2 November 2019 –
Doncaster Rovers 2 Burton Albion 2 (7,492)
OOOOOOOOAAAAAAYYYY!
Last month we visited
Rotherham, a town with a grim image, and found out that yes, it is
indeed a shithole (as the Coventry fans sang). This weekend we went
to another town with a similar image, Doncaster, but were pleasantly
surprised. Doncaster Rovers play home games at the new and shiny
Keepmoat Stadium, which is set in an area of lakes, nice landscaping
and fountains. We found it very easily, straight off the A1, and
opted to park in a large industrial estate opposite the ground. We
recommend finding the old Toys R Us store, loads of spaces there, and
it's free. If you do park here though be advised, don't try to cut
through the shopping centre, there's no way through, best walk back
along the way you came.
From the outside the
Keepmoat looks...well, almost exactly like all the other new-build
stadia. The saving grace is the four floodlight pylons that hark back
to days gone by. As we waited to collect the tickets we were
harassed by a big furry canine, aka Donny Dog the club mascot. If
dogs are scared of fireworks I would like to shove a huge rocket up
Donny Dog's jacksie. It's tidy and clean outside and tidy and clean
inside too, not to mention cavernous. The concourse in our stand
stretched the length of the pitch and towers above you like an
aircraft hangar. Programmes and 50/50 tickets are sold together
(choice of white or red tickets, we chose white because “Leeds play
in white and red is the colour of the devil”. That didn't go down
well for some reason. For a change the food stand had everything we
wanted, to a reasonable but not outstanding quality - £11.90 for a
pie, cheeseburger, Bovril and bottle of water, slightly pricey.
Up into our seats and
there's plenty of legroom for Sam (there's always plenty of legroom
for me) as we took our places close to a large LED scoreboard. Our
ticket trick worked and we had empty seats either side of us. Maybe
not surprising as the place was only half full, will pretty much took
away the atmosphere despite the best efforts of the Burton and
Doncaster supporters and their drums. Also the Rovers home end is
set back quite a distance from the pitch. The game was entertaining,
Burton Albion play with verve, energy and drive and should have been
three goals ahead by half time.. Instead it was one apiece.
We were royally
entertained during the break, with a squad of cheerleaders and a
gaggle of nippers taking pot shots at Donny Dog. It's a shame that
more clubs don't do something like this each week, it's great fun
booing the six year olds when they miss their shots.
The second half was a
copy of the first, Burton went ahead with a justified penalty and
Doncaster equalised with a lucky rebound, and it ended 2-2 which
boosted our goal average. It was our first game since the clocks
went back, so the floodlights were on and providing a lovely
atmospheric view towards the end. But remember that we were close to
the huge scoreboard? When it got dark the constant flashing colours
were REALLY off-putting. And why “oooooaaaaaaaay”? Well, that's
all I could make out of Doncaster's most popular song....
And so to the scoring:
Atmosphere 2.5 Away
fans great, home fans average
Food & Drink 3.5
Everything we wanted but not spectacular quality
Stadium 3.5 Roomy,
clean, no soul
Value For Money 2.5
Slightly over-priced for League 1
Bonus points for
Bovril, mascot in a costume, 50/50 draw, and singing at least three
different songs.
Half a point for half time entertainment.
Point
deducted for home fans using a drum.
Final score 15.5.
Mid-table safety
Current table:
1 Rotherham United 19.0
2 Chesterfield Town
18.5
3 Doncaster Rovers 15.5
4 Boston United 15.0
5 Lincoln City 13.5
6 Falkirk 13.0
7 Mansfield Town 12.0
Total goals so far =
20. Average goals = 2.86. Global average 2.75.
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