Doncaster Rovers start with a win which shows they have League One respect – the final word

Manager Grant McCann has talked the talk this summer and despite Exeter City showing they had listened, a 1-0 win constituted walking, or at least tiptoeing, the walk.

It would have been a travesty had Rovers returned to League One after three years away without a victory, and Luke Molyneux’s 88th-minute penalty calmly drilled down the middle ensured they did not.

Their control was constant, their football fluid, their patience permanent and belief unbreakable.

In Glenn Middleton they have signed a winger not just willing but itching to beat his man, get to the byline and cross. Some went untouched, the rest unconverted, but it wore Exeter down before substitute Jordan Gibson took the baton.

It was the sort of throwback wing-play that does not just put bums on seats, but lifts them off it.

Likewise Tottenham Hotspur loanee Damola Ajayi’s half-hour cameo in the hole behind the striker left you wanting plenty of encores.

Connor O'Riordan shone at centre-back as Jay McGrath eases his way to match fitness.

Sixty-five per cent of the ball, 16 shots to two, three on target to none, 7-1 on corners, 33 touches inside the opposition box to five, 559 passes to 305, 33 crosses to 10 – the statistics really told how Doncaster dominated established third-tier guests.

“It’s the opening day of the season and it isn’t going to be perfect," said McCann with his usual 24-carat commonsense but the only real concern – apart from Jamie Sterry’s well-being after a suspected fractured cheekbone – was the lack of cutting edge that meant the statistic that mattered was only 1-0.

That Exeter could have pulled off a smash and grab means it should be a confidence-boosting win, not a complacency-spreading one – the best type for Doncaster right now.

Brandon Hanlan did not give the first impression he is ready to fill Rob Street's huge boots and Matty Pearson had some shaky first-half moments, not least sticking a boot out to a whipped Reece Cole free-kick and hitting his own crossbar.

Exeter only had one other chance of much note, but Sonny Cox ought to have scored from Jayden Wareham's fifth-minute pull-back.

Either might have justified the counter-attacking tactics Doncaster got used to in League Two but will want to see much less of in 2025-26.

When Pearson nodded on Molyneux's deep cross, Sil Swinkles’ hand was at head height as it touched the ball. Ross Joyce made the right call to award the penalty but one man's "unnatural position" is not everyone's – not Exeter manager Gary Caldwell’s for one. And League One referees are humans in what is far from a golden era of English officiating. You cannot bank on them.

Doncaster's only nearly moment was the 80th-minute chance Ajayi ought to have buried but hit into defender Ed Turns.

Fortunately, the Rovers fans in an 8,688 crowd kept the faith as securely as the players.

"They could see we had a lot of the ball, we were trying to create opportunities, we had some good opportunities and they stayed with us,” reflected McCann. “I'm pleased we could give them their reward.

"If Exeter had been a bit more in the game would they have been as patient? I think because we were in such control they felt something was coming. We all felt it."

The clear message is Rovers are not here to make up the numbers.

"The team can take a lot of confidence from that," said Middleton.

"I genuinely think teams in this league will fear us, the forward options we have, the way we can attack.

"Exeter sat off because they didn't want us to have any space in behind."

Doncaster’s patient football is not every Yorkshire fan's cup of tea, but there will have to be more of this. McCann would rather a few more punches thrown his team's way.

"I thought they'd be a bit more intense and get after us," he reflected.

"This is an established League One team, a team that's been mid-table in League One for the last three years, a wily old manager who knows how to grind out results and some really good players.

"Did they show us a bit of respect? Probably. But that's not going to be every week in this league. People will come to try and over-run you, over-power you, over-press you, over-football you.

"It was a good test for us, a game probably quite similar to some of the home games last season, but I'm looking forward to seeing how the team is when a team comes after us and puts real pressure on us."

These are exciting times for a confident club. It is an excitement born rightly more of hope than fear.

Doncaster Rovers: Lo-Tutala; Sterry (Gotts 27), Pearson, O'Riordan, Maxwell (Senior 74); Broadbent, Bailey; Molyneux (Grehan 90+4), Clifton (Ajayi 63), Middleton (Gibson 74); Hanlan (Sharp 63). Not used: Lawlor.

Exeter City: Whitworth; Turns, Fitzwater, Swinkels; McMillan (Dean 63), Cole (Birch 76), Francis (McDonald 58), Brierley, Niskanen; Wareham (Aitchison 58), Cox (Wilson 82). Not used: Bycroft, Cummins.

Referee: R Joyce (Teesside).