Doncaster Rovers (A) League 1 - Tuesday 2/10/07.

[SheffieldSaddler]

Onto the match.
First half we played well for 15 minutes and looked good, but in between Donny had the better of it for two 15 minutes spells.
Then second half we were all over them, their keeper pulled off 3 superb saves before we made it 2-2.
Sonko running the show, fantastic.
Then errmmmm not sure! :roll:

Just ban him :lol: :wink:

On a serious note then, the Police computers are useless.
I have been registered on the electoral role for 3 years at my current address and they couldnt find it?!?!?!
And they couldnt find that I have a driving license at the address to?!?!
:roll: :roll: :roll: :roll: :roll: :roll:

[Cheesebag]

The ultimate game of two halves, first half, could have been 3 down, sloppy keeping and sloppy at the back. 2nd half we battered em, mentions to Sonko and Mattis. Ishmael also did loads of running to help the team. Well done lads.

[Burnside]

Just in.

What a game. Possibly the best away game i've been to (when promotion / relegation etc hasn't been at stake) for many a year.

I saw 4-5-1 and thought hmmm not bad. Saw Mooney and thought hmmm he might struggle on his todd though. I thought hmmm this could be rather boring.

First 20 minutes or so i thought i was right. We had what ? 2 half chances and one of the half chances needed a deflection to go in. There was no spark, no resiliance, no backbone, no cohesive pattern of play. Just a scattering of blue shirts chasing around a good side.

Second half, no changes. Thought Deeney or Hall might come on.

Oh my lord what a dramatic change. Key things in my opinion.

1) Sonko and Ishy got forward a lot more and played closer to Mooney and actually ran off him.
2) The fullbacks started to cross the halfway line and push on. Crosses galore
3) Lewis Guy put on a much tighter leash.
4) Work rate increased.
5) Mattis, Dobson and Bradley actually worked out how to work together (settled down)
6) Mattis and Bradley actually moved forward with the ball and looked to make distracting runs.
7) Sonko and Ishy were phenominal in the second half. Haven't seen us play such exciting stuff since Junior and Leitao were tieing defences up in knots !

4-5-1 is the way forward. It's not defensive if you get your wide men working.

Note to say Mark Bradley looked very good tonight as well !

[Burnside]

How did i forget that Ref !

You'll have to go back a long way to see me ever complain about one but this guy. Jeez.

Our Penalty, bit weird.

Their penalty, was at the wrong end for me to see but wouldn't describe it as blatent.

The slightest thing drew a card or a foul.

I thought Mattis might have been red carded by some refs for that two footed lunge.

There bald full back would have walked usually as well.

Why the guy was sent off goodness knows !

At least there were 5 goals to overshadow him. Bet he is gutted tonight !

[hullsaddler]

Just got in. What a superb game to go to.
I thought after 20 minutes that it was going to end up a comfortable 3-0 win for Doncaster. We were just not in it at all. One down to a poor effort from Ince . He seemed unsure whether to come for the cross & the guy had a free header. Then a pile driver from Fox with a nice deflection assist from the Doncaster wall & we're undeservedly level. We then started to play a bit & the game was far more even until again I felt Ince was at fault when he should have come out to the guy cutting in at his near post. At half time I was annoyed that having got into the game we'd sloppily let it slip.
What a transformation in the second half though. If it hadn't been for their goalkeeper we could have scored at least another 3 goals. How he got his fingertips to that fierce drive from Mooney that went onto the underside of the bar,I dont know.It looked like he would singlehandedly keep us at bay until Bradley's deserved equaliser ( did he scuff his shot a bit?) . It's amazing how games can change but we looked so positive and dangerous and were challenging for the ball. Dobson & especially Mattis were excellent. I took a friend with me & he was really impressed with Mattis in the second half.
Then whatever came over Sullivan I dont know. He must have thought the ref would not be looking as he had the ball in his hands. If there is a show called 'You've been tripped' then this trip of Sonko will surely feature. I would love to hear what was said in the Doncaster dressing room. Then thank you Tommy Mooney for a sublime penalty that certainly shut the Donny fans up.
The icing on the cake however has to be that last minute penalty miss . It seemed a harsh penalty but what a dreadful miss. It looked 6 foot wide.
A sending off as well, presumably he expressed his disappointment to the referee in some way?
All in all an absolutely excellent evening!!!
I can't remember the last time I went to two away wins in 4 days. And to think at one point I was worried about how far adrift we would now be at the bottom of the table.

