Doncaster Rovers 3 Scunthorpe 0: Rowe doubles up to take Rovers through
Rowe, a former loanee at Scunthorpe, charged down a clearance from Iron goalkeeper Matt Gilks and finished with aplomb after 17 minutes to give Rovers a deserved half-time lead.
The midfielder’s second goal came against the run of play midway through the second period when he burst into the box and fired home right-footed.
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Hide AdRovers stood up excellently to Scunthorpe’s physicality and put the gloss on an impressive victory in stoppage-time when Liam Mandeville latched onto James Coppinger’s pass and slotted home.
Rovers’ manager Darren Ferguson said: “We started off really well and pressed them into making mistakes.
“I think that’s the best all-round performance we’ve produced this season.
“Going up against the form team in the country it was always going to be tough and we had to be smart in the way we played.
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Hide Ad“Scunthorpe will be right up there at the end of the season, but we didn’t give them a minute, we kept to our game plan and that paid off for us.”
The manager is looking for another cup tie against Premier League opposition in the next round, having gone up against Arsenal in the Carabao Cup.
“This was probably the toughest game we could have had at this stage and we’ve come through it, we’ll wait and see who we get in the next round,” he added.
Doncaster Rovers: Lawlor, Mason, Wright, Butler, Garratt (Toffolo 53), Whiteman, Blair (Kongolo 46), Rowe, Coppinger, Beestin (Mandeville 72), Marquis. Unused substitutes: Marosi, Alcock, Baudry, Ben Khemis.
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Hide AdScunthorpe United: Gilks, Holmes, McArdle, Burgess, Wallace, Bishop, Crofts (Goode 75), Morris, Adelukan (van Veen 75), Madden, Hopper (Church 75). Unused substitutes: Watson, Townsend, Lewis, Sutton.
Referee: Mark Heywood.