A share of the spoils was on the TV guide for the Sky Sports cameras at Ewood Park as recently-relegated Huddersfield Town were able to take advantage of Rovers’ defensive frailties to snatch an equaliser that saw Danny Cowley’s side leave Lancashire with a 2-2 draw, which left Blackburn Rovers and Tony Mowbray still looking for their first victory since the 2-1 victory away at Reading, just shy of a month ago.
The Rovers teamsheet saw five changes to the team that had fallen to the sword away at Queens Park Rangers, prior to the international break. Ryan Nyambe, Tosin Adarabioyo, Lewis Travis, Bradley Johnson and Lewis Holtby all came into the side, as injured duo Darragh Lenihan and Greg Cunningham withdrew for their respective layoffs, whilst the trio of Corry Evans, Joe Rothwell and Danny Graham all dropped to the bench for the encounter. There was a milestone to shoutout before kick-off, as 35-year old veteran Stewart Downing staggeringly lined-up for his 550th career league appearance.
With the cameras, players, officials and fans ready, referee Darren Bond signalled for the game to begin, as Adam Armstrong got the ball rolling from the kick-off.
The game started off well for Rovers who, for the opening 10 minutes, managed to control possession and try and assert their dominance over their opponents, who have struggled this season to control games.
On the 12th minute, however, things went disastrously for Rovers as captain Elliott Bennett conceded a penalty after clumsily taking down Adama Diakhaby, which led to the referee Darren Bond handing Huddersfield a chance to open the scoring. With the boos ringing around Ewood, Karlan Grant picked up the ball and managed to dispatch his spot-kick coolly into the bottom left-hand corner of Christian Walton’s goal, to pick up his seventh goal of the season, to put his side up at 1-0.
Five minutes later and with Huddersfield’s tails up, Derrick Williams was forced to put his body on the line in order to deny Diakhaby an effort at goal, as the defender managed to shift himself quick enough in order to concede a corner.
The subsequent corner led to a low cross by Jaden Brown which allowed Trevor Chalobah to strike an effort which cleared the Rovers crossbar.
The Blues kept pushing for an equaliser but weren’t behind for long as after a low shot by Adam Armstrong was held by Kamil Grabara, a defensive mishap by Huddersfield coupled with some good pressing by Rovers, soon allowed Bradley Dack and Lewis Holtby to mark their respective engagements with an assist and a goal, on the 20th minute. Huddersfield tried to play out from the back with Tommy Elphick trying to switch play, but saw his pass intercepted by Armstrong, who did well positionally to regain possession of the ball. Armstrong slipped it through to the onrushing Dack on the turnover, who teed the ball up, first-time for Holtby who had the simple task of slotting the ball into an empty net for his first goal for the club, in order to draw Rovers level at 1-1.
On the 23rd minute, Adama Diakhaby tried his luck from 25-yards out, with an effort that was meant to curl towards goal but ended up in the second tier of the Blackburn End.
With Rovers in full control of the game, they managed to craft another opportunity in order to try and gain the lead for the first time in the game. Holtby agonisingly missed the target from around the penalty area after some good interplay set him up. Bradley Johnson picked up the ball on the edge of the Huddersfield box and managed to slip the ball through into the German, after nutmegging Chalobah in the process. The magnificent defence-splitting pass saw Holtby pick up the ball and turn Christopher Schindler, before hitting a low drive with his stronger left-foot, which skewed narrowly wide of the right-hand upright.
The Ewood Park faithful didn’t have to wait too long to celebrate another goal though, as two minutes after Holtby’s missed effort, he turned provider for Bradley Dack to notch his fifth of the league campaign. A throw-in by Bennett, into the feet of Dack, saw the midfielder turn and find Johnson. Johnson played a first-time pass, nutmegging Lewis O’Brien in the process, in order to find Holtby, who stopped the ball dead long enough for Dack to tee off and see his sumptuous curling strike nestle into the bottom right-hand corner of Grabara’s goal, to turn the game on its head at 2-1.
