Rovers capitalised on recent drops in form by the teams around them to move into 1st place in the League One table for the first time this season, after rallying back from a relatively lacklustre first-half performance to eventually stroll past Bury, with a 2-0 victory, in-front of the Sky Sports cameras.
In the build-up to the game, Tony Mowbray had called on his players to be wary of the threat that Bury posed, because they were unbeaten in their last 5 and that although they started the game 10 points adrift from safety, the quality within their ranks should not be underestimated.
The side that began the game for Rovers saw 4 changes being made to the side that won at Fratton Park, 6 days ago, in addition to a change in system, which saw Mowbray opt for a 3-5-2, rather than the usual 4-2-3-1 that Rovers have been operating in. Into the team came Darragh Lenihan, Corry Evans, Amari’i Bell and Danny Graham, who replaced the outgoing Ryan Nyambe, Paul Downing, Jack Payne and Dominic Samuel respectively; all of whom found themselves on the Rovers bench.
Following the pre-match pleasantries, the game was soon started by Rovers, through Bradley Dack, who was looking to put some jaded recent performances behind him and aiming to get himself, either a goal or an assist, which would continue his positive overall form for the season.
Rovers predominantly controlled the first 10 minutes of the game and despite having a half-chance through Adam Armstrong inside the first 3 minutes, the ball into the loanee by Dack, was cut by a Bury interception. Although Danny Graham was doing his best to situate himself in the positions that a goalscorer of his experience should be in, the ball didn’t seem to want to drop for the forward, as many a pass was cut out by the towering Bury backline.
The first real shot of the game came towards the way of the visitors, through their talisman, Danny Mayor. The Bury number 10 received the ball on the left-hand side and ran at Elliott Bennett, who was playing as a wing-back for Rovers. Mayor had the turn of pace to beat Bennett, before eyeing up a shooting angle which saw the ball fly harmlessly wide of David Raya’s net, leading to a Rovers goal-kick.
Rovers’ first shot came via Danny Graham, on the 11th minute as the forward forced a solid stop from Connor Ripley in the Bury goal. Following some comical pinball in the Bury area, the ball luckily found itself at Graham’s feet, who needed no invitation to shoot. Unfortunately for the former Swansea man, Ripley was on hand to deny the forward his 13th goal of the season.
On the 13th minute mark, Elliott Bennett nearly gifted the Shakers the lead, as he threw the ball straight into the path of George Miller, who was looking to capitalise on an out of position David Raya. The 20-year old saw the goal light up in-front of his eyes, as he took no hesitation in releasing a volley on goal, however much to his disappointment, his effort was a tame one, which allowed Raya to get back in position and claim the ball with ease.
Just after half an hour had been played, Elliott Bennett would have had the ball in the back of the net, had it not been for Greg Leigh’s last gasp block, which turned the ball behind for a corner. The ball broke from midfield into the wing-back’s stride. Bennett flew past his marker and was able to control the spinning ball with his head before dribbling towards goal and releasing a shot which, but for Leigh, would have seen Rovers go 1-0 up.
4 minutes after Bennett’s attempt, Corry Evans had one of his own, as he connected with a Darragh Lenihan knock down. The returning defender was able to knock the ball down from a cross and nod the ball into Evans’ path who lacked the composure to keep the shot down, as it ballooned over the bar.
With half-time only 4 minutes away, Rovers looked nervous as they failed to properly clear a Bury cross which saw the ball fall to Josh Laurent. The 22-year old gathered the ball and ran towards the Rovers backline before releasing a shot that just went wide from around 20 yards out, which saw the tension in the home crowd rise.
With 1 minute of added time being indicated at the end of the first-half, neither side was able to claim a firm grasp on the game as, despite the perceived Rovers dominance, they weren’t creating much in the way of clear chances. Once the 60 seconds had been played, the referee blew his whistle which saw Rovers depart the field to a chorus of boos, as the home support were clearly dissatisfied with what they had seen from their players.
With the half-time team talks in full flow, Bury and their manager Ryan Lowe would have been the happier of the two teams during the 15-minute interval. With the Shakers already being 10 points off safety, their ability to keep one of the most prolific teams in the country out of their net, would have no doubt been a positive. Rovers, concurrently, would have been annoyed with their failure to break down a Bury side, who had only kept 7 clean sheets in their last 32 games.
Both teams soon emerged for the second-half, after the interval, with the visitors restarting the game via the kick-off.
4 minutes after the break, Rovers should have been in-front, thanks to a combination of a Charlie Mulgrew delivery and Derrick Williams’ head. The Scot stood over, and delivered a curling free-kick into the box which was met by the head of Williams as he leapt highest in the Bury penalty area. Despite the good timing on the jump, Williams was unable to position his head correctly in order to make clean contact with the ball, as it skid of his head and went behind for a goal-kick.
