'Wave after wave' goes unrewarded as Robbie Gotts and Doncaster Rovers rue dropped points

Having gone behind to Kasey Palmer's brilliant first-half finish, the last half-hour was all Doncaster.

Brandon Hanlan's 60th-minute equaliser, nutmegging the goalkeeper after Owen Bailey headed Matty Pearson's pass for him to run onto, breathed belief into his side but not the extra goal they needed.

The match ended in a penalty-area scramble which former Huddersfield Town defender Nigel Lonwijk came off worst in, stretchered down the tunnel five minutes after everyone else got into the warm. It summed up the game – scrappy, lacking quality, fully-committed and with Doncaster on top but unable to force the issue.

Whilst Luton wasted time, Doncaster wasted chances.

But two years ago the Hatters were in the Premier League, Rovers just pulling away from the League Two relegation battle.

“I feel like the second half was really positive,” said midfielder Robbie Gotts. “We're all disappointed to not come away with the three points.

“Even at the end, I don't know how it's not gone in the back of the net.”

Gotts, pictured, said: “It just felt like we were wave after wave of attack, which is really positive.

“We spoke about getting in the right positions, I feel like we did that really well and hopefully it'll just click for us.”

If the game played in a strong wind on a bobbly pitch was far from the prettiest, former Leeds United midfielder Gotts enjoyed it all the more for that.

“Probably being at Barrow for four years kind of helps because I don't think it gets much windier than down there,” smiled Gotts. “I enjoy them type of games. I'm a grafter myself.

“You'd rather get (the ball) up straight away instead of passing it around the back and not getting in them areas. We won the second balls, we did the dirty work and that created the chances. I think that's key to a Tuesday-night performance like that. It just comes down to who wants it more. It's massive this time of year, just battling games out, staying in them and then putting your chances away, which we could have done better.”

That was the massive caveat as Rovers fight another relegation battle, this time in League One.

They could have been disheartened when Palmer's touch bobbled the ball up, only for him to smash it into the bottom corner just before it bounced on the cabbage patch.

“We could have got out to him quicker, we could have stopped the shot,” rued manager Grant McCann. But his team stuck at it.

“We've been in that situation, being 1-0 down and 1-0 up so we know how it feels to be them,” argued Gotts. “It was just about staying in the game, not making it 2-0, which has happened quite a bit. I felt like once we did get that goal, we were going to get the second goal.

“There's going to be games where you take a point and you look back at the end of the season and it's a good point. We were in the right positions, it just didn't quite sit for us.

“But it's just taking them positives into the next game.”