[stefano123]

Due to work i havent made many games this year... and i see Dobbin aint played again, but what is the crack with him? has DD finally realised he isn't very good!?

[YGA Saddler]

Just got in, what can I say? That second half is up there with the best I have seen from a Walsall team, we bombarded Doncaster's defence and apart from the last minute penalty Doncaster never really troubled (although the penalty didnt trouble us either! :lol: )

Alot of us on here have called for 4-5-1 away from home, with Ishy and Sonko moving alongside Mooney when we were attacking -ala Chelsea, and my god didnt it work well?! I dont think we can use it at home but away from home, not many teams will cope with it.
Sonko and Mattis really impressed me, with both of them being the most instrumental when going forward. I still think we need an additional striker, now Butler doesnt want to stay but apart from that im happy.

If I was Donny I wouldnt play Sullivan ever again (Id ship him off to Peterboro), there was no need for him to lash out at Mattis/Ishy and give away a stupid penalty like that, never mind though it won us the game 8)

We do need to stop the silly goals going in though, there wont be many away games where we will score three.

The referee wasnt great but I'll leave Leamore to comment on him.

All in all a quality all round performance, if we can emulate these away results at the Banks's then bring on the Championship :wink:

[belgiansaddler]

What a performance :D :D First half thought they srated ok, nothing special. Shambolic defence for the first goal, we pulled it back then had a really good spell then as someone has already mentioned i was also annoyed at HT that we had managed to throw it away by letting in another sloppy goal.

Nothing could have prepared us for the second half, and Donny certainly weren't prepared, we absolutely mullered them. We were rippring them to pieces at times but it seemed the ball just would not go in the net, until it did :lol: :lol: That annoying :twisted: Sullivan :twisted: kept them in it with some amazing saves. Some of the refereeing was completely bizarre. Our pace and movement going forward at times were awesome, they didn't know what to do. Sonko and Ishy running at them, midfielders up in support looking for the ball. Thought Mattis was superb tonight, if he carries on like this we need to get him signed up.

The last two matches has been by far the most balanced I have seen us, Saturday was a very good solid performance where we created some good chances and deserved to win. First half tonight at times we played ok and only wne t in 2 - 1 down due to some dubious defending and lack of communication between Ince and the rest. Second half though was simply awesome :lol: It has been a long time since I have seen a home side so completely and utterly outplayed for 45 minutes at home, especially when they have been playing us :P

And for the record what happened with Sheffield was ridiculous FACT :wink: I was sitting in the row behind and saw everything that happened. It was to say the least an exciting game, if some moron steward can't tell when supporters are wrapped up in an exciting game and getting a bit worked up (as the entire travelling contingent was at that particular point due to the ref, although i suppose not all of the travelling support ran down the front to tell him this :lol: ) then he should not be in the job. There was at no point any threat to anyone and his language was no more foul and abusive than the entire away end at that point in time. As usual it was one pillock (and I don't mean Sheffield :wink: ) with a point to prove

[Asps]

Just got in - stopped for a celebratory drink in Burton. Had to be done after such a superb performance 2nd half.

We murdered them - as posted already the game had everything.

Just like a Saddlers cup run match from years ago.

Oldham was the worst match I've seen for 5 years & tonights was the best for 5 years.

Poor old Sheff - only Doffer can get away with doing the Matthew Simmons/Cantona run down the terrace :lol:

Took 7 stewards to escort him out, but he took it like a man. Something about Sheff & Donny, he don't like stopping to the end.

