Doncaster Rovers 1 Crystal Palace 0: Fortune finally smiles on Rovers as Saunders opens reign in style

The opening game of his reign at Doncaster Rovers ended in a narrow victory which immediately lifted some of the gloom hanging over the Keepmoat Stadium.

That the winning goal should come via a hefty deflection was hard enough on opponents Crystal Palace.

Yet the fact that referee Chris Sarginson ignored an early push on Palace striker Glenn Murray in the penalty area was even more a case of rough justice.

On another day, the offender, Rovers captain George Friend, could have been red-carded for a professional foul and Palace might have gone ahead via the penalty.

But this was a day when things finally went Rovers’ way. And about time, too.

For over the course of the past 20 games, which had not seen a victory until Saturday, the men in the red-and-white hoops have more often been on the wrong end of bad decisions.

And if Rovers had not pulled off this victory over Palace, it would have equalled the club record of 20 consecutive league games without a win – established in 1998 when the club was relegated from the Football League.

The PA announcer reminded home supporters moments before kick-off that this is where the ‘season starts’.

It probably was not his intention but that was also a telling verdict on the previous seven games under former manager Sean O’Driscoll.

Chairman John Ryan and managing director Stuart Highfield stood at the exit to the tunnel to applaud the team onto the pitch at 3.0pm.

Saunders, dressed smartly in a suit and tie, made a low-key entrance, waving briefly to the crowd before sitting at the end of the home bench alongside Academy director Mickey Walker.

Within three minutes, Rovers supporters had launched into a chorus of ‘Dean Saunders’ Barmy Army’. Talk about ‘the king is dead, long live the king.’

Saunders had trained only once with his new squad, due to the timing of his appointment, so it was no surprise that he should keep the same formation favoured by O’Driscoll, namely 4-1-3-2 with Brian Stock sitting just in front of the back four.

Saunders made three changes to the side beaten in O’Driscoll’s final game at Reading; striker Jon Parkin making his debut after arriving on loan, Stock starting for the first time this season after recovering from injury, and Richard Naylor returning in defence.

There was no place in the squad for Giles Barnes, midfielder Kyle Bennett dropped to the bench, and full-back Tommy Spurr was ruled out by injury.

Perhaps even more significantly, Billy Sharp was back on the bench – a surprisingly early return to the limelight for the club’s star striker given the extent of the ankle injury he had suffered on the opening day of the season at Brighton.

Although Palace manager Dougie Freedman was justifiably incensed when Friend’s push on Murray went unpunished, referee Sarginson evened things up when allowing defender Patrick McCarthy to use Jon Parkin’s back as a step-ladder in the opposite area.

Saunders should have been celebrating his first goal as Rovers manager on 22 minutes but Parkin fluffed his lines when teed up by John Oster.

Parkin’s arrival in attack had given Rovers the option to employ a more direct style of football. However, ‘The Beast’, who stands 6ft 3in tall and weighs over 14 stone, had not started a league game for Cardiff City this season and inevitably looked a shade rusty.

Come half-time, Saunders was urging his players to relax and pass the ball.

While he wanted to see more shots and more balls into the penalty area, he also felt that some players were panicking in possession and resorting needlessly to the long ball.

The first half had been anything but a classic. Chances were few and far between and there was a lack of encouragement coming from the home crowd.

But the introduction of Sharp, and to a lesser extent loanee Milan Lalkovic, lifted the whole mood inside the stadium and breathed new life into Rovers.

Sharp had not played since the opening game and coming back so soon was a calculated gamble.

Lalkovic immediately carved out an opportunity for James Hayter and Sharp forced goalkeeper Julian Speroni into action.

There was a slice of good luck about the goal that won the game.

Oster’s speculative 25-yard shot took a massive deflection off Palace defender Aleksanar Tunchev and completely wrong-footed goalkeeper Speroni.

As the ball hit the netting inside the left-hand post, Saunders jumped for joy in his technical area.

Once the goal had been scored, Rovers played with far greater confidence and rediscovered some of the style that symbolised the O’Driscoll era.

Lalkovic curled a shot inches over the bar and Hayter should have wrapped things up but shot over five minutes from the end.

Oster, who played alongside Saunders when making his international debut for Wales in a friendly against Brazil 14 years ago, said: “It’s typical. When a new manager comes in, he gets all the luck. It’s unfortunate for the old manager.

“Everyone got on with him and, although he’s completely different to the new manager, everyone wishes him all the best. Now we’ve got a new manager, we have to get on with things.”

So the king is, indeed, dead. Long live the king.