Rovers extended their unbeaten run in the league to five games after easily brushing aside bottom of the league Bury, as the Blues compounded a miserable week for the Greater Manchester side.
Tony Mowbray touched upon the hosts’ poor form in his pre-match interview as he warned that they would have something to prove after their defeat in the FA Cup to non-league side Woking; however he claimed that Rovers would need to be on their best form in order to gain three points, which they evidently were.
The team that was named saw 7 changes to the selection that came from behind to beat Barnet in the FA Cup, two weeks ago. David Raya, Ryan Nyambe, Richie Smallwood, Peter Whittingham, Elliott Bennett, Marcus Antonsson and Joe Nuttall all came into the starting 11, which saw Jayson Leutwiler, Rekeem Harper, Sam Hart, Danny Graham, Paul Caddis, Ben Gladwin and Corry Evans drop out. Of those dropped, Leutwiler, Harper, Hart, Graham and Caddis were named on the bench, in addition to Dominic Samuel and Scott Wharton, who returned from suspension and injury respectively.
Bury got the game underway and it only took the home side 3 minutes to craft the first opportunity of the game. Harry Bunn, who had scored the only goal of the previous encounter in the Checkatrade Trophy, picked the ball up on the edge of the Rovers area and shot towards goal, however David Raya was equal to it as the Spaniard made an early comfortable save, which was sure to aid his confidence.
Raya was soon in action 6 minutes later, as Chris Humphrey shot on goal from the right-hand side of the area, however the Rovers number one pulled out a fine save to deny the former Preston man putting the hosts’ in-front. The shot, which Raya parried away, was followed up by an effort from Greg Leigh, but the attempt flew past the post to relieve the early pressure off of Rovers.
On the 13th minute, Rovers then found themselves ahead against the run of play. Bradley Dack played Marcus Antonsson in on goal and the Swede was able to close down on goal and coolly fire the ball into the top right-hand corner to send the travelling supporters at either end of the ground wild.
Straight after the kick-off, Rovers were on the attack again as the same pair found themselves in the box again as Dack volleyed the ball infield, and found the goal scorer Antonsson, who was unable to double his goal tally as his attempt was steered wide of the upright. 14 minutes later, Rovers could have potentially been 2-0 up as Bennett flicked a ball onto Antonsson who was tearing holes into the Bury backline as he relentlessly ran in behind. The Swede found himself one-on-one with the Bury keeper Leo Fasan, who managed to deny the on-loan striker a second by conceding a corner.
From the resulting corner, Joe Nuttall found himself with the ball at his feet, in-front of goal and despite the youngsters’ fine form this season; he was unable to add to his goal tally of 3 goals in his last 4 games as his effort was blazed over the bar.
The home side soon came out of their half to craft a chance of their own after withstanding heavy Rovers pressure for 10, or so minutes. Greg Leigh was able to break down the left-hand side and cross to the back post from the byline. The cross found its way to Chris Humphrey who awkwardly volleyed the ball into the side-netting, which saw all of Leigh’s hard work, go to waste as the home side easily gifted possession back to Rovers through the goal-kick.
Rovers crafted another chance to double their lead on the 33rd minute. Elliott Bennett’s cross into the box was cleared towards the edge of the area by the Bury defence, only as far as Peter Whittingham, who was able to steady himself and strike a left-foot shot towards goal. Despite the quality the former Cardiff man possesses in his left-foot, he was unable to keep the shot down as it fizzed over the bar, for a Bury goal-kick.
5 minutes after the Whittingham effort, Rovers finally doubled their lead after a plethora of attempts as Marcus Antonsson bagged a brace, which increased his seasonal tally to 6, with 5 being in the league. Dack and Antonsson combined once again as the former crossed for the latter. Antonsson popped up at the back-post and was able to peel off the back of his marker and cleverly head the ball into the opposite corner, off the underside of the bar.
The referee added on two extra minutes to the half before whistling for the break, which saw Bury make their first substitution of the game, as Chris Maguire replaced Neil Danns who picked up an injury towards the end of the 45 minutes. Following the change, the referee blew straight for the break, which saw the visitors go in, in control of both the possession and the goals.
Both teams came out for the second half with contrasting intents, as Bury were looking for a way back into the game after a poor first-half, whereas Rovers were aiming to maintain their lead. The hosts nevertheless made their second change of the game during the break as they replaced Chris Humphrey with Michael Smith, as they looked to add more of an attacking threat to their game with the introduction of the striker.
Rovers kicked off the second half, which saw no real threat on either goal for the first 15 minutes of the half. The most threatening aspect of the first 15 minutes fell for Bury on the 52nd minute. Substitute Chris Maguire crossed the ball from the right-hand side as he looked to find a way to get his side back into the game. The cross missed all the players in the box and forced David Raya into making diving save in order to prevent the ball finding the far corner.
10 minutes after Raya’s save, Rovers had two chances in as many minutes, through both Elliott Bennett and Bradley Dack, with the second resulting in Rovers’ 3rd goal of the afternoon. The first attempt by Bennett; came on the 62nd minute as he ambitiously volleyed the ball from the outside of the area, however despite Bennett’s stellar record from the odd volley, Leo Fasan in the Bury goal was able to make a comfortable save. The second attempt, which culminated in Rovers’ third goal, came a minute later. Derrick Williams played Bradley Dack in, who was surely man of the match after creating two goals and scoring one for himself. The 23-year old rushed forward and struck a superb effort from around 25-yards out, which zoomed into the bottom corner, sending the 3,606 travelling supporters wild for a third time.
The game dwindled down with both teams making changes in order to see out the game. Rovers saw Whittingham, Nuttall and Antonsson depart, with Rekeem Harper, Danny Graham and Dominic Samuel taking their places for the remaining 15 minutes. Bury’s final change also saw Chris Sang on for Harry Bunn, who had failed to make the impact he did at Ewood Park in the Checkatrade trophy game.
With three minutes being added on towards the end of the second half, Rovers nearly saw their goal tally extended to 4, courtesy of Danny Graham. The former Sunderland striker was played through on goal and he looked to cheekily lob the ball over the on-rushing Bury keeper, however the striker was embarrassed as he failed to make clean connection with the ball, which was easily picked up by Fasan.
This victory sees the Blues extend their unbeaten run to 5 games. Furthermore, Rovers have climbed back into 6th in the league with their points total increasing to 28, in addition to a positive goal difference of 12. Rovers’ next game comes soon after this victory, as the Blues travel to Oxford United on Tuesday as they hope to continue their fine form in order to equal their preseason expectations of finishing the season in the top two automatic promotion spots.