Got some good pics on the phone of him :lol: :lol:

[latviancheese]

Due to work i havent made many games this year... and i see Dobbin aint played again, but what is the crack with him? has DD finally realised he isn't very good!?

Lol durrrrrrr :roll:

[Exile]

Poor Sheff. As a fellow early evictee (albeit years ago) I sympathise.

[SheffieldSaddler]

Due to work i havent made many games this year... and i see Dobbin aint played again, but what is the crack with him? has DD finally realised he isn't very good!?

Lol durrrrrrr :roll:

I was waiting for someone to correct him! :lol:

[SheffieldSaddler]

Poor Sheff. As a fellow early evictee (albeit years ago) I sympathise.

Well if I have your sympathy, I am happy tonight again! :wink:

[belgiansaddler]

forgot to say huge credit to DD and the players again tonight, hats off and credit once again where it is due. And believe me tonight it is very much due :D They did not know what hit them 2nd half and by the end were in total disarray, hence their penalty miss :lol: :lol: :lol:

[geoffwhiting]

Sheffield Saddler got kicked out so I've just been told :D

He just texted me - thrown out for using foul and abusive language :D

He enjoyed the game though (up until then).

What did he say "Bring back Colin Lee" ? :lol: Naughty boy!

Clearly a case of mistaken identity I'm sure. Sheff is always very reserved and would never utter forth with foul and abusive language in public. :roll:

The lad is gutted and can't believe what has happened to him. He was in bits when I spoke to him on the phone as he was on the train home.

Justice for the Sheffield One !!!!!

Thanks for your support Geoff.
I am totally innocent beyond doubt. FACT!

There can be little doubt that you are innocent, as I have never heard a single swear word pass your lips.
















They normally come out in dozens ! :lol:

[KJC]

Due to work i havent made many games this year... and i see Dobbin aint played again, but what is the crack with him? has DD finally realised he isn't very good!?

:roll: :roll: :roll:


Dobson played... and played well, from the reports I've heard.

[belgiansaddler]

A couple of firsts tonight. First time I have been to Donny's new ground and i must admit once inside its a nice ground and you can generate a decent atmosphere. The location, just as with the vast majority of new grounds, is the absolute pits. Middle of a retail park / industrial estate, one pub near the ground that had more bouncers on the door than punters inside but still refused to let anyone who they suspected of being a Walsall fan in. We (along with a few other suspects off here) ended up having our pre match drink in Pizza Hut FFS!!! Whats the world come to :roll: :roll: :roll:

Nice Deep Pan Peperoni though :P

[YGA Saddler]

A couple of firsts tonight. First time I have been to Donny's new ground and i must admit once inside its a nice ground and you can generate a decent atmosphere. The location, just as with the vast majority of new grounds, is the absolute pits. Middle of a retail park / industrial estate, one pub near the ground that had more bouncers on the door than punters inside but still refused to let anyone who they suspected of being a Walsall fan in. We (along with a few other suspects off here) ended up having our pre match drink in Pizza Hut FFS!!! Whats the world come to :roll: :roll: :roll:

Nice Deep Pan Peperoni though :P

There was another first tonight.....my first chance to sample a Walsall victory this season! 8)

[Asps]

A couple of firsts tonight. First time I have been to Donny's new ground and i must admit once inside its a nice ground and you can generate a decent atmosphere. The location, just as with the vast majority of new grounds, is the absolute pits. Middle of a retail park / industrial estate, one pub near the ground that had more bouncers on the door than punters inside but still refused to let anyone who they suspected of being a Walsall fan in. We (along with a few other suspects off here) ended up having our pre match drink in Pizza Hut FFS!!! Whats the world come to :roll: :roll: :roll:

Nice Deep Pan Peperoni though :P

The potato wedges were nice also.

