In his pre game media interview, Doncaster Rovers manager Grant McCann spoke about his team’s match at Cardiff City Stadium in December and said with a perfectly straight face that his side could have scored five or six.
I very much doubt whether anyone will get to read this who is not aware of what happened in Donny’s first meeting of the season with City, but if there is, I daresay that they’re now having a quiet chuckle to themselves after checking to see where both sides are in the League One table.
However, the thing is, Mr McCann was telling the truth – his team, which was in a terrible run of form at the time, caused our defence all sorts of problems before succumbing to a 4-3 defeat with Joel Bagan’s match winner coming in the one hundredth minute.
I can recall a couple of fine saves by Nathan Trott at 3-3 I think it was and Brandon Hanlon being put clean through at 2-3 for his side only to shoot across Trott, but also a couple of yards wide when he should have at least been able to hit the target.
I’m sure there were other close shaves for City that I can’t recall now, because that game marked a cessation in a run of mad home games where 4-3s, 3-2s and 3-0s (i.e. the sort of scores you could be forgiven for thinking had been done away by the authorities if you only watched us playing at home since 2022!) abounded.
For a while, we managed to tighten things up at the back without losing our ability to score goals on a regular basis- a not inconsiderable feat given how open we were for much of the first half of the game.
I thought our defensive problems were behind us as we strung together a dozen unbeaten matches and we were restricting our opponents to less than two on target efforts per match.
However, Plymouth last weekend when we conceded five in losing put an end to all of that – we had a miserable time of it in defence with only one member of four at the back (Perry Ng) having what I’d call an okay game.
Plymouth’s front two dominated our centrebacks last weekend and with our left side being seriously out of sorts, we were, to use another boxing analogy after the runaway success of my last one a fortnight ago, looking like a slugger who had a puncher’s chance, but had to be hit from three or four good shots from their opponent before being able to land a decent blow for themselves.
I said in what passes for my pre match prediction when I post the Seven Decades quiz on here that i didn’t have a clue what was going to happen in today’s match at what I presume is still called the Keepmoat Stadium, but I can tell you I was concerned.
For a while, things had been going swimmingly and even I, as someone who never predicts things like automatic promotion or title outcomes, was beginning to think promotion was in the bag. After Plymouth though, the usual doubts returned as I feared a reappearance of that awful term “doing a Cardiff”
After all, if Donny were able to give us such a fright when they were winning one out of sixteen I believe it was, what could they do to a fragile City team when they were in a run of sixteen points from nine games?
However, in the event, my fears proved groundless as we equalled our best winning margin of the season and scored four for the sixth time as we won 4-0 to leave Doncaster a well b eaten team by the end.
With Yousef Salech back in Denmark as his gradual recovery from what is now being described as a neck ligament injury continues and Isaak Davies still not in the squad despite him, apparently, being in training all week, City were dealt a further blow as Omari Kellyman was also missing, presumably with an injury.
Rubin Colwill came in for his first start since his recovery from injury and he also took over the captaincy from Calum Chambers who was replaced by Dylan Lawlor. Cian Ashford was recalled at the expense of Chris Willock and Ryan Wintle came in for David Turnbull who had been described as doubtful beforehand by BBM.
So, more young Welsh talent in the starting eleven and also a rather odd looking substitutes bench with no goalkeeper, four defenders, one midfielder, a winger and a forward who seems to want to come deep to get involved these days.
To make matters worse, the pitch didn’t look the best and, more importantly, didn’t play well. I’m sure this was a factor in a careless opening by City as possession was given up much too easily and although Ollie Tanner forced home keeper Thimothee Lo-Tutala into an early save on his near post, it was the home team who posed the first serious goal threat.
Luck was not on our side when an errant City pass was cleared straight into the path of Hanlon who was suddenly clear of a square looking central defence, but Gabriel Osho was able to throw the home forward off his stride and Lawlor was then able to get a slight block on the shot to take it over the bar.
Lawlor celebrated his block in front of the near three thousand traveling fans. It was a good example of him doing what he’s in the team for first and foremost. With a player like Lawlor though with extra facets to his game (especially for League One level) there is always the chance that he’ll come up with something more “eye catching” and he was to do that today with bells on!
