An ‘uncharacteristic’ performance by Rovers, saw Tony Mowbray’s men fall to a heavy 4-1 defeat away at Deepdale, where Preston North End gave Rovers an early wake-up call, following the international break, as the Blues never managed to recover from their lethargic start to the game.
The Blues boss made a trio of alterations to his team from the side that started Rovers’ previous game, before the break, a 1-1 draw at home to Rotherham United. Ryan Nyambe, Charlie Mulgrew and Derrick Williams all returned to the side, as Amari’i Bell, Jack Rodwell and Danny Graham all had to respectively, settle for a place on the bench. Corry Evans was not among the 18 that had travelled, as he was given a rest following his goalscoring international commitments. With Graham on the bench, it was widely expected that Adam Armstrong would lead the line, however as the game progressed, both Kasey Palmer and Bradley Dack were Rovers’ furthest attacking outlets.
As the atmosphere built and the 5,533 Rovers began to make some noise, the game was soon kicked-off by PNE’s Ben Pearson, as the home side were looking to extend their unbeaten run to 8 games, in what would be a remarkable turnaround, following their dismal start to the season, which had only seen them pick up 5 points from their opening 8 games.
Preston began the game in possession, and it didn’t take long for them to grab the opener through Tom Barkhuizen, after some intricate play by the hosts, saw Rovers’ defence dismantled and the home crowd go wild. A pinpointed ball by Ben Davies, was nodded on by Callum Robinson, into the path of Alan Browne, who took a well-calculated touch in order to take the ball over the on-rushing Darragh Lenihan, into the open space vacated by Ryan Nyambe. Browne had the ball on the right-hand side of the pitch, before he played in a low cross which Barkhuizen was happy to slot home past David Raya, to make it 1-0 as he sent the home crowd into early euphoria.
On the 5th minute, with Rovers still on the back-foot, Preston’s early dominance continued as Callum Robinson nearly doubled the hosts’ lead, but for a superb block by Ryan Nyambe. Goalscorer, Barkhuizen picked the ball up on the left-hand side following a throw-in, and he played in a low cross which was met by its intended target, Robinson. The former Aston Villa man hit a first-time effort which looked destined to, at least, test David Raya, but Nyambe was in the right place at the right time, as the bounced off the full-back and spun behind for a PNE corner, which was soon cleared.
It didn’t take long for Robinson to make his mark in the game, as he doubled his sides’ lead by the 10th minute, to make it 2-0. A long goal-kick by Declan Rudd saw the ball eventually fall to the feet of Nyambe, who got a first-time pass, aimed at Harrison Reed, all wrong, as he conceded possession to Alan Browne, who played Robinson through with a lovely weighted pass. The winger then had the difficult task of getting beyond Nyambe, but he managed to outmuscle the full-back before he poked a deft finish past David Raya, as the away support behind the goal looked bewildered.
Minutes later, Bradley Dack nearly reduced the deficit, but for the strong hand of Rudd who was in-between the Preston posts. Elliott Bennett picked up the ball, midway through the Preston half and did well to pick out Dack, who was lurking on the edge of the area, with a cross. The ball was well directed by the playmaker, with his head, but Rudd pulled out a fine stop to deny Dack with a strong left hand.
With 22 minutes gone, Rovers had a corner taken by Reed and nodded over by Darragh Lenihan. The corner, won by Bennett, was taken by Reed and met by an on-rushing Darragh Lenihan, who had broken free from his marker inside the box. Unluckily for Lenihan and for Rovers, the contact was minimal, which caused the ball to glance of the Irishman’s head and go behind for a goal-kick.
4 minutes after Lenihan’s miss, Declan Rudd was again called into action as he was forced to save a dipping Charlie Mulgrew free-kick, which nearly sneaked in at the front-post. Rovers were awarded the set-piece from around 25-yards out and Mulgrew managed to cleanly dispatch it towards goal, however the alert Rudd was aware of the danger and he managed to tip the ball onto the crossbar and eventually behind for a corner, which was then cleared.
With the break less than 10 minutes away, Bradley Dack had a gilt-edged chance to reduce Rovers’ deficit, heading into the break, but again, found himself denied by Rudd. The playmaker picked up the ball just inside Preston’s half and fed the ball to Bennett before continuing his run forwards. Bennett then drove forwards with the ball before cutting back and playing it into the feet of Palmer, who played a first-time through ball into Dack’s feet. The number 23 then took a touch to open up his body, before striking the ball, which deflected off of Davies and trickled towards goal. Although there was a deflection, Rudd did well to react and block the shot with his feet before his defenders cleared the danger.
On the 42nd minute, Richie Smallwood went into the referee’s book following a late challenge.
After 3 added minutes were played by Andrew Madley, the man in black called an end to a half that had seen Preston run riot, but Rovers fail to retaliate.
With both sides in their respective dressing rooms, the managers would have had considerably contrasting views on the first 45 minutes that they would have witnessed. Home manager, Alex Neil, would have been, no doubt, delighted at the way his side had begun the game and how they managed to quickly counter-attack Rovers, and put them to the sword inside 10 minutes. Despite his positivity, Neil would have been warning his players against Rovers’ attacking strength.
In complete contrast, Tony Mowbray would have been fuming with his sides’ defensive efforts following the meltdown inside the opening 10 minutes. The former Middlesbrough boss would have no doubt been making his players aware of their poor display, not only for their own sakes, but for that of the 5,533 fans who had paid a lot of money to watch them.
The second-half was started by Rovers, who had made a change in their line-up, as Danny Graham was introduced in-place of Richie Smallwood.
