By the left as Mark pockets a £100 goal

MARK Wilson's first goal of the season in yesterday's 2-0 League One win over Huddersfield Town at the Keepmoat Stadium, left team-mate Ritchie Wellens out of pocket.

Said Wilson, who had shot over from an easier chance in the first half: "Ritchie bet me 100 that I wouldn't score a goal with my left foot this season so I am delighted on two counts with the goal.

"That's why I did the celebration that I did when grabbing my foot.

"I only got the boots on Saturday so I am hoping that they are magic boots and that I will score a lot more goals from now on.

"I got the ball from Jim's throw-in and nobody came to close me down and then two defenders came at once and I spotted a gap and went through it and shot from just inside the area.

"The game was still in the balance at that stage so it was a good time to score and it killed them off.

"We played some champagne football after that and we could have had a couple more goals."

The fact that Wellens took the man-of-the match award, and was pushed hard by Brian Stock, highlighted just how dominant Rovers were in midfield.

Town boss Andy Ritchie changed his formation to combat Rovers 3-5-2 line-up, but the ploy backfired and his midfield was over-run for most of the game.

Said Ritchie, who suffered a hat-trick of defeats at the hands of Rovers when steering Barnsley to promotion in 2005-2006:"We wanted to match them up in midfield but we didn't get to grips with them.

"People forgot to stay with the players they were supposed to be marking in midfield. They had three and we had three and had we stayed with the runners they wouldn't have got free.

"It looked to me like we didn't have enough desire; it looked as though they wanted to win the game more than us."

Rovers took a deserved lead on 13 minutes when Stock took Coppinger's return pass and thumped the ball into the back of the net from around 25 yards.

The Terriers seemed to be suffering the after-affects of their 4-0 drubbing at Walsall last weekend in the first half-hour, and they looked a very poor side at times as Rovers continued to dominate without being able to add to their tally.

A second goal then and the floodgates would probably have opened.

The visitors belatedly started to show their teeth and striker Danny Cadamarteri, who ended last season on loan at the Keepmoat Stadium, looked to have a good case for a penalty after Rovers defender Matt Mills appeared to push him in the back as he raced towards goal.

But referee Down was wasn't well placed to make a decision and waived play on much to the annoyance of Ritchie.

"There is no doubt about it, it was a penalty," he claimed.

"We felt that towards the end of the first half that we were getting into it a little bit. We had a couple of little passages and we had three really good chances.

"There were two corners that nobody got on the end off and we knocked a short corner right across the box and somebody has got to show a desire to get on the end of it."

It took Rovers time to get into their stride after the restart as Town started the second from where they had left off at the end of the first.

But they never troubled Sullivan and gradually Rovers regained the initiative.

Town keeper Matt Glennon dived bravely at striker James Hayter's feet.

A good run down the left by Wellens, who then pulled the ball back from the byline, was subequently cleared for the throw-in which led to Wilson's goal.

Gordon Greer, who had come in for the injured Steve Roberts at the back, then went close with a header from a corner.

Town brought on Doncaster-born midfielder Danny Schofield, who has often been a thorn in Rovers side over the years, after 72 minutes. The former Brodsworth junior had the chance to make an immediate impact after Luke Beckett picked him out on the right of the area, but he shot straight at keeper Sullivan in what was to prove Town's last throw of the dice.

But for the best save of the day by Glennon, the hard-working O'Connor would have notched a third goal two minutes later after being set-up by Hayter

Substitute Craig Nelthorpe then hit the crossbar with a cross from the left.

Another substitute, Paul Green, had his goalbound close range shot blocked by Joe Skarz following good work by Paul Heffernan and Nelthorpe.

Rovers win made it three victories in their last four home games which wouuld suggest that they are starting to find the consistency, at least at the Keepmoat that manager Sean O'Driscoll is striving for.

Any kind of result at the City Ground on Saturday would be a further indicator that Rovers' promotion bandwaggon is starting to gain momentum.

Manager's View

I thought it was a good performance. We played some champagne football for about 28 minutes in the first half and then we wobbled a little bit.

Adam (Lockwood) gave the ball and maybe Danny (Cadarmarteri) could have had a penalty.

We lost our belief for five or ten minutes and half-time came at the right time for us.