The pitch remained a problem, but it was easy to forget that, as another team who want get the ball down and play, it also presented a problem for Donny and, truth be told, it was a challenge they never really looked like solving.
It is an indication of the quality we have all over the pitch that, despite being weakened by the absence of the two players who are arguably the best two central strikers at the club, City began to come to terms with the pitch.
Gradually, a series of runs from deep by the likes of the Colwill brothers, Ashford, Tanner and even Ng got the home fans increasingly agitated because the linesman involved was judging them to be perfectly timed.
City’s probing was making them look the favourites to score the vital first goal and when it came, the word that came to mind for me was classy. In a move reminiscent of the solitary goal against Exeter on Boxing Day, Lawlor stepped forward from the back with the ball and clipped a lovely ball to Alex Robertson, who’d made one of those clever runs I mentioned earlier, and the midfielder didn’t need to break his stride as he chested the ball down and guided his shot beyond Lo-Tutala from eight yards.
City were largely in control after that as half time approached, but the home team had another chance when Joel Bagan’s headed clearance on the far post fell into Harry Clifton’s path and the former Wales under 21 international snatched at a presentable chance as he shot hurriedly wide from ten yards.
A goal to the good at the break and coping better than their opponents with the troublesome pitch, it looked like City could get the result they needed to put last week’s slip up behind them and, within two minutes of the restart, we were in a position where only sloppiness was going to cost us the three points.
Our first goal was so easy on the eye – in previous seasons, I’m pretty sure it would be on the shortlist for any goal of the season, but the truth is that we’ve scored so many really good goals this season that it’s got no chance of making that short list I mentioned.
By contrast, I’ll say here and now that our second goal will definitely make that shortlist! It was all Dylan Lawlor’s own work as well as he picked up the ball some five yards outside our penalty area and, using that unusual straight backed running style which I’m sure helps him keep his head up so that he’s more aware of what’s around him, he just kept traveling with the ball (to use the coach speak term which most us used to call dribbling).
A little burst of pace took him clear of two home players, then when he went past a third red and white hooped shirt he was now into the sort of area he was in when he scored his previous goal against Leyton Orient. Lawlor now had space to run onto and there was a ball to the unmarked Robertson I think it was on for him, but the centreback (yes centreback!) used the scorer of our first gn as someone to distract the remaining defenders as he burst past another Donny player into the penalty area to coolly roll the ball into the corner of the net.
If Lawlor’s first career goal was good, and the last thing you’d expect from someone playing in his position, then this was brilliant or, to use the word I came out with at the time, ridiculous!
Hardly surprisingly after such a stunning contribution, Lawlor’s play got a little sloppy after that and it made sense that someone who was making his first start in weeks following a spell out injured should be replaced by Will Fish around the hour mark.
By then though, we were three up and I can guarantee this one is not on that shortlist I talked about! That’s not to disregard the contribution of Rubin Colwill as he beat his man on the right before crossing low to where Ashford and Doncaster right back Jamie Sterry challenged for the ball on the far post an the net.
Replays of the goal showed that the ball had hit Ashford and flew in although it was pretty clear that he knew little about it.
It was an unusual game in that, just like against Wimbledon and Plymouth, the losing team had more goal attempts. In this case, it was fifteen to fourteen in Doncaster’s favour, but their only on target attempt came from Luke Molyneux who caused Trott few problems with his well struck effort from twenty yards.
City were hardly peppering Lo-Tatula with shots either with just the four on target attempts and it was Callum Robinson who had the last of them when he maintained City’s one hundred per cent record from on target attempts when he intercepted a Sterry pass and scored his first goal of 2026 with an assured finish from fifteen yards.
Robinson, on for Rubin, was one of the other four substitutions City made with Ronan Kpakio and Callum Scanlon, who provided a promising twenty odd minute cameo, coming on for the full backs and Chris Willock replacing Tanner.
I make it that I’ve mentioned all of the sixteen players City used today apart from the one who, despite Lawlor’s eye catching contribution, was my City Man of the match. I make no apologies for repeating something I said in another match reaction piece on here not long ago – when he plays like this, Joel Colwill is like a force of nature.
It was a day of big wins for the top three with Lincoln matching our scoreline in their home win over inconsistent Blackpool and Bolton scoring one more in winning 5-1 at Exeter. However, below that, it was a good day for us as the rest of the top six were beaten.
