Skipper's sweepstake bribe, landmark goal and other Doncaster Rovers talking points
and live on Freeview channel 276
They dismantled Accrington Stanley 4-0 to move within a place and a point of the League Two play-offs. Here are four major talking points to emerge from the game:
Crest of a wave
Eight consecutive wins. Seven straight successes at the Eco-Power. One point off the play-offs.
Advertisement
Hide AdAdvertisement
Hide AdRovers are THE form side in the entire top four tiers and have been for some time. In truth this latest win, their joint-biggest margin of victory all season, was as straightforward as they could have hoped for. They barely had to get out of second gear against a plucky but limited Stanley side.
The early strike from Hakeeb Adelakun set the tone and the hosts never looked back after that. McCann did his best post-match to try and quell premature talk of the play-offs but how could you not get carried away?
No team will enjoy facing this side and next in their sights is Barrow, who occupy one of the precious play-off spots that McCann's side are hunting down.
Ironside landmark
On the eve of this match Joe Ironside spoke with the media and stated his desire to rack up 20 goals for the season at the earliest opportunity. It didn't take him long to tick it off his list, with a poacher's finish from close-range for the second of the afternoon.
Advertisement
Hide AdAdvertisement
Hide AdThe 30-year-old has been a revelation since joining in the summer and his latest strike means he became the first Rovers player to bring up such a tally since John Marquis.
Surely next on his to-do list is to make it 20 league goals (16 of his strikes have come in the league, the other four in cups). With three games left to do so, don't put it past him.
Sharing the load
This game saw four goals created and finished by seven different players. That two defenders - James Maxwell and Joseph Olowu - were among that list was pleasing to see.
It follows a trend in recent weeks, with Maxwell assisting in the win over Wrexham and Jamie Sterry producing one of the passes of the season for a goal midweek against Walsall.
Advertisement
Hide AdAdvertisement
Hide AdHere, Olowu picked out Adelakun with a glorious pass for the opener whilst Maxwell provided the finishing touch for a classy third.
"It was a fantastic pass from Joseph, to see the run," McCann said. "Alot of our players are in good form. We could probably go through the whole team, so long may it continue."
Adelakun love-in continues
Ourselves, the fans and even Grant McCann seem to be running out of words to describe Hakeeb Adelakun.
Another goal and assist against Stanley had his manager purring. And speaking to the Free Press post-match, he revealed a clever ploy by skipper Richard Wood to try and tempt the loanee to sign a permanent deal.
Advertisement
Hide AdAdvertisement
Hide Ad"Owen Bailey won the sweepstake on the Grand National today and Woody suggested giving the money to Haks to make him stay!," McCann beamed.
"The boys love him. They'd love to have him here next year and so would we. We just don't want to take him out of the place where he's at at the minute.
"To be honest I'd wish they stopped voting for him to be man of the match! It's great and is brilliant to see. He's in good form, he really is, and he looks dangerous."
Comment Guidelines
National World encourages reader discussion on our stories. User feedback, insights and back-and-forth exchanges add a rich layer of context to reporting. Please review our Community Guidelines before commenting.