29th April 2023
Doncaster Rovers vs Colchester United @ Eco-Power Stadium - Doncaster
EFL League Two
15:00 KO
£20 entry
Attendance - 5,928 (413 away fans)
Half-time score: Doncaster Rovers 1-0 Colchester United
Goal:
Doncaster Rovers: Rowe - 30'
Brief match highlights are on YouTube, see link below:
Final Score: Doncaster Rovers 1-0 Colchester United
May Bank Holiday weekend this year marked a big anniversary, so we had arranged a kid-free weekend to mark this, after having dropped them off at the in-laws near Lincoln. We started off the weekend by watching U's as they faced Doncaster Rovers in the final away game of the season, a game that did not mean anything, but was bound to be enjoyable with the pressure off. After the game, we headed to Cleethorpes to spent the Sunday by the coast.
We parked at the Frenchgate shopping centre and did a bit of shopping, before heading to a burger joint for lunch, Dope Burger, on the way to the ground, was banging!
We then walked to the ground, Google Maps took us through an interesting estate, Hyde Park, which we later learned was the 15th most dangerous area of the UK, I can understand why, but the riskiest things we saw were used needles and a random horse!? Sensing this was not the best idea, we headed back to the main road, was an extra 15minutes of walking time, but seemed the safest option! Before too long, we were at the ground, a nice modern stadium, with great facilities, much better than the standard of most League 2 grounds.
I bought a ticket at the ground for £20, and I also picked up a programme for £3, then headed to the club shop to get a pin badge, was a nice club shop, also full of merchandise for the rugby team that they share the ground with.
We then headed into the ground early to watch the player warm-ups, was just as impressive inside and it was outside, a top-notch stadium all-round!
It was a surprisingly warm and sunny day, jumpers came off, the colours came out, and before long both teams were out, both in their home strips, Doncaster Rovers in red and white hoops, and Colchester United in blue and white stripes. Despite it being a dead rubber, over 400 Col U fans had made their way to South Yorkshire, and they were in fine voice, setting up a brilliant party atmosphere in the away end.
KEY MOMENTS
DR = Doncaster Rovers
CU = Colchester United
4' - DR - The balls falls to Barlow on the edge of the box, his curling effort manages to cut through the crowd in the box, and just past the post, close!
7' - CU - Chilvers hits a free-kick towards the far-post, to find captain Chambers, he connects well with the ball and his looping effort is just turned over the bar by Louis Jones to concede a corner.
10' - CU - The ball is crossed into the box, where it is met by the head of Akinde, the ball again was looping in, but yet again keeper Louis Jones was able to turn it over the bar for a corner.
17' - CU - Tovide rises high to meet a high ball and flicked it on for Akinde, he is through on goal, but keeper Louis Jones was out fast to close the angle, and as Akinde shot, an outstretched leg blocked the ball. Big John should really have buried that one.
21' - CU - More Col U pressure results in a Chilvers volley that goes just wide.
30' - DR - GOAL (1-0) - A very soft free-kick is given, the ball is launched into the box, captain Rowe flicks a back header towards goal, and it seems to bounce underneath Tom Smith, a soft goal to concede, and not deserved.
40' - CU - A long ball is picked up by Akinde on the left, he outmuscles the defender and bursts into the box, he squares the ball to Read, but his effort is not hit with enough venom, and Louis Jones palms the ball out for a corner.
63' - CU - During a Col U attack, Chilvers finds substitute Fevrier on the left wing, he wrong foots Seaman, and hits a sweet left-footed strike towards goal, curling towards the top right, but it is well met by Louis Jones, batting the ball away.
95' - CU - Colchester turn the screw, and in the final moments, Read whips in a lovely ball, everyone misses the ball, but it bounces in front of Akinde in the right hand side of the box, he connects with his laces and the ball flashes towards the goal, and it looks like Louis Jones is behind the line when he makes the save, but nothing is given and the final whistle is immediately blown. Tchamadeu, then gets a second yellow after the final whistle for protesting, bizarre scenes.
I'm glad this game did not mean anything as the referee rather ruined this game! The Col U players were literally being rugby tackled to the ground, with no free-kick given, but the second a Col U player put in a tough challenge, it was a free-kick, and there were a couple of penalty shouts not given, one for a clear handball in the box, and one where Chilvers was scythed down in the box! Indeed, it was a rather spurious free-kick that resulted in Doncaster's winning goal. However, it was great to see Col U perform well, they dominated the game away from home and created enough chances to win, in fact, it looks like they did score with the last kick of the game, courtesy of Akinde's effort, but it was not given, and resulted in a red for Tchamadeu after the final whistle....As long as Col U can keep this core of players, as well as Ben Garner, after strengthening in a couple of positions in the summer, and off-loading the expensive ITFC chaff (excluding Chambers, and maybe Skuse), I feel that we are playing an exciting and physical brand of football that should see the U's challenge for the play-offs next season. Also, special mention to the U's fans, we completely outsung the Donny crowd, you would have thought that we were winning if you didn't know the score, U's fans are certainly up there with the best, we definitely don't only sing when we're winning! Other highlights include the conga line, and the 'Shoes off, if you love Col U' chant, was a thoroughly fun afternoon in the sun, UP THE U'S!!!
Line-Ups:
DONCASTER ROVERS: Louis Jones, Bobby Faulkner, Ro-Shaun Williams, Tommy Rowe (C), Charlie Seaman, Harrison Biggins, Ben Close, Luke Molyneux, Zain Westbrooke, Todd Miller, Aidan Barlow. SUBS: Kyle Hurst, Jack Goodman, Jonathan Mitchell, James Brown, Liam Ravenhill, Jack Degruchy, Tavonga Kuleya.
COLCHESTER UNITED: Tom Smith, Connor Hall, Fiacre Kelleher, Luke Chambers (C), Junior Tchamadeu, Arthur Read, Ossama Ashley, Will Greenidge, Noah Chilvers, Samson Tovide, John Akinde. SUBS: Matt Jay, Tom Hopper, Jayden Fevrier, Tom Dallison, Alex Newby, Al-Amin Kazeem, Marley Marshall-Miranda.
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