How Doncaster Rovers’ promise to go ‘full throttle’ fell flat against Harrogate Town

The visitors hadn't won for seven games - and had just one win in their previous 13 - but took three points back to North Yorkshire thanks to second-half goals from Luke Armstrong and Alex Pattison.

Doncaster were booed off at both half-time and full-time following one of their worst displays yet under Danny Schofield, which was littered with errors.

Sloppiness in possession was their Achilles heel throughout as they gave the ball away numerous times to play themselves into danger.

Luke Armstrong might have scored inside 10 minutes when Ben Nelson’s careless pass allowed Harrogate to steal possession and attack, but Tom Anderson deflected his volley wide.

Jonathan Mitchell was then called into action to tip Kazeem Olaigbe’s effort away after the winger met Jack Muldoon’s cutback inside the box.

At the other end, in a rare moment of quality on the ball for the home side, Luke Molyneux tested the gloves of Mark Oxley with a low strike from outside the box in the 11th minute.

The lively Molyneux then found the run of Kyle Hurst but Oxley was there again to stop his effort from close range.

That was as good as it got in the first period as a sparse crowd and flat atmosphere was met with a laboured performance from the hosts, who were booed off at the break.

Lowly Harrogate started the evening in 21st place but rarely looked troubled and asked most of the questions in attack.

Mitchell did well to save a 52nd-minute strike from their danger man Olaigbe, which made it through a crowd of players after a corner was only partially cleared.

But for the groans from the home stand you could be forgiven for thinking the match was being played behind closed doors.

Schofield's pre-match promise was to go 'full throttle' but this was anything but.

His decision to replace Caolan Lavery with Miller, rather than put two strikers up front, appeared to baffle the home crowd as Doncaster again struggled to create chances.

Molyenux was the only home player who carried a genuine threat all night and almost provided the breakthrough in the 72nd minute when he drove to the the byline and cut into the box before poking the ball into the six-yard area, but both Miller and Harrison Biggins saw their efforts blocked.

Harrogate’s break came with 81 minutes gone when Luke Armstrong bundled the ball home for his 12th goal of the season, having initially headed a free-kick against the post

Schofield introduced Aidan Barlow and Todd Miller in place of Molyenux and Hurst in response and the former's first action was to give the ball away, which allowed Harrogate to break.

Alex Pattison then drilled the ball home from the edge of the box following a neat counter-attack.

That sealed a deserved win for the visitors, with Doncaster leaving the field to more boos from their fed-up fans, who have not seen their side score in four games.

Nine points now separate Schofield’s side from the final play-off spot with 12 games to go.