The Sporting Hack

Darren Ferguson doesn’t suffer fools. Not players, press or board members. A conflict of views with the latter proved to be the catalyst from his departure from Doncaster Rovers. I was there for his unveiling as manager in October 2015 (above) and was present at what proved to be his final post-match interview 928 days later following a dour goalless draw with AFC Wimbledon. He looked fed up. In his first interview though he was bristling with eagerness and wanted to cut short the pleasantries in order to get on with the job in hand. Doncaster had begun the 15/16 season sluggishly but shaking them out of their slumber never seemed insurmountable for the Scot who boasted prior success at Peterborough. Rovers were relegated but Ferguson stayed put. He was going to have to be pushed before he would walk and highlighted once more his belligerent streak. The louder the dissenting voices grew, the more he dug his heels in – it was admirable in a way. A summer rebuild was ...

Darren Ferguson’s departure from Doncaster Rovers on Monday evening received indifference from most quarters. Fergie's time is up While foreign supporters wave white handkerchiefs as an expression of disgust, no one in South Yorkshire, it seemed, was reaching to mop away the tears for the outgoing boss who had taken Rovers sideways, at best, and then left midway through the first screening of this year’s Love Island. That may seem harsh, but the consensus that Rovers players were “on the beach” towards the end of the season was inescapable. Anyone who thinks differently – particularly when a side goes five games without scoring - has their heads buried in the sand. Ferguson arrived a dozen games in to the ill-fated 15/16 season and attempted to pick up compatriot Paul Dickov’s tatty rag of a squad. It was to get worse before it got better. Players who were past their best and on big money were not ideal ingredients to avoid a second relegation in three seasons. Nonethel...

In my younger years, I was prophetically – and accurately - told I would like three things in life; cricket, curries and beer. In short, it proved true. Though battling baltis and hangovers is now more my staple than facing the short ball. The assumption that fewer kids are interested in watching a bat v ball contest forms part of my (wider than I’d realised) disillusionment with the game but could it be considered cricket’s own fault? Rewind to 1998 and the fifth and final day of the South Africa test at Headingley and you’ll understand that my first experience of cricket, aged eight, was a perfect one. A dramatic series win proved seminal for English cricket. And though I had no real appreciation of what Darren Gough was doing, both technically and contextually, in skittling the Proteas, I just wanted to be like him so would re-enact his nuances as I would, say, Alan Shearer. And, shortly after receiving a Nasser Hussain playing card for the 1999 World Cup from school, I re...

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...

Doncaster 22- 16 Featherstone Kingstone Press Championship Keepmoat Stadium, attendance – 1317 Doncaster player/coach Paul Cooke can add the title of ‘matchwinner’ to his ever growing list of roles and responsibilities within the south Yorkshire club’s ranks following his 70 th minute try which salvaged a creditable win over highly-fancied Featherstone. Cooke-d to perfection The 32 year old (right) was the difference between the two sides and his majestic dummy late on was fit to settle any game in a contest where Doncaster held the lead for the large part. After Dave Scott and Jay Pitts had helped the hosts in to a 12 point lead before the half hour mark, their biggest enemy was a near-crippling penalty count against them; their ill-discipline only outdone by the weather and subsequent bouts of hail.   Featherstone got off the mark just before half time when Ian Hardman pounced on a chip through to race clear and halve the deficit and, though Stewart San...

Pointing in the right direction: Dickov Doncaster Rovers 1-0 Sheffield Wednesday Skybet Championship Keepmoat Stadium, attendance – 12609 “It wasn’t the best we’ve played by any means recently but sometimes you’ve got to really roll your sleeves up, dig in and get a result,” were the words of a delighted Doncaster Rovers boss Paul Dickov as his side edged this south Yorkshire derby and gave their survival hopes a massive boost in the process. Rovers moved eight points clear of the trap door thanks to Chris Brown’s 32 nd minute strike; completing a satisfying double over their neighbours. Owls boss Stuart Gray said his side’s efforts were an “off day” as his team slumped to their first defeat in three outings. “When you’re on top you’ve got to convert your chances. Our crossing was poor and our shooting was poor.” Gray wasn’t wrong, the visitor’s best chance fell to Leon Best whose shot was smartly saved by Sam Johnstone while Rovers utilised their set pieces bet...

