Memorable Match: Bolton v Doncaster

The date was 6^th January 2007, and League One side Doncaster Rovers had been drawn against Premier League outfit Bolton Wanderers in what was the first FA Cup game in their new Keepmoat Stadium.

We were in the midst of our sixth consecutive season in the top division of English football, with the 2006/07 season saw us overcome the previous season's disappointment of failing to qualify for Europe and finished in seventh, enough for another season UEFA Cup football.

The January period saw us peak as high as third in the league, but tailed off following a disappointing January window in terms of investment in the playing staff. Three games before the end of the season, legendary manager Sam Allardyce announced his resignation as manager and was replaced by Sammy Lee for the final three games of the season.

The new ground replaced their previous home, Belle Vue, a ramshackle old ground that had provided the club with facilities from 1922 til 2006. It was a much-changed Wanderers side who visited Doncaster's new £20m, 15,231 all-seater arena. The first game came a few days before our visit, then the home side defeated Huddersfield Town.

Bolton took the lead in the eighth minute through striker Kevin Davies who volleyed into the corner from Stelios Giannakopoulos' chipped pass. The home side almost equalised but Ian Walker superbly saved Mark McCammon's header, and Andranik Teymourian made them pay when he drove home into the top corner, before Israeli Idan Tal followed up his own shot to score the third.

Andranik scored again on 49 minutes, before Bolton settled into the game, allowing Doncaster a couple of half-chances which were spurned by striker Paul Heffernan.

Wanderers would proceed to the Fourth Round where we faced Arsenal. A creditable 1-1 draw at the Emirates Stadium meant a replay at the Reebok Stadium, which saw the away side win 3-1.

The Teams

Doncaster: Smith, Paul Green, Lockwood (Stephen Roberts 83), Lee, O'Connor, Coppinger, Wilson, Stock, Forte (Guy 70), McCammon (Price 60), Heffernan.
Subs Not Used: Dyer, Thornton.

Bolton: Ian Walker, Nicky Hunt, Abdouleye Faye, Abdouleye Meite (Augustyn 83), Ricardo Gardner, Andranik Teymourian, Idan Tal, Quinton Fortune (Johann Smith 51), Stelios Giannakopoulos, Kevin Davies (Nicolas Anelka 73), Ricardo Vaz Te.
Subs Not Used: Ali Al Habsi, Gary Speed.

Goals: Davies 8, Teymourian 22, Tal 33, Teymourian 49.

Att: 14,297

Ref: D Gallagher (Oxfordshire).