Rovers had to settle for a point at Sixfields after a late miss by Marcus Antonsson from the penalty spot saw Rovers halt at 7 wins from their last 9 games as they were unable increase their unbeaten run in the league to 8 after David Cornell denied the Swede from giving Rovers the lead.
Prior to the game, Tony Mowbray had urged his players to continue their hard work and concentration during away games, with the hope of them continuing their form during the busy festive and new year period that loomed.
Rovers made three changes to the side that beat Charlton Athletic 2-0,d a week ago, as Peter Whittingham came in for Corry Evans, who picked up a knock during the week, whilst Dominic Samuel, who was withdrawn from the squad due to illness, was replaced by Danny Graham. Additionally, a late alteration before kick-off saw Rovers’ captain Charlie Mulgrew pull out of the game during the warm-up – (seemingly due to illness) – and was replaced by Elliott Ward, which saw Scott Wharton take the final place on the bench.
The first half-chance of the game fell to Rovers on the 10th minute, when Bradley Dack and Marcus Antonsson combined well to set-up Richie Smallwood who found himself on the edge of the Rovers area, but the Northampton defence did well to block the shot from Rovers’ number 6.
9 minutes later, Northampton gained control of the game and crafted their first chance of the half only to be denied by a solid save from David Raya in the Rovers goal. Sam Foley picked up the ball inside the Rovers half and slotted Chris Long through on goal who shot first-time. Long’s shot was blocked by a Rovers defender, but the deflection forced Raya into a save, which led to a Northampton corner.
The subsequent corner, minutes later, opened the scoring for the hosts as Aaron Pierre rose well to meet Matt Grimes’ corner and head the hosts into the lead. The corner was taken by former Rovers loanee Matt Grimes whose delivery towards the back-post was near-perfect. The Grenadian defender broke free of his marker to get on the end of the curling ball to nod his side into a lead which was arguably undeserved considering the balance of the opening 20 minutes.
The next chance of the game came soon after the goal as John-Joe O’Toole was able to connect with a delivery from a free-kick. The midfielder – much like Pierre for the goal – rose highest in the box to meet the cross, but unlike the defender, he couldn’t get his header on target.
Rovers managed to create a second attempt of the half after the hosts’ 20-minute spell of pressure fizzled out. Craig Conway crossed the ball into the box with Bradley Dack being the target. Dack was able to get on the end of the cross, but his effort from close-range was blocked and cleared, much to the dismay of the 1,445 travelling fans, who were hoping for a goal before the break.
Northampton were forced into a substitution on the 34th minute as the goalscorer Aaron Pierre went off with an injury and was replaced by Regan Poole, on loan from Manchester United.
On the 36th minute, the late inclusion into the side, Elliott Ward found his name taken by the referee as he received a booking for a late tackle on Chris Long, just inside the Rovers half. This booking would see the defender become even more cautious in making tackles and challenging opponents, for the rest of the game.
Rovers soon got their first shot on target of the game, which wasn’t blocked. After a period of play by the Blues, the ball was eventually lofted into the box and headed towards goal by Ryan Nyambe which required David Cornell in the Northampton goal, to make a save.
7 minutes after Elliott Ward’s name was taken by the referee, his defensive partner Paul Downing also saw himself receive a yellow card for a poor challenge inside the Rovers half.
After the officials added three minutes onto the end of the first-half, Rovers popped up with two chances in the final two minutes. The first came from Danny Graham and Bradley Dack combining well, as Graham chested the ball down to Dack who struck the ball towards goal, but Northampton’s defence once again put their bodies on the line to block the midfielder’s effort.
The final effort of the first-half came through Dack again as he created some space on the edge of the area to shoot at goal. His decision to try and chip the keeper saw the midfielder be embarrassed as Cornell did well to properly position himself and pick the ball out of the sky to keep his side in-front.
As both sides went into their dressing rooms for half-time, Rovers would have been furious with the goal that they conceded, especially since it was a set-piece, which has been somewhat of an Achilles heel for the Blues in recent weeks, after conceding from corners against Crewe, Peterborough and now, Northampton. Additionally, their overall performance was nothing to be marvelled at in comparison to the past couple of games, so Tony Mowbray would, no doubt be telling his side exactly what he thought during the break.
