Rovers headed into the international break on a positive, after rebounding from their defeat to Sheffield United on Wednesday night, with a solid victory over Bolton Wanderers in the North-West Derby, courtesy of a first-half strike from Bradley Dack.
With his side suffering their first home defeat in over a calendar year, Tony Mowbray focused his pre-match interview on ‘retaliation’, as he expected his side to put in a performance, for the travelling support, that would give them their money’s worth, and also prevent Rovers from having back-to-back league defeats for the first time since the start of last season.
The team that were given the task of beating Bolton, saw 4 changes to the side that fell short against Sheffield United in midweek. Charlie Mulgrew, Jack Rodwell, Joe Rothwell and Kasey Palmer respectively, all came into the side to replace Amari’i Bell, Richie Smallwood, Corry Evans and Adam Armstrong, who all respectively dropped to the bench.
By 5:30pm, due to the game being shown live on Sky Sports, both sides were out on the pitch readying for the kick-off which was soon taken by the hosts. Phil Parkinson’s side came into this derby looking to make it back-to-back derby victories for the first time since March and December 2014, where the Trotters beat Rovers 4-0 and 2-1 respectively, with both games being at the University of Bolton Stadium.
The first chance of the game fell to Rovers, as they earnt themselves a free-kick after 5 minutes. Joe Rothwell’s delivery was lofted into the penalty area and met by Derrick Williams, who had risen highest for Rovers. Unfortunately for the full-back, his header was off-target.
Despite some pressure from either side during the opening 20 minutes, neither team could find that extra added quality that would have opened the door for chances to occur. Whilst Rovers crafted a few chances at goal, which resulted in corners, Bolton created a couple of set-pieces of their own, which, like Rovers’ attempts, amounted to nothing.
The game continued to play out on an even playing field, until the 22nd minute, when Bradley Dack sprung to life in the box, to break the deadlock and slot Rovers ahead after some good play by Rovers saw Bolton’s defence and ‘keeper scrambling. A good run by Kasey Palmer from deep, saw him hold off Jonathan Grounds before passing to Joe Rothwell, who hit a delightful one-touch pass to Harrison Reed, who was darting forwards from deep. Despite finding himself in the penalty area with seemingly only the goalkeeper to beat, Reed’s snapshot from a tight angle was saved by Remi Matthews. Unfortunately for Bolton, the save wasn’t enough to remove the danger, as Rothwell tried his luck from the rebound, but also saw his shot blocked by some well-placed Bolton defenders. Although lightning struck twice for Bolton, they weren’t lucky for the third time, as Bradley Dack sneaked in to side-foot the ball home past the despairing Bolton defenders, who were led out in-front of their goal, as Dack wheeled away in celebration.
Minutes after Dack’s goal, Bolton tried to retaliate through Will Buckley. The former Brighton and Hove Albion midfielder forced David Raya into a fine save after his low drive from the top of the Rovers box, looked to have been destined to nestle into the bottom corner, but for Raya’s strong left-hand.
From the resulting corner, Bolton managed to produce an even better save out of Raya, as the ‘keeper displayed his athleticism and reflexes in-front of the TV cameras. Erhun Oztumer’s corner was powerfully headed towards goal by Josh Magennis, but Raya’s reflexes were enough to deny the former Charlton Athletic forward, as Raya conceded another Bolton corner, which came to nothing.
With the break 3 minutes away, Bolton had the chance to go into the break with a potential equaliser, after they were awarded a free-kick, just inside Rovers’ half. Their set-piece, which was floated into the box was poorly cleared by Danny Graham, who wildly swung his foot at the ball, which saw it go high up into the penalty area, awaiting to be nodded towards goal. Magennis duly obliged as he saw his header loop over Raya but cleared off the line by the strategically placed Charlie Mulgrew, who denied Bolton the chance to enter the break on level terms.
The second-half soon ended, after 1 minute of added time was played, and Derrick Williams was shown a yellow card for a poor challenge on Craig Noone.
With both managers in their respective dressing rooms talking to their players, Phil Parkinson would have been frustrated with the way Rovers cut open his side during the passage of play that led to the goal, despite Bolton’s defensive solidity, both before and after the deadlock was broken.
