Doncaster Rovers Chairman John Ryan flew back especially from Majorca, in order to be present for the Rovers' first leg of their Play-Off semi final against Southend United at Roots Hall.

0-0 at the end of 90-minutes; the game is still open for both sides to win at the return leg of the contest at the Keepmoat Stadium on Friday 16th May.

"I feel absolutely ecstatic," beamed the delighted Rovers Chairman after the final whistle.

"After the heartbreak of Saturday (against Cheltenham), the boys came out today and I thought - at times - they outplayed Southend. Southend ran out of ideas in the second half. To be honest, we could have easily nicked that 1-0. I'm happy to go back to the Keepmoat all square and let's hope that the boys can produce another display like that and put them away."

"We showed bottle, resilience. You look at Greeny and Stocky; the whole of defence, Pricey, Lewis Guy coming back - you could look through the whole team. The only sour note of the evening was Paul Heffernan being sent off. I didn't see the incident - but somebody said that he head-butted another player."

The Rovers Chairman was also quick to point out the positive effect that the refereeing of Paul Taylor had upon the encounter.

"The referee had a good game tonight; and it was nice to have a quality referee. It made a big difference and I think that he's retiring soon, which is a shame. I think that he is one of the best referees in the League. I'll be ringing up Keith Atkins and asking him to give him another year. It's nice that when you get these games you get the high quality referees - because it makes a difference."

"I said before the game; if we can get a draw here, after all of the disappointment then we would be one game away from Wembley. We've already beaten Southend 3-1 at the Keepmoat Stadium this year. We can do it again."