DONCASTER 0 CITY 0

(Doncaster win 4-1 on pens)

CITY’S season may only be a few days old but the green shoots of recovery are already evident.

Stuart McCall left the Keepmoat £5,000 out of pocket the last time he came here in the EFL Trophy in 2007.

He paid the fine out of his own wallet after the Bantams were charged with fielding an understrength team during his first stint in charge.

But there could be no accusation of his team not taking it seriously last night – despite McCall changing the entire team from Saturday.

Those who stepped in – including four teenagers – stuck to their task manfully against an almost full-strength League One opposition.

McCall, whose constant cajoling supplied the only volume in the empty stadium, could not have asked for more.

On the back of Bolton, this was another forward step as we head towards the League Two opener against Colchester.

Doncaster may have taken the extra bonus with a 4-1 win on penalties after misses by Harry Pritchard and Jackson Longridge, whose penalty bounced down off the bar and on the line but wasn’t given.

But City will still take one point away for the draw in 90 minutes – and the confidence of matching up established higher-level players. McCall could claim a moral victory.

Even with the mass changes, the Bantams still packed enough experience to meet the appearance criteria while ensuring everyone bar Zeli Ismail – who was ruled out after his sore throat required a test – got a start in them before the real bread and butter begins at Valley Parade on Saturday.

Levi Sutton got his first City outing as the Trophy doesn’t count towards his current four-game ban. He looked full of energy, snapping into challenges and looked a willing and eager competitor.

McCall also gave senior debuts to youngsters Finn Cousin-Dawson, Connor Shanks and Kian Scales. Jorge Sikora did have 25 minutes under his belt against Man City under-21s from last year’s competition but again, it was a massive step-up for a lad who clearly enjoyed the challenge.

In contrast, Darren Moore went with a strong team after Doncaster's blank weekend. He made only two changes from their last outing, although there was a debut for local lad Louis Jones in goal.

Opposite number Sam Hornby felt the early pressure from a couple of Doncaster corners as Tom Anderson and Joe Wright both headed over from James Coppinger’s dangerous delivery.

City knew all about the threat of the evergreen attacker who had scored a sublime goal at Valley Parade in last month’s friendly.

The visitors had their share of the ball with Sutton prominent and Scales looking to get involved in an attacking midfield role. Cousin-Dawson made a couple of overlapping raids from right back as the youngsters displayed few nerves.

But City hadn’t managed to test Doncaster’s rookie keeper – Sutton blazing their first sighter high into the deserted seats - and they faced a bigger scare from another Coppinger corner when his shorter kick was flicked past the near post by an unmarked Wright.

Rovers bossed the possession – as Bolton had done – but looked to do more with it with winger Jon Taylor an increasing influence.

Scales cleared the bar with a 25-yard free-kick two minutes after the restart before Hornby was forced into the first genuine save of the night, diving to his right to tip away Coppinger’s low drive.

Doncaster were upping the ante as Madger Gomes turned and shot straight at Hornby. Then Taylor burst into the box, catching Sikora hesitating for once, before poking the ball past the keeper but into the side-netting.

Sutton seized on a loose ball to burrow into a shooting position as the space opened up. But he tried to place his side-foot shot from the edge of the box and got his angles wrong.

Most of the play, though, was heading towards the City goal and Hornby had to show his reflexes to keep Doncaster at bay.

Having failed to hang on to a Gomes long-ranger, the keeper got up like a shot to thwart Fejiri Okenabirhie from the rebound.

Doncaster were desperate to settle it in normal time and Okenabirhie twice went close in the final minutes. They clinched the shoot-out but that won't have spoiled the night for McCall.

DONCASTER: Jones 7, Halliday 6, Anderson 7, Wright 7, John 7, Richards 6 (Lokilo 66min) Whiteman 6, Gomes 7, Taylor 7 (Williams 66min), Coppinger 7, Okenabirhie 7. Subs (not used): Greaves, Horton, Hasani, Ravenhill.

CITY: Hornby 7, Cousin-Dawson 7, Sikora 7, Richards-Everton 7, Longridge 6, Mottley-Henry 6 (French 62min), Sutton 8, Shanks 6 (Staunton 79min), Scales 7, Pritchard 6, Donaldson 6 (Guthrie 76min). Subs (not used): Watt, Guthrie, O’Donnell.

CITY MAN OF MATCH: Levi Sutton.