Rovers fought hard from one goal down to earn a valuable 2-1 victory at Ewood Park after two controversial incidents changed the shape of the game, which helped the Blues finish a successful week of football on a high.
During his pre-match press conference, Tony Mowbray had called on his players to try and replicate their recent away form – which includes 7 points in their last 3 away matches – in the games in front of the home crowd at Ewood Park.
The team that walked out onto the pitch saw one change to the side that had easily dispatched Oxford United inside the first 30 minutes on Tuesday night, as Elliott Bennett, who was in need of a much deserved rest, dropped to the bench and was replaced by Peter Whittingham, who has yet to properly find his feet in East Lancashire after moving from Cardiff City over the summer.
After the teams and the officials were ready, Rovers got the game underway through Bradley Dack, which led to Rovers controlling a majority of the possession inside the first 8 minutes of the game. The first chance however, despite the Rovers possession, fell to the visitors on the 9th minute, who were committed to soaking up Rovers pressure from the off. The attempt saw Billy Bodin’s strike on goal deflect wide after Liam Sercombe’s well placed low cross found the Bristol number 10, who was unable to convert.
The referee, Ross Joyce, was soon to become a pivotal figure throughout this game, and his decision making was soon called into action 14 minutes into the first-half, where he waved away a Rovers penalty claim, that looked like a stonewall decision. Derrick Williams made an overlapping run after he was played in by a teammate. The Rovers left-back then took a touch, charged into the box and shaped up to shoot before being chopped down by a retreating Bristol defender, who had his arms all over the Irishman; the referee however thought otherwise and waved away the appeals from the Rovers players and fans.
Rovers were becoming the dominant force in the game due to their accomplished ball retention and by the 27th minute, they were able to cut through Bristol Rovers’ 10 man defensive screen to craft an attempt on goal. Charlie Mulgrew was able to clear the ball after a Bristol attack, which saw the ball land onto the head of Bradley Dack who played a magnificent cushioned header into the path of Joe Nuttall, who was looking to continue his vein of goalscoring form. Despite the good movement by the 20-year old, in addition to the pass by Dack, Nuttall was unable to keep his shot down as he fired the ball over the bar from the edge of the area.
Three minutes later, Bristol were on the counter attack, after Rovers lost the ball in an attempt to penetrate the visiting defence. Ellis Harrison, who was the visitor’s lone striker, picked the ball up on halfway and drove towards the Rovers goal in an attempt to put his side in front. He was eventually crowded out by Derrick Williams, who had managed to get himself back into position. Despite the defender’s good recovery, the forward kept hold of the ball and spotted Liam Sercombe on the far side who was busting a gut to get to the back post. Harrison then had the composure to stop the ball dead and whip a delicious ball around the Rovers left-back into the path of Sercombe, who failed to connect with the cross.
The match official soon became the centre of attention once again on the 28th minute when he chalked off a Bristol Rovers goal, which saw intense discussion between Mr. Joyce and the linesman near the Riverside Stand. The move saw Ollie Clarke stroke the ball home for the visitors after some pinball in the box, which saw the ball eventually cannon off of Ryan Nyambe into the path of the midfielder. Following the Bristol celebrations, which saw Clarke euphorically run towards the halfway line, Joyce went over to his linesman and began discussing the goal. Their talk eventually culminated in the goal being chalked off, much to the dismay of the travelling players and their support.
The final 10 minutes of the first period saw both sides up their performance levels. Following a defensive substitution by Bristol Rovers; which saw Tom Broadbent replace Ryan Sweeney; Bristol once again came close to opening the scoring as Billy Bodin hit the bar following a cross by Lee Brown. Despite the perceived dominance of the hosts, they ended the second half pinned up against the wall as minutes after Bodin’s header rattled the woodwork, Harrison struck the bar as well after his shot deflected off of Charlie Mulgrew, which left David Raya scrambling.
As the 1st half came to a close after the officials added two minutes on, Rovers were once again denied a penalty after Corry Evans’ shot seemingly struck a defending hand. Although the referee had already saved Rovers’ blushes in the first-half, he didn’t seem convinced by the appeals that reverberated around Ewood Park, as he waved away the shouts before ending the first 45 minutes.