It didn’t take long however, for Rovers to go in-front, as on the 51st minute, Danny Graham showed Williams how it was done, with a header of his own, which – unlike the Irishman’s effort beforehand – was on target and did beat Connor Ripley, which gave the forward his 13th goal of the campaign, which was also his 11th at Ewood Park this season. Rovers were gaining good possession as they eased themselves into the Bury half, before Richie Smallwood played in Bradley Dack. The 24-year old then dummied the defender and disguised a cross-cum-shot, which was elegantly put on a plate for Danny Graham to nod Rovers into the lead.
Minutes after Rovers went in-front, they nearly got themselves as second, as Elliott Bennett’s cross towards Adam Armstrong was intercepted and cleared, however from the clearance, Bury had the opportunity to level the scoring so soon after Rovers had broken the deadlock. Danny Mayor received the ball – just like he did in the first-half – before trying his luck again from range, but, like in the first-half, the winger’s attempt at goal was skewed wide.
On the 63rd minute, Tony Mowbray played his hand as he brought on Jack Payne and Marcus Antonsson – the latter who was returning from an injury which had kept him out, since the 2-2 draw with Scunthorpe United towards the backend of 2017 – for Corry Evans and Danny Graham, as the boss changed to a more attacking mentality in order to grab the second goal and kill the game off.
The impact of the substitutes was imminent as Jack Payne nearly set Dack through on goal within seconds of his introduction. The bigger impact however came in the 68th minute, where Marcus Antonsson provided a knock down which allowed Adam Armstrong to capitalise on Bury’s defensive confusion, to grab Rovers’ 2nd of the evening and his 4th goal in his last 3 games. The knock down came because of Darragh Lenihan’s deep cross, which saw the Swede’s connecting header hit the. Nathan Cameron, however was unable to clear his lines as he attempted to shepherd the ball out of play for a goal-kick, but unluckily saw the ball hit his kneecap and remain in play, which allowed Armstrong to easily capitalise and poke the ball into the net to increase his tally to 4 in 3 games.
Following the goal, both sides made changes; Rovers made their final change, in introducing Ryan Nyambe for Amari’i Bell, whereas Bury made their first substitution as they brought on James Hanson for Zeli Ismail.
Both sides had chances within 3 minutes of each other come the 71st minute. Bury had the first attempt as Neil Danns – the former Rovers trainee – struck a hopeful shot from range which proved to be a simple save for David Raya. Rovers’ chance came soon after as Smallwood picked up the ball after some good closing down by Jack Payne saw the ball break free into the path of Smallwood who blazed his attempt over.
The Shakers soon made their final two changes in the 78th minute as Andrew Tutte and Jay O’Shea were brought on in-place of Phil Edwards and Josh Laurent, respectively.
On the 89th minute, Rovers nearly added to their goal tally as Jack Payne forced a save from Stuart Ripley who did his best throughout the game – and especially in the second-half – to try and keep the scores as low as possible.
With 4 minutes of added time being allocated, and Bradley Dack being named both, the Sky Sports Man of the Match and the clubs’ sponsors’ Man of the Match, the final whistle soon brought an end to a second-half which completely contrasted the first, as Rovers eventually ran out comfortable winners against their lowly opponents.
Thanks to this victory, Rovers picked up their second win in a row and were able to leap-frog Shrewsbury Town and Wigan Athletic, into 1st place, as they reached 66 points and moved two clear of Shrewsbury, who currently sit on 64 points. Although both teams below them have games in hand, this boost in morale will surely give Rovers the added impetus and desire to try and replicate their unbeaten run from earlier on in the campaign, which could still lead Rovers to a first league title since the Premier League glory days of 1995.
With Shrewsbury facing Gillingham on Tuesday night and Wigan, once again, shocking the world by beating Manchester City in the FA Cup 5th round on Monday, the fight for the two automatic promotion spots is looking tighter and tighter by each round of fixtures. One saving grace that Rovers have, is that, now Wigan are through into the FA Cup Quarter Finals – where they face Southampton at the DW Stadium – meaning that they could potentially be pre-occupied with their road to Wembley, which could see their league form slip further than it already has, after losing their last two games to Plymouth Argyle and Southend United respectively.
Regardless of Wigan’s cup exploits however, the main goal for Rovers now is to keep grounded and remain focused on the task at hand, which is to go to Walsall next Saturday (24th February) and get the three points needed to, either extend their lead at the top, or stay within touching distance of Shrewsbury and Wigan depending on the tables’ situation by next week. Following the trip to Walsall, the Blues face another road-trip down south as they travel down to entertain AFC Wimbledon on the 27th February.
