On a sunny September afternoon, Rovers returned from the first international break of the season, in a winning mood after a tactical gamble by Tony Mowbray paid off as the Blues brushed aside a buoyant Millwall side, who came into this affair with only one loss from the six games they had played prior.
With the Blues coming back into the fold following their 3-2 defeat away at The Hawthorns against West Bromwich Albion, prior to the fortnight break, Tony Mowbray made two changes, along with a formation alteration, to the side that saw defeat in against Slaven Bilić’s Baggies. Mowbray set up in a 5-2-2-1 system with Tosin Adarabioyo coming into the side to partner Derrick Williams and Darragh Lenihan, who was making his 150th club career appearance, at the heart of the home defence, whilst the second change saw home-grown midfielder John Buckley slot into midfield alongside Bradley Johnson, at the expense of Sam Gallagher and Lewis Travis respectively, both of whom dropped down to the bench.
Before kick-off, a minute’s applause occurred in memory of former Rover, Mike Ferguson, who sadly passed away towards the end of August. Once the respect had been paid, Rovers got the game underway in the Lancashire sunshine with ambitions to continue their respectable start to the season with a victory against a physical side.
The first chance of the game fell after only two minutes as Blackburn-born winger, Connor Mahoney, managed to craft half a chance in the box, but saw the ball nicked away from under his feet by former teammate, Elliott Bennett at the vital moment.
Rovers soon began to assert their dominance possession-wise as a few minutes later, the first shot of the game occurred, which came from Rovers’ lone striker, Adam Armstrong from around 25-yards out. The 22-year old received the ball from distance, before turning and trying his luck, but luckily for the away side, their experienced, on-loan shot-stopper, Bartosz Białkowski, was alert enough to keep the ball under his spell after the save.
On the 13th minute, Mahoney again had an opportunity, this time from a free-kick, but his ultimate execution was poor as it missed the heads of all of his teammates and went behind for a goal-kick.
Soon after, Millwall crafted another chance which came after some solid build-up play around the Rovers penalty area. Although Millwall’s play was neat and precise and they were showing some encouraging signs, former Burnley winger, Jed Wallace’s finish didn’t lead to the desired result, as his effort was fired well wide of the target.
On the 18th minute, only two minutes after Wallace’s effort, the deadlock was broken by Rovers after an unlikely source of goals in Derrick Williams, netted a piledriver from 25-yards out to put Rovers ahead at 1-0. A cross by Elliott Bennett fell to Greg Cunningham after being half-cleared by Millwall full-back Mahlon Romeo, which led to Cunningham knocking the ball into the path of Williams who hit a low drive, first-time, through a number of Millwall bodies, which caught Białkowski off-guard, before wheeling away in celebration of his second goal of the season.
Millwall restarted the game with a reaction, as in the 21st minute, former Southend United midfielder Ryan Leonard tried his luck from range but continued Millwall’s running theme, by failing to hit the target.
Moments later, Millwall did better with their next attempt on the 25th minute as Romeo’s effort from distance was well saved by Rovers’ on-loan shot-stopper, Christian Walton.
Five minutes after Romeo’s strike, Mahoney tried his luck from range, but wildly missed the target, much to the satisfaction of some of the home crowd.
On the 40th minute, Bradley Dack came alive and supplied Elliott Bennett with a lovely through ball, which came after some sublime footwork by the playmaker, including a nutmeg. Once Dack’s pass had gotten through to Bennett, after ricocheting off Murray Wallace, the midfielder-turned-right-back managed to craft an opportunity from close-range that dragged wide of the far-post.
The final chance of the half, came to Stewart Downing, who saw his effort from outside the area veer off target.
After Dowining’s poor effort, referee Dean Whitestone called for one minute of additional time, before calling an end to a productive half, from Rovers’ perspective that saw them utilise their new system to great effect.
With the break in full swing, the moods in the respective dressing rooms would have been contrasting following the rather nervy 45 minutes that had occurred from both sides.
Tony Mowbray would have been satisfied with the lead that his side had built but would have been frustrated that Rovers had conceded too many chances to Millwall, given the dominance that Rovers had grown into as the half had worn on.
Neil Harris, in the opposite dugout would have been annoyed with the goal that his side had conceded, due to it being a spectacular individual effort that could have been avoided had one of his players put their bodies on the line to block it. The visiting manager’s frustrations would have been compounded by his players’ lack of composure in-front of goal, with them having squandered a number of opportunities.
After both sides had returned to the pitch for the kick-off which Millwall took ahead of their 580 travelling supporters, Rovers returned with a fresh face, as Sam Gallagher had entered the fray, at the expense of John Buckley, which saw Stewart Downing tuck in alongside Bradley Johnson, with Gallagher taking up the wide area Downing had vacated.
