A turbulent game saw Rovers go from cruise control after an hour of play, to ‘all hands-on deck’ by the 90th minute, after a short-lived Stoke City comeback saw Rovers earn their first ever victory at the Bet365 Stadium.
Prior to the game, Tony Mowbray challenged his side to try and clinch a victory at Stoke, in a bid to show the rest of the division that they weren’t afraid of locking horns with the best teams and the biggest budgets in the Championship.
The team who were given the task of battling against Gary Rowett’s Stoke side saw 3 changes to the team that managed a goalless draw at Pride Park, on Tuesday. Harrison Reed, Elliott Bennett and Danny Graham all came into the side, replacing Kasey Palmer and Adam Armstrong, who dropped to the bench, whilst the third withdrawal, Craig Conway was excluded from the matchday squad.
The game kicked off with the 1,800-odd Rovers fans in full voice behind the goal, as they looked to encourage their team in a similar fashion to how they did on Tuesday night.
With early battles for possession during the first quarter of an hour, which included a cleared Stoke corner and a cleared Dack cross, the first real opportunity at goal, fell to the home side, on the 14th minute after Tom Ince’s mazy run saw him break into the box and pull one back for Joe Allen. Unfortunately for the former Liverpool man, he couldn’t control Ince’s powerful pass, as the ball deviated behind for a Rovers goal-kick.
A minute later, Ryan Woods found himself in referee, Tony Harrington’s notebook, after he committed a forceful challenge on Harrison Reed.
On the 16th minute, Rovers’ attacking threat grew, as they earnt a corner which was floated into the box. The cross was met by the head of Darragh Lenihan, who had risen highest in the penalty area, in order to connect with the ball. Despite the Irishman’s good positioning and timing, his contact with the ball was poor, as his header went behind for a stoke goal-kick.
Rovers’ dominance during the opening 26 minutes soon had an end product, in the form of a goal, as Bradley Dack shook off his demons from Tuesday night and managed to poke Rovers into the lead, after a good pass by Richie Smallwood, combined with a slice of luck, set Rovers’ star man through. Richie Smallwood picked up the ball just outside the Stoke penalty area, and looked for the curved run of Dack, who did well to stay onside. Smallwood’s through-ball deflected into Dack’s path who let the ball bounce ahead of him, before poking a left-footed effort past the onrushing Jack Butland, to put Rovers ahead.
The game continued, as the break drew closer, with Rovers still in the ascendency as Danny Graham soon doubled Rovers’ lead in the 44th minute, as the game headed into additional time at the end of the first-half. A long ball by Elliott Bennett, reached its target in Danny Graham, who legally broke free of both Stoke centre-backs and found himself through on goal. With the flag still down, the experienced forward did well to bring the ball down on his chest, before replicating Dack’s left-foot finish past Butland, to double Rovers’ advantage.
After 2 minutes of added time were played, Tony Harrington called an end to a half that was totally dominated by Rovers, as Mowbray’s side headed towards the tunnel serenaded by the 1,800 Rovers fans, who were situated next to it.
With the team-talks ongoing during the break, Gary Rowett would have no doubt been fuming at his sides’ performance and would have been calling on them to go out and give the fans their money’s worth, especially after they had booed his players off the field.
Tony Mowbray, on the other hand, would have been absolutely delighted with the way his side applied themselves during the first-half, and would have been calling for more of the same in the second period. The manager, who had reassured his players during the week, that they were capable of competing against the bigger sides in the division, would have been raving about his players’ performances. Another factor that would have pleased Mowbray further, was the fact that the impressive performances were backed up by goals, something Rovers lacked in midweek at Derby.
The second-half soon got underway, but not before Stoke made their first change of the game, which saw Saido Berahino introduced in-place of former Rover, Mame Biram Diouf.
With Rovers looking to continue their fine play, their efforts soon turned 2 goals into 3, 27 seconds after the restart, as on-loan midfielder, Harrison Reed, opened his account for the club, on his first start. Bennett plucked the ball out of the air, before playing in Bradley Dack, with a well-weighted pass. The unmarked, and onside Dack then picked up the ball and drove into the box, before sliding in Reed, who was making a free run alongside the number 23. Reed then took a touch to steady himself, before side-footing the ball past Butland and into the back of the net to send the Rovers fans behind the goal wild.
