Lack of fluency and a late sucker punch - the story of Doncaster Rovers' EFL Trophy exit

In a game that was void of any real quality, it was the visitors who pinched the win in stoppage time through substitute Rakeem Harper's close-range finish.

A raft of changes for Rovers were made in order to give those on the fringes the chance to make an impression. But after a thoroughly forgettable night, it was hard to come up with many, if any, who enhanced their credentials ahead of Wimbledon at the weekend.

Too many moves broke down, too many passes were astray and there was an obvious lack of any fluency. And with penalties seemingly looming, Rovers threw it away with feeble defending as Harper waltzed through and squeezed home a tight finish.

It's often said that only the latter stages of this competition get the juices flowing, with the convoluted group stage and then regionalised knockouts a hard sell. That was certainly the case here, with a sparse crowd occupying just one of the four stands at the Eco-Power Stadium. The cold night air was filled with the voices of both sets of players, cajoling and encouraging in equal measure amid the void of any atmosphere from the terraces.

With chances few and far between it was becoming the sort of night that makes you yearn for a warm sofa, a hot mug of tea and some comforting background noise like a repeat of the Royle Family or the Hairy Bikers.

Suddenly, 25 minutes had elapsed with absolutely nothing of note to mention. Then, Rovers' Harry Clifton awoke everyone from their slumber when his vicious effort smacked off the right-hand upright. Joe Ironside, in the final action of the half, then found the other post with a header from close-range. Inbetween Port Vale had announced their arrival into the contest when Ruari Paton's goalbound header was kept out brilliantly by the feet of Ian Lawlor.

The tempo raised ever so slightly after the restart with Ben Close almost the unlikely source to make the breakthrough: twice he came close - pardon the pun - with a daisycutter going wide before a header was planted onto the roof of the Vale net.

Jason Lowe lashed a speculative attempt wide of goal in response before a flurry of half-chances came and went for either side.

With a shoot-out seemingly inevitable, Vale then snatched hold of proceedings as Harper provided the killer blow to end Rovers' interest in this competition for another year.

Rovers: Lawlor, Emmanuel, McGrath, Anderson, Fleming, Close (Westbrooke 75), Kelly (Bailey 67), Clifton (Molyneux 66), Gibson, Ironside (Sharp 67), Sbarra (Hurst 75)

Unused substitutes: Sharman-Lowe, Maxwell.