Rovers made it five wins on the bounce after a thrilling second-half comeback at the ABAX Stadium against Peterborough United, as the Blues increased the pressure upon the automatic promotion hunters.
Prior to kick-off, Tony Mowbray had praised his side for their prolific November which saw the boss, Charlie Mulgrew and Marcus Antonsson gain individual awards. The manager also talked about continuing the form that his side had found in November in order to go into the busy Christmas and New Year period, in high spirits.
The side that travelled to Peterborough included two changes from Rovers’ last league game at Blackpool, where the Blues won 4-2, as Craig Conway came into the side after a lengthy spell on the side-lines with injury, in place of Elliott Bennett, who started his 4-match suspension, following his red card against Crewe on Sunday in the FA Cup. Dominic Samuel also came into the side in place of Danny Graham who dropped to the bench, whilst Rekeem Harper, who was also serving ban, was replaced by Willem Tomlinson, who came onto the bench.
Rovers got the game underway and were quick to make their attacking intentions known inside the first 5 minutes of the game as they crafted two successive chances within a minute of each other. Craig Conway’s return added more attacking impetus to the Rovers wings and he spared no time in testing out Peterborough’s captain Jack Baldwin, who was deputising at right-back for the hosts. Baldwin was penalised and subsequently booked, in the 3rd minute, for a challenge on the edge of the area, near the byline, on the Scot, which meant that the right-back would be walking on a tight-rope for the remaining 87 minutes of the game. From the set-piece, Rovers created their two chances, which saw Mulgrew and Samuel go close. Mulgrew’s effort came off the back of the set-piece as Peter Whittingham’s cross met the head of the Rovers captain, however the effort was cleared by Peterborough, only as far as Richie Smallwood, who returned the ball into the box. His cross was then met by the head of Dominic Samuel who had the easy task of simply keeping his header on target, however unfortunately for the striker, he was unable to extend his seasonal goal tally as he headed over.
The Posh soon registered their first attempt at goal, courtesy of their top goalscorer, Jack Marriott. The former Ipswich Town trainee collected the ball from around 20-yards away from goal and released a hopeful shot, which was comfortably seen over by Rovers’ ‘keeper David Raya, as he earnt a goal-kick.
The hosts’ attacking intent didn’t finish there, as a minute after Marriott’s attempt, Andrew Hughes tried his luck from range, as he struck a shot from the edge of the area, however Raya was once again alert, and unlike Marriott, Hughes was able to work Raya and force a good save from the Spaniard.
On the 9th and 10th minute, Rovers were able to create back-to-back chances which nearly saw them take the lead after two wonderful passages of play. Both attempts came through Bradley Dack who was beginning to show the travelling support, his true ability and class. Whittingham played in Samuel, who had the technique to lay the ball off into the path of Dack, with his chest. The former Gillingham man then had the audacity to try his luck with a first-time volley, however he was unable to extend his goal tally as the shot crept wide of the upright. Dack’s second chance worked the Peterborough ‘keeper, Jonathan Bond, more. Dack and Samuel linked up once again to give Dack another opportunity on breaking the deadlock. The midfielder then powered an attempt at goal, which was only parried by Bond. As a result, Dack had a second bite of the cherry, however Bond’s reactions were top notch, as he used his speed to get back up and deny Dack a goal for the third time in two minutes.
Despite all of Rovers’ dominance inside the opening 10 minutes, it was to be Peterborough who took the lead, following some poor marking by Rovers on a corner that the Posh had received in the 11th minute. Marcus Maddison whipped in the corner towards the back-post and Steven Taylor, the former Newcastle stalwart, managed to wriggle free from any Rovers marker and connect with the delivery to put Peterborough ahead against the overall run of play.
Rovers’ soon managed to adapt to going a goal down over the next 10 minutes, and were then able to craft an opportunity on the 20th minute, through Peter Whittingham. The former Cardiff midfielder was allowed some space on the ball outside 25 yards from goal as he lined up a shot. His attempt, however was lacklustre and disappointing as the ball flew well wide of the goal.
Minutes after Whittingham’s attempt, Peterborough fashioned an attack of their own as they broke forwards. Maddison was the eventual recipient of the ball as he shot from range in an attempt to increase the Peterborough advantage, but his strike ballooned over the bar.
On the 32nd minute, Rovers were forced into a change in the centre of the park, as Peter Whittingham was taken off with what looked like to be a calf strain, and was replaced by Corry Evans.
4 minutes later, Rovers won a free-kick, which was taken quickly. As a result, Rovers found themselves in the box as Marcus Antonsson closed down on goal, however his shot was deflected into the side-netting. After the hosts regained possession following Rovers’ failed corner, they found themselves attacking down the wing and were able to test David Raya’s concentration. Gwion Edwards cut inside and fired a low attempt towards goal, however Raya was able to get down and see the ball comfortably go wide for a goal-kick.
