You knew it was the F.A. Cup 3rd Round because there were grey skies above and it was cold. The Rovers made four changes to the starting line-up, In came Habib Beye after serving a suspension, Adam Lockwood, Giles Barnes and Mamadou Bagayoko. Herita Ilunga had returned to West Ham United, George Friend was injured, Simon Gillett was on the bench and Billy Sharp was also out.

The County set the game in motion but the Rovers soon gained possession and had a majority of the same for the first ten minutes, with just a shot by Bennett from 20yards that had Nelson going down to his right to gather. The visitors then got going and Lee Hughes got down to the right byline before crossing low to the middle where Hawley got in front of Hird but could only stab wide. minutes later they won a corner when Hawley had his shot deflected wide but Button punched it away. Then Kelly crossed from the right touchline but Lee Hughes headed wide. Continuing to have the better of possession Judge fired wide from 25yards and followed this on the half hour by hitting a good low shot from a similar distance that had Button diving to push away. The Rovers had spasmodic attacks during this time but two minutes later Barnes brought a save from Nelson. However, in the 37th minute, the County were awarded a free kick on their right, which was placed to the far post where J HUGHES took advantage of some hesitation by the Rovers defenders to fire past Button and into the far corner of the net. This appeared to nudge the Rovers into action and get back into the game but the scoreline remained at one goal up to the visitors when the referee blew for the break.

Half Time - Doncaster Rovers 0 Notts County 1

The Rovers went straight on to the attack from the kick off, with the first crack at goal coming in the 48th minute when Bennett hit a swerving drive from 25 yards that Nelson could only beat away. But the County began to get into the game and won a corner in the 57th minute. They were proving to be a difficult team to handle for the Rovers, who introduced Oster into the game a minute later. In the 65th minute, with the Rovers pressing again, Coppinger put a great cross from the left touchline to the far post where Hayter couldn't get a foot to it and Nelson, seeing it at the last second, managed to push it out for a corner. However, in the 69th minute, Sheehan attacked from the left, got into the penalty area and was barged over by Bennett. Penalty said the referee and J HUGHES duly stepped up and planted to Button's left as he went right. In the 76th minute a good build-up by the Rovers led to Hayter laying the ball back for Bennett in the penalty area but he curled a left foot effort wide of the post. Coppinger had a good shot saved and Stock put wide as the Rovers tried to hit back. But the County were equal to the task of defending and going on to the attack. Harley put well wide from 35 yards and a corner came to nothing but the Rovers were being denied the ball. As the last five minutes of normal time came up the Rovers went on all-out attack. Stock put wide, successive corners came to nothing and in five minutes of added time Woods put wide from just of the area and O'Connor headed wide from a corner. The referee's whistle went on a Notts County victory so that all that's left for the Rovers is the battle to get out of the relegation zone.

Result - Doncaster Rovers 0 Notts County 2

Teams - ROVERS - David Button; James O'Connor, Sam Hird, Habib Beye, Adam Lockwood; James Coppinger, Brian Stock, Giles Barnes, Kyle Bennett; James Hayter, Mamadou Bagayoko

Subs used - John Oster for Babayoko 58 mins; Martin Woods for Barnes 70 mins; El Hadji Diouf for Coppinger 78 mins;

Subs not used - Shelton Martis, Lamine Diatta, Simon Gillett, Gary Woods gk

Cautions - Bennett 72 mins; Diouf 88 mins;

Notts County - Stuart Nelson; Julian Kelly, Damion Stewart, Liam Chilvers, Alan Sheehan; Alan Judge, Neal Bishop, Jeff Hughes, Hamza Bencherif; Karl Hawley, Lee Hughes

Subs used - Jon Harley for Kelly 65 mins;  Ben Burgess for L Hughes 81 mins;

Subs not used - Mike Edwards, Krystian Pearce, Charlie Allen, Hayden Hollis, Liam Mitchell 

Cautions - Sheehan 43 mins.