I think I should start by alluding, as they do a lot in the wider media, to “Award-winning" Doncaster Rovers: Madger Gomez, League 1 player of the month, Tyreece John-Jules – goal of the month and the Club itself “Screwfix Moment of the Month", the list goes on…. These are completely genuine achievements and I cannot remember a month in which I have seen such a collection of real quality goals and the other award, indicative of the caring role of the club in the community, makes you quite proud to be a supporter.
And now to the match which I have started to write about several times, but put it off because of the “breaking news" which has turned out to be
of the extremely good variety. Josh Sims and Matt Smith differ from the existing loanees in that they are a bit older and have actually played top-flight football at senior level, Sims for Saints in the PL and Smith for Wales v Bulgaria on 14 October! They are both in their early 20s, so they bring with them really useful experience as well as a high level of skill. I think I even feel a little excited by it all.
Whether they will play on Saturday was a question which DM could not answer at the press conference (when the two new signings were not over the line as they say), but if they don’t, it will certainly encourage those who do even more than ever.
Before these events, my theme was to be the absence of crowd at Fratton Park. The huge wall of sound at the home end is said to suck the ball into the opponents’ net in the second half and it is probably the most formidable collection of voices that I have encountered in following the Rovers away in recent years. However, I have seen Rovers win there and then the crowd can bring pressure to the home team and, like at the Stadium of Light, it is not always a bonus if the away team score first and get on top. Without the crowd, how will it be then? Who knows?
The set-backs of the last two games and a performance which is almost unforgivable versus Oldham (who have yet to win the league) has to be overcome and without the encouragement of today’s signings, I think I would have difficulty in predicting anything but a defeat tomorrow. I am not quite clear (and neither was the manager in his press conference yesterday) on who is fit to play of those recently injured, so the newcomers might be included by default, but the prospects for a win seem rather below moderate and perhaps a draw might represent a decent recovery of form.
So 1-1 and Big Tom to score for me.
DPL v Portsmouth
posted on 16/10/20
My biggest worry at the moment is will they let me travel home to Wales on Monday as I'm currently in England? Even if they do I'm likely to face a 2 week lockdown in Wales. Let's hope Rovers travel before Doncaster is put into Tier 3. Yes there is more to life than Covid or should be. No idea what to expect from Rovers tomorrow so I'll say a 4-1 win for us. John Jules, or Taylor or Wright. All right.
posted on 17/10/20
2-1 to Rovers. Taylor Richards and Whiteman with the goals.
posted on 17/10/20
2-2 richards with the first
posted on 17/10/20
Forever the optimist: Pompey 1 Rovers 2 with Whiteman to score.
I see Marquis is on the bench - I'm sure he will come on sometime, especially if Rovers are winning.
posted on 17/10/20
Pompey 2-1 Rovers
Okenabirhie to score.
Hope that I'm wrong.
PS i got the Bristol Rovers result right Donaldo
posted on 17/10/20
Well done lads, but there is still much to learn. Another game when Rovers dominated early, but let Pompey back into the game when Pompey changed tactics. However, this time they did not crumble at all in the second half. I thought the starting line-up a little strange with James playing well up the field, but it proved the winning move after astute substitutions.
Positives included some smart passing, and the ability to break quickly. Again, the killer touch was missing. Their GK came out very quickly three times in the first half to smother what could have been good chances. Okenabirhie had the best of them, and his poor first touch gave the GK the time and space to smother the ball. In the second half he made a very good save from a firm shot by Okenabirhie that would have been a goal against some GKs.
I liked what I saw of Josh Sims, but not enough time for Matt Smith to show much after he came on very late in the game.
The defence was solid most of the time, just got into trouble with some poor choice of passes, and some unnecessary fouls - although Pompey fooled the ref too often with falling down and rolling around - who do they think they are, Neymar in the last World Cup? I’d like to see it again, but I thought the yellow for James was a little harsh as I would have been tempted to give a yellow to the Pompey player for diving.
In this game we unusually wasted too many corners, and used throw-ins poorly as we often do. The amount of playing backwards still concerns me - on about three occasions we were in a good attacking position and the ball finished back with Bursik! I thought Bursik’s distribution was a little below par, and he seemed less confident with some crosses, but he is going to be an excellent GK.
Once again, I could only get the home commentary with the video feed - it will be interesting to see what I get on the highlights. The Radio Solent guys thought Marquis is way below par this season.
posted on 18/10/20
Thanks Micky; I was on the move yesterday and saw some of the second half on my phone and did get the Rovers commentary. DM seems to be shaping up to having very interchangeable squads to cater for the twice-weekly games. I have yet to see the highlights, but given the injuries, it was probably as good a performance as was possible. Bursik does flap a bit; we need him to learn from these experiences.
posted on 18/10/20
Thanks, Donald, as you have got me thinking about the commentary. I use a VPN on both my iMac and iPhone which hides where you actually are. On Tuesday I'll try with the VPN switched off.
posted on 21/10/20
Comment Deleted by Article Creator
posted on 21/10/20
I posted the above comment on to the wrong thread - now reposted to DPL Ipswich