Rovers began their 2019 perfectly, after they returned to winning ways against a free-scoring West Bromwich Albion side, who saw their unbeaten run of 9 league games, end following a quick second-half double by Tony Mowbray’s men.
The Blues’ first starting-11 of the calendar year saw 5 changes to the side that saw defeat at Bramall Lane on the 29th December. Amari’i Bell, Corry Evans, Bradley Dack, Adam Armstrong and Danny Graham all came in to the side, whilst Derrick Williams – who picked up an injury prior to the game – Richie Smallwood – who was serving the first of 3 games due to suspension – Joe Rothwell, Kasey Palmer and Ben Brereton all dropped out of the side, with the latter trio remaining on the bench. In addition, Craig Conway and Joe Grayson were drafted into the 18-man squad in order to add more depth to Rovers’ depleted setup.
As 1,744 Albion fans settled into the Darwen End at Ewood Park, it was their side, in their flamboyant yellow and green strip, who got the game underway as they began with the intent of continuing the free-scoring form, from their previous away game against Rotherham United which saw the Baggies net 4 – including a Dwight Gayle treble, who was unavailable for this game due to a hamstring injury – past the Millers at the AESSEAL New York Stadium.
Rovers started the brighter of the sides, and that showed as their first chance came after only 120 seconds of play, courtesy of Darragh Lenihan. The centre-back got on the end of Harrison Reed’s free-kick, before trying to lob Albion ‘keeper, Sam Johnstone, from the edge of the area, however the former Manchester United shot-stopper had the attempt covered all the way, as he soon smothered the effort.
A minute later, Corry Evans tried his luck from just outside the box, however his effort was not on target, as the ball dragged wide.
The strong start from the hosts continued, as the crowd nearly witnessed the breaking of the deadlock after only 4 minutes of play following Bradley Dack and Danny Graham’s link-up play. Dack controlled Lenihan’s long ball brilliantly with his chest, before slipping Graham in behind Albion’s backline, with only Johnstone to face. Despite Graham reaching the ball and trying to poke it past the ‘keeper, Johnstone made a solid save which saw his left-foot stop the ball from trickling beyond him, as his team soon cleared.
Some good possessional play on the 9th minute, culminated in Rovers receiving a corner. After unsuccessfully trying to break through the visiting defence, Armstrong slipped Reed in, who delivered a central cross from the byline, towards the head of Graham. The subsequent header by the 33-year old was deflected behind for a Rovers corner.
Although the succeeding corner was only partially cleared by West Brom, it gave Lenihan a chance to try and find the net from just outside the box. The defender picked up the ball before shifting it onto his weaker left-foot and trying his luck. Although he was entitled to try to find the back of the net, his effort ended up behind the net, rather than nestling in the top corner.
On the 15th minute, West Brom had their first chance of the game as on-loan Leicester City midfielder, Harvey Barnes, tested David Raya from close range. The 21-year old used his electric pace to get beyond Rovers’ backline before shooting at goal, however Raya had the shot covered as he easily gathered the ball.
Less than 60 seconds later, Barnes was at it again as he, for the second time in as many minutes, tried to find the back of the net, however this time, it was Mulgrew who denied the loanee, as the skipper managed to get himself ahead of the attacker and block his effort at goal behind for a corner.
Albion’s corner, which was taken by Matt Phillips, was lofted towards the near-post and met by another loanee, Manchester City’s Tosin Adarabioyo, who saw his front-post flick fly wide.
On the 36th minute, West Brom tried to quickly get beyond Rovers on the counter-attack, however Lewis Travis did well to muster all the pace he had to get beyond Kieran Gibbs and shield the ball away from the former Arsenal man.
A couple of minutes later, Albion had a free-kick which was taken by Phillips and met by Craig Dawson’s head, however Raya comfortably held onto the ball.
On the 40th minute, Adarabioyo saw his name go into the book after he clattered Armstrong, following the forward’s attempts at speeding past the full-back.
Bradley Dack got involved in the shooting action on the 41st minute, as his skilful nutmeg evaded the challenges of both Gareth Barry and James Morrison, before releasing a strong strike that forced Johnstone into a parry which was then cleared away from danger by Kyle Bartley.
3 minutes later, Corry Evans again tried to break the deadlock, this time from a half-volley, however his shot ballooned over the bar.
As the break drew near, referee Oliver Langford added on an extra minute to the half, before calling an end to the first 45 minutes of the game.
With the break in full swing, both managers would have been giving their respective sides their thoughts on the 45 minutes that had just passed.
