Rovers saw their undefeated run end and their title hopes all but fade after Charlton Athletic’s ‘smash and grab’ game plan at the Valley, saw the home side edge closer to clinching a spot in the playoffs, following a 1-0 victory.
With promotion secured, Tony Mowbray praised everyone associated with Blackburn Rovers for their hard work and their effort throughout the season. He continued by praising the supporters for their ongoing support of the team, which has seen Rovers take fans to away grounds, in their masses.
Before making the journey down to London, the manager had spoken about changing up the side in order to rest those who had been playing through injuries over the past few weeks and to give an opportunity to those who haven’t had as much game time as they would have wanted. As part of the end of season re-shuffle, Mowbray reverted to a back 5; namely a 5-2-1-2, which was a system that the gaffer had tried to implement earlier on in the season. Corresponding to the change in formation were 6 changes in personnel which were because of injury. Jayson Leutwiler (who was making his league debut for Rovers), Amari’i Bell, Paul Caddis, Jack Payne, Paul Downing and Dominic Samuel all came into the side. Those being withdrawn due to injury were David Raya (groin), Derrick Williams (adductor), Craig Conway (foot metatarsal), Elliott Bennett (knee), Bradley Dack (hamstring) and Danny Graham, the latter of whom was fit enough to remain on the bench.
With the players ready to begin, the game was kicked-off to a roar from all 4 corners of the ground as the home crowd turned out in their numbers to support their sides’ quest to achieve a playoff berth.
8 minutes into a quiet game, the first opportunity on goal came for the hosts as Patrick Bauer tested the debuting Leutwiler early on. A Charlton free-kick was floated into the box and met by the head of Bauer, as the defender towered over his marker to make contact with the delivery. Despite his contact being good, Leutwiler was equal to the attempt as he smothered the ball with no difficulty.
On the 13th minute Rovers’ positive spell of possession ended in Dominic Samuel winning a free-kick quite a distance away from goal. Charlie Mulgrew however, did not shy away from an ambitious strike at goal, however his confidence was not backed up with execution, as the ball sailed wide of the mark and went out for a Charlton goal-kick.
After Mulgrew’s effort, it didn’t take long for the deadlock to break, as on the 19th minute a moment of madness inside of Rovers’ penalty area saw Charlton take an unexpected lead. Ahmed Kashi eyed up a strike from the edge of the area, but despite his shot having power, it lacked accuracy. With the ball seemingly looking like it was going to end up going for a goal-kick, it’s trajectory was soon changed as it cannoned off of the hosts’ captain, Jason Pearce, and nestled into the bottom corner of the goal, leaving Leutwiler rooted to the spot.
On the 31st minute, Rovers thought they had levelled the scoring, had it not been for Ben Amos being alert between the sticks. The former Manchester United goalkeeper had to scramble towards his front-post to keep out Charlie Mulgrew’s corner, which looked destined to sneak in at the front-post.
With half-time 5 minutes away, Dominic Samuel nearly broke through on goal after using his pace to break away from Charlton’s offside trap. Before being able to sort his feet in order to take a shot, he found Patrick Bauer in his eyeline, who had done well to recover and put in a vital tackle to dispossess the striker, and to keep his side ahead.
With 2 extra minutes being added onto the end of the first period, Rovers increased their pressure on Charlton as they had the final chance of the half. Adam Armstrong used his lightening pace to break free of his marker, before putting in a cross which was only cleared as far as Corry Evans. Evans then took aim and released a shot, which, unfortunately for the 3,110 Rovers fans, was nowhere near the goal.
With the 2 minutes over, referee Robert Jones blew for half-time, which would have pleased Charlton as Rovers were slowly gathering momentum and were beginning the threaten. With both teams still realistically fighting for something – Rovers the title, and Charlton, a playoff spot – neither manager would have been lenient in their half-time team talks. The home side’s manager, Lee Bowyer, would have been pleased with his side’s fortuitous goal, but despite that, he would have been annoyed with their lack of attacking prowess, despite a solid defensive performance. Tony Mowbray, on the other hand, would have been frustrated with the goal that Rovers had conceded, but would have been encouraged with the momentum that his side began to gain as the break grew closer.
Following the half-time break, and both teams re-emerging for the second period, the first chance after the interval came on the 47th minute as Rovers nearly equalised, through Richie Smallwood. The midfielder used his energy to gain possession of a loose ball and fire it towards goal. Smallwood’s shot was well saved by Amos, who got enough to deny the midfielder and push the ball away before Dominic Samuel could turn home the rebound.
5 minutes into the second period, Charlton were forced into a change when Lewis Page was stretchered off injured and was replaced by Jay Dasilva.