Glad we didn't have the wine unlike the 2 mincers we were with :lol:

[sack]

hay guys thet was some game that you know. awesome just brilliant. i didn't know those players cud play like that, the differance between that and other games this season was massive, in fact todays performance was massive well second harf anyway, it's been years since we played like that, we could have been watching chelsea, walking out the dony fans looked well shocked, mind you so did i, i don't think i'll sleep tonight, if i mention every player that played well i'd just be copying doun the team sheet, but just a word for mooney, are we sure he's 36, he didn't look it tonight, i'll take him every time over idiot boy butler, looks like i could have bean wrong about him, he looked so fit and at it tonight, hope he's fit for saturday, he looked to be struggling about 10 from the end i hope it's nothing to serious with him. tonights summing up word has to be MASSIVE, up the saddlers.

[HKSaddler]

A great result. Hopefully we can start to perform at home. Mid-table obscurity at the moment. Great news!

[King Crimson]

Wooo and indeed hoooooooo.

I agree. Tremendous result. 3 points off the play-offs.
:D
Now to find the formula for home games. :idea:

[Neil Ravenscroft]

http://upthesaddlers.com/wp/archives/20 ... ll-report/

[philthesaddler]

From what I hear, a magnificent performance, Money even called it the best since he's been at the club.

It looks like Oldham was the catalyst for change at the club, something happened after that match that has resuled in Sonner leaving, Butler being outcast, Mattis and Mullen coming in, and suddenly the team fighting tooth and nail in every match - something we hadn't seen yet this season, and something that was worrying a lot of people because we would capitulate so easily. The last two games has shown grit and determination, resilience and more chances created than in the previous 9 games put together.

Something definately happened after Oldham, and the club has got rid of two bad eggs in the form of Sonner and Butler, bought in an assistant we've needed for nearly a year and a midfielder with legs which nearly all of us said we needed from before the season started, it's no coincidence the performances and results have improved dramatically.

[Stu]

The last two games has shown grit and determination, resilience and more chances created than in the previous 9 games put together.

Sorry Phil, but I've got to pick you up on this, in the league with the exception of Oldham, we've created numerous chances in every match we've played. We've just missed the killer touch. Creating chances hasn't really been the problem, converting them has been the problem.

So to say we've created more chances in the last 2 matches than the previous 9 is tosh... We've been a clinical striker short of converting every defeat into a draw and every draw into a win in every match except Oldham in my opinion.

We've not played poorly, we've just been careless at times and lost concentration and been punished heavily for it.

[Whitti Steve]

The last two games has shown grit and determination, resilience and more chances created than in the previous 9 games put together.

Sorry Phil, but I've got to pick you up on this, in the league with the exception of Oldham, we've created numerous chances in every match we've played. We've just missed the killer touch. Creating chances hasn't really been the problem, converting them has been the problem.

So to say we've created more chances in the last 2 matches than the previous 9 is tosh... We've been a clinical striker short of converting every defeat into a draw and every draw into a win in every match except Oldham in my opinion.

We've not played poorly, we've just been careless at times and lost concentration and been punished heavily for it.

Stu - I agree, with the exception of the Oldham game, I don't think we have been as bad as some have made out, like you say - we have missed the killer touch. The general play has been better than last season.

[Salop Saddler]

I don't get the chance to go to as many games as I'd like with training the greyhounds but this one made up it!!!

Just that extra half a yard of pace has made a huge difference, and we've gone from a group of players walking on egg shells, to a team who wants to win. Great stuff.

Sheff, you we're doing nothing more than I or any number of people were doing when you got your collar felt. Disgraceful mate.

[Whitti Steve]

Wrack - pulled hamstring, out for a month possibly.

[Duke]

One thing Phil is spot on with , Sonner and Butler , somethings happened
behind the scenes . but thats gone done and dusted. lets look forward.

[priestley_saddler]

Walsall will win and im not going tonight either.

In view of the fact you're not going I change my prediction to a Walsall win :D

So far you've been to Leyton Orient, Gillingham, Swansea and Bournemouth and we've lost them all. You've missed Millwall and Hartlepool and we won both, keep up the good work mate! :wink:

:D :D :D

Told you we'd win Baz if you stayed at home. Are you going on Saturday? :wink: