Two wins for Johnnie Jackson and two clean sheets. Too early to call it a bounce' but its certainly a 'bo.'
The jury has been out on whether Nigel Adkins was simply not up to the job or whether he had been dealt a shockingly poor hand in this Summers transfer dealings. The fear for many fans was that the underlying problem was the latter and that we might struggle to steady the ship. That was certainly my concern but yesterday's performance went some way towards suggesting that Adkins was by far the biggest problem.
Jackson was forced to make two changes from the Sunderland line-up but that was all he did - Gunter for Matthews and Pearce for Lavelle. Those dreading a Gunter/Pearce fluff had needn't worried. Doncaster were so powder-puff that neither were troubled. Donny arrived with the worst away record in the division and left with it fully intact - eight straight defeats, two for and twenty against - relegation bankers.
From kick-off we saw the difference that motivation and organisation can make. Once again we were playing 30 yards further up the pitch than Adkins' teams managed. Doncaster were challenged quickly when in possession and Charlton players were competing aggressively for every fifty-fifty. As a result, we played the game in their half and when they did get forward we had time and space to close them down and get the ball back upfield.
My 'first goal-scorer' bet died after ten minutes when Jonathan Leko limped off. Ten minutes later and Elliot Lee found the net direct from a free-kick on the left that was intended for Stockley but which beat him and bounced in at the far post.
On 34 minutes the contest was over bar the shouting when Alex Gilbey ran into the Rovers box and took a tumble at first contact. Conor Washington rifled home the penalty and it was only really a matter of how many.
We maintained our desire to get forward and score and the goals came. Stockley got a tap in after Dahlberg spilled a shot at the near post and Ben Purrington made up for an earlier bad miss with what looked like an own goal to me but he celebrated like it was his great back post header and I wont argue.
It could have been a few more too but four was enough to satisfy a 16,000 crowd boosted by a quid-for-a-kid deal. For once the many occasional visitors actually saw a home win, goals and a whole-hearted performance. It was great to see all the club shots and selfies of fans with their kids and families, many of whom were clearly there for the first time. Hopefully Thomas Sandgaard will see this and seize upon the opportunity to build gates when we are actually playing well and winning. Get the team playing and they will come.
Rotherham will present a real test on Tuesday after hammering Sunderland 5-1 but we should fear no-one in this division when our team is up for it, as they currently are. Come on you Reds!
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