Doncaster Rovers v Charlton Athletic - EFL League 1 - Play Off Semi Final 1st Leg

Sunday 12th May 2019
SkyBet EFL League 1 - Play Off Semi Final 1st Leg
at the Keepmoat Stadium
Doncaster Rovers (0)1
Matty Blair 87
Charlton Athletic (2) 2
Lyle Taylor 32, Joe Aribo 34
Attendance: 11,140 inc. 3,688 away fans
Point & hope photo gallery: Click HERE

One more year!

Doncaster Rovers:
Marosi, Andrew, Butler (c), Wilks, Whiteman, Marquis, Kane, Blair, Sadlier (May 84), Coppinger (Rowe 46), Downing.
Unused Subs - Jones, Crawford, Anderson, Smith, Lewis

Charlton Athletic:
Phillips, Dijksteel, Bielik, Bauer (c), Sarr, Purrington, Cullen, Morgan (Pratley 61), Aribo, Parker (Pearce 66), Taylor.
Unused Subs - Maxwell, Page, Forster-Caskey, Williams, Lapslie

Charlton missed out on automatic promotion to the Championship, by a solitary league position and three points, when they finished in third place, behind champions Luton Town and runners up Barnsley.
Rovers, for their part, claimed the last available play off spot, when they won their last home game 2-0 against Coventry City., while a draw or defeat against the Sky Blues would've seen Peterborough United claim sixth place instead.
Doncaster went into the play offs, as long odds underdogs, having finished a massive fifteen points behind Lee Bowyer's in form side.

But as the hosts manager Grant McCann pointed out in the build up to the game, 'Donny' have been underdogs all season. That said, having lost at Charlton in the league earlier in the season,  went back to the Valley in the FA Cup and beat this afternoon's visitors, while the reverse Championship fixture at the Keepmoat, finished one apiece, So it has been pretty much honours even between these two respective sides in recent times. Mind you Charlton, have played eleven more league games since they drew at Doncaster... and their sequence of results in towards the end of the season are: lost one, drawn one... and won nine!
Rovers are probably even more of an underdog side, now that Charlton Athletic hold the advantage after a narrow first leg win at Keepmoat Stadium this afternoon. But it is better to travel in hope, than not to make the journey at all.

Following an opening half hour during which time Rovers acquitted themselves quite well, Lyle Taylor put the Addicks in front, as he stooped to conquer... and headed the ball past Marko Marosi.
A section of the home fans (i.e. approximately 99.7% of them) were incensed and reckoned that if VAR had been in use today, the goal would've been chalked off, because Josh Cullen looked to be in an offside position, when he delivered the ball across Rovers six yard box. But the referee and his assistant, saw Albie Morgan's delivery into the box, ricochet towards Cullen off of a Rovers player and as a consequence reached the decision that he wasn't offside. Was he offside when Morgan initially put the ball into the area though? Because he was certainly interfering with play.

Taylor was involved in Charlton's second goal just two minutes later as well, playing in Joe Aribo with a threaded pass, who clinically picked his spot to double the visitors le

To all intents and purposes, if things were to carry on like this, it was beginning to look as though Rovers could be heading for a sound beating, that would all but render their hopes of progressing beyond the second leg at the Valley, in a game that was threatening to become a mere formality, inert.

But Matty Blair's opportunist strike, late in the game, when he diverted the ball past Dillon Phillips, after Malik Wilks' cross had deflected into the air in front of him, has kept the tie alive, ahead of Friday's second leg. The winner will go on to face Portsmouth or Sunderland at Wembley, on Sunday 26th May. The Mackems won the first leg of that semi final last night, in front of a crowd of 26,610 at the Stadium of Light, the return leg will take place at Fratton Park on Thursday night.

James Coppinger was thwarted twice by Phillips, from a brace of long range shots inside the opening twenty minutes... and before Taylor had opened the scoring with his twenty fifth goal of the season, Danny Andrews was desperately unlucky when his firmly struck, thirty yard free kick, crashed against the crossbar.
But despite their decent start, Rovers had a hill to climb after Taylor and Aribo netted within two minutes of each other... while thecomfort of a two goal cushion meant that Lee Bowyer's side could sit back and absorb everything that Doncaster could muster up to throw at the visitors, while hitting them swiftly on the counter attack.

Josh Parker went close to adding to the Addicks lead, heading narrowly wide from close range before the break, while Morgan's well caught half volley, was destined just inside the upright, until Marosi got his fingertips to the ball.
With just five minutes remaining, Rovers were banging away at Charlton's defence like a tribe of Duracell rabbits during mating season, but the South Londoners were hanging on to see the game out... and in the meantime, almost added a third, when Taylor narrowly failed to make contact with Aribo's cross from the right. But with just three minutes remaining, Blair found the net from a goal-hangers position, right on Phillips' goal line... and 'Donny' just about live to fight another day.
FT: Doncaster Rovers 1 v Charlton Athletic 2

I've decided, that I'll be making the journey to Charlton on Friday, for the second leg of this game... but right now, as of at this very moment in time, I'm en route to Mansfield, to watch the second leg of the Stags v Newport County League 2 Play Off Semi Final game.

It's all go, innit!?