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Rovers: Payback time for Sharp
DONCASTER Rovers' club-record buy Billy Sharp paid off the first instalment of his £1m transfer fee when converting an 89th minute penalty to secure his side a share of the spoils at home to Championship rivals Bristol City.
Sharp salvaged a 1-1 draw for Rovers after the Robins had taken the lead against the run of play four minutes after the restart.
"They came here to do a job on us and they did that," said Rovers No 2 Richard O'Kelly. "It was a typical Championship game in that it was very tight.
"We didn't want to get bored with what we were doing, which was very good, and also we didn't want to switch off because they were always a danger on the break."
O'Kelly felt that Rovers should have had a goal when left-back George Friend made contact with a 19th minute corner - which both players and supporters behind the Bristol goal claimed the ball had crossed the line before being scooped clear by City's England international keeper David James.
"I didn't have a clue whether we'd scored from where I was stood, but when you look at the video it looks as though the ball is well over the line," said O'Kelly.
"Goals always change games and it would have become a different game had it been given.
"I was disappointed in some ways that it was still 0-0 at half-time because we had had a lot of the play without actually overpowering them. But, the way that they were set up, it was never going to be like that.
"But we never got going in the second half and when their goal went in everyone started to get a bit anxious and then started to do things that aren't normal to us and people got left on their own.
"We lost our way in the middle part of the second half, hence the substitutions.
"James Coppinger and Wayne Thomas came on and James gives you control of the ball. He holds the ball up to allow other people to get into other positions. "
It was Coppinger who won Rovers the penalty which gave Sharp the chance to secure his side a point.
Said O'Kelly: "Billy is a goal-scorer; he loves scoring goals and he thoroughly enjoyed scoring that one today."
Reflecting on new loan signing Ryan Mason's debut, O'Kelly said: "He did everything expected of him, plus he's a really cracking lad as well.
"It was his first championship game against one of the top sides in the division. Bristol City have got some very good players; they know what they are doing and for him to go out there and have the impact that he did can only bode well for the future."
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Saturday 26 May 2012
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