Soon after the goal, Lewis Travis tried to get in on the act, as he tried his luck from range, but unfortunately for him, he couldn’t grab his second of the season, as the effort trickled wide.
The game continued in the same pace, with Rovers dominating and knocking on the Huddersfield door in order to try and grab a third, up until the 45th minute, in which referee Darren Bond added two minutes of added time.
The final act of the half saw Travis fall into the referee’s book after he took down Chalobah.
After Travis’s booking, time was soon called on a controlling first-half period, that, despite the blemish of the penalty and the loss of the clean sheet, showing a lot of encouraging signs that both Tony Mowbray and the crowd would have been pleased with.
During the break, both sets of managers would have had praises and criticisms of their team, despite the first-half which saw a trio of goals netted.
Home boss Tony Mowbray, whilst pleased with his team’s reaction after going a goal down, would have been frustrated with the manner in which the penalty was given, especially after replays and pundits had indicated that it had been a rather soft decision. The gaffer would have also been wary – and informative of this to his players – of the fragility of a one-goal lead and he would have been encouraging them to take advantage of their dominance, in order to grab a third.
Danny Cowley in the away dugout, would have been frustrated with the manner in which his side had let their lead slip, especially with the error coming from an experienced man in Tommy Elphick. The talented manager, however, wouldn’t have made his team-talk a negative one, but one of encouragement, emphasising the defensive issues that Rovers had at the back, whilst also reiterating to his players that they were on a three-match unbeaten run.
The game was soon restarted by Huddersfield, who were impressively backed by just under 2,300 Yorkshiremen, as they continued to sing their hearts out in the hope that their side could extend their unbeaten run to four, with a victory that could propel them up the table.
The first chance of the second period came on the 54th minute as Downing found Armstrong, who cut inside and hit a low drive, which narrowly missed Dack’s incoming boot and the target, as the ball tricked across the face of goal and went behind for a goal-kick.
Moments later, Rovers nearly had their third goal, courtesy of another Huddersfield error. Downing’s powerful cross was poorly dealt with by Brown, who only narrowly managed to direct his header over his own crossbar, with Grabara well beaten.
From the subsequent Rovers corner, Huddersfield managed to break through their goalscorer Grant, who was forced out wide before doing well to pull off a shot, that Walton did equally well to save, and hold.
The next stoppage in play, which came on the 57th minute, saw the first Huddersfield change of the game occur. Trevor Chalobah, who had a quiet game, bar his first-half effort, was withdrawn and replaced by Juninho Bacuna, who had done well as an impact sub in recent weeks, netting two and grabbing an assist in his last two games, in which he played a total of 40 combined minutes.
Moments after the change, Rovers were in again. Johnson stunned in a cross that hung at the back-post. Unfortunately for the home crowd, Dack’s connection on it couldn’t see it sneak in at Grabara’s near-post, as the side-netting ripped.
The lively Bacuna was soon in and amongst the action on the hour mark as he opened up his body and struck at goal from around 25-yards out, but ultimately missed the target.
That disappointment soon turned to elation for the Curaçaoan, as only three minutes after his shot flashed wide, he managed to grab himself his third in as many games in order to draw the scores level at 2-2. Diakhaby picked up the ball centrally before playing it into Bacuna, who was a free man inside the ‘D’, on the edge of the Rovers box, after Elias Kachunga had held off Tosin Adarabioyo. Bacuna then used his quick and silky feet to get beyond Ryan Nyambe, before releasing a shot that nutmegged the full-back, wrongfooted Walton, and rolled into the net, via Walton’s left-hand.
Three minutes after the goal, on the 66th minute, Karlan Grant found himself in a position to strike at goal again, but saw the ball swept away from his toes by a superb Derrick Williams tackle.
Time ticked on, with not much action until the 71st minute, which saw a double change by Rovers. The booked Lewis Travis and goalscorer Lewis Holtby both departed the field, with Joe Rothwell and Sam Gallagher, respectively replacing them, which allowed Stewart Downing to move centrally, whilst Adam Armstrong shuffled to a wide-right position.
