Doncaster Rovers U18s slipped to a 3-1 defeat on Saturday afternoon away to Salford City in the Youth Alliance League. Fifteen-year-old Dylan Hartley's strike nine minutes into the second half pulled Rovers back from 2-0 down, but a stoppage-time finish sealed the points for the hosts.
Team Changes
Lead professional development coach Ryan Cresswell made four changes from the side that earned a point at Carlisle the previous week. Tom Rowbotham started in goal, with Oscar Spence and Simon Mehari in the full-back positions. Midfielder Tommy Barnett, an U16s player, replaced Ethan Hodgett in the middle of the park.
First Half Action
Rovers created the first meaningful opening on 13 minutes when Dylan Hartley headed wide under pressure from Tommy Barnett's corner. Salford threatened on 20 minutes as Oscar Spence produced a goal-saving block to deny Noah Hill at close range, before Yaqoub Zlitni curled over the rebound.
Rowbotham was called into action after half an hour, flying across his goal to claw Louie Backhouse's effort away from the top corner. Two minutes later, Jonny Tomlinson slid in to block Hill's low attempt and keep the scoring level.
Five minutes before half-time, Salford found the opening goal on the counter-attack. Backhouse carried the ball beyond halfway before sliding in Fahuz Amusat, who saw his initial effort saved by Rowbotham before side-footing into the net. Salford led 1-0 at the interval.
Second Half Fightback
Backhouse doubled Salford's lead within a minute of the restart, latching onto a loose ball on the edge of the area and sliding into the bottom left corner.
Rovers responded nine minutes into the second half. After receiving the ball on the left from Barnett, Hartley cut inside his marker and smashed the ball into the net via the bar to make it 2-1.
Cresswell's side upped the pressure in search of a leveller. With 16 minutes to play, Salford threatened when Backhouse forced a good save from Rowbotham down to his right. Rovers' best chance came four minutes later through the work of Ashton Swales and Charlie Pinder down the right, with Pinder's low cross agonisingly evading Hartley at the back post.
Despite Rovers' best efforts to find an equaliser, Salford full-back Indy Stoller sealed the points by curling into the corner from just inside the area in stoppage-time. Final score: Salford 3-1 Rovers.