Tony Mowbray would have ended the half the happier of the managers, as his side had more than matched the Baggies, both in attack and defence, however he would have been encouraging his side, during the break, to step up a gear in the second-half, in order to try and push on for a positive result.
In the away dressing room, Darren Moore would have been annoyed that his side failed to create the number of chances that they are usually accustomed to creating, away from home. Despite having Jay Rodriguez’s red card against Sheffield Wednesday rescinded pre-match, the former Burnley forward hadn’t caused as much a threat to Rovers’ backline as the manager would have probably hoped and he would have no doubt been looking at his front 3 of Barnes, Rodriguez and Hal Robson-Kanu to provide the forward-thinking initiative for the Baggies.
As both sides returned to the field, it was Rovers who restarted the game as they looked to try and get the victory that would see them return to winning ways, both at Ewood Park and overall.
Rovers started the second-half in a similar bright fashion as they had started the first, and despite Elliott Bennett being booked on the 51st minute following a foul on Robson-Kanu, it was the home crowd who were soon celebrating the opening goal of the game, which came from bizarre circumstances, courtesy of Charlie Mulgrew on the 52nd minute.
After Rovers earnt a corner following a deflection off Kyle Bartley, captain Mulgrew took command of the set-piece as he whipped in a left-footed curling effort towards the back-post, which evaded everyone as his in-swinging effort landed just inside the post, sending the home crowd into euphoria, following Mulgrew’s second corner of the season and his 8th goal overall, which put Rovers 1-0 ahead.
2 minutes later, the Baggies nearly pegged Rovers back straight away, as Robson-Kanu tried to fire in from the edge of the area, however David Raya was equal to the shot.
After a spell of intense pressure by Albion, Rovers soon made it 2-0 with a pacey counter-attack that left 9 of the 11 visiting players as bystanders. A West Brom corner, culminated in Adam Armstrong breaking away on the counter-attack. The former Newcastle United man used his blistering pace to get beyond Gibbs, before sliding through Dack who was bursting forwards with Armstrong. Dack then picked the ball up just inside the Albion half, before charging at goal, beating Kyle Bartley with a fake shot and curling in a left-footed effort into the top left-hand corner of Johnstone’s goal, to make it 2-0.
On the hour mark, Darren Moore made a double alteration to his side which saw Tosin Adarabioyo and James Morrison withdrawn as Jake Livermore and Chris Brunt. respectively, came on to replace them.
It took only 2 minutes since the alterations for West Brom to get back into the game, after Bradley Dack gave away a penalty. A good spell of Albion possession saw the ball break for Harvey Barnes who used his explosive pace to try and burst into the box beyond Reed and Dack. Despite getting through both players, Dack’s slight nudge in the back of Barnes was enough for the loanee to go over and for Mr. Langford, the official, to give a penalty.
The penalty saw Jay Rodriguez, who had been starved of chances throughout the game, step up and take the spot-kick against David Raya – who was incidentally concussed by Rodriguez in the previous fixture at the Hawthorns. The former Southampton forward coolly dispatched the spot-kick to his left-hand side and despite Raya jumping the right way, he was unable to get anywhere near the powerful penalty, as the deficit between the sides was reduced to a solitary goal, at 2-1.
West Brom took the penalty as a catalyst to try and get back into the game, and their intent was certainly shown on the 64th minute, as Kieran Gibbs marauded forwards. The full-back found himself in the Rovers box with the ball, as he tried to curl in a right-footed effort into the top right-hand corner of the goal, however his shot lacked the curl necessary to level the scoring, as Rovers were awarded a goal-kick.
With the ball out of play, Rovers decided to make their first change of the game as a very unhappy Bradley Dack, was withdrawn and replaced by Craig Conway, in an effort to try and add more defensive stability to the side.
On the 66th minute, Barnes saw his strike from just inside the box, blocked by a flailing Lenihan.
A similar block occurred down the other end, minutes later by Craig Dawson, as he denied Adam Armstrong a chance at goal.
On the 76th minute, Dawson found himself in the book after taking down Armstrong in a wide position.
A minute later, Darren Moore executed his final change of the game, removing Jay Rodriguez and introducing Wes Hoolahan in his place.
Rovers soon made their second change of the afternoon on the 80th minute, as Ben Brereton was brought on to replace Adam Armstrong.
