Dreadful Doncaster Rovers ship three first-half goals in Newport thrashing

Rovers shipped three goals inside the opening 21 minutes as they fell apart in South Wales and were fortunate to get to half-time trailing by three.

A dreadful day got worse shortly after the restart as they conceded again to kill any chance of a comeback.

Saturday’s trip to Newport had been a chance to kick-start their league season after bouncing back decisively from defeat on the opening day.

Instead, it turned into a day to forget.

Times have been tough for Rovers in recent years but fans would be pushed to find a worse 45 minutes of football than what the expensively assembled class of 2023/24 produced in the first half at Rodney Parade.

Just six minutes had passed when Joseph Olowu was robbed of the ball by Seb Palmer-Houlden for the hosts' opening goal.

Olowu wanted a free-kick but referee Thomas Kirk waved play on, allowing striker Palmer-Houlden to fire past Ian Lawlor.

Doncaster's carelessness in possession was a theme throughout the first period and Palmer-Houlden should have made it 2-0 when Richard Wood gave the ball away inside his own half.

Next it was the turn of Lawlor to gift Newport an opening as he could only block Shane McLoughlin's shot with his legs, which presented Will Evans with a tap-in after 14 minutes.

Evans then came within millimetres of making it 3-0 when a whipped cross into the six-yard box just evaded him after Rovers gave the ball away again on the edge of the area.

A calamitous own goal on 21 minutes compounded their embarrassment as Olowu's clearance cannoned off Wood and into the net.

McCann had seen enough by the half-hour mark and hooked wing-backs James Maxwell and Owen Bailey.

Joe Ironside and Tom Anderson replaced them in a tactical switch, but the latter's first contribution was to see yellow for halting another Newport attack.

A freakishly bad showing from Doncaster should have been punished further but Bryn Morris fired wide when left unmarked in the box as half-time approached.

Having presumably been given a piece of their manager's mind, Rovers emerged early for the second period.

But just two minutes after the restart Will Evans made it 4-0 when he fired in off the post after being left unmarked on the edge of the area.

Another double change saw Tommy Rowe and debutant Mo Faal replace Luke Molyneux and George Miller in the 53rd minute.

That inspired a slight attacking improvement and Rowe sent a header over the bar when he met Tyler Roberts' cross just shy of the hour mark.

Faal gave Newport's defence problems with his ability on the ball but despite the attacking improvement Graham Coughlan's side never looked troubled at the back.

Palmer-Houlden fired wide as Newport threatened to rub salt in the wound before Rowe had Doncaster's best chance of the afternoon with almost 80 minutes played.

Deji Sotona teed him up to shoot from the edge of the box but Nick Townsend in the home goal tipped the ball over.

That was as good as it got for the visitors, who have a chance to put things right quickly at home to Mansfield on Tuesday.

Rovers: Ian Lawlor, James Maxwell (Tom Anderson, 30), Richard Wood (Jack Senior, 67), Joseph Olowu, Owen Bailey (Joe Ironside, 30), Harrison Biggins, George Broadbent, Deji Sotona, Tyler Roberts, Luke Molyneux (Tommy Rowe, 53) George Miller (Mo Faal, 53)

Subs: Ben Bottomley, Tom Nixon

Newport: Nick Townsend, Adam Lewis, Ryan Delaney, Will Evans (Kiban Rai, 90), Bryn Morris, Scot Bennett, Shane McLoughlin (Lewis Payne, 82), Harry Charsley (Matty Bondswell, 76), Kyle Jameson, Aaron Wildig (James Waite, 76), Seb Palmer-Houlden (Nathan Wood, 90)

Subs: Jonny Maxted, Josh Seberry