While the achievements of Sheffield United’s remarkable FA Cup run to the semi-final may have stolen the majority of headlines in the Steel City lately, their cross city neighbours, Wednesday, have been going about their business rather purposefully of late, rattling off four wins in their last six league outings. Fresh from resounding victories over Birmingham City and Queens Park Rangers, the Owls travel to local rivals Doncaster Rovers on Saturday in a fixture where a win would all but secure their Championship status for another season, as they push for a top ten finish for the first time in seven years. Manager Stuart Gray (right) said: "I've always said the incentive is to chip away at teams above and finish as high as possible. I know we are taking an unbelievable following to Doncaster and I am very grateful to the fans for that. The challenge for the players is to put on a performance for the supporters and continue on this winning run.” Gray’s opposite nu...

Sheffield United 1-0 Carlisle United Sky Bet League 1 Bramall Lane Attendance: 15,437 Hopes of a Wembley double are still very much alive for Nigel Clough whose side recorded a routine win against Carlisle United in what has been a far from routine season so far for Sheffield United. Clough (right) , who saw his side book a date in the FA Cup semi-final with victory over Charlton Athletic at the weekend, allowed himself the luxury of dreaming of an unlikely play-off spot just months on from relegation fears. “The top five have probably gone away a little bit but that sixth spot is still up for grabs,” he said optimistically. The Blades, who celebrate their 125 th anniversary this season, have now recorded ten consecutive wins in all competitions and saw this one out thanks to Jose Baxter’s 28 th minute strike. “I’m incredibly proud of what the players have achieved. You almost run out of superlatives as to what they have done,” added Clough. “Some of them were dead o...

The method of Stuart Broad’s dismissal courtesy of West Indian wicketkeeper Denesh Ramdin was more a case of ‘limped out’ than the ‘run out’ recorded in the scorebooks, as England suffered a 27 run defeat in the first of the three match Twenty20 series in Barbados yesterday. The England captain’s exit not only typified his side’s performance but arguably the winter of discontent suffered by English cricket which can’t be forgotten soon enough. Nursing a long-term knee injury for which he has regular painkilling injections, Broad ‘tweeted’: “The workload over the winter has got it to a point it needs treatment. 7 days should be fine.” With the defence of their World T20 crown in Bangladesh on the horizon, questions must be asked about the frequency of matches that their premier all-rounder, and arguably best bowler, is participating in. The fact that Broad has played five Ashes tests, six ODI matches and four T20 internationals since late November must speak for its...

Second Ashes Test Review Australia beat England by 218 runs. When Australia wrapped up the second Ashes test in Adelaide by securing England’s four remaining wickets within an hour of play on day five, it all seemed too easy for the hosts. It has been a breeze for Darren Lehmann’s side so far as they sit just one win away from reclaiming the coveted urn.  The head coach replaced the unpopular Mickey Arthur just 18 days before Australia began their campaign in England and, though his side lost 3-0; ‘Boof’ provided the down to earth and old school mantra which made the Baggy Greens competitive. Just six months down the line and it’s the English who are “facing a whitewash” according to former skipper Michael Vaughan who labelled the current crop’s attempts as “feeble”. From day one in Brisbane to day four in Adelaide, he wasn’t wrong. The tourists have been battered and bruised and look completely broken. Lehmann’s philosophy, opposed to Andy Flower’s scie...

Panesar: sitting tight Second Ashes Test preview. Amid the moralising, agreeing to disagree and general fall out from the Ashes first test in Brisbane, which was all overshadowed by excessive sledging and the departure, due to mental health concerns, of England’s Jonathan Trott, the most important question will start to be answered tomorrow morning: what next? England’s grip on the urn was significantly weakened by Michael Clarke’s men at the Gabba, who were as good as the tourists were poor. Johnson: terrifying, Warner: devastating, Clarke: imperious. The winning margin a hefty 381 runs. Captain Alistair Cook and head coach Andy Flower will know that England have an uphill struggle if they are to retain the urn, following the Brisbane defeat – their first in thirteen months. The last time England were beaten was by India in a first test drubbing in Ahmadabad, a catalyst for their first series win on the sub-continent for over 25 years. There can be no qu...

Sheffield Shield Victoria 118 South Australia 163/3 M.C.G. Stumps Day 1 South Australia opener Phillip Hughes gave Cricket Australia selectors a timely nudge in the ribs with an unbeaten 77 to put his side in command against a below par Victoria at the MCG. After skittling the hosts for a miserly first innings total of 118 - in which the effusive Dan Christian top scored with a determined 39 – Hughes set about proving his capabilities and went to task with typical diligence. His compact and unorthodox stance troubled what was, in truth, a mediocre pace attack and anything square of the wicket got ‘the treatment’. Hughes, who breezed past his half century off 96 balls, was ably helped by Tom Cooper to rattle off a devastating 107 run partnership for the third wicket. Most intriguing for Australian coach Darren Lehmann – himself a left hander who had to bide his time before donning the baggy green – will be Hughes’ adeptness at playing the short delivery....