Being relegated is one of the worst feelings in our beautiful game but it is how you react and bounce back which shows how much character belief your club has, and that’s what Doncaster Rovers have just done. The South Yorkshire side just pipped Brentford to League 1 promotion in an extraordinary Aguerooooooo last day kind of game.
Donny Rovers have been teetering up and down between The Championship and League 1 for the last nine seasons. They had four years in League 1 as in 2008, as painful as it is for me to talk about it still they beat my beloved Leeds United in the playoff final 1-0 after a James Hayter header sealed there place in The Championship where they spent another four years there. However they always say it is how you react and they bounced straight back after a solid season with a truly unbelievable finish.
In the final game of the season, fellow promotion hopefuls Brentford hosted Donny at Griffin Park on a sunny end of season affair. The situation was that whoever won would go up automatically and the losers would have to go through the gruelling playoff process. However a draw was not enough for the bees plus if Donny won and Bournemouth failed to win they would be crowned champions.
Still with me……?
The game was played as expected, in a very tight and nervy fashion as the consequences were too vast to be playing open football and take risks. Having said this it all exploded in literally the dying seconds. Brentford are then awarded a penalty kick in the fourth minute of stoppage time. You just could not write this script. This is when ego’s possibly become too much as everyone would like to be the one who nets the penalty and is known and remembered for scoring the goal that clinches promotion. As three players argue over the spot kick I believe the original penalty taker was overlooked. Marcello Trotta was the man to take it, he went for pure power and blasted it right down the middle but it was too strong and the ball canons off the crossbar. Next thing you know Billy Paynter has the ball on the right flank, has a man in support and only has to beat the keeper. He simply squares the ball to the hero of the day James Coppinger who rolls the ball home to send the travelling Yorkshire fans into ecstasy.
Doncaster were champions, Brentford were playoffs and as it goes they lost to Yeovil in the playoff final. That just shows how massively important that last game was.
There is no drama like football drama….
Anyway moving on, the future is once again bright for Doncaster Rovers as they return to the extremely tough and unpredictable league of the nPower Championship. As this league is known for being one of the toughest to stay in or get out of, people have been saying that it may be slightly easier next year with the relegated teams from the Premier League not being that powerful and the promoted teams from League 1 week and possibly out of their depth. However I somewhat disagree because no matter who comes up and down it will always be an incredibly tough division where anyone can beat anyone.
I believe Doncaster chose the right man for the job in Paul Dickov, he may be a rookie to the management game however he showed just what he can do at Oldham Athletic with the highest point beating Liverpool in the FA cup 3-2 but then resigned due to not the best home form. I think Paul will get the red and white stripes playing the old fashioned English way with a target man up top, most likely to be Billy Paynter who gets his chance in the Championship once more.
To sum up there is one thing we all know and that is that it will be a long old tough season for Doncaster Rovers and they are bound to be struggling and scrapping all the way.
Last Day DONE
History DONE
Paul Dickov
Bouncebackility DONE
Another Struggle season?