Following the substitution, Rovers had a corner which saw Mulgrew in the box, rather than over the ball. This decision proved to be a good one, as the skipper was the player who got on the end of the cross, but unfortunately, he wasn’t able to replicate his heroics of Tuesday night, as his header flew wide of the goal.
Minutes after Mulgrew’s attempt, Rovers were again on the attack, this time through Smallwood, Armstrong and Payne. Smallwood and Armstrong both combined well to put the ball on a plate for Payne, inside the box, but the on-loan midfielder’s shot was well saved by Ben Amos, who scrambled across his goal to deny the midfielder the equaliser.
Moments later, Ben Amos once again showed his quality as he again denied Payne a chance to pull Rovers level. Amari’i Bell’s good work down the left-hand side culminated in him crossing the ball towards Payne, who controlled the ball before striking at goal, unluckily for Payne however, Amos had his number for a second time, as he pulled off the save.
On the hour mark, Rovers made 2 changes which triggered an alteration in the system. Danny Graham and Lewis Travis were introduced in-place of Jack Payne and Paul Caddis respectively, as Rovers switched to a 4-3-3, which saw Lenihan move to right-back, Travis move into midfield and Graham support Samuel and Armstrong up top. Following the changes, Charlie Mulgrew had a corner plucked out of the sky by Ben Amos as the time Rovers had to grab an equaliser was slowly decreasing.
10 minutes after the Rovers changes, Adam Armstrong saw his off-balanced attempt at goal curl wide of the net, as the Rovers fans behind the goal – despite knowing promotion was secured – began to show their annoyance at their side’s inability to break Charlton down.
With 76 minutes gone, Mowbray made his final change as he brought on Peter Whittingham in-place of Corry Evans.
Immediately after the change, Armstrong and Graham combined well as Rovers earnt a corner. Armstrong used his pace and his technical ability to receive the ball, run down the left-wing and play in a low cross, to which Graham was the target. As the ball reached Graham, the striker wasted no time in taking a touch as he powered a first-time effort towards goal, which was subsequently blocked by a Charlton man, as Rovers earnt another corner.
From the corner, the ball was whipped into the box and met by the head of Dominic Samuel, who’s effort saw the ball, crash against the bar and come back into play before being cleared away by the Charlton defence.
With the ball being cleared out of play, Charlton were able to make their second change of the afternoon as Nicky Ajose was withdrawn and replaced by Stephen Mavididi.
With 8 minutes left on the clock, Rovers had yet another chance to level the scoring, denied by the in-form Ben Amos. Lewis Travis did well to dispossess a Charlton man and drive towards the box from midfield, before playing in Dominic Samuel. Samuel took a touch, just inside the area, before striking a venomous shot at goal, which was too hot for Amos to smother, as he could only manage to push it away.
Due to Rovers being susceptible to the counter-attack in the closing stages, Charlton pushed forwards and utilised the speed in their ranks to play a free-flowing move, which consisted of several one-touch passes, before culminating in a Jake Forster-Caskey strike, which Leutwiler did well to deny.
As the referee’s watch ticked over to 87 minutes, Charlton made their final substitution of the game as Joe Aribo was brought on to replace Ben Reeves.
7 minutes were added on to the end of the second-half, once the 90 had been played, which gave Rovers a chance to try and snatch an equaliser through a series of corners. Despite them having the chances through the set-piece, none of them were able to provide the breakthrough that the Rovers players, staff and fans were anticipating, mainly down to Charlton’s good defending and ability to forecast each delivery and clear the crosses.
With Rovers’ attempts to find an equaliser failing, the match official, Mr Robert Jones, called an end to a disappointing afternoon for Rovers, which saw them lose for the first time since February, as their undefeated run of 14 games came to an end. Additionally, the defeat would have been a big pill to swallow, knowing that Charlton had scored with their only shot of the game.
Furthermore, due to the defeat, the race to lift the League 1 title has slowly faded away from Rovers due to Wigan Athletic scraping a 1-1 draw at home to AFC Wimbledon. Due to this result, Wigan remain top of the league on 95 points, whilst Rovers are 2nd on 93 points and with goal difference being far superior in Wigan’s favour, Rovers will have to hope that Wigan can lose away at Doncaster Rovers on the final day, which would mean that Rovers would need a win in order to lift the trophy.
Looking towards the final day, whilst Doncaster Rovers entertain Wigan Athletic, Rovers will be busy hosting an Oxford United side who are comfortably in mid-table, in-front of a crowd that has been estimated to contain over 15,000 spectators. Both games kick-off alongside the rest of the league’s fixtures, on Saturday 5th May at 5:30pm, where Rovers will be hoping that they can cap this season’s success off with a trophy, despite already achieving their main aim of promotion.
