Doncaster Rovers filled their boots in the first leg of their friendly double-header, swatting aside non-league Stamford 5-0.
Sign up to our daily newsletter
Sign up
Thank you for signing up!
Did you know with an ad-lite subscription to Doncaster Free Press, you get 70% fewer ads while viewing the news that matters to you.
Submitting...
Whilst a heavy win and a clean sheet will have undoubtedly pleased manager Grant McCann, more goals for new signings Brandon Hanlan and Damola Ajayi and a string of impressive showings elsewhere will have mattered more as the new season peers closer into view.
The hosts, who ply their trade in the seventh tier of English football, proved tricky customers early doors with Ian Lawlor almost gifting them the lead after getting his feet tangled after a dicey backpass. Thankfully he cleared the danger just as a home attacker got ready to pounce. New centre-half Sean Grehan then did excellently to clear a goalbound, Rhys Sharpe shot off the line just before the 20-minute mark.
After shaking off those scares, Rovers then assumed control of the game and never really looked back. After Tom Nixon and Ajayi both went close with efforts, Hanlan fired home from close-range to finish off a fine, sweeping move. That lead was doubled just minutes later when Ajayi, a livewire all afternoon, picked up the ball on the right of the area and proceeded to find the bottom-left corner with a precise finish.
The Spurs winger, signed on a season-long loan, made it two in two (like Hanlan) after also netting at Alfreton last Tuesday. He dazzled here, with plenty of encouraging link-up play with full-back Nixon throughout the game.
Rovers picked up where they left off after the restart with Jack Senior finishing inside the box for the third and then Harry Clifton tapping in a fourth after a period of pinball in the Stamford box. And Ajayi added the icing on the cake late on with his third of pre-season: curling in a sumptuous, left-footed effort from distance for goal number five.
The sight of Joe Ironside coming on for the last half-hour was another welcome boost for McCann who, along with his staff and a smattering of Rovers fans, made a prompt exit at the final whistle to head straight down to Peterborough Sports for the second leg of this double-header.
Rovers: Lawlor, Senior, Flint, Grehan, Nixon, Clifton, Close, Sbarra, Ajayi, Hanlan (Ironside 59), Hurst