Doncaster 3-0 Aston Villa

[andy villa]

Doncaster deservedly reached the Carling Cup quarter-finals after dumping Villa out of the competition.

Man-of-the-match Michael McIndoe gave Doncaster a first-half lead with a calmly taken penalty following Liam Ridgewell's handball.

Early in the second-half Paul Heffernan added another, sidefooting in after he picked up Guy Lewis' pass.

Sean Thornton heaped further misery on a lacklustre Villa, his deflected shot rippling into the top corner.

Such was the quality of Doncaster's play that Dave Penney's side frequently looked more like the Premier League side than their embarrassed visitors.

Villa's chief tormentor was left-winger McIndoe whose jinking runs and crossing ability constantly troubled their defence.

It was a McIndoe pass that freed Dave Mulligan, his low cross drawing the game's first save as Thomas Sorensen clutched the ball.

McIndoe then had a shot of his own - an effort that went narrowly wide - after he was released by Heffernan's astute pass.

Fittingly given his impressive start it was McIndoe who gave Doncaster the lead after Ridgewell was adjudged to have handled the ball in the area following a James Coppinger's cross.

McIndoe held his nerve to slot the ball into the corner of the net as Sorensen dived the wrong way.

Just past the hour McIndoe's wonderful shot - hit with the outside of boot - narrowly went wide as the Doncaster winger continued to bewitch the Villa defence.

If Villa were left chasing McIndoe's shadow they also never really got to grips with Heffernan's partnership with Lewis in attack.

On 53 minutes that partnership bore fruit as Lewis and Heffernan linked superbly.

Lewis delicately touched a Mulligan pass into Heffernan's path and this time the Doncaster striker made no mistake, sidefooting past Sorensen.

Thornton was another prodigious influence for Doncaster in midfield and he capped a fine performance by scoring their third goal.

With 12 minutes to go the former Sunderland midfielder skipped over a couple of Villa tackles, before his powerful shot took a deflection off the hapless Ridgewell to arc over Sorensen.

If Villa's defending left something to be desired, their attack was even less effective, so much so that Dino Seremet did not have a save to make in the game.

After Doncaster's first goal Gareth Barry went close for the visitors with a backward header and a driven shot.

Mulligan almost diverted that Barry shot into his own net as he tried to clear and he was mightily relieved when the ball was gathered up by Seremet.

Just before the interval James Milner went desperately close for Villa when his curling shot almost found the top corner of the net.

Milan Baros claimed a penalty after he was upended by Steve Foster, but the Czech Republic's plea was ignored.

[NJ10]

shocking, i couldnt believe how bad villa were. angel and baros were a disgrace, milner and mccann were passengers, and ridgewell looks more and more like titus bramble with every game i see of him.

credit to doncaster like, they got at villa and humiliated them

[andy villa]

doncaster completely outplayed us...

dol tried to make excuses after the game about a few decisions, but even if that was the case, that still doesnt deter from the fact that we were outplayed all over the park..

doncaster fully deserved the win and the scoreline flattered us in my opinion...

[premfan]

I would like to see more of this Sean Thornton. I thought he was the outstanding player for Rovers. I watched the game early this morning when my son decided it was time to play around. I was shocked by Villa's performane! I couldnt believe Angel was playing, I only saw him in the box towards the end of the game when he had a pushing match with the one defender.

Hard luck Ralph!

[Jo E.]

actually saw this match. Villa were woeful. Absolutely no confidence. What was the name of the Doncaster midfielder who apparently was dropped by Sunderland? He had some skills & worked his as$ off.

[kennethlindheim]

Sean Thornton

[mr.watford]

thornton was good in the prem, but he had an attitude problem or something

[hanuma]

and he is word perfect on vanilla ice songs....oh dear...

but d'ol is no longer beyond criticism...he has to take the blame for this tbh.

[andy villa]

this was our first team almost...

we were outplayed, outclassed and well and truly beaten... the scoreline flattered US...

dol is far from beyond critism and neither are the players...

disgusted with the whole fcuking lot of them tbh...

[john legend]

i think premiership players have a poor attitude when it comes to playing championship and football league sides. they think they will roll them over and get into trouble. it is not the first time this type of scoreline has been handed out.