I'd be interested to know from regular U23 watchers where Buckley tended to play when he was a star performer for that team. For the first team, he seems to play as a deep-ish lying fulcrum midfielder, when in midfield, which doesn't seem to suit him. Recently, Mowbray described him as an attacking midfielder who glides past defenders in training. That's not something that has been seen in first team matches. I am not ready to give up on Buckley, given his success at U23 level and the occasional glimpses he has shown, especially, initially - but he does need improvement and, perhaps, a fixed position that suits him would help. Joe Rothwell has come more into his own since finding a role best suited to his game. Mowbray turned down League One loan enquiries in September, last year, but, if there was such an option now, I think it might be for the best for Buckley. If he stays, he should get regular U23 games to prove his worth again and build confidence.

Though Pears should have saved the shot, the midfield failed to protect the back four & GK for the Doncaster goal. For some reason, no one was in the DM position, leaving Richards the freedom to collect the ball in front of the Rovers defence, turn and run at them. Lenihan et al had little choice but to back off. The positioning really was a very basic error, especially, when both Travis and Trybull are mean to be defensively minded CMs.

The criticism of Buckley on the second goal seems harsh and rather unfair. He was isolated against a ball running winger. He correctly seeks to hold up the attacker so that others can come and support him. As he does so, he can see another Brentford player going down the line, effectively creating a 2 v 1 situation for a moment. Buckley's jockeying does enable other players to get back. However, the Rovers player (can't tell who it is) who comes to directly 'support' Buckley neither confronts the winger nor tracks the full back. This leaves Buckley not knowing who to track and what his team mate is doing. Arguably, he made the mistake to go with the full back. However, also culpable is the backtracking Rovers player who does nothing, except to create further confusion. Then there was another Rovers player inside who allowed the Brentford to get his excellent shot away. Buckley might've made mistakes elsewhere but in this case, I would lay more blame on the inadequate backtracking player, than the makeshift right back.

Perhaps, if PNE had the budget for an U23 team, Dolan would've been kept on to show his abilities. Maybe, a reminder to Rovers, if and when drastic cuts are contemplated. The U18s FA Youth Cup match highlights from Rovers v PNE in February this year are interesting to watch. Sorry if it's been already discussed - but though Rovers ran out 4-2 winners after a PNE player got sent off, the highlights suggest that PNE were very impressive and, perhaps, even the better team against a side with highly rated Rovers youth players like Brennan, Burns and Whitehall, amongst others. Dolan scores and plays well for PNE and another player, Ethan Walker, performs very well and scores.