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A joy to watch as Rovers win in style
Doncaster Rovers 2 QPR 0
DONCASTER Rovers eased their relegation worries - not that they ever admit to havingsuch things – as they claimed their first win in four games.
And they did it in style with a performance more in keeping with a top-six side rather than a bottom six side.
The quality of their football, particularly in the second half, was a joy to watch and Rangers can have no complaints about the result.
Not that Rangers played badly – far from it.
In fact it was easy in the first half to see how they had climbed into fourth place and why they had won so many plaudits for the way they play.
But they just couldn't live with Sean O'Driscoll's side in the second – few clubs outside of the Premiership could have.
Rovers scored twice and could easily have had another couple.
There had been an air of expectation among Doncaster fans all week in the build-up that it could rival the 3-3 draw against Blackpool in the last game at the Keepmoat Stadium.
Although the game didn't quite match the six-goal epic, there was certainly plenty for Rovers midfielder Quinton Fortune to be pleased about – not least the fact that he captained a side for the first time at a professional level.
"The last time I captained a side I must have been about 10," said the former Manchester United star.
Fortune hasn't played regularly since joining Rovers on a short-term contract in the summer – though a three-match ban didn't help.
But every time he has donned a red-and-white hooped shirt, and played just in front of the back-four, he has done the business.
"It was great to be back playing in the first team again and to be helping the lads in any way I can," he said.
"It is hard coming into the side when you haven't played for a few weeks. You can train all you want but you can't beat playing every week.
"You have to make sure that you are ready for the game and that means not letting your head go down in training when you are not in the team and remaining focused.
"We didn't play as well in the first half as we did in the second, and there wasn't a lot between us. So it was important that we didn't concede a goal .
"The first goal was vital in a game like that; we needed it.
"We play so much good football and we don't always have something to show for it. But we need to score goals because goals win games.
"The training in the week leading up to the game was of a very high standard and I feel that a result like that has been coming for a few weeks.
"We've played well in a lot of games this season and we've not always got the result that we deserved.
"We did today and I just hope that we can continue to do that and build on today's result."
Although both sides played some neat football in the first half defences were on top and there was a lack of real goalmouth action.
The nearest either side came to a goal was when Rovers' Dean Shiels hit the near post from close range.
Other than that their best efforts fell to John Oster, who tested the keeper with a couple of long range efforts.
Akos Buzsaky shot over with an early chance for Rangers with the tricky Wayne Routledge firing wide of the near post later on.
Rovers, who had seen Rangers Jay Simpon shoot wide with an angled effort two minutes after the restart, broke the deadlock on 53 minutes.
Sharp, whose deflected 20-yard shot had won Rovers the corner, beat keeper Radek Cerny from close range after the unmarked Shiels had turned well after Fortune had picked him out in the box with his low ball into the box from the quickly-taken cross.
Rovers have surrendered too many one-goal leads this season for them to feel confident of banking all three points at that stage.
But they always looked not only capable of hanging on to their lead but also of adding to it, and it came as no real surprise when they did that on 65 minutes.
Doubtful all week after being injured in the build-up to the game against Serbia last weekend, Shiels latched on to a loose ball just outside the area and cut back inside past a defender and then drilled a low left-foot shot past the keeper from the edge of the box.
The Northern Ireland international has now scored four in the club's last five games and must rank as one of the most potent midfielders in and around the box in the Championship at this moment in time.
The good news for Rovers is that there looks to be more to come.
Rovers always looked more likely to add to their tally in the last 25 minutes with Shiels and James Coppinger both testing the Rangers goalkeeper.
Rovers also had strong claims for a penalty for handball from a corner.
It was the club's first clean sheet for nearly two months which was a source of pride to left-back Gareth Roberts.
Said Roberts, one of the unsung heroes of the Rovers team this season: "It is always pleasing to keep a clean sheet and it is even more so against a team like QPR, who have a lot of very good players in their side.
"It wasn't just the back-four; it was a great team performance and a great result for us.
"We passed the ball well and we caused them problems and Billy (Sharp] ran the show up front."We went in 0-0 and we had a chat at half-time and we tweaked thing a little bit in the second half and scored two goals
"We don't want to lose the lead in any game we play – though obviously we have done that on occasions this season – but today everyone battled and Sully (Neil Sullivan) didn't have a lot to do.
"They are a very good side and I expect them to be up there at the end of the season, so we deserve a bit of credit today.
"It was up there with our best performances of the season. But we've got to do it next week and the week after and so on."
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Weather for Sheffield
Friday 25 May 2012
Today
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Temperature: 10 C to 22 C
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Temperature: 9 C to 20 C
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