Doncaster Rovers 0-1 Stockport County: Oliver Norwood Seals EFL Trophy Final Spot
Oliver Norwood’s early free-kick was enough as Stockport County beat Doncaster Rovers 1-0 to book a place in the EFL Trophy final, setting up a Wembley meeting with the winner of Luton Town and Northampton Town.
Norwood’s Free-Kick Decides The Tie
Stockport took the lead after 11 minutes when Norwood fired his free-kick straight through a static Rovers wall and past the diving Zander Clark into the bottom right-hand corner. That solitary goal — the only score of the game — proved decisive despite a dominant first-half display that produced a string of chances for the visitors.
Norwood had further opportunities to add to his tally. He struck a later free-kick from a similar position but Clark produced an excellent fingertip save to push the ball over the bar, and Norwood failed to hit the target from around 12 yards in the second half as Stockport looked to double their advantage.
Doncaster Struggles And Clark’s Key Saves
Doncaster manager Grant McCann made nine changes for the semi-final from the side that lost heavily at the weekend, and his team were thoroughly outclassed in the first half, relying on a string of saves from goalkeeper Clark to keep them in the tie. Clark was called into action multiple times, first narrowing the angle to turn Adama Sidibeh’s close-range effort wide and then producing a magnificent double save to stop Sidibeh’s low attempt and get a strong hand to Lewis Bate’s follow-up.
McCann said: “They were too good for us in the first half. Way too good for us. They were more physical than us, picked up more second balls than us, ran more than us, they had more pace in their team than us. We have conceded off something we know Oli Norwood is really good at, and we prepped the players on that. We said ‘Don’t give any cheap free-kicks away’ and then we do and then we are not brave enough in the wall. I was delighted to get in at 1-0. It could have been four or five in the first-half, the amount of chances they had. “
McCann made four changes at half-time which helped Doncaster improve, but they still struggled to create clear-cut opportunities. Late in the game Clark denied substitute Tanto Olaofe and also saved efforts from Roman Dixon and Odin Bailey as Doncaster were unable to find an equaliser.
Stockport County Head To Wembley
With the victory, Stockport County — who were twice losing finalists in this competition in 1992 and 1993 — have secured their place at Wembley. Dave Challinor’s side saw the game out to book the trip and will now wait to learn whether they will face Luton Town or Northampton Town in the final. The win caps a performance in which the visitors dominated large periods, with several near-misses that could have made the scoreline more emphatic.
The result sends Stockport to the EFL Trophy final and ends Doncaster’s run in the competition for this season, leaving McCann and his squad to reflect on a match in which they were second best for long spells despite a stronger second-half showing.
