Doncaster Rovers 0 v Charlton Athletic 1

I said before this match that we could really do with grinding out a 0-0 draw to pick up our first away point and steady the ship after two defeats. Well, it was really good to see the Addicks go one better with this win at the tidy Keepmoat Stadium.

The team started as they did against Wolves with Weaver, Youga, Hudson, Fortune, Cranie, Bouazza, Holland, Bailey, Sam, Gray and Varney. The game was only three minutes old when Jon Fortune launched a hopeful freekick goalward and Andy Gray caught the Doncaster back four napping to loop a header over Neil Sullivan for a surprise 1-0 lead. Doncaster settled into the match quickly after that and pressed for the remainder of the half for an elusive equaliser. They are a very well drilled team and operate in threes at all times across their side. It's really effective and good on the eye as everyone does the same thing, control, pass and move. It enabled them to repeatedly work their way through to the edge of the Charlton box where they inevitably met the last line of resistance which worked overtime to contain them. Nicky Weaver collected a number of snapshots from 20 yards during the first half but Doncaster had little more to show for their dominant possession.

The second half was much the same and it looked only a matter of time before we made a mistake at the back and let them in. I am sure that would have signalled a quick second and that would have been that. The midfield did what they could to provide support and Holland was breaking play up whenever he could. Bailey too was playing deep and played as many balls backwards as he did forward. Lloyd Sam and Hameur Bouazza had quietish nights although Lloyd did make a number of good runs towards the end of the match, one of which saw him flash a shot across the face of goal and another which delivered a great ball which Varney couldn't get enough purchase on under a challenge to direct goalward. Bouazza's first touch continues to be poor and his distribution this evening was also lacking. Gray and Varney battled away but they were feeding on crumbs and did as much defending at the numerous corners as anyone else.

Doncaster also had a good penalty shout denied by the referree when it look very clearly like a hand reached up to touch a cross at the back of the Charlton box. So we rode our luck and, for once, got the rub of the green from the officials. All-in-all this was a good performance against a side who are making the most of their resources. Sean O'Driscoll deserves some real credit here because his side know how best they can play and they operate it very well. All they lacked tonight was a cutting edge and a bit of fortune.

Mark Hudson was my man-of-the-match, although Nicky Weaver was solid and Nicky Bailey carried a central midfield burden. Grant Basey came on for Lloyd Sam in the second half and did a good job steadying the ship and playing for time.

Whilst this was a very good three points, I really hope Alan Pardew recognises that you can't get away with such a defensive display too often. Try it at Forest and we will likely get beaten quickly. We really do need to be prepared to have a go throughout the 90 minutes and not leave it until the last 20 minutes to stick our heads out of our shells. It might just be that the early goal encouraged us to sit back, but it looked very much like we were being forced back by Doncaster's passing play rather than any conscious effort to hang onto our lead.

Up to eighth and we should be able to play a more relaxed game on Saturday. Expect the same eleven to start.