The only thing Scarborough's passionate Conference League Yorkshire derby against Doncaster yesterday lacked was goals as the two teams met for the second time in seven days in front of Scarborough's biggest crowd of the season.

Last week Scarborough won by a single goal - a magnificent effort from Chris Tate - and yesterday it soon became clear that the Doncaster players were setting out to ensure that he didn't do it again.

Mark Atkins and Kevin McIntyre were both cautioned in the first ten minutes of the game for clattering into Tate and, with the game occasionally boiling over, it was inevitable that someone would be sent off.

As it happened, two were sent off in the same incident five minutes after the break, when Rovers' Mike Newell swung a couple of punches at Scarborough's Matthew Russell.

Newell was sent off instantly, while Russell received a yellow card for his retaliation and as he had been one of those cautioned in first half, he followed Newell down the tunnel.

Scarborough were on top in the first half, their best chance falling to Gareth Stoker when Darren Roberts sent him clear, but he pulled his shot across Andy Warrington and wide of the far post.

Little was seen of the Rovers' attack, although Dino Maamria fired wide when he should at least have hit the target.

While there was plenty passion and excitement good football was scarce, which is hardly surprising as, with tackles flying thick and fast, the players were reluctant to hang on to the ball.

Scarborough had to make two changes, with Marcus Jones and David Bass missing through suspension, but Lee Sinnot slipped into the sweeper role with ease, and Andy Woods kept another clean sheet, making only one save of note.

That came when a free kick was touched to David Penney, whose low shot was held by Woods at the second attempt.

The closest Scarborough came to scoring in the second half was when Gareth Williams saw his fierce shot brilliantly cleared off the line by Mark Barnard. Williams was influential in midfield in a changed position, having played in the previous games at left-back.

For Scarborough, it was a successful festive period, with four points from two games and Ray McHale, who was again in charge of the side due to the illness of Colin Addison, said "to was a battle and we knew it would be, but we played some good football and are becoming difficult to beat."

It was the sort of game that Rovers' manager Ian Snodin would have loved to have played in and he was full of praise for his players after the game.

"They gave me 100 per cent commitment to a man and I can't ask for more than that. It was like a good old-fashioned cup tie, with a great atmosphere and I think a draw was probably a fair result."

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