Doncaster 0-2 Sheffield United: Stephen Quinn leaves Rovers in freefall

Sheffield United produced a smash-and-grab raid at the Keepmoat Stadium to leave Doncaster's season in freefall.

The home side gifted the Blades the lead with a moment of madness when Gareth Roberts somehow diverted Danny Webber's cross past keeper Neil Sullivan and into the net after 14th minutes.

It was Rovers' second own goal in as many games, with Matt Mills the culprit in Saturday's home defeat to Southampton.

Sean O'Driscoll's men made things even worse for themselves by wasting a host of chances as they looked to avoid their fifth straight defeat.

Darren Byfield should have equalised on 18 minutes but somehow shot wide from pointblank range after Paddy Kenny has parried Adam Lockwood's header straight into his path.

Their frustration got worse after 23 minutes when Brian Stock burst into the box but his drive hit the bar and bounced to safety. Rovers continued to throw away chances with Jason Price being the next one guilty of adding to the crowd's despair.

Martin Woods released Price with a sublime pass but the beanpole striker took too long to shoot and eventually saw his effort blocked by Kenny's legs.

Doncaster's misery was completed on the hour mark when James Beattie set up Stephen Quinn for a cool finish to double his side's lead and leave Rovers dead and buried.

Despite making a bright start, Rovers are now finding life in the Championship a struggle.

Rovers manager Sean O'Driscoll said: "I'm disappointed we didn't score because we created enough chances."

In contrast, the Blades appear to have recovered from the 6-0 thrashing inflicted on them by Arsenal's youngsters in the Carling Cup and have got their season back on track with successive victories.

There was speculation before kick-off that United boss Kevin Blackwell might select Barnsley's Brian Howard but his absence backed up the Tykes' stance that they had rejected a bid from their neighbours.

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