RECAP: Walsall 0 Doncaster Rovers 0: Rovers win 4-3 on penalties

Walsall should be ahead in this game. A Rovers attack broke down and Walsall quickly countered, with Kieran Phillips put in one-v-one with Ro-Shaun Williams. He knocked the ball past the Rovers centre half to get into the box before shooting with Pontus Dahlberg getting a touch. Conor Wilkinson looked certain to turn the ball in at the back post but slid in and sent it wide.

A big let off for Rovers.

That control that Rovers had at stages in the first half has been evident again in the first few minutes of the half. They’re happy to go back to half way and build again, which takes the sting out of the opposition and allows for movement higher up the pitch.

That was a real mixed bag of a half from Rovers.

A frantic start gave way to a decent period where they established some real control of possession and began to threaten down the flanks, particularly the right. They struggled to craft real opportunities but were certainly on top.

But as the half wore on they lost their grip and it invited the hosts on, and it is Walsall who enter the break having had the better of the first half chances.

The passing into the final third has not been good enough so far from Rovers and Omar Bogle, operating as a lone forward, looks very isolated at times.

Better is needed after the break.

One minute

It’s been Walsall that have had the better of things over the last five minutes or so. Rovers are struggling to get a hold on possession and the hosts are flooding forward quickly.

Ben Close, Doncaster Rovers

This time from skipper Tom Anderson who gets across to prevent Kieran Phillips from squaring across goal.

I’m not quite sure how Pontus Dahlberg has kept that out.

A corner was floated in by the hosts with Ash Taylor rising with a big header that skipped off the ground. Dahlberg got a hand to it to turn the ball onto the post and scrambled to grasp the ball.