Rovers booked their place into the 3rd round of the FA Cup to set up a home tie against Championship side Hull City after scraping past Crewe Alexandra in their rescheduled 2nd round replay on a snowy night in Cheshire.
Following the dramatic events at Ewood Park, 10 days ago, where Crewe fought back from 2 goals down to claim a 3-3 draw, after Rovers went down to 9 men, the Blues righted their wrongs of that game by beating Crewe on their own turf to advance in this year’s FA Cup.
Prior to the game, Tony Mowbray spoke to the club’s media about his potential team selection, as result of the replay being sandwiched between two important league fixtures, and with the injuries sustained to Peter Whittingham and Corry Evans in Saturday’s 3-2 win over Peterborough United, whether the boss would look to freshen the side up, similarly to how he did in the previous encounter.
The side that beat Peterborough saw 7 changes, with only Charlie Mulgrew, Derrick Williams, Richie Smallwood and Craig Conway surviving amongst the first 11. The team also saw youngsters Joe Nuttall and Willem Tomlinson start, as the former was bidding to stake a claim back into the first team picture for the league games, whilst the latter was making his 5th appearance for the first team after he had impressed on Saturday after replacing the injured Corry Evans.
Crewe started the game with the kick-off, as they looked to continue their heroics of the first game in the hope of booking themselves a place in the 3rd round of the FA Cup for the first time since 2009.
The goalmouth action throughout the first quarter of an hour was about as good as the conditions that the players were playing in, as nothing materialised for either side in the way of half-chances until the 20th minute.
Craig Conway executed some marvellous wing-play before whipping in a lovely, enticing cross towards the head of Joe Nuttall, who did his best to find space in the area, however despite his best efforts at creating the space and connecting with the ball, his endeavour was to be in vain as he was unable to keep his header down and on target.
It didn’t take long for Rovers to create another chance however, as it seemed that the players had warmed to their surroundings by the 24th minute, when Danny Graham lashed the ball into the net to give Rovers the lead. Graham used his experience and know-how to ghost away from his marker as he connected with Derrick Williams’ pass – who himself had capitalised on a mistake by George Cooper – and coolly stroked the ball past Luke Garratt and into the Crewe net to give Rovers the lead.
5 minutes after the goal, Rekeem Harper was booked for dissent after he kicked the ball away in frustration, during the stoppage after the foul.
Rovers soon created their third chance of the game as Graham slotted Nuttall through on goal, and yet despite the wintery conditions, the forward was able to get a clean connection on it and fire it towards the net. Luckily for Crewe, they had enough men back as Nuttall’s effort was blocked and cleared for a corner, which amounted to nothing.
Rovers’ next chance fell through their goalscorer Danny Graham who pulled off an audacious effort from the top corner of the penalty area. The striker took no time in weighing up his options as he released a first-time volley from the top of the area, which completely bamboozled the Crewe defence and keeper. Unfortunately for the 669 travelling Rovers fans, they were denied a goal of superlatives by the woodwork, as the ball crashed off the crossbar and went out of play.
It was all Rovers as the break loomed, and on the 42nd minute, the Blues nearly doubled their advantage, courtesy of Craig Conway. The Scot struck a volley from around 12-yards after some intelligent movement saw him become a free man in the box. Despite his sound connection with the ball, he was unable to keep his effort below the crossbar as Crewe were awarded a goal-kick.
Prior to the break, the home side were forced into a change due to injury. Callum Ainley was withdrawn from the field and replaced by Charlie Kirk – a forward – as Crewe aimed to get back into the game after the break.
After 3 minutes of added time were allocated, a clash of heads occurred between a Crewe defender and Richie Smallwood, which saw the Rovers fan favourite come off worse. The number six was taken off the field for some treatment and returned with a bandage. After returning, he wasted no time, as he quickly charged forwards, pressuring a Crewe defender, and was able to regain possession for Rovers in an attempt to start an attacking move, which the travelling support would have enjoyed as it showed that the former Rotherham man had the tenacity and the desire to succeed, despite the adverse weather conditions and his injury.
Half-time arrived, and so did a Rovers change as Rekeem Harper was replaced by Lewis Travis. This was probably an attempt by Mowbray to calm the loanee down and prevent a repeat of the last fixture, where he was dismissed.
Rovers restarted the game after the break and began the second-half as they did the first, on top and in control.
Richie Smallwood had the first attempt on goal of the half as he wound up a long-range effort, 5 minutes into the second period, but Michael Raynes did well to block the shot before it could trouble Garratt in goal.
Rovers’ second change of the game came soon after the Smallwood effort, as Craig Conway was replaced by Sam Hart. Due to the Scot recently coming back from injury and managing to get through 90 minutes at Peterborough, Mowbray probably was looking to preserve the 32-year old for the weekend’s game, hence the decision to withdraw him.
Hart soon made an immediate impact on the game as he stormed forwards and fired a shot from just inside the area, however the Crewe backline was equal to it, as Garratt blocked the effort and ball was subsequently cleared off the line by former Rovers trainee Eddie Nolan, to keep the score at 1-0.
The hearts of the Rovers fans must have skipped several beats on the 62nd minute, as Chris Dagnall found himself unmarked in the area as he got on the end of Charlie Kirk’s cross, but fortunately for the travelling contingency, the 31-year old could only manage to hit the post as the ball was then cleared.
Following the ball going out of play, Rovers initiated their final change of the night, as the goalscorer Danny Graham was replaced by a man inform in Bradley Dack.
On the 71st minute, Crewe made their second change of the evening as former Aston Villa youngster, Jordan Bowery – who caused Rovers a lot of problems in the previous fixture – came onto the field and replaced Chris Dagnall.
Crewe soon mustered the effort to attack Rovers after they regained possession. Their attack culminated in the former Rover Eddie Nolan’s attempt flying wide of the mark.
The hosts completed their changes by bringing on Lewis Reilly in place of Chris Porter, as they switched to an ‘all-out attack’ mentality, in the hope of snatching a goal that would take the tie into extra-time.
The Blues almost made it 2-0 on the 81st minute mark, as Eddie Nolan nearly ended the tie as it had been played – in crazy fashion. The defender miss-hit a cross and nearly sliced the ball into his own net, but for Luke Garratt who did well to deny his own man through a reflex save. Garratt wasn’t done there however, as he then managed to deny Dack from close range as the 23-year old pounced onto the rebound.
Rovers’ final attempt of the game fell to substitute Sam Hart as he failed to hit the target by heading over the bar from a corner.
The final 2 minutes, plus 3 minutes of stoppages, turned the game into a barrage of Crewe attempts as the hosts tried to find a way back into the tie, in order to keep their FA Cup dreams alive. Jordan Bowery was given the time and space to turn and shoot on goal however his effort trickled just wide of Leutwiler’s left-hand upright.
The final chance of the game fell to Perry Ng who released a last-gasp effort from range. His effort – much to the home fans disappointment – was deflected easily into the hands of Rovers’ deputy shot-stopper Jayson Leutwiler, who held onto the ball until the final whistle blew.
With this tie done and dusted, Rovers can now look forward to facing opposition from a higher league in the form of Hull City, who have won one of their last 5 games and currently find themselves 18th in the Championship table, only 6 points off the relegation places. At this current moment, there is no confirmed date for this fixture, however it will likely take place over the weekend of the 5th to the 7th of January.
Tony Mowbray and his squad can now turn their attentions to the league fixture, at home, against Charlton Athletic on the 16th as Rovers look to extend their unbeaten run in the league to 6, in an attempt to close the gap on Wigan Athletic and Shrewsbury Town at the top.