Stockport completed a bad few days with a second successive defeat, this one by 2-1 at Stevenage, Bradford’s poor away form continued with a 2-1 loss at Reading and Huddersfield were beaten 1-0 at struggling Wigan – to make matters worse for Stockport and Bradford, they had both gone 1-0 up.
While City were playing, the women’s team were in action at Cardiff City Stadium against the Wrexham side which beat them on penalties in the Ardal Cup Final last weekend and the north Waleans took a potentially decisive three points in the title race with us by winning 3-1.
This follows on from a frankly woeful performance for our under 21s last night as they went down 1-0 in appalling conditions against Swansea at Leckwith. Others may disagree, but the highlight of this match came early on when commentator John Donovan again mentioned the blog as he apologised for calling my the old Bob Wilson last time he was working on an under 21 game – I hope and believe John knows no apology was necessary due to the fact that, indeed, I am very old I’m afraid!
It really was poor fare though even if allowances had to be made for the conditions – Swansea weren’t great, but they were definitely the better side against a City team that didn’t manage what I’d call a realistic goal attempt all night. The closest they came to an equaliser was when Jake Davies went down in the penalty area after appearing to be pushed by a visiting defender. For my part, it was a decision which could have gone either way and I wouldn’t blame the ref if he had been influenced by the quagmire of a pitch in his decision making.
Better news was that a Jack Sykes hat trick gave the under 18s an impressive 3-0 win at Brentford this lunchtime.
In local football, Treorchy Boys and Girls Club were beaten 2-0 at home by Porth Harlequins in Division One (East) of the Highadmit South Wales Alliance, while Treherbert Boys and Girls Club were beaten 2-1 at home in the Ardal League South West by Taff’s Well.
Great report, Paul on one of the best three City performances this season… and as you say, a Dylan Lawlor goal to long live in the memory, and almost challenge the Mel Charles special against the Swans all those years ago that remains by favourite City ‘solo-run’ goal of all time.
Our own Steve Perry made the trip on a Supporters Club coach… he could not have found a ground with a nicer setting.
I always think that Donny (a town that owes its origins to the Romans) is perhaps the most underrated town in all Yorkshire, and the stadium by the side of the attractive lake is just 2 minutes walk along the Lakeside from a Travelodge where circa 2011 I stayed 4 nights for just £9.99 per night for a family room, in those crazy days when for about 5 years, Travelodge had regular sales of rooms at peppercorn rents. When I opened the curtains in the morning it was easy to imagine I was staying in Richard Burton’s place at Celigny looking out on Lake Geneva.
And yesterday it was equally easy to imagine that our Cardiff City were Barcelona.
There should not be a spare seat for the Lincoln game a week from now.
DW.
Yorkshire is a part of the country I have barely visited in my life Dai. I’ve never been to Leeds, only visited Sheffield briefly for non football reasons and, thinking about it, I can’t remember ever going to a football game in the county. In fact, off the top of my head, the only football ground I can remember seeing in the county is Rotherham’s old home, Millmoor, which was certainly not a great advert for Yorkshire’s beauty!
I’ve been involved in a messageboard conversation about Lawlor’s goal – in particular, was it more down to defensive ineptitude than attacking brilliance? Grant McCann spoke after the game about how he appreciated that it was a great goal from a Cardiff perspective, but, he was so angry about his team’s defending. I think that’s fair enough, although he did lose me somewhat when he started going on about how one of his players should have fouled Lawlor at the beginning of his run, but, then again, I suppose it is part of the game these days. No doubt, there was some poor defending involved in the goal, but I argued that Donny players were faced with a situation they had not been prepared for by McCann or his coaching staff and so, once Lawlor had broken past the initial challenges and into the Doncaster half, defensive discipline was non existent and City were likely to score as long as they kept their heads.
That said, if it was just about defensive ineptitude, you would surely expect there to be further examples of when a lower division defence went to pieces to allow a centre back to run seventy yards with the ball before slotting it past the goalkeeper and, yet, to the best of my knowledge, there has not been a goal of tis type scored in the EFL, never mind just the lower divisions of it in the recent past – unless, of course, you count Lawlor’s goal against Leyton Orient!
