The Rovers made one change for the match against Nottingham Forest, Jason Shackell returning after injury in place of the injured Gareth Roberts. This will necessitate a rejig of the back-four, with James O'Connor on the right and James Chambers moving across to the left. Forest made four changes after losing their last two away games, with James Perch, Lewis McGugan, Dele Adebola and Nathan Tyson coming in.
The Rovers got the game under way on a cold but fine afternoon and were soon on the attack, winning a corner in the fourth minute, which was cleared. Continuing on the attack, Sharp got in a left foot strike four minutes later from the right of goal that Camp, in the Forest goal, had to dive full length to his left to push round the post. Minutes later and a through ball from Oster for Sharp to get there before Kelvin Wilson and lob over the oncoming keeper but it went wide of the post. On the quarter hour Shackell was replaced by Hird, evidently not fully recovered. Forest then won three successive corners but they were successfully defended. At the other end a good move by the Rovers gave Mark Wilson a shot from 20 yards that Camp could only beat out. This set the Forest on the attack where Cohen challenged for the ball, won it and was brought down by Mark Wilson, with the Forest man claiming a penalty but the referee wasn't interested. Even play in midfield followed over the next ten minutes, with the game being played at a tremendous pace. Just before the half hour, the Rovers had a free kick on the right touchline halfway in the Forest half. It was placed to the far post where Sharp headed back across goal to the other post where Oster came in but put into the sidenet. Then, in the 31st minute, came the breakthrough. A Rovers attack reached Sharp, who laid it back to Chambers before racing into the penalty area to receive a terrific chip from Chambers and a flick of the head rocketed it past Camp for the opening goal. Forest re-started and straight away won a corner which came to nothing as the rain started to come down, not heavy but steady. Back came the Forest with Tyson racing clear on goal but Sullivan came to meet him and pushed the ball away as Tyson tried to shoot past him. O'Connor then cleared straight to Cohen but his attempt from 20yards at an unguarded goal was well wide. Coppinger then received in the middle of the pitch, showed great skill at getting past a defender before running on but his left foot effort was tame and wide. On 39 minutes, a free kick to the Rovers on the right was headed out for a corner, which was cleared and set the Forest on the attack to win a corner. The match ran down to the break and judging by the pace of the game the players would no doubt relish the rest.
Doncaster Rovers 1 Nottingham Forest 0
Although the Forest set the second half going it was the Rovers who went on the attack in the early minutes,with Wilson having a shot deflected for a corner and Hayter shooting over from 25yards. It was the 54th minute before the Forest got a strike at goal but Perch was well wide from 25yards. The match play evened out as the hour came up. Then, just past the hour, Oster, on the halfway line, put a passback intended for O'Connor, straight to McCleary, who ran on but, under challenge, put the ball wide. This was followed by Adebola beating the offside (according to the linesman) but putting wide under challenge. The match had settled to end to end play, providing plenty of excitement for the fans but nothing much in the way of goal attempts. On 75minutes, a free kick on the Rovers left from Stock was piunched away by Camp but in the 84th minute a tackle by McCleary on Oster was penalised by the referee with a red card for the Forest player. Both sides kept pushing forward for a goal but the nearest effort came in added time when a shot from Sharp from the edge of the area was deflected just the wrong side of the post for a corner. Five minutes of added time brought no reward for either team leaving the Rovers the winners by the single goal from Sharp.
A terrific game as befits a 'derby' , especially the first half but the Rovers never looked in danger of losing it.
Full time - DONCASTER ROVERS 1 Nottingham Forest 0,
Teams - Doncaster Rovers - Neil Sullivan; James O'Connor, Shelton Martis, Jason Shackell, James Chambers; James Coppinger, Brian Stock, Mark Wilson, John Oster; James Hayter, Billy Sharp
Subs used - Sam Hird for Shackell 15mins; Mustapha Dumbuya for Martis71mins; Jordon Mutch for Oster 90+2mins;
Subs not used - Lewis Guy, John Spicer, Dean Shiels, Ben Smith gk
Caution - Chambers,
Nottingham Forest - Lee Camp; James Perch, Wes Morgan, Kelvin Wilson, Lewis McGugan, Dele Adebola, Nathan Tyson, Chris Cohen, Chris Gunter, Paul McKenna, Radoslaw Majewski
Subs used - Garath McCleary for McGugan 54mins; David McGoldrick for Majewski 58mins; Dexter Blackstock for Tyson 72mins;
Subs not used - Luke Chambers, Robert Earnshaw, Guy Moussi, Paul Smith gk
Caution - Majewski, Wilson K,
Sent Off - McCleary
