03/05/2026
🐀🚨Rats Review 🚨🐀
By Cameron Clarke
Doncaster & District Sunday League | April 2026
Here are the reviews for the last two games of the season, both midweek fixtures.
Ivanhoe FC 3-3 The Styrrup Rats FC
GUTSY. RELENTLESS. BUT IT NEEDED TO BE MORE.
23/04/26 – Theglassstrawberry Championship
(Apologies for the late post on this one, it's been a busy week and last night's fixture meant double duty today. Better late than never!)
A midweek trip to Ivanhoe and the Rats produced a performance full of quality and character, but it's the two dropped points that will sting the most, with the league title now effectively out of reach. Still, what the Rats showed was a refusal to lie down, finding a way back three times against a side they were the better team against for large stretches.
It was the hosts who broke the deadlock first, going 1-0 up despite the Rats' dominance. The response was swift. Grayson got on the end of things to tap home and restore parity, 1-1, and the Rats were level before the break. The first half was encouraging, but a soft penalty award handed Ivanhoe a 2-1 lead at the interval that the scoreline didn't deserve.
The Rats came out for the second half with a point to prove. Gelder delivered, a cool left-footed finish across the keeper, composed and clinical. 2-2. Game on.
Then came the moment that hurt. A slip from Vinter at the back, nothing malicious, just one of those nights, let an Ivanhoe man through, and the square ball was tucked away for what looked like the winner. 3-2 down, time running out.
But the Rats had one more in them. Watson stepped up, cut in from the left, and unleashed an absolute rocket into the top corner in the dying minutes. 3-3. The equaliser it deserved, even if the three points had gone.
The resilience was there. The quality was there. But against a team you're better than, you can't be handing out soft penalties and gifting goals from defensive errors. A point on the road, and three times coming back, there's character in this squad.
𝗠𝗔𝗡 𝗢𝗙 𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗠𝗔𝗧𝗖𝗛: Nick Howcroft
A composed head throughout the game, keeping the team together by example. Controlled the midfield, always an option, always an outlet. Won all his challenges a leading performance. Like a prime Roy Keane.
𝗚𝗢𝗔𝗟𝗦 ⚽: Callum Grayson, Josh Gelder, Luke Alexander Watson.
𝗔𝗦𝗦𝗜𝗦𝗧𝗦 💁♂️: Callum Grayson, Nick Howcroft,
All Round Defence - Risk Management Ltd | The Styrrup | Eyes-On Investigations Ltd | VX3
Murphy's FC 2-5 The Styrrup Rats FC
WHAT A WAY TO END THE SEASON. GOAL OF THE YEAR TO SIGN OFF.
30/04/26 – Theglassstrawberry Championship
The final game of the season. A trip to Murphy's, a side with games in hand who could have leapfrogged us in the table, so regardless of where the title race stood, this one mattered. The Rats weren't going to let the season fizzle out. They made sure of that.
Murphy's drew first blood and went 1-0 up, but Bask responded with a composed finish, Gelder with the assist, to level it at 1-1. The Rats were the better side throughout the first half but couldn't quite find that clinical edge when it mattered most. Familiar story. Different second half.
The second half was a completely different game. Owen picked out Kez wide, and he caught the keeper off guard at the near post to put the Rats ahead for the first time, 2-1. From that point there was only one winner. Gelder drove a right-footed strike across the keeper to make it three, and Bask wrapped up a brilliant personal display with his second of the game shortly after. 4-1, and the Rats were out of sight.
Murphy's pulled one back to make it 4-2 and briefly threatened a comeback, but this Rats side had one final statement to make, and what a statement it was.
Step forward Josh Gelder. Picked out by Bask, the ball popped up, and rather than kill it, Gelder juggled it around a defender, manoeuvred into space, and without the ball ever touching the floor, hit a volley into the far corner. Outrageous. Goal of the season. Possibly goal of the decade. The Rats' top scorer signing off for the campaign in the most Josh Gelder way imaginable. 5-2. Season done.
It's a strange feeling ending the year with five goals away from home and wondering what might have been. But the Rats have given everything this season, and if the title does slip away, it won't be because of what happened last night. To the rest of the league, you've got games in hand. The ball's in your court now. Do the business if you can.
What a season, Rats. What a way to end it.
𝗠𝗔𝗡 𝗢𝗙 𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗠𝗔𝗧𝗖𝗛: Josh Gelder
Moments of magic, the man with the midas touch, Josh delivered some special moments. A well deserved MOTM.
𝗚𝗢𝗔𝗟𝗦 ⚽: Kieran Baskervillex2, Josh Gelderx2, Kieren Edwards
𝗔𝗦𝗦𝗜𝗦𝗧𝗦 💁♂️: Kieran Baskerville, Owen Greenall, Josh Gelderx2
All Round Defence - Risk Management Ltd | The Styrrup | Eyes-On Investigations Ltd | VX3
