(GROUND
NUMBER 106)
Date
of First Visit: 4th AUGUST 1992
BELLE
VUE, DONCASTER
DONCASTER
ROVERS 1
NEWCASTLE
UNITED 1 (Liam O’ Brien)
FRIENDLY
FIXTURE---
ATTENDANCE
3,951 (1,500 Toon fans)
"KEEGAN'S
GUILTY CONSCIENCE!"
BELIEVE
IT OR NOT!----this Tuesday neet pre season friendly was arranged by ‘then’ Toon
manager Kevin Keegan, because as a young lad who lived in the nearby Armthorpe
district of Doncaster, he used tih craall under the wooden fence at Rovers
groond and get in for nowt!.
Nuw!
wor Kev obviously had a guilty conscience and it must have been playin' on his
mind aall those years and when someone at Belle Vue foond oot aboot this, after
'Special 'K' had admitted as much on a telly programme!
The Donny official was
on the 'dog 'n' bone' as quick as a flash tih organize and demand a friendly
for the hard up Yorkshire club, as 'compensation' for the revenue that they
lost aall those years ago!.(so the story gans!)
'King
Kev' even answered written pleas from cash starved Rovers fans to bring The Toon
back to hiz place of birth, az their club had nearly been wound up by the Inland
Revenue just a few months orlier!
Fourth
Division 'Donny' were one of the poorest clubs in England back then (probably
because of fans sneakin' in under the fence!) and the state of their groond
cortainly reflected this.
For
example, the visitors dilapidated and weed strewn terraces ran anly half way
behind one goal with the rest of this end bein' covered by a shallow grass
bank!. (some of the weeds were a foot high!)
The
main stand with a dodgy lookin’ roof extention at the front, looked ready to
faall doon at any moment and so we kept well away from that side and plonked
worsels on the crumblin’ terrace ! (A sorry sight indeed!)
But!---it
was the Newcastle team (who had narrowly avoid relegation to the ‘old’ THORD
DIVISION just three months orlier!) who were ‘a sorry sight’ durin' the match!,
and we could anly manage a ‘one's each’ draa against one of the leagues paupers!
Keegan
opened Rovers new £100,000 floodlights<(where did they get the money from?)
but
must have been ruein’ hiz decision to come home az Donny striker Mike Jeffrey
missed two great chances in the forst 10 minutes to put the home side aheed!
In
reply Micky Quinn and Lee Clark had efforts saved and David Kelly aalso went
close az both sides went in goal-less at the break.
In
the 2nd half Rovers again through Jeffrey had a glorious chance to
put ‘The Paupers’ in from but shot waz well saved by defender Kevin Scott who
cleared off the line with sub goalie Pavel Srnicek stranded!
The
deadlock waz finally broken in the 75th minute when The Toon took an
undeserved lead through ‘super sub’ Liam O’Brien (who had came on just minutes
orlier) and he lashed in a Kevin Sheedy cross
in front of the Toon faithful standin’ in ‘The Giant Weed End’!<(wot
else?)
The
Fourth Division minnows were not to be denied though and ‘thorn in wor side’ Mike
Jeffrey beat Kilkline on the right and wellied the baall into the net for a
well desorved equaliser in the 83rd minute and the game ended aall
square!
For
the record the Toon line-up waz: Wright (Srnicek 45), McDonough, Beresford,
Bracewell, Kilcline, Scott (Kristianson 68), Brock (O’ Brien 68), Clark, Kelly,
Quinn, Sheedy.
VERDICT:
It’s just a pity WE could'nt find THAT gap under the fence to ‘escape’ from this
dire performance!
©Fink™ (the
mad-sad groundhopper!)
 |
THE HEEDLINES ON THE BACK PAGE OF
'THE JAWNIL' NEXT DAY, SAID IT AALL! |
