust challenge led to a free-kick on the edge of the box which was clipped against the upright.

Jackett and his troops didn’t need to wait long though to halve the deficit as they were gifted a foothold in the game. Baudry’s simple pass back to Lawlor squirmed under the goalkeeper’s right boot and, despite scrambling back to recover the situation, his efforts were in vain.

If that was strange, then the evening was about to continue in an odd theme. With Portsmouth firmly on top and Doncaster struggling to get out of their own half at times, the expected implosion from the hosts never came due to a rush of blood to the head which got the better of visiting midfielder Dion Donohue who inexplicably kicked out at Doncaster manager Darren Ferguson when trying to retrieve the ball from the home technical area.

From that point on, the visitors seemingly lost their impetus and it had come from only incident in which Ferguson had been able to get involved with.

In the last minute, Lawlor redeemed himself with a one handed stop to deny Jamal Lowe whose cute header looked destined to earn a point until the keeper's timely intervention preserved the points.

Teams:
Doncaster – Lawlor, Baudry (Beestin), Wright, Butler, Blair (Mason), Toffolo, Houghton, Kongolo, Whiteman, Rowe, Mandeville (Garrett).
Bookings – Rowe, 78

Portsmouth – McGee, Clarke, Burgess, Thompson, Donohue, Kennedy, O’Keefe, Bennett (Chaplin), Close, Hawkins, Evans (Lowe).
Bookings – Burgess, 57; O’Keefe, 87
Sent off – Donohue, 69

Man of the match – Tommy Rowe (Doncaster)