Doncaster concede a rather embarrassing goal in what played out to be a sleepy pre-season draw with Blackpool on Saturday.
Blackpool tweeted: “26′ – Ashley Fletcher opens the scoring for the Seasiders, capitalising on a mistake at the back by the hosts.”
They then said in their match report: In a rather uneventful first-half, the Seasiders went one up through a mistake by Rovers goalkeeper Thimothee Lo-Tutala, who allowed Ashley Fletcher to block the ball into the goal, despite the best efforts of Lo-Tutala to make up for his error.
“In quite bizarre fashion the Seasiders took the lead in the 26th minute through striker Fletcher. The number 11 blocked a clearance by Doncaster keeper Lo-Tutala before the ball trickled over the line despite the best effort of the keeper to keep it out.”
Donny club captain Owen Bailey did managed to level the scoreline, bundling the ball into the net from a corner that the visitors failed to clear.
The “strike” that puts us ahead at the break.
One for the Dubious Goals Panel… 🧐
🍊 #UTMP pic.twitter.com/90p0CyEXbY
— Blackpool FC (@BlackpoolFC) July 26, 2025
This is why Pep has ruined football…
Doncaster trying to play like Man City ends up like this 😂😂😂pic.twitter.com/9i4rrSbywF
— The 44 ⚽️ (@The_Forty_Four) July 26, 2025
Doncaster: Lo-Tutala, Sterry (Nixon 72), Grehan (McGrath 62), O’Riordan (Pearson 62), Senior (Maxwell 62), Bailey (Sbarra 73), Broadbent (Close 73), Gotts (Clifton 62), Molyneux (Ajayi 72), Sharp (Hanlan 62), Gibson (Middleton 62)
Doncasters subs not used: Lawlor, Oram, Ironside, Westbrooke.
Blackpool: Peacock-Farrell, Imray (Lyons 68’), Casey (Sassi 89’), Horsfall, Ihiekwe (Husband 68’), Coulson (Ashworth 68’), Honeyman (Bondo 89’), Evans (Knight 83’), Brown, Ennis (Finnigan 75’), Fletcher (Kouassi 75’)
Blackpool subs: Ravizzoli, Bardsley, Lyons, Sassi, Elder, Ashworth, Husband, Finnigan, Upton, Knight, Richardson, Bondo, Kouassi
Twitter users reacted after Doncaster concede an embarrassing goal in the sleepy pre-season draw with Blackpool…
@KnightTangerine: Fletch the new goal machine 💪 😂🍊🧡
@CraigDHoare: I blame Pep Guardolia
@DJAllen04: Brave or overplaying???
@AShewy13: Looks like an og to me
@Clascid: Couldn’t handle Fletchers Aura. 😤🔥
@mattparaice4: Top banter from Donny today 😂 #bcafc #drfc
@LM6tweets: Ashley Fletcher strikes such fear in to the heart of the opposition that they would simply stick the ball in their own goal rather than have to deal with him.
@SteveUnofficial: Goalie so desperate not to let Fletcher score he puts it in the net himself.
@jgriff2332: Teams that do this deserve everything they get ffs
@adam_e87: Timmy Lo-Tutala with an absolute howler. Poor guy.
@Athers83: Good job it’s just a friendly or I’d be fuming if I were a Donny fan! Jeez
@wpiootbgw: Many are familiar with “Holy Rollers” – the #WPIOOTBGW equivalent of a baseball perfect game or a 9 darter. It’s failing to get goal kick sequence out of your own 6 yard box, then conceding. It’s rare & a big deal. Doncaster just delivered a Holly Roller🚨
@ColinPep1: Even as primary school children back in the 90s we wouldn’t play with such risks. It was all about scoring and not conceding. Was about making it as difficult as possible for the opponent to score. Not handing them goals on a plate
@niko1asr: The problem is teams thinking they are City, when they’re not and they’re fucking shit, trying to play like Pep’s teams. That’s what has ruined football, if you’re not good enough to it, recognise it, and don’t fucking do it
@Swifty862: I have been saying this for ages! Every week throughout the football league, there are mistakes like this, pep has definitely ruined football.
@SmithChristian4: This isn’t Pep. This is on the managers who can’t recognise the players at their disposal aren’t capable of doing it consistently well… if they could they’d play higher. Stick to what your good at, play the percentages and you’ll win more games more often than not 🤷🏾♂️
@PrescottRamseyX: Modern Football 👇💩 #DRFC #thegamesgone
@mattparaice4: Top banter from Donny today 😂 #bcafc #drfc
@AndyMoo287: Why I rarely watch football these days. That Tippy Tappy shit is boring to watch and barely works, except for Pep’s teams. Can’t recall a long goal kick ever resulting a team conceding a goal? But current Coaches are convinced there’s only one way to play football these days. 😧
@StokeyyG2: This is not on Pep. This is on managers thinking their players are at a good enough quality to play like Pep’s players.
@streathamdave: You are taught in school not to pass across an open net. That’s shocking to be fair. Let’s hope it is learnt from.
@TheLeonKearney: Clubs at our levels playing football like this 🤦♂️ Like asking a kid who’s just passed their test, to drive a race car.
@Rupee92: Yeah fuck that absolute pointless routine off 😂 I know WHY teams do it, i just don’t agree. #drfc
@JohnLeslieCoyl1: It’s an absolute horror story. I suppose friendlies are where you get stuff like this out of the system. #DRFC
@murphystanacc: And they say they’re staying up 🫣