On the 76th minute, the lively Bacuna again tried to find the net with an effort that awkwardly deflected towards the Rovers goal, before ultimately spinning over the crossbar and landing on top of the goal.
A minute later, Jonathan Hogg became the first Town player to be booked after the experienced midfielder brought down Joe Rothwell.
Sam Gallagher saw his opportunity to grab his first league goal for Rovers on the 79th minute, after a cross came in from Williams. Although unmarked, the forward couldn’t improvise with the cross’s lack of power, as the ball fell wide of the mark.
From the stoppage in play after the Gallagher header, Mowbray decided to make Rovers’ final alteration, with Corry Evans coming on in place of Stewart Downing.
On the 83rd minute, Town made their second change of the game as Fraizer Campbell was introduced, with Karlan Grant coming off.
Soon, the referee’s notebook had a lot of incomings as Huddersfield saw two bookings attached to their column, in the 84th and 87th minutes, respectively, either side of their final substitution. The first card came to Elias Kachunga, after he clipped Nyambe’s heels. After their 85th minute substitution, which saw Florent Hadergjonaj introduced for Adama Diakhaby, Town’s second booking fell to Fraizer Campbell, who had hacked down Corry Evans on halfway.
As the 90th minute ticked over, Darren Bond, the official called for four minutes of time to be added on, which saw the frustrated Rovers faithful roar behind their team.
The added time, however, lacked the action the home crowd would have wanted, with the only notable event being a 92nd minute free-kick which Bradley Dack powered straight into the wall.
With the free-kick thus turning added time into a ‘damp squib’, the game was soon called to a close by Mr. Bond, after Lewis Holtby was announced as the club sponsor’s Man of the Match.
Looking at this game, following the work done over the international break, it would be fair to admit that the work that Rovers and Mowbray have done in possession of the ball had paid off, with the interplay between the team and the link-up particularly between Holtby and Dack looking promising, in its infancy. The work out of possession, however, albeit with light within the defensive ranks, is hard to judge, due to the lack of constant threat that Huddersfield showed throughout the game, due to their counter-attacking, deep setup and Rovers’ hold over the possession of the ball. Whilst this point will not be the first to be looked back upon with disappointment throughout this season, it offers many positives ahead of the next block of games, before the next international break in November. Tosin Adarabioyo however, looked like a solid acquisition, in terms of a ‘ball-playing defender’, with the Manchester City loanee having the composure and technique to pick out a wide range of passing, as well as the power and presence to stifle Town’s aerial presence. It will be interesting to see, with the newly added defensive injuries to Amari’i Bell, Sam Hart and Joe Grayson, how far the ‘experiment’ of Elliott Bennett at left-back lasts, or whether Mowbray might adopt a back three/five or whether he might dabble with the idea of potentially playing Stewart Downing at left-back, an idea which he explored briefly during pre-season.
With the domestic football back in full flow, the Championship table has remained the same for Rovers in terms of position, as they remain 14th, with 15 points and a -2-goal difference.
Heading into the final week in October, Rovers now face two games in the space of four days, including a derby game in the latter. Tuesday 22nd October at 7:45pm sees Mowbray and his troops head down to Birmingham City at the St. Andrew’s Trillion Trophy Stadium, to face a Pep Clotet side who are fixed firmly in mid-table, despite being tipped to struggle in pre-season. The second game of the week offers a shorter distance to travel, with Alex Neil’s Preston North End on the cards in what should be a feisty Lancashire derby. Rovers make the trip to Deepdale on Saturday 26th October, in the hope of nipping a dismal away record at Deepdale in the bud, with Rovers not tasting victory on the turf of their neighbours since a 2-1 victory in Paul Lambert’s first game in charge, back in November 2015. The third fixture of this small block sees us dip into November as Garry Monk and his Sheffield Wednesday side arrive to Ewood Park on Saturday 2nd November, at 3pm.
