Battle stations: Doncaster Rovers look to have fight on hands to lift League Two crown

On an afternoon when Doncaster Rovers were envisaging a major club milestone by going a calendar year without suffering a home league defeat, it was the visitors who filed an entry into their own record books and not the hosts.

A club-record equalling 12th away win in a season represented considerable Pilgrims’ progress, with the joyous scenes among the visiting contingent at the final whistle bearing full testimony to that.

Rovers players, by contrast, trudged off the pitch after experiencing the sensation of a Keepmoat league reverse for the first time since March 28 of last year. Although they should not reproach themselves too much.

The disappointment was relatively minor in marked contrast to 12 months ago when confidence-sapped Rovers were in freefall and heading inexorably towards the Football League’s basement division.

A year on and Doncaster remain in firm control of their own destiny and have every right to be spying a promotion party, with it surely being a case of when not if they return from where they came last season.

The day may have belonged to Argyle, whose 900-strong travelling brigade broke into a chorus of ‘We are going up’ deep in the second half. But Rovers’ far-from-dismayed support quickly replied in kind with a chant of ‘We’re still top of the league’.

Darren Ferguson’s side remain 16 points clear of the side just outside of the promotion places in Stevenage with just seven matches of the campaign to go and only a capitulation of Devon Loch proportions would deny them automatic promotion.

What can be ascertained from yesterday’s events is that a genuine battle for the title should now ensue following Argyle’s victory.

At least one Yorkshireman left the Keepmoat Stadium with a broad smile upon his face in Hull-born Sonny Bradley, whose towering 50th-minute headed goal provided the definitive moment in a fascinating contest between two sides who look nailed on to be pitting their wits against each other in League One next season.

Plymouth, as his been their wont on the road this term, dug deep when they had to en route to another successful away trip.

Rovers were also true to their own instincts with a performance that provided ample evidence as to why they sit proudly at the summit of League Two.

Plymouth have won two battles against Rovers after following up their December victory in Devon with another win, but the South Yorkshire outfit still look well placed to win the war.

Rovers were somewhat unfortunate to gain nothing for their efforts that saw them pose considerable worries to the visitors, who will have been particularly grateful for the sanctuary of the dressing room at half-time after being second best in the first period.

That they got through to the interval unscathed was thanks in no small part to Luke McCormick, who produced a spectacular save to deny John Marquis and also thwarted the hosts at key junctures of the second half.

After Bradley’s strike, Argyle defended their lead with determination and fortitude, with a formidable last line of defence in McCormick proving a vital bulwark, to ensure that manager Derek Adams could reflect upon another significant victory against someone who he knows well in Ferguson.

Success is ingrained in the footballing DNA of both managers, with Adams’s father George working as a youth coach at Aberdeen during the memorable Pittodrie tenure of Ferguson’s rather more famous parent, Sir Alex.

Adams had commented that something had to give in the battle between the side who boasted the best away record in League Two and the one who possessed the leading home statistics and his pre-match prognostication came true.

Ferguson’s own observation that Plymouth would sit off and play on the counter just as they did in the reverse fixture in Devon also proved succinct, as did his similarly sage observation that the first goal would be massive on the day.

Rovers did their best to forge the breakthrough in the first half and patiently waited for their opportunity, which looked like arriving on 39 minutes to crown a first half in which they almost exclusively asked the questions.

A fine run by the persistent Matty Blair saw him send over a dangerous cross that was headed goalwards by Marquis, only for McCormack to make a stunning reaction save.

A combination of McCormick and defender Oscar Threlkeld then somehow diverted James Coppinger’s goalbound shot as Rovers again prised open Argyle’s rearguard, just before the interval, to provide another major scare.

But the next decisive act arrived in the Rovers’ goal, with their defence punished for momentarily switching off following Graham Carey’s deep corner and the unmarked Bradley needed no second invitation at the back post, powering home his seventh goal of the season.

It gave Plymouth something to hold onto, although they soon spurned a chance to add a second with Carey firing wide and Jake Jervis passing up a good chance.

Rovers pressed for an equaliser, but as time went on, their efforts started to carry a hint of desperation and lacked method.

Coppinger blasted over before being denied by a superb reaction save from McCormick, and a late block from Jakub Sokolik diverted Tommy Rowe’s goalbound effort, which said everything about the visitors’ tenacity.