I think I’ve seen that Mel Charles goal on You Tube at some time and it was a great goal, but I can’t include it in any thinking as to what was the best solo goal from the City in my time supporting them. Honestly, I can only think of one that is a contender against Lawlor’s on Saturday and that was Tony Villars’ in that relegation shoot out with Crystal Palace which, amazingly, was played fifty two years ago!
What Villars’ goal has going for it was that it was so important (in essence, it saved us from relegation). Ordinarilly, you would say that a pitch from 1974 has to be worse than one from 2026, but, this time, I’d say that is negated because Donny’s pitch was the second worst (only Burton’s was worse in my opinion, but I could be persuaded that Donny’s was worse because it was more bobbly) one we’ve played on this season. So, Lawlor had a very long way to run (certainly further than Villars) on not the best of pitches and yet he never looked like losing the ball. Of course, Lawlor’s goal has the advantage of still being very fresh in my mind in a way that Villars’ isn’t, but, even if I try to allow for that, I think I have to come down on the side of Lawlor’s as the best individual goal I’ve seen us score.
As ever Paul, grateful thanks for your comments about City’s away game at Doncaster. As you said, the Donny pitch was far from flat whilst bare grassless patches were easily visible before the start. It was not until the first half drizzle had rained down that the surface became a little more manageable, but even then it was still not perfect as rugby markings were visible throughout. That City turned on the style on this type of surface was more than commendable.
[ From a Doncaster Rovers message board re their pitch: https://www.drfc-vsc.co.uk/index.php?topic=296372.0 ]
But before some comments about the game may I thank Dai for his gracious and fullsome apology following the Plymouth fixture. There really was no need for him to do so. I know where his heart is and more unites us than separates. But that he did says much about him. It takes a real man to be able to offer an apology and it is accepted. But, again, Dai, there was no need to do so.
There are very few things in life that illicit as strong emotions as football. I guess Dai and I are more alike than different where Cardiff City and football are concerned. At root we both desire the best for Cardiff City and have a concern for the modern VAR-variant of the game.
Paul, the driver of the MaYA minibus, with occasional unruly passengers behind him, needs the patience of Job at times as he negotiates roundabouts, traffic lights and poorly lit roads on the journey. If I have added difficulty to passengers or driver I, too, am sorry and apologise.
To concur with Dai, the setting for the stadium is delightful, nestled as it is on the shore of a lake. Sad I couldn’t get to taste the fare on offer at the famed Whitby’s Fish & Chip shop.
Well, what of the game? Stung by last week’s result these last 7 days have taken an age to pass. As the match played out it was also clear that the players felt that loss deeply and were ready to put the record straight.
The early stages were bitty on a bumpy pitch but gradually City got their passing game together. The senior Colwill looked uneasy in his nominal striking role but as the game wore on he dropped deeper, made 20-30 yd runs and was a constant threat, tormenting the Doncaster defence. Cutting like a knife through butter, they couldn’t handle him.
Robertson’s sublime skill in controlling a Lawlor chip before beating the keeper; Lawlor’s simply ridiculous goal immediately after half time where he ran 80 yds and then calmly scoring; Ashford getting a touch to a Colwill Snr cross before Robinson deservedly made it 0-4 with the last kick of the game made it quite an afternoon’s work.
Whilst individuals may get the praise this was essentially a huge team performance, each cog well oiled, doing what it was there to do, not seeking personal praise, no matter how well they played, but rather pleased to serve the whole in the pursuit of victory. That victory was achieved with a style that made City fans pleased after last week’s pain. No-one epitomised that desire to serve more than Ashford and Colwill Jnr. Their effort and running was on a different level. It was phenomenal. The joy that their hard work resulted in was so evident at the end of the game. But all gave their all. Robertson and Wintle formed such a base for that which took place further forward. This was a team performance of distinction.
[ Doncaster Rovers message board on City game (p3&4): https://www.drfc-vsc.co.uk/index.php?topic=296335.60 ]
The hit TV series, ‘Star Trek,’ features an alien species called the Borg. The recurring mantra they spoke was, “We are Borg. Resistance is Futile.” In short the collective made it impossible for others to overcome it. It almost seemed that so irresistible was City’s second half performance that Doncaster’s attempts at resistance to City’s controlled game were also doomed. One of the Borg characters was an entity called Seven of Nine. The actress who played the character, Jerry Ryan, said, of her role, “combining non-human qualities with an attractive human appearance,” was a great move by the producers.