The game was restarted by the hosts after the break, and it didn’t take them long to create the half’s first chance as they tested David Raya’s concentration early on. After a series of swinging efforts which saw the ball pinball around the area, a shot was eventually taken which saw Raya scramble backwards and almost make the save by sitting on the ball. Either way, the Spaniard was able to make the stop and prevent Northampton’s goal tally from doubling.
Rovers would have been glad that their keeper was fully focused as no less than 30 seconds after Raya’s save, Bradley Dack levelled the scoring at the other end with a low shot from the edge of the Northampton area, which found the bottom corner of Cornell’s goal in order to even the scores back up at 1-1. Dack’s superb close control of the ball saw him beat a couple of defenders before finding himself in some space on the edge of the area where he released his shot and proceeded to celebrate.
As the balance of play shifted, Rovers soon had claims for a penalty dismissed as Elliott Ward’s header was seemingly blocked by a hand. The referee Gavin Ward thought otherwise as he waved away the Blues’ protests.
On the 53rd minute, Conway and Antonsson combined to try and put Rovers in-front, but Cornell in the Northampton goal seemed determined not to concede a second. Conway picked up the ball down the left and played in a cross towards his opposite winger in Antonsson, however Cornell did well to rush out from his goal and claim the ball in mid-air ahead of the Swede.
10 minutes later, Tony Mowbray called on some reinforcements as he brought on Joe Nuttall and Willem Tomlinson for Danny Graham and Peter Whittingham respectively, in the hope that some youth and energy would spark Rovers’ attacking play into life.
On the 70th minute, Conway and Antonsson once again united in creating an opening at goal for the Blues, but this time with a bit more success. Antonsson did well to bring down Conway’s cross and strike at goal – which is further than they got during the last move – however the Swede’s effort was blocked again by the valiant home defence, as Rovers were looking more and more likelier to be the next side to go in-front.
Soon after the Antonsson attempt, the hosts made a change of their own as they replaced George Smith with Sam Hoskins, in an effort to go more attacking.
Rovers went into the final 10 minutes of the game, firmly on top, through the creation of successive chances.
The first chance came on the 80th minute as Nuttall played through Conway who did well to control the ball and cut inside onto his weaker left-foot before releasing a shot that Cornell was once again equal to.
Conway’s exploits did not stop there however, as he once again found himself with a goal-scoring opportunity, two minutes after the first. Nuttall did well to flick the ball into the path of Conway who only had the ‘keeper to beat. In his stride, he successfully beat Cornell who committed to try and push the ball from the Scot’s feet. After bypassing the Welshman in goal, all Conway had to do was stroke the ball home into the back of the net to put Rovers 2-1 up, however he found that hard to do, as his shot found the side-netting, rather than the back of the netting, which summed up Rovers’ dreadful afternoon overall in-front of goal – barring Dack’s moment of individual quality.
Conway however, thought his blushes were to be spared minutes after his miss when Rovers were awarded a penalty after Marcus Antonsson was judged to have been brought down by Cornell following a pass from Bradley Dack. With Charlie Mulgrew not being available, after he pulled out of the squad with illness prior to kick-off, the penalty-taking responsibility fell to the man who earnt it, Marcus Antonsson. The Swede placed the ball down on the spot, took his stuttering run-up and placed his shot to the keeper’s right, however Cornell guessed correctly and was able to deny the Swede. The penalty misses compounded the type of afternoon that it had been for Rovers.
With the game dwindling out, Northampton replaced Lewis McGugan with Shaun McWilliams as they looked to tighten up their midfield going into the 3 minutes of added time.
The final chance of the game, which fell to Rovers in added time, fell to Marcus Antonsson, who was looking to redeem himself from the penalty miss with a last-gasp header. Tomlinson’s cross from a corner met the head of the Swede who was unable to keep the ball down and on-target as he gifted Northampton a goal-kick. Following the ‘keeper’s kick, Gavin Ward, the match official called an end to a poor game from Rovers’ standards, as the players showed that they had plenty to work on.
As Rovers kicked off an hour ahead of the rest of the league, the final result saw no change in the league position as they remained 3rd with 44 points from 21 games. With Wigan and Shrewsbury expected to beat Oxford United and Portsmouth respectively, Rovers will have to settle being 3rd at Christmas, as they wait until Boxing Day, before they are given the chance to right their wrongs of this game and stake a claim to move into the top 2 of the division.
On the topic of Boxing Day, Rochdale are the visitors to Ewood Park for the annual festive fixture, which will no doubt prove to be a Christmas Cracker with both teams fighting at opposite ends of the table.
