All square at Cantley Park as Rovers come from behind twice.
Rovers - 2 (N’Guessan 38' , Williamson 78')Hartlepool- 2 (Smith 18’ , Woods 48’)
Tuesday 10th November, 2015
Cantley Park, Doncaster
Final Third Development League
On a very windy afternoon at Cantley Park, Rovers got off to a good start playing attacking football.
Just three minutes in first team player Dany N’Guessan should have put the home side ahead. Him and Michael Carberry linked up well down the left before N’Guessan cut inside to shoot but his effort was tame and Adam Bartlett was able to make the save.
Rovers were almost caught out at the back when a long ball played towards Connor Smith caught Rob Jones off guard. Missing his header, Smith was through but fortunately Marko Marosi was quick off his line to clear the ball.
Rovers went close again as Harry Forrester dinked a free kick into the area for N’Guessan to hit first time but his side footed shot was just wide of the right post.
Against the run of play Hartlepool took the lead as Conor Smith found himself completely unmarked in the Rovers area and was left with a simple finish following a cross into the box.
Rovers looked to have equalised when a lovely move between Forrester and Main saw Forrester shoot on the angle. With Bartlett beaten, his shot hit the side netting.
Just before half time N’Guessan did get the equaliser for Rob Jones’ side. Fancy footwork from Billy Whitehouse down the right lost his marker before he crossed in to N’Guessan who made no mistake in heading into the bottom corner.
HALF TIME: Rovers 1-1 Hartlepool
Rovers didn’t start the second half well and Hatlepool took the lead just three minutes from the restart. The ball fell to Michael Woods on the edge of the area and finding some space he fired a low shot at goal, beating Marosi.
Rovers settled into the second half and started to enjoy more possession going forward. Curtis Main did brilliantly to chase a long ball down, before squaring it to Jack McKay in the area who saw his shot blocked by the defender.
N’Guessan continued to be a problem for the Pools defence, having a number of shots blocked before winning a corner for the home side. Substitute Kevin Mbuti headed in from a corner but the referee disallowed the goal due to a foul on Bartlett.
Billy Whitehouse became the next to go close as he got on the end of an N’Guessan rebound but his snap shot was dragged wide of the post.
With ten minutes to play Rovers got back into the game for the second time. A short corner taken allowed Forrester to cross the ball into the box which was headed in by Conor Williamson.
Team Lineups-
Rovers: Marosi, Whitehouse, Carberry (Parkin 77’), Williamson, Jones (Mbuti 52’), P.McKay, Davies, Linley (J.McKay 45’), Main, N’Guessan, Forrester
Unused Subs: Jones, Barker
Hartlepool: Bartlett, Richards (Turnbull 60’), Howes, Magnay, Cunningham, Jones, Woods, Walker, Smith, Nelson-Addy, Banton
Unused Subs: Travers, Dawson, Elliott, Jewson
Cautions: Cunningham 40’ , Turnbull 82'