On the 55th minute, and with Rovers on cruise control, Dack nearly made it 4 for Mowbray’s men, after he got on the end of a counter-attack and drove towards goal. Dack was played through by Graham before driving towards goal but saw his shot well-saved by Butland. The English international couldn’t keep hold of the ball, as Dack’s rebound cannoned off the post before being cleared.
From that clearance, Stoke made their second change of the afternoon, which saw Peter Crouch introduced for Benik Afobe.
Soon after Crouch’s introduction, Cuco Martina found himself in the book after a foul on Corry Evans.
As the game ticked on into the final 20 minutes, Stoke soon found the goal that lifted the crowd and increased the spirits around the stadium, after Saido Berahino found the back of the net from close range, in order to make it 3-1, on the 79th minute. The former West Bromwich Albion forward got on the end of Peter Crouch’s knockdown and beat both Derrick Williams and Darragh Lenihan to the ball before he poked it past David Raya, who was wrong-footed.
Immediately after Berahino’s goal, Tony Mowbray reacted by introducing Joe Rothwell, in-place of Harrison Reed.
Before Rothwell had time to assert himself within Rovers’ midfield, Stoke managed to grab themselves a second, which sent the game into a completely different affair, to the one that had been played 10 minutes prior. A hopeful cross by Erik Pieters was met by Berahino whose shot-cum-cross found its way to Tom Ince, who slotted home to reduce the deficit down to 1.
With the sides separated by a single goal, Stoke continued to pile on the pressure and nearly got equalised, if it wasn’t for some valiant defending and goalkeeping that kept a Stoke header out of the net.
As the 90th minute loomed, both sides made changes in a bid to either, impact the game positively, or to help kill the game off. Rovers introduced Ben Brereton and Adam Armstrong for Danny Graham and Bradley Dack, the latter of which hobbled off, despite not looking to be in too much pain. The hosts however, introduced former Barcelona midfielder Bojan, in-place of Bruno Martins Indi, in an attempt to force the equaliser.
The drama heightened by the 90th minute, as after 6 minutes of added time were added, referee Tony Harrington decided to make the game even more interesting by awarding Stoke a penalty, after it appeared that Darragh Lenihan had fouled Saido Berahino in the penalty area. With the decision given, it was the fouled man, Berahino who stepped up to try and level the game and gain Stoke a point. With the away end and bench holding their breath, the former West Brom man ran towards the ball and struck it too well, as the ball cannoned back off the crossbar and was cleared by Rovers, as the away end erupted into euphoria.
The final act of the game, saw Elliott Bennett pick up a yellow card for a smart foul on half-way.
With the Rovers captain on the day booked, referee Tony Harrington soon put the whistle to his lips and called an end to a game that provided shedloads of drama.
The main positive that we can take away from this tie, is that Rovers have the capability to go to – arguably – the one of the pre-season favourites for the title and perform. Although the late scare at the end nearly took the shine off the overall performance, the lads dug deep and pulled out a brilliant performance that was needed, after conceding the late equaliser against Villa and the poor performance – despite the good point – against Derby. Additionally, this performance gives both players and fans the confidence that the mere expectation of avoiding relegation, which people may have been capping Rovers at, would become a formality, rather than a target – saying that however, there’s still a long way to go.
Following this massive victory, Rovers have moved up to 11th in the table, with 14 points from their 9 games played, which quite funnily, only puts them 4 points off the top of the table, a position where, had they not conceded late equalisers to Aston Villa and Ipswich Town, would have been a reality.
Rovers’ next fixture sees them make the tiring journey down to Bournemouth on Tuesday 25th September, as they get set to face Eddie Howe’s team on Tuesday 25th September, with kick-off set at 7:45pm. Their next game after Bournemouth sees them return to Ewood Park as they host Aitor Karanka’s Nottingham Forest on Saturday 29th September at 3pm. Following that double header, the Blues host Chris Wilder’s Sheffield United on Wednesday 3rd October, with kick-off scheduled for 7:45pm.
