Hartlepool got their first league win of the season and they'll be hoping they aren't all as difficult as this after a nervous finish.
Doncaster made them fight all the way for the result, and on chances - especially in a tight and tense second half - it could have gone either way.
But it all got frantic in the closing minutes when Hartlepool were down to ten men and Rovers battled for the point they thought they deserved.
Hartlepool had taken the lead for the second time when Richie Barker scored from the spot after Mark Wilson upended James Brown in the area, but they were down to ten men three minutes later and Rovers threw everything forward looking for a point.
There were some narrow escaped, but the home team's ten men just managed to hold on for their victory.
Impressive defender Godwin Antwi had given them the lead on 42 minutes, heading in off the underside of the bar after Jamie McCunnie's right-wing cross after the home attack had missed a handful of chances.
Midfielder Matty Robson was the main culprit, one good chance going well off-target and another saved by Neil Sullivan, while Brown also went close with a spectacular overhead kick that shaved the post.
But Rovers came back and on 71 minutes they were level when James Hayter's diving header hit the net after James Coppinger's right-wing cross.
The game could have gone either way after that, but it as Hartlepool who took the lead for a second time through Barker's late penalty and that was the signal for a tense, nervous finish for both teams.
The game was full of skill from start to finish, with the midfield battle particularly close.Willie Boland and Gary Liddle just edged it for Hartlepool, but for Rovers Richard Wellens and Wilson were always involved, and the result was a game that might have lacked thrills for much of the time, but it certainly wasn't short on skills.
Premier League ref Mike Dean booked seven players, as well as Robbie Elliott's late sending-off, but it was never dirty and the stats make it look a lot rougher than it really was.