Neither side would have entered the break fully content. The home side would have been frustrated with their first-half performance, whereas the visitors, who would have been pleased with their overall play; would have been fuming at the disallowed goal.
Both sides emerged for the second-half, which was kicked off by the visitors and it was Rovers who were the first to chalk up another chance on the board only two minutes into the half. The hosts played a long diagonal ball towards the left-hand side of the penalty area, which saw Marcus Antonsson drift inside from his wide position to connect with the cross via a volley. Despite his best efforts to keep his attempt on target, the ball whizzed across the face of goal and was met by Bradley Dack, whose shot trailed wide.
It took until the 58th minute for the game to liven up to the intensity it did at the end of the first-half. The deadlock was finally broken by Ellis Harrison, who had more than played his part in a valiant Bristol Rovers performance so far; and despite the visitors coming into the game with the 2nd worst defensive record in the division; they somehow found themselves 1-0 up, thanks to some individual brilliance by Harrison. The striker was played through from just inside his own half, which nullified any potential offside. He thenpicked up the ball and ran down the left-hand side of the Rovers half, which was vacated by Derrick Williams; the Welsh forward powered towards goal and then magnificently finessed the ball from the top of the box, which trickled past David Raya to put the visitors 1-0 to the good.
Although Rovers were shell-shocked; Tony Mowbray retaliated instantaneously as he made a double change, which saw Dominic Samuel and Danny Graham replace Peter Whittingham and Joe Nuttall, in an attempt to salvage something from the game.
The substitutions immediately changed the game, as within minutes of coming on, both substitutes combined to earn Rovers a penalty on the hour mark. A long-ball was played into the Bristol box, which was headed down by Graham into the path of Samuel who was brought down by Ollie Clarke, which forced the referee’s hand. The subsequent penalty was taken by Charlie Mulgrew, who had previously grabbed a brace – which included a penalty – in Tuesday night’s victory away at Oxford United, as the Scot superbly dispatched the spot-kick in order to immediately peg the visitors back.
Despite Bristol Rovers gradually growing into the game, the hosts scored the next goal, which turned out to be the winner. Danny Graham was proving to be a handful for the Bristol backline as his cushioned header found Derrick Williams who crossed the ball from the byline into the box. The ball looped over all the defending heads before landing onto Dominic Samuel’s, who just about had enough momentum from his run to guide the ball past the despairing Adam Smith in the Bristol goal, to put Rovers 2-1 up.
3 substitutes occurred on the 78th minute as Bristol made a double change in order to boost any chances of them getting something from this game; they brought on Rory Gallney and Tom Nichols in place of Billy Bodin and Joe Partington. Rovers meanwhile introduced Elliott Bennett in place of Bradley Dack, in order to give Rovers an extra edge of stamina in the closing minutes.
Rovers were rattled in the 83rd minute as David Raya produced a fine diving save to deny Liam Sercombe’s volley, which would have equalled the scoring. The Bristol number 7 was played in as the ball invitingly popped up for the winger, who unleashed a venomous strike towards goal; however despite the power, David Raya seemingly stretched every muscle in order to get a strong left-hand on the ball.
Bristol Rovers were close to equalling the score in the dying embers of the game as substitute Tom Nichols headed wide from 10-yards out, which deflated the entire visiting crowd behind the goal which Bristol were attacking.
The game soon concluded following 5 added minutes which amounted to nothing more than Rovers running down the clock in order to secure the 3 points after a whirlwind second period. Although the second half performance was positive, Rovers need to work on being more consistent over the full 90 minutes, especially at home where they will find their space and creative freedom to be limited.
The Blues now march into the rescheduled mid-week tie at Blackpool, sat in 5th place with 34 points and a positive 15 goal difference from 18 games. With Rovers’ allocation, which is estimated to be around 3,500, sold out, the travelling contingency will be hoping that their sides’ good form can continue away at stadium which has been a relatively happy hunting for Rovers in recent years with them picking up 7 points from a possible 12 in the games that they’ve played at Bloomfield Road.
