Any reservations about the team selection were dispelled in the opening quarter hour as Rovers took a 2 goal lead, through Norwood, maybe a hint of offside about his second, a couple of other good chances missed, before Norwood went off with a bad head injury and momentum was lost. The second half started as mostly Halifax and they got a goal back from a corner, only for a deflected effort from debutant Cole to restore the margin of lead. Great interception from DMH and carried the ball half the length of the field before slotting past their keeper. Halifax got another back, courtesy of a slightly dubious free-kick and some poor defending and the remainder of the game was end to end, with McDonough being denied what most thought was a clear penalty.
The sponsors were spot on with DMH as MoM a great game, where he put himself about a bit, battled in the air and capped with an excellent goal. If the suggestion his loan will be extended to January is correct, that is brilliant news for us.
McDonagh had a good game, some great link-up play and work-rate. He took me back to my schooldays,being yelled out by the sports master for ducking under a rugby ball, when he ducked out of trying to win a header though. If he could improve in the air and be more committed going for headers, then it would make him a better all-round forward. Given that weakness currently in his game, there is an argument that Cook should have replaced the injured Norwood ahead of Larnell Cole, though he made little impact when eventually brought on. LC wasn't quite what I expected. Some real quality balls, an eye for goal, but at current levels of fitness no great pace and he seemed to mostly occupy the centre of the park rather than out wide. Clearly capable of playing at a higher level and his fitness can only improve with full training and match time.
A very odd performance from Mr Donohue the referee. Let all sorts of things go in the first half, but bar a stupid free-kick award in Halifax's favour when Denton was manhandling Sutton was ok. Inventing free-kicks for Halifax in the second half, ridiculous booking for McDonough,who tried to pull out of the challenge on their keeper and don't think Duggan's challenge merited a card either. Think Harris' booking, which was deserved will keep him out of the Peterborough Cup tie.
In some ways, it's a shame that the Cup game is next up, as carrying on that kind of performance onto our next league game could give the Daggers a real test.
