Doncaster Rovers 3 Charlton 0: Shackles taken off to enable Doncaster to run riot

There was no heavy rain to rescue Charlton this time, as had been the case on August 24, when Rovers’ 3-1 lead at the Valley was scrubbed from the record books by an abandonment.

Instead the visitors were submerged by the deluge of Doncaster’s attacks, which came at them from all angles and with pace, variety and conviction.

Nor was there the deflation that Rovers felt in the rearranged fixture in November, when salt was rubbed into the wounds as they lost 2-0.

Dickov described that performance as one of his side’s poorest of the season.

This showing last night, though, will have left the manager and the near-7,000 fans at Ice Station Keepmoat purring.

As temperatures dropped below freezing, Rovers turned in one of their most complete performances of the season, extending their unbeaten run to three games and emphasising their ability to play their way out of the Championship relegation battle.

Free-flowing in attack, immovable in defence, they were well on top even before Laurie Wilson was dismissed for a professional foul on Billy Sharp that resulted in Chris Brown doubling their advantage from the penalty spot.

With players like Sharp, Gabriel Tamas, Abdoulaye Meite, James Husband and Paul Keegan all moving another game closer to match sharpness, the signs are promising for Rovers.

They began with purpose against lacklustre opponents and never really took their foot off the gas as they answered Dickov’s pre-match call to greet this “massive game” with courage.

Rovers were industrious down both wings, with Tamas and James Coppinger combining well down the right, and Husband and Mark Duffy on the left.

Rovers were also showing a willingness to run at Charlton’s retreating defence with Coppinger, Sharp and Duffy all beating men in the opening 20 minutes with only the killer pass or the finishing touch eluded them.

The opener should have come when defender Bongani Khumalo ghosted in at the back post to steer Husband’s free-kick against the post with Sharp thwarted in his attempts to bundle it over the line.

But when the resulting corner was not properly cleared, Duffy beat a man to get to the byline before thundering in a low cross that Khumalo’s defensive partner Meite converted at the front post after goalkeeper Ben Alnwick failed to deal with it.

Rovers doubled their advantage 10 minutes later when Brown sent Alnwick the wrong way from the penalty spot. It was just rewards for the rangy Brown, who had turned Richie Wellens’s pinpoint pass into Sharp’s path with a sumptuous flick of the boot that left Wilson with no option but to haul the striker down and referee Paul Tierney little choice but to show the defender the red card.

Charlton offered little going forward throughout while defensively they had no answer to Rovers’ movement and thrust.

A volley from Simon Church that threatened the roof of the stand was as good as it got for the Londoners.

At the other end, Duffy continued to be a nuisance to the visiting defence, nearly fooling Alnwick direct from a corner before a shot skidded into the goalkeeper’s arms.

And it was the diminutive Duffy who got the home side’s third goal midway through the second half, slicing through weak tackles from the bedraggled Charlton rearguard before lashing the ball home from 15 yards.

The only thing missing was a goal for Sharp on his third home debut in Rovers colours.

And how he failed to score when rounding Alnwick from Coppinger’s through ball, only he knows.

He was still afforded a standing ovation when he was replaced a minute later, merely illustrating the lift he has given the club since his return last week.

Duffy, the game’s outstanding player, twice cut in from the left and curled shots over the bar as Rovers threatened more goals before Wellens nearly applied the finishing touch with a speculative shot that clipped the top of Alnwick’s cross bar.

Doncaster Rovers: Turnbull; Tamas (Quinn 77), Khumalo, Meite, Husband; Coppinger, Keegan, Wellens, Duffy; Brown (Peterson 89),, Sharp (Cotterill 77). Unused substitutes: Maxted, Furman, De Val, Stevens.

Charlton Athletic: Alnwick; Wilson, Lennon, Morrison, Dervite, Evina (Wood 45); Jackson, Stephens (Adjatevic 79), Cousins: Kermorgant, Church (Harriott 76). Unused substitutes: Thuram-Ulien, Green, Sordell, Pigott,.

Referee: P Tierney (Lancashire).