Seconds after the change, substitute Hoolahan nearly teed up Bartley, who tried to level from close range. The former Norwich City stalwart crossed the ball into the box and saw his header met by Kyle Bartley. Although the 1,744 Albion fans behind the goal were wishing for the equaliser, Bartley’s header sailed over the bar as Ewood Park blew a temporary sigh of relief.
With 7 minutes remaining, Craig Conway nearly teed up Ben Brereton for the 19-year old’s first goal for the club, which would have no doubt, put the nail in the coffin where an Albion comeback was concerned. Conway floated in an inviting ball into the box, however Brereton, despite having his shirt pulled by Chris Brunt, couldn’t find the jump required to make contact with the ball, as a goal-kick was awarded.
On the 87th minute, drama unfolded during the final minutes as one of West Brom’s substitutes, Jake Livermore, was given his marching order by Oliver Langford, following a judo-style takedown on Lewis Travis. Following a foul by Brunt on Travis, the Rovers midfielder tried to receive the ball by poking it away from Livermore, however the former Hull City midfielder lashed out at Travis with a takedown-style manoeuvre which sparked confrontation on halfway. After order was restored, Livermore was shown the red card, much to the delight of the home crowd.
A minute later, Brereton was booked for stopping Johnstone from quickly releasing the ball to his teammates, however at first glance from the Jack Walker Stand, it looked as if the goalkeeper had hit Brereton in the face with the ball, causing the young forward to hit the deck.
On the 89th minute, a Matt Phillips corner was well claimed by Raya, before it was announced via the fourth official that 6 minutes of added time would be added onto the end of the game, which was met with both, groans of dissatisfaction and roars of encouragement from the home crowd.
In the 92nd minute, Reed was booked for a foul on Barnes, which gave West Brom the chance to float the ball into the box, which they did via Brunt’s left-foot. Brunt’s delivery found the head of Dawson who had risen highest in the box, however his header towards goal was blocked by Raya, before it was cleared.
The final change of the game, came in the 95th minute, as Danny Graham was withdrawn and replaced by Kasey Palmer for the final seconds of the encounter.
Seconds prior to the final whistle, Lewis Travis was announced as the club sponsor’s Man of the Match, which was met by a raucous roar of appreciation from the home fans as the final whistle and another roar – this time of relief – soon followed, as Rovers clinched a vital 2-1 victory to start 2019 on the right note.
As the old saying goes, ‘start as you mean to go on’, and that’s exactly what Rovers did at the start of 2019. The quality of the players, both in attack and defence, was much improved when comparing the trio of fixtures that had preceded this one and it was made even more impressive since West Bromwich Albion were looking to close the gap on Norwich City and Leeds United, who also lost on New Year’s Day.
Of course, the goals were of sublime quality as well, however that’s come to be expected from the talents of Charlie Mulgrew and Bradley Dack, however, the fighting spirit and the resilience, during the final 20 minutes is what caught the eye the most from the stands, ranging from the bodies that were put on the line from the likes of Darragh Lenihan and Mulgrew, to David Raya’s commanding claims of the ball, it was a much-improved situation when compared to the Norwich and Leeds games. Much like in the previous game against Sheffield United, Rovers started brightly, but remained consistently bright in this tie, rather than falling by the wayside, as they did at Bramall Lane.
Another pleasing factor from the result, was the performance of 21-year old Lewis Travis, who was awarded Man of the Match as stated above. The midfielder retained his place in the side from the previous fixture and looked as if he’d been in the first team for the past 5 years, due to his passing, vision and tenacity in the centre of the park, which, in combination with his desire to cover every blade of grass, ensured that Rovers took control of the midfield area – an area which West Brom are very strong in, with the experience of the likes of Gareth Barry and James Morrison – however Travis emerged as their superior as he bossed the centre of the park, allowing the attacking talent ahead of him to freely flourish.
That relieving win sees Rovers sneak up a place into 15th with 34 points and a -8 goal difference from 26 games played.
With the hectic festive fixtures out of the way, the games now fall into weekly slots with only 1 match a week, rather than every couple of days. The next game Rovers are set to prepare for, is their trip to Newcastle United in the FA Cup 3rd Round on Saturday, 5th Jan, (5:30pm), as they take a break from league action for this week. The following week, on Saturday 12th, Rovers are on the road again as they travel to 19th placed Millwall to face the Lions in-front of the Sky Sports cameras at 5:30pm. Following their double header on the road, Mowbray’s men return to Ewood Park on Saturday 19th December, (3pm), to face bottom-placed Ipswich Town, which will see the return of former manager, Paul Lambert, for the first time since his departure from Rovers at the end of the 2015-16 season.