The second-half had a lively start to it as, Rovers tried to hit Millwall with a quick break that saw Gallagher try and find Armstrong with a cross which was cut out. From that interception, Millwall broke and tried a cross of their own that Walton managed to claim, after some help from Lenihan via a headed flick.
Walton was soon in action on the 49th minute when Connor Mahoney again tried to cause issues for Rovers’ backline, after he tried to get to the loose ball ahead of Walton. Luckily for Rovers the commanding ‘keeper got there ahead of the ex-winger.
The pressure didn’t stop there for the home side’s defence as Ben Thompson soon had an effort from range, that veered wide of the target.
Downing started his second-half, where he had finished the first, as on the 53rd minute, he wound up a strike at goal that did significantly better than his first, as he managed to test Białkowski by offering the Polish international a save to make.
The Pole was forced into an even better save seconds later, after Armstrong broke through the fragile Lions defence and got into the six-yard box with just Białkowski to beat. Luckily for the travelling fans, their on-loan ‘keeper spread himself enough to deny Armstrong what looked like – and probably should have been – a certain goal.
From that save, Millwall’s tails were up as they broke down the other end in an attempt to salvage an equaliser through Mahoney’s cross, however his former teammate Lenihan was there to clear the danger.
The first booking of the game came on the 56th minute as Jake Cooper was cautioned after hacking down Sam Gallagher on halfway.
Connor Mahoney’s final involvement of the game saw him offer Walton a free save, as the winger’s strike fell comfortably into the hands of the Rovers goalie.
On the hour mark, Mahoney departed and was replaced by 6’6” centre-forward, Matt Smith.
Minutes later, Rovers made their second change of the afternoon, which came with a system change, as Joe Rothwell was introduced in-place of Tosin Adarabioyo, seeing Rovers convert to a 4-2-3-1.
On the 70th minute, Rothwell had a shot blocked inside the box, but would have been ruled out anyway due to offside.
Moments later, Millwall had an attempt of their own which came through Leonard, however the 27-year old’s effort flew high and wide.
On the 74th minute, the nerves around Ewood Park’s home contingency were calmed as Bradley Dack made it 2-0 with an expertly finished effort from less than six-yards out. Some build-up play by Rovers following a set-piece saw the ball fall to Darragh Lenihan who drilled in a low cross towards the far-post which Dack tapped home to hand Rovers the points.
After the goal, Neil Harris played his final substitutions as Murray Wallace and Ryan Leonard departed, with Shane Ferguson and Tom Bradshaw, respectively, replacing the pair.
Rovers and Dack didn’t stop at that, as they tried to find a third from the restart as the playmaker shot wide on the 77th minute.
A minute later, Stewart Downing crafted a gut-busting run on the counter-attack, which left Millwall stranded. Although Armstrong was free to his right, Downing didn’t see him and opted to play in Rothwell to his left who took a touch before striking a low drive that Białkowski did extremely well to deny, due to the pace on the ball.
On the 80th minute, Ben Thompson again tried his luck after avoiding numerous Rovers challenges, however his drive deflected easily into the arms of the formidable Walton.
The 86th minute saw Rovers’ final change occur as Stewart Downing departed, with Lewis Travis replacing him.
The final Rovers attempt of the game fell to Dack on the 90th minute, as his effort from range curled wide of the upright.
With Rovers in control of the game, referee Dean Whitestone added on four additional minutes on the end of the second-half, due to substitutions and stoppages for injuries.
The final act of the game came in the 92nd minute where Elliott Bennett took a blow to the face for his troubles after he got in the way of a strong effort from Millwall that left him momentarily dazed, which led to the whistle being blown, moments later.
A brilliant performance which included two outstanding goals and a satisfying clean sheet, seems like everything is back how nature intended it, for Rovers. Saying that, although some might simply class this as a ‘routine victory’, due to the opposition, it’s clear to note that this defeat was only Millwall’s second league loss from the now seven games they’ve played, which is no mean feat. Although they did threaten in the first-half on a number of occasions, it was reassuring to watch the defence not crumble under the pressure, especially once Matt Smith was on, and they tried to go more direct, which is something that will please everyone associated with the Blue and White halves.
The league table is looking a lot more exciting after that victory, as Rovers currently lie in 12th place, with 10 points and a goal difference of 0, after 7 games, whilst only being three points off the playoffs and six off table toppers, Leeds United.
Looking into the future, fixture-wise, the games begin to flow in thick and fast for Rovers, starting off on Saturday 21st September at 3pm, where Tony Mowbray and the team make the long journey down to play Reading at the Madejski Stadium against an indifferent Reading side. Following that tie, Rovers return to Ewood Park on Saturday 28th September to host Luton Town at 3pm, before a midweek clash occurs on Tuesday 1st October, with Nottingham Forest pencilled in to visit Ewood Park at 7:45pm.
