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Oldham 3 Doncaster Rovers 1: Blake opens his Rovers account but Derbyshire sinks Saunders’s men
Robbie Blake scores for Rovers.
DONCASTER Rovers failed to complete a quickfire double over Oldham and made a sorry exit from the FA Cup.
Rovers had beaten the Latics 1-0 at home in League Two on Tuesday and they took an early lead at Boundary Park when Robbie Blake neatly controlled a cross from Davd Syers before drilling home from 10 yards.
It was Blake’s first goal for the club since signing on at the Keepmoat in the summer.
But Matt Derbyshire, who had not scored for nine games, grabbed a brace as Oldham, who had knocked out Rovers in the first round in the 2007-08 season, fought back to win.
Syers, operating in a forward role, forced a good save from goalkeeper Alex Cisak with a 25-yard shot as Rovers looked to go two-up and Blake shot just wide of the far post from the edge of the area.
But Oldham’s Cristian Montano scooped over from Jose Baxter’s through-ball in the 23rd minute.
There was another let-off for Rovers on 29 minutes with Lee Croft hitting the bar from a tight angle after getting the better of Tommy Spurr on the edge of the six-yard area.
Oldham were denied by the woodwork for a second time on 42 minutes – a left-footed 20-yarder from Montana rattling the bar wih Woods beaten.
The deserved equaliser came in first-half stoppage time as Baxter delivered a free-kick from the left and Reece Wabara converted a six-yard glancing header.
Rovers played with a 3-4-1-2 formation in the second half with Blake competing alongside Chris Brown in attack, Syers sitting in behind them and Quinn pushing on down the right.
However, Rovers struggled to put the Oldham defence under any real pressure and the hosts deservedly went ahead after 70 minutes when goalkeeper Gary Woods parried Dean Furman’s attempt and the rebound was hit home by Derbyshire from six yards out.
With three youth team players on his bench, manager Dean Saunders’s options were limited and so he pushed captain Rob Jones up into the attack with Spurr moving across the back four to cover and Husband dropping back.
But Oldham made the game safe on 77 minutes, Derbyshire rounding off a neat move with a clinical finish to claim his second goal.
Jones headed wide on 80 minutes and Brown shot just wide as Rovers’ challenge came to a halt.
Oldham Athletic: Cisak, Brown, Mvoto, Wabara, Grounds, Croft, Furman, Wesolowski, Montano, Derbyshire, Baxter. Unused substitutes: Jacob, Tarkowski, Simpson, Smith, Taylor, Millar, M’Changama.
Doncaster Rovers: G Woods, Quinn, R Jones, Martis, Spurr, Syers (M Woods 88), Keegan, Clingan, Husband, Brown, Blake. Unused substitutes: Maxted, Griffin, McCombe, Finnigan, Meade, Middleton.
Referee: N Miller (Durham).
Man of the match: Matt Derbyshire.
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Sunday 26 May 2013
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