The Weston Report: The Last Supper For Two Championship Sides?
Saturday, 19th Apr 2014 14:56 by Ryan Weston

This one was far from eggs-ellent but nevertheless, a Good Friday was had by all following a victory and confirmation of our spot in the playoffs.

An afternoon scouring Doncaster’s finest drinking holes in the sunshine was soured slightly, by Burnley winning at the seaside, but without kicking a ball, the extension of our season into mid-May was all but confirmed.

Rumours of chocolate eggs being scoffed in the dressing room pre-game remain unconfirmed, although something was certainly awry with the eleven thunderbirds during the first period. Perhaps it was the earlier scores. Perhaps it was a feeling of the job already being done. Whatever it was, the Rams produced their worst forty-five since their last foray into Yorkshire.

Unchanged, but with Dawkins (or Hawkins as it had stated on Sky Sports News) back on the bench, the Rams began like they had also been enjoying the warmth of the beer garden pre-match.

Within five, Keogh almost ended up with egg on his face, a breakdown in communication with Grant seeing the latter having to scurry to retrieve the skipper’s wayward back-pass on the line. Literally.

The tempo was flat, the fluidity non-existent. Hughes didn’t touch the ball for a long spell as the game seemed to pass him and Bryson by.

The atmosphere at least, was befitting of such a strong away following, with the Rams fans in great voice. Not that the twenty or so Doncaster youths added much, although at least they were having fun with no school in the morning…

On the pitch, the closest we came in the early exchanges was from a Forsyth centre, nearly diverted into his own net by the masked Tamas.

At the other end, Chris Brown (no, not the numpty who dumped Rihanna) forced Grant to tip over. You felt that the only way our hosts were to find the net though, was from a dead-ball. Thankfully, our defensive lines, particularly Supporters Club Player of the Season Jake Buxton, were commanding.

A better side would have punished our lacklustre display but it was apparent that Doncaster are fighting the drop for a reason. Bamford and Russell, so lively in previous games, looked flat. Bamford in particular, could well be in need of a rest before the final knockings of the campaign.

As half-time approached, there seemed more chance of Forest making the playoffs than a goal being scored. With this in mind and with singing proving thirsty work, I must confess, dear reader, that yes, I missed our opening goal. Fear not, with the aid of my friends (who weren’t next to me in the queue) and the Sky cameras, the crisis was averted!

A strong run down the left by Forsyth saw him reach the penalty area and find Hughes. The newly turned nineteen year old, touched back to Thorne twenty-five yards out and the West Brom loanee whipped a magnificent first-time effort into the bottom corner. A rare piece of quality, which was acclaimed in the stands and in the concourse!

Sufficiently fed and watered, I took my spot for the second half safe in the knowledge that we couldn’t get much worse. The late goal probably saved a more animated verbal lashing from McClaren and probably saved a substitution in the interval.

Bamford didn’t last for long though, replaced by Ward after five minutes of the second period. Immediately, we looked sharper and our first moment of quality football saw Thorne send Bryson clear. Taking his time and picking his spot, you would have put your house on the Scot to score, but instead his fierce drive was excellently saved by Johnstone.

Finally, we looked the side that had secured a playoff spot, with four games to go, as our tempo returned. Thorne was proving the proverbial in the side of Doncaster, sweeping up loose balls and getting us driving forward. This said, we were almost undone with the man in the mask again heading just over.

Another positive for the Rams came with the introduction of Dawkins with twenty to play, replacing the unusually quiet Russell.

The schoolboys in the Doncaster end were certainly enjoying their Easter break, an impromptu conga signalling that they had seemingly given up on an equaliser. The same though couldn’t be said of our gritty hosts, who sent ex-Ram Theo on from the bench and very nearly saw him come back to haunt us.

A clever through ball from Duffy saw Theo peel off Buxton and find himself one-on-one with Grant. Thankfully, this was still the same Theo who we saw fail to hit that barn door on many occasions and true to form, his lob was well saved by the face of the goalkeeper. Much as you’d have put your house on Bryson, it would take more than one iPro to think the same of dear old Theo…

Within two minutes it was game over, courtesy of another moment of genuine quality.

Ward, impressive since his introduction, found space on the right before curling in a superb ball on a plate for Martin, who finished excellently with the outside of the right-boot. Nineteen League goals for the season now, although I wouldn’t begrudge him saving number twenty for Wembley…

Ten to play but it was all over bar the sparring. There was still time for Buxton to outpace and outmuscle his old team-mate, much to his obvious enjoyment.

Our tempo too, remained strong until the finish and we were almost rewarded with what would have been a generous third.

Ward again found himself in space and with the keeper off his line, tried an audacious chip which Johnstone had to be at full stretch to claw away. Arguably, Ward looking in this kind of form was the most pleasing thing to come out of the game, apart from Buxton’s beard.

Full-time then and we had found a way to grind out the result, something that can only be good for the coming weeks.

One wonders then, if this could have been one of the Last Supper’s for both sides in the Championship…

Weston’s Player Ratings

Lee Grant - 7: Did well to keep out Theo and did his duties well. Spared Keogh’s blushes!

Craig Forsyth - 7: Looked good again, forwards forays impressive.

Andre Wisdom - 7: Not a deal to do in the game but did it well.

Jake Buxton - 7: Very strong in the air and looked commanding.

Richard Keogh - 6: Shoddy back-pass aside, decent from the skipper.

Will Hughes - 7: Got going as the game went on.

Craig Bryson - 6: Did what he does. Should have scored but was a good save in fairness.

George Thorne — Weston’s Star Man 8: Quality goal and a quality performance. Needs signing up! Wouldn’t have appreciated the bloke on Sky constantly calling him Graham though!

Patrick Bamford - 5: Very poor but not on his own in that first period.

Johnny Russell - 6: Quiet game for the Scot.

Chris Martin - 7: Took his goal very well.

Subs

Jamie Ward - 8: A great forty minutes. Sharp, creative and a threat.

Jeff Hendrick - 6: Came on when the cigars were lit.

Simon Dawkins - 6: Good to see him back.

We said / They Said

Derby Gaffer Steve McClaren:

“Two moments of quality in front of goal won us the game. George’s goal was the best moment of the first half; we were poor and it wasn’t great to watch. It wasn’t us at all but we defended well and we told the players we needed to improve in the second half.”

“To be fair we did offer a bit more after half-time and the substitutes gave us energy and a higher tempo. Jamie Ward was one of those and his cross was excellent for Chris Martin’s goal, which is a combination that has served us well in the past.”

It is a great achievement to secure a top six finish. I think if you had said at half-time against Ipswich when we were 4-1 down that we would be this position I’d have said you were crazy. We’ve made it with four games to go and that’s a brilliant effort.”

“The players and staff have done fantastically and the fans have really played their part. The fans will be so, so important in the next few weeks and we need them right behind us like they have been from day one.”

“The play-offs are a bit of a one off - cup ties if you like - but we’ll cross that bridge when we come to it. We can’t afford to take our foot off the gas because we want to finish the season strongly.”

Doncaster Gaffer Paul Dickov:

”I’m disappointed, I don’t think anybody can accuse the players for lack of effort, but when we got to the final third we lacked a bit of quality. They showed the quality they have got with the two goals they have scored.”

“It was a bad time for us to concede just before the break, we felt both goals we could have prevented, in the build up to both goals with us not retaining the ball as well as we should have done.”

“Second half we had a go, we had a big chance when Mark Duffy put Theo Robinson in and their goalkeeper made a good save, we carried on pushing forward and they got the second goal.”