Tony Mowbray’s reaction to the first period, would have been a mixed one. Although his side were ahead at the break, they let Bolton have far too many chances at goal, which would have been something that would have frustrated the Rovers boss during the team-talk.
Both sides re-emerged for the second-half, but as Rovers prepared to take the kick-off, Bolton made their first change of the evening, as Yanic Wildschut was introduced at half-time, in-place of Will Buckley.
With 2,482 Rovers fans behind the goal their side were now attacking, there was an expectancy that Rovers would shift into their next gear and take the game by the scruff of the neck, something which they didn’t manage to do.
The game returned to its competitive, combative state of play, where neither side could manage to retain possession of the ball long enough to create an opportunity which was worth writing about.
As the hour mark approached, and with Rovers still ahead, Tony Mowbray shuffled his midfield around by making a double substitution which saw both Richie Smallwood and Corry Evans come onto the field, whilst Jack Rodwell and Joe Rothwell, respectively, departed.
On the 66th minute, Harrison Reed found himself in the book, whilst Bolton found themselves making a second change. Former Cardiff City winger, Craig Noone was replaced by former Leicester City winger, Lloyd Dyer.
With 20 minutes left, the first chance since the start of the second-half materialised, and it came through Norwich City loanee, Yanic Wildschut. The Bolton substitute linked up well with Oztumer and Everton loanee Joe Williams, as he found himself through on goal, with only Raya to beat. Although the space was there, Wildschut’s composure was not, as his effort turned out to be catching practice for Raya, who simply smothered the ball.
Following that chance, Rovers made their final change of the game, as Kasey Palmer was replaced by former Trotter, Adam Armstrong.
Bolton soon reacted with a change of their own as Jonathan Grounds was replaced by Christian Doidge.
On the 81st minute, Adam Armstrong found himself through on goal after a long goal-kick by David Raya, bypassed everybody and landed at the feet of the forward, who bore down on goal using his pace. Although he came in from a tight angle and had Graham as an option, the former Bolton loanee decided to try his luck, but unfortunately for Armstrong, Matthews had it covered.
Seconds after Matthews’ save, former Rovers skipper Jason Lowe found himself in referee, Darren Bond’s notebook, as he committed a late challenge on former partner-in-crime, Corry Evans.
With 6 minutes left on the clock, Bolton piled on the pressure as Raya was forced to tip a cross behind for a corner, which eventually surmounted to nothing. Subsequently, Raya was booked for time-wasting, as he took his time over his goal-kick.
As the game grew to a close, some late drama occurred that would have seen 2,482 Blue and White hearts end up in mouths, after Bolton were seemingly awarded a penalty on the 88th minute, following a challenge by Mulgrew on Bolton’s substitute Doidge. A Joe Williams cross was nodded by Jack Hobbs into the path of Doidge, who was apparently pulled back by Mulgrew. As a result of the infringement, Darren Bond initially awarded a penalty, before being called over by his assistant who flagged for offside. Bond took the advice of his linesman on board and rescinded the penalty decision, which caused much fury from the 3 home stands.
With the home crowd jeering and booing, whilst the away contingency serenaded their players, the game was eventually ended after 5 minutes of added time were played.
Despite this game having some relative hype around it, due to the location of both sides and the fact that it was on TV, the game, bar the only moment of quality from Dack, left much to be desired by the fans and staff, both playing and managerial, of both clubs. Although Rovers got themselves back to winning ways following their blip in midweek vs Sheffield United, Mowbray will no doubt be thinking of ways, during the international break, in which his side can improve on their performance, despite the positive result.
With all of the league games completed by Sunday night, the table sees Rovers head into Monday in 10th, with 18 points from 12 games which includes a -1 goal difference. The Blues are only 1 point of the playoffs and find themselves 7 points off surprise leaders, Sheffield United.
With the second international break of the season coming up, Rovers don’t return to action until 20th October, where they host Leeds United at Ewood Park, at midday. Following their clash with Bielsa’s side, Rovers travel to Swansea City, 3 days later, on the 23rd, with kick-off scheduled for 7:45pm. After travelling to Swansea, Rovers remain on the road as they head down to the midlands, in order to face West Bromwich Albion, at 3pm, at the Hawthorns, on Saturday, 27th October.
