Game 46 - The Rovers (H)

Team: Doncaster Rovers

Date: 03/05/2025

Where: Meadow Lane

What line-up should Stuart Maynard opt for? What will be the key areas for the Magpies to get a victory? What do you think the final score will be?

Have your say below, join in with the Pride of Nottingham match discussion.

This is it. The biggest game of the season. So many different permutations could be decided by this result, & also results elsewhere.

It is going to be an exciting final day to the league season. I've said it before & I'll say it again. Stuart Maynard has done well to get this team to where they are right now.

Whether we win, lose or draw, we will live to fight another day in the playoffs. If Notts can play like they did in the second half against Harrogate, they can get a win on Saturday.

Jodi Jones has to be in the starting 11 for me on the right hand side. I'd put Will Jarvis on the left side.

So my side if all are fit would be:-

Bass, Bedeau, Platt, McDonald, Jones, Abbott, Palmer, Jarvis, Grant, Jatta, McGoldrick.

Subs, Miller, Macari, Traoré, Whittaker, Edwards, Hinchy, Gordon

It’s certainly a massive game, I’ve got my ticket, are you going @Robbie? Surely you can’t miss this one?

Mind you knowing Notts it’ll be a damp squib. 

I'm not sure if playing Doncaster after they've been promoted gives us much of an edge now. There's no pressure on them, they have got the title to play for but it's not a disaster if they don't win it. Part of me thinks if they were still going for promotion they'd be a lot more nervous and cautious. I'm hoping it's not going to be like when Stockport turned up just after they secured promotion last season 😬

And we've only won 1 from our last 6 home matches and that 1 win was against a really poor MK side, Doncaster are a lot better and I believe they have the best away record too, eeek!

I know autos are still a faint possibility but we've got the toughest match by far, a lot will have to fall in our favour. I just want to see a good performance really. I think the play-offs are the most likely outcome so it would be nice if we can go into them off the back of an encouraging result.

There's no.pressure on Notts either @menzinho Notts are assured of a playoff place.

Tha fact that we have a small chance of automatic promotion should ensure a good crowd & atmosphere.

They’ve opened part of the Jimmy Sirrell stand for Notts fans so it’s going to be a big crowd, they are also saying if you’ve got a Notts scarf to bring it to the match to wave when the team take to the field, I’ve got one somewhere so I’ll dig it out.

If you haven’t got your ticket there’s still time, let’s try and roar the lads to promotion.

 

It's Matchday.

 

It’s going to be an exciting match in front of a bumper crowd and could be a momentous day for our club.

Hopefully we’ll be celebrating promotion tonight but if not we’ve still had a great season and can look forward to the play offs.

If you can get down to the lane to cheer us into league one.

COME ON YOU PIES!

The Notts team to face Doncaster.

Didzy is on the bench due to picking up an injury against Harrogate.

Austin returns from I injury & is on the bench.

 

Kick off. CMON U PIES 

 

Half Time.

Work to do.

 

Back to it.

 

Update.

 

GOOOOOAAAAAL JATTA

 

Update.

It ends in defeat.

Notts 1 Doncaster 2

 

Doncaster fully deserved their victory. Another poor performance at home. We are limping into the playoffs. On form, we have little chance but the playoffs are unpredictable. The fans deserve a trip to Wembley. 

Bradford scored in the sixth minute of injury time to snatch automatic promotion from Walsall.

In the playoffs 

Chesterfield v Walsall

Notts v Wimbledon.

It was always going to be a very small chance of getting automatic promotion today. Walsall & Bradford both won today.

I think Notts were just saving themselves for the playoffs. Didzy didn't start the game & never came on later. 

The substitutes just seemed to be getting minutes on the pitch rather than coming on to actually change the game.

Hopefully Notts will be able to field their strongest team when they play Wimbledon in the playoff semi final.

As @Robbie says this was always going to be a tall order and as it happened we could have won 6-0 and it wouldn’t have made any difference we still wouldn’t have gone up.

We huffed and puffed a lot but in the end we were a poor second to Doncaster, the only player to come out of the game with any credit was George Abbott who had an excellent game.

We move on to the playoffs although I’m not keen on the kick off time of 8pm on Saturday, I think we can beat Wimbledon over two legs but I wouldn’t be surprised to see Chesterfield win the last promotion place.

I agree @Fan of Big Tone about beating Wimbledon.

Notts have avoided Chesterfield, in the semi's & Salford, Grimsby & Colchester didn't make it, & any one of them could have been tough.

I'm heartened by the fact that Austin got some minutes today. I hope Maynard has been saving him because he could be big for Notts in the playoffs.

I think he passed to Jatta for our only goal today. I would play him instead of Whittaker behind Didzy & Jatta. I'd also prefer Jarvis over Jones to start & have Jodi on the bench on Saturday.

There is something so gutting about seeing a winner’s podium being erected at our home stadium but it being for the opposition. Fair play to Donny and congrats on winning the league, a really good end to the season for them. Hard to believe that only 6 matches ago we were 2 points behind them…

I’m just so discouraged that in a big match where we packed out Meadow Lane we put in another really poor performance. First half was particularly bad, not just because we conceded two goals but because I could not believe our only way to attack was to get the ball out to Gordon so he could put in a hopeful cross. What has happened to all our inventive attacking play?

Bass - 4 - kicking atrocious. Might be harsh as he seemed to be instructed to play that way 'to beat a press'. Never looked like working.

Mcdonald - 3 - Not good enough.

Platt - 3 - Bullied.

Bedau - 3 - Bullied.

Gordon - 1 - NL player. Attitude stinks.

Jones - 2 - Garbage today.

 

Abbott - 8 - Levels above anybody in his own team

Palmer - 3 - Crab.

Whittaker - 2 - Not good enough.

Grant - 3 - largely anonymous yet again

 

Jatta - 3 - Not good enough to play with no support around him.

 

Maynard - 1 - Got it all wrong. So negative and slow at home. Like a death eater in the way he sucks the soul out of our supporters 

I liked the way Rovers played, solid back four and runners from midfield, Street up front for them also looked quality. 
We on the other hand did the same old thing that we’ve been doing for months now, a stretched three across the back, a boxed midfield and two wide players trying to get it to Jatta. It just has not worked at home and any half decent set up can easily hold it at bay. I think we’ve won 4 home games all season against any side in the top 17, that is a shocking and quite frankly an unacceptably statistic, and we looked a totally dejected side, bereft of any ideas.

At least we’ll get the spring bank holiday weekend off.

2 hours ago, Super_Danny_Allsopp said:

Platt - 3 - Bullied.

Totally gave up chasing back for the one on one miss in the second half. Looked thoroughly dejected.

2 hours ago, Super_Danny_Allsopp said:

Jones - 2 - Garbage today.

Still miles off what we know he can do.

 

2 hours ago, Super_Danny_Allsopp said:

Abbott - 8 - Levels above anybody in his own team

Embarrassing when a young lad on loan is the only player willing to put the effort in. He was light years ahead of his teammates.

Last time I looked at the League table Notts finished in sixth place in League 2, despite the injuries to key players for much of the season.

For Notts to finish in the playoffs is a big improvement from last season's effort & that should be applauded.

If Notts can get to another Wembley final in front of a 50 K + crowd, it would be a great achievement & another great day out for the Notts fans.

If we get promoted it would be a fantastic achievement, but if we do or we don't, I'm sure the owners, together with the management, will look to improve the squad for next season.