Blackpool 2 Doncaster Rovers 0 - ‘Individual mistakes cost us again’ admits Andy Butler

Rovers’ final away test of the campaign ended in disappointment thanks to a couple of well-taken strikes from Seasiders hot-shot Ellis Simms

Butler said: “It’s another loss, but I see this as another learning curve for the players.

“We could have created a few more chances, but at least we got into a few decent situations in and around their box.

“Individual mistakes cost us again, though, and I’ll hold my hands up for the first one.

“Those kind of errors do give us something to reflect on.”

Unchanged Rovers charged out of the blocks and went close inside two minutes at a blustery Bloomfield Road.

Taylor Richards dragged a smart cross back for skipper Tom Anderson, but he clipped a shot wide from eight yards.

It was the hosts who were on top in those early exchanges, and it was no real surprise when they took the lead in the 22nd minute.

Jerry Yates flicked a header perfectly into Simms’s path, and the Everton loanee took a touch before beating Jones from just inside the Rovers box.

They almost went two behind just after the restart, only for Joe Wright to head Simms’s goal-bound strike off the line.

Simms was a real thorn in Rovers’ side all evening, and he tested Jones again.

Seasiders’ ‘keeper Chris Maxwell made his first save in anger in the 73rd minute when called upon to keep out Josh Sims’s header. However, Simms made it two in the 79th minute when he bundled home after Jones had blocked his initial strike.

Blackpool: Maxwell, Gabriel (Stewart, 46 (Anderson, 63)), Husband (Ekpiteta, 63), Thorniley, Ballard, Garbutt, Turton, Dougall, Embleton, Yates (Mitchell, 82), Simms (Holmes, 89). Unused substitutes: Moore, Shaw.

Doncaster: Jones, Wright, Anderson, Butler, Horton, Lokilo (Sims, 65), James (Greaves, 46), Smith, Richards, John-Jules (Coppinger, 65), Okenabirhie (Bogle, 34). Unused substitutes: Bottomley, Bostock, Amos.

Referee: R Lewis (England).

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