Doncaster Rovers talking points: Crystal Palace class, fringe men and a full(ish) house
Doncaster Rovers exited the FA Cup after a 2-0 defeat against Crystal Palace on Monday night. Here, we look at the talking points to emerge from the cup tie:
Key moments
First things first, Rovers deserve plenty of praise for their spirited performance here. They put up a good fight and any neutral, alien to English football, who was watching this contest would do well to notice a three-division gap between the two sides.
But these kind of match-ups are often decided by the bits of quality that the higher-placed teams are able to sprinkle on the contest.
Whilst their opener came via a slice of fortune - Daniel Munoz tapping in after an initial effort from Jean-Philippe Mateta hit a post and then bounced off Billy Sharp - there's no doubting the top flight class that was stamped all over their second.
Justin Devenny executed an inch-perfect lob after an equally pleasing assist by Will Hughes. As Grant McCann concluded post-match: "We don't concede that in League Two. That's just Premier League quality: the pass, the run, the finish."
Molyneux shines again
Luke Molyneux has enjoyed a superb run of form in recent weeks. He came into this game with five goals in his last six outings and more praise ringing in his ears from Grant McCann who once again declared him the best player in League Two.
Even a case of sore ribs, sustained in the bruising loss at Chesterfield, couldn't knock him off his stride here as he put in another stellar showing, this time against Premier League defenders who had to double up on him as the game wore on.
He came close to scoring on a handful of occasions and earned rightful praise, once more, from his manager. "He's playing against some very good players," McCann said. "And he looked on par at times with some of them in terms of his movements, how he dribbles and gets at people."
Fringe men come to the fore
Before last night, George Broadbent had not started a game in almost a month (the last FA Cup fixture at Hull). For Tom Anderson, you have to go back to mid-December for his last starting role.
Both were propelled into the fold and each deserves credit for encouraging performances up against high-class opposition. Anderson, along with Joseph Olowu, did a good job of mostly keeping Mateta quiet whilst Broadbent was confident in his passing and didn't get overawed in a fierce engine room battle. Admittedly, if he had his time again he would have made more contact with his attempted clearing header in the build-up to Palace's second. But sometimes you have to hold your hands up and admit the quality of Devenny's finish.
A worthy mention also for Jack Senior; another who came in from the cold and posted a more-than-respectable showing second half.
Eco-Power at its best
The attendance of 12,739 is the second-highest at the Eco-Power Stadium in the post-Covid era. It came mightily close to toppling the figure that watched last season's play-off semi-final against Crewe - just 150 people shy.
The atmosphere pre-match was electric and the air was filled at regular junctures with the voices of Rovers' fans. These are the nights when you wonder just what it could be like if the ground was this full more often.