The round 1 meeting between these teams had seen Doncaster embarrass the Southern boys by 7 goals to 1. An improved offering would be required.   

The weather was fine but the wind was bracing, to say the least. The first half saw both teams jockey for an advantage with Doncaster having the greater number of circle penetrations (10 versus 2), but these resulted in very few goal shots (3 – 1). David Hammond had to be at his best again to keep a clean sheet for Southern United. Many turnovers for both teams meant that it was a constant change from attack to defence which led to the neutral half-time score.

At the start of the second half, the turnovers kept coming until Rowan Yeo broke down the left flank and, finding himself in space in the circle, fired his trade-mark tomahawk shot at the goal. A surprised Doncaster goal keeper could not prevent the ball from going into the net. About ten minutes later, a Doncaster forward in close proximity to the goal was fouled by a Striker’s defender and the ensuing Penalty Stroke was converted, making it 1-1. This score was probably a fair reflection of the match to this point.

However, with around 3 minutes remaining Doncaster managed to steal the points when they were able to find an unmarked man in the Striker’s circle who received the ball and crashed it past the outstretched Hammond.

Despite the disappointment of losing a close game the Strikers should be pleased with their overall performance, especially when compared to the round 1 meeting of the sides.

Goals

Southern:
Rowan Yeo F (44.30)

Doncaster:
PS (51.30); F (67.00)

Result: Doncaster 2 – Southern United 1