Graham’s impact was instant, as he managed to head Rovers back into the game, within a minute of entering the field of play. After Nyambe was hacked down on the right-hand side, Harrison Reed floated in a free-kick into the middle of Preston’s box, which saw Graham rise the highest, as the former Swansea City forward confidently nodded the ball past Declan Rudd, in order to reduce the deficit to 2-1 and to send the Rovers fans behind the goal, wild.
On the 55th minute, Rovers’ momentum increased when an Elliott Bennett strike from the edge of the area, had Rudd struggling to palm it away, but the PNE ‘keeper did enough to divert the ball away from the lurking Bradley Dack.
With just under an hour gone, Rovers squandered a great chance to level the scoring, through Bradley Dack, who miscalculated his position in the box and his finishing, as he miskicked the ball behind for a goal-kick. Ryan Nyambe picked the ball up and blitzed past Josh Earl on the right-hand side, before delivering a low cross, aimed at Dack. Dack, unaware that Graham was in relatively open position behind him with the goal gaping, tried to finish at the near-post by himself, however he could not get clean contact on the ball, as his attempted backheel wrong-footed himself, as the ball trickled behind for a goal-kick.
After Dack’s blunder, a plethora of substitutions were made by both managers, over the course of the next 10 minutes. Rovers brought on Joe Rothwell and Ben Brereton for Adam Armstrong and Kasey Palmer, respectively, whilst Preston withdrew Lukas Nmecha and Callum Robinson and replaced them with Louis Moult and Brandon Barker.
Following a temporary break in play, where Ben Pearson was treated for injury, Preston soon rallied their troops and got the third goal, through substitute Louis Moult, that effectively ended the game as a contest. A long ball forward by Tom Clarke, was met by Moult, who flicked the ball over Mulgrew’s head, into Barkhuizen’s path. Barkhuizen, turned Derrick Williams inside out, before playing the ball across the face of goal. The subsequent shot by Paul Gallagher, deflected into the path of Moult, who was – on the replay – stood in an offside position. Despite that, play continued as Moult got beyond Reed and Mulgrew in order to poke the ball into the empty net to make it 3-1 and wrap up the game for North End.
The drama was not complete there, however, as 2 minutes later, on the 76th minute, Rovers also had the ball in the back of the net, in-front of the travelling contingency through Ben Brereton, but it was deemed to have been – in retrospect, wrongly – offside. A cross by Reed was nodded forwards by Graham, missing Dack, and falling into Brereton’s path, who peeled off the final defender, Ben Davies. Brereton wasted no time in taking a touch, as he blasted the ball beyond Rudd, which momentarily saw the away crowd explode, however their celebrations were cut short by the linesman on the far side, much to the delight of the home support.
Preston soon made their final change of the game, as Ben Pearson – who had run his socks off for Alex Neil’s side – was replaced by Ryan Ledson, formerly of Everton.
From the substitution, Preston continued to pile on the pressure as they eventually rounded up the game with a fourth goal that saw the away end gradually decrease in its numbers. Clarke played a ball forwards into the feet of Moult, who laid it off to Browne, who soon returned the ball to the substitute. The pair stormed down on Rovers’ goal, which was only protected by Raya, Mulgrew and Lenihan, as the PNE contingency made their way into the area. Moult played a first-time cross back to Browne, who hit a first-time half volley past Lenihan and the despairing David Raya as Deepdale celebrated a convincing 4-1 victory.
Minutes before added time, Bennett and Ledson were each booked for an altercation inside PNE’s half.
After 5 added minutes were played, referee Andrew Madley drew to an end, a game where, Rovers came out second-best in all areas.
Looking back at the game from the perspective of a spectator in away end, Rovers didn’t offer near anything that was worthy of claiming the 3 points, regardless of how good Preston were for the whole 90 minutes. Alex Neil’s side, from the off, reacted to the hostile atmosphere in the ground – most of which was created by the Blue and White contingency behind the goal – and they produced a whirlwind opening 10 minutes which never allowed Rovers to take a moment’s breath and reflect on the damage that had been caused. Although the second goal was an individual error by Ryan Nyambe – which he has since apologised for on Twitter – the rest of the goals were collective errors, not mirroring the effort of the 5,533 Rovers fans in the Bill Shankly Kop End. One major talking point of the game was the team selection and the set-up of the team, especially the absence of a recognised striker, which led to a rather unorthodox combination of Dack and Palmer up front for Rovers, with Armstrong out wide. Although the set-up was designed for free-flowing, fluid movement between the frontline – Bennett included – the application was nowhere near the supposed theory behind the game plan. Furthermore, Preston’s game plan of simply, counter-attacking was nailed down and executed perfectly by the home side, even more so due to the 2-goal cushion Rovers gave them early on. All in all, the bragging rights have been temporarily lost, but the main point to study from Mowbray’s perspective, would no doubt be the defensive stability, which he has since, criticised.
Following this defeat, Rovers have slipped down to 11th in the table, with 26 points and a goal difference of -4, from 18 games. Although the Blues have made a solid start to the season, many will be hoping that the events of this game does not derail a, so far, positive season.
With this Lancashire Derby complete, Rovers turn their attentions to another Lancashire Derby, namely, Wigan Athletic, who host Rovers at the DW Stadium on Wednesday, 28th November at 7:45pm. Following on from Paul Cook’s side, Rovers return to Ewood Park to host Sheffield Wednesday, on Saturday 1st December at 3pm. Once the Owls depart Ewood, Mowbray’s focus turns to his supported club, Middlesbrough, who welcome Rovers to the Riverside on Saturday 8th December, at 3pm.
