DPL v Wimbledon

I thought Rovers the better team in the first half, and the Womblies for most of the second half. Mitchell had relatively little to do compared with the earlier games.
Rowe missed a sitter at 0-0 early in the second half, but partly made up for it with a great finish for our first. Rovers overall deserved at least a draw, and nearly grabbed a winner when Josh Andrews shot narrowly wide with almost the last kick of the game.
I'm encouraged that the Rovers kept going with determination. After Wimbledon's second goal I thought "game over" as it would well have been that last season.
With more real games playing together they could become quite a force in League Two. Clayton is the mastermind behind much of the play and seems to be a real leader. His "yellow" was no "yellow" - ref playing to the fans and team members who crowded him, even puttuing hands on the ref's shoulder. I thought contacting the ref is a no-no and deserves a card!
We just have to cut out some of the mistakes while defending.
Biggins had probably his best game so far, but often spoils some good play by a poor pass at the end.
On to next Tuesday!

Yes better but still not sure we have enough pace in midfield to help in defence and spring the attacks. Players standing off far too much led to the goals again but as the ref was handing out cards like confetti probably understandable. It looks like we have an inexperienced bench yet they have made the difference in getting results. Kuleya is an exciting prospect.

Nookie, I agree as the lack of pace compared to Wimbledon was obvious - acceleration seems to be a problem. Is that because the decision process is taking too long? I know from the camera angle it is hard to determine actual distances, but too often our attackers seemed to give up getting to a through ball when it appears on the screen that they could make it.
OK, this is probably too critical as I was encouraged bu some of our quality play. While I like controlling the game, we still seem to play backwards or across field too much, and are slow to respond to quick counter attacks.
To me the biggest differences was their speed of breaking from a defensive position to a threatening attack, as compared to our usual slower build up. Think about the EPL and Man City vs, Liverpool and why Man City has won so many titles.

Just watched the extending highlights - I know they just want to show "highlights", but what they showed from the first half was not really representative of what actually happened. And where was Rowe's terrible miss from the second half?

Micky, I know from my own experience playing tennis ,my lack of pace isn't due to decision making its age! Whist both Tomlin and Clayton are excellent technical players pace isnt their strong point. Im also not really sure the 4-3-2-1 system GM is adopting helps

Re subs. We always seem to score when Bobby Faulkener comes on. Perhaps he should start or come on sooner. 😂

https://popularstandfanzine.com/2022/08/14/afc-wimbledon-2-2-doncaster-rovers-250-word-match-report/

We looked good for a lot of the first half, but perhaps lacked a bit of bite. Wimbledon seemed content to play on the break so that they were defending in numbers most of the time.

You wonder why the home side only opted for a more aggressive approach in the second half because the added pressure revealed weaknesses which eventually led to their goals.

Tomlin’s style is more appealing than Bostock’s and he uses his skill to better effect in my view. I think this performance confirmed that Andrews’s potential contribution does not make him worth a place in the starting eleven and we get more value with Miller operating effectively on his own.

With Anderson back, the defence looked more comprehensive.

The spirit which levelled the scores was undeniable, but ideally we need more skill and speed and given the number of less experienced players, the potential could be there.

I'm wondering if a three at the back and 5 in midfield might be a better option.to start with.

Having now listened to GMcS’s post-match interview, I find it re-assuring that his analysis of the match is realistic and accurate. It makes a refreshing change after the nonsense that came from Wellens and the repetitive ramblings of Moore.

McCann didn’t say much, but all our other recent successful managers were worth listening to. Saunders because he was funny and Fergie and SOD for their insight.