A noteworthy saying of hers was, “I am Borg. But I am also an individual.” Nothing could have better summed up this City team performance at Doncaster. Though each City player caught the eye, in different ways, above all they served the team objective.
If the Borg’s Seven of Nine did football matches, Cardiff City’s performance at Doncaster was it.
Thanks Steve for that.
I can only say this in response to you: my friend, you have a natural talent for engaging your reader, and make him hang on to your every word.
And when your analogies would seem to be wasted on duffers like me, they still seem to work. Take the last three paragraphs of your contribution…
I am allergic to all STARSHIP stuff: hand on heart, I have never seen an episode of Star Trek, or seen even one of the Star Wars movies, (though I positively worship William Shatner and greatly admired the autobiographical writings of the late Carrie Fisher), yet I was so able to enjoy those last three paras… and relate to them.
Bravo…!!
DW
Thanks Steve, no need whatsoever to apologise. You and I are long term posters on Mike Morris board and this is like a vicarage tea party compared to that – sixteen and a half years into MAYA’s existence and I’ve still not had to delete a single message from a reader. I’m quite proud of that record, but really it’s a reflection of the quality of contributors I’ve had during that time.
As a long term Treky, I appreciate the Borg reference and the reminder of the always very watchable Seven of Nine. I’d stretch the Borg analogy a little further and say that our opposition on Saturday are a bit like the Borg with their reliance on the system which works so well for them – especially if Jack Moylan, probably their best attacking player, who is, apparently, only rated 50/50 for Saturday, misses out.
City have the definite edge in individuality, but that also makes them more flaky = I’d loved to be proved wrong, but I can’t see Lincoln collapsing in a heap on Saturday like we did at Plymouth.
Lincoln will be happy to let us have 60 per cent plus possession just like they are with the other 22 teams in the division, but the danger for them is that we have the capability of making more of that possession than any of the others -that’s how we win I reckon, but we must also be far more “streetwise” than we were at Home Park.
Yes Paul you can be proud of the many years you have presided over the MAYA comments section. I think we all soak up your own calm presence by some sort of osmosis, and thus we know that it is incumbent upon us all to behave moderately in the presence of our MAYA Leader who is Sweet Reason personified.
Re your summing up there: I so agree that we surely cannot see The Imps collapsing like we did at Home Park, but it would be great if they did… especially to me, living as I have in Grimsby since the end of 1999.
Mariners fans are beginning to think they might make the play-offs, and they relish the possible prospect of Division 1 next season. And it is vital that they get the two derby games back with Lincoln.
So they will be praying that Bolton overhaul the Imps by season’s end.
Before signing off… like I think we discussed, the Vertu Trophy served up the most unfortunate result last night. Yes… we now have a Hatters vs Hatters final at Wembley. Betcha Ian Holloway is now ranting off-the-scale.
And that result last night and a win at Wembley will probably just be enough to keep Jack Wilshere in a job if the much fancied Luton don’t make the playoffs.
DW
i’d like Grimsby to go up Dai – don’t know why, but I have always quite liked that club. Can’t see them having a derby with Lincoln next season though -for most of 25/26, I’ve been thinking that the most likely derby game in 26/27 was against Scunthorpe, but, last time I looked their challenge to get back into the EFL had gone off the rails somewhat.
However, League One is almost as mad a league as the Championship is – Stockport’s two recent losses on the road have rather set them back in their challenge to us for the best away record in the division and I suspect Plymouth are now second to us on that score, but look what’s happened to them since they beat us and everyone was talking about about the possibility of a top six finish for them. Although defeat would have been a disappointing outcome for fans daring to think of a visit to Wembley, I doubt it if much sleep was lost by the team or the manager and his staff after their loss at Luton, but what on earth happened to them on Saturday? I had that down as one of the biggest away bankers of the day – after all, although Wigan at Cardiff City Stadium was the worst performance I’ve seen from a League One side this season, Rotherham over the two games we played against them are, by some way, the worst team I’ve seen.