After the referee added three minutes of time onto the end of the first-half, Rovers went into the break behind and on the back-foot, which would have infuriated Tony Mowbray. In addition to the score not being in Rovers’ favour, Corry Evans – who had come on for the injured Peter Whittingham – was himself forced off with a suspected ankle injury at half-time and replaced by Willem Tomlinson, which saw Rovers use two of their three substitutions by half-time.
After the break, Peterborough got the game back underway, and despite going ahead early on in the first-half, they were unable to maintain their defensive resolve as Rovers soon broke the deadlock through their recently crowned Player of the Month, Charlie Mulgrew. Rovers gained a corner on the 48th minute and it was up to Bradley Dack to provide the delivery. His corner was superbly dispatched towards the front-post and was flicked on towards the back-post by Paul Downing. The flick-on was subsequently met by Charlie Mulgrew who only had to poke the ball home to put Rovers level; a carbon copy of his first goal against Oxford United.
Bradley Dack’s involvement in the game did not stop at the corner however, as less than 5 minutes after floating in the corner, the midfield maestro was on the scoresheet himself, as he was able to keep his composure to turn the game on its head and put Rovers 2-1 ahead. Richie Smallwood charged towards goal from the halfway line and made it to the edge of the box, where he was seemingly lining up a shot, however the midfielder had other ideas as he nonchalantly teed up Dack, who smashed the ball home and sent the away supporters wild.
Dack’s evening of glory didn’t stop there, as he was soon able to double his goal tally to two, and Rovers’ to three, on the 58th minute. A devastating counter-attack by Rovers which began from their own corner flag, led to the goal. Dominic Samuel picked the ball up near his own corner flag and drove towards the halfway line. He eventually found Antonsson as Rovers broke into the Peterborough half. The Swede took no time at all to find Dack, who had the simple task of extending Rovers’ lead to three.
Rovers nearly turned three into four, on the 64th minute, as Dack found Antonsson in a bid to return the favour, of an assist to the Swede. Antonsson was able to cut inside and release a shot on goal, which was well saved by Bond in the Posh goal.
Grant McCann in the home dugout soon looked on some of his substitutes for inspiration, on the 66th minute, as he brought on Danny Lloyd in place of Jermaine Anderson, in an attempt to add more attacking threat to his side. McCann soon made a second substitution on the 72nd minute as he threw on Michael Doughty to replace Chris Forrester.
Rovers’ next chance didn’t fall until the 74th minute, where Dack and Conway combined in the hope of making it 4 for Rovers. Dack crossed the ball towards Conway who had cut inside and found himself in the box. The returning Scot was unable to make solid contact on the ball as his effort trickled wide of the goal from around 10-yards out.
The final two substitutions were then made, with each side making their last changes. Danny Graham was brought on to replace Dominic Samuel, whilst Anthony Grant was, unfortunately, stretchered off and replaced by Idris Kanu.
The final few minutes, plus the five minutes of added time that was announced by the referee, saw the game ignite into a feisty and dramatic affair. As Peterborough looked to push on in order to salvage something from the game, they created a number of chances in which they came close and tested Rovers’ defensive capabilities. The first effort was a header by Lloyd, the substitute, which flew over from close range. The second attempt was a strike by Jack Marriott that was superbly saved by David Raya in the Rovers goal. Their final attempt of the game, was the most positive of the three, as it culminated in a goal which reduced the deficit with over a minute to go in the game. Danny Lloyd’s low cross was calmly tapped home by Marriott who was able to increase the nervous atmosphere and increase the tension around the ABAX Stadium.
The final incident of the game, was arguably the most disappointing one from a Peterborough perspective, as their captain, Jack Baldwin, saw red, via a second yellow card, after needlessly bringing down Dack inside the Peterborough half.
The game was soon ended by the referee, and it saw Rovers extend their unbeaten run to 9 league games, in addition to securing 5 wins on the bounce, following a magnificent second-half which saw Dack run rampant by putting the home side to the sword.
This win, which kept Rovers’ momentum going heading into the FA Cup 2nd round replay against Crewe on Tuesday, saw Rovers move up to 3rd in the table, with 40 points from 20 games, in addition to the positive 18 goal difference. Although, Rovers only moved up one place, from 4th, the Blues were 2nd during play, due to Shrewsbury going behind to MK Dons, however after the Shrews’ late equaliser, Rovers dropped out of the automatic promotion spots into 3rd. This however, must be viewed as something positive from a Rovers perspective, as despite the automatic promotion spots looking like a mile away at around the end of September, the Blues are now only 5 points off the top of the league, which is courtesy of the hard work put in by the players and the staff at the club. Rovers’ next game, as mentioned above is the FA Cup 2nd round replay away at Crewe Alexandra on Tuesday, which comes before their next league game, next Saturday, where Rovers host fellow promotion rivals Charlton Athletic at Ewood Park on the 16th.
