A pulsating end to an overly dreary encounter at Ewood Park, saw Rovers come from behind to snatch their first victory in seven games after first senior goals from the unlikely sources of Tosin Adarabioyo and John Buckley secured the much needed three points for the Blues against Garry Monk’s playoff-seeking Sheffield Wednesday.
Three changes were made by Tony Mowbray ahead of the clash with the Owls. Stewart Downing, Lewis Travis and Lewis Holtby all were re-integrated back into the side after they all missed last week’s derby defeat away at Preston North End. The departing trio of Joe Rothwell, Corry Evans and Amari’i Bell all dropped to the bench as a shuffle in the side saw Elliott Bennett revert to right-back, whilst Ryan Nyambe partnered Tosin Adarabioyo in the centre of defence, with Derrick Williams filling in at left-back. As a result of the changes, the midfield was composed of Stewart Downing and Lewis Travis operating in holding roles, whilst Lewis Holtby, Bradley Dack and Adam Armstrong all found themselves as part of Rovers’ attacking unit, as support for lone striker, Sam Gallagher, whilst Christian Walton remained between Rovers’ posts despite calls for him to be removed following his mistake and overall unconvincing performance in last week’s derby.
Prior to kick-off, as this was Rovers’ final home game before Remembrance Day on 11th November, a minute’s applause was observed – although unfortunately not impeccably due to some raucous away fans – in order to pay respects to those servicemen and women who made the ultimate sacrifice in conflicts past and present.
With respects paid, the game kicked-off with Rovers hoping to end a barren run of results that only yielded two points from a possible 18. Wednesday, on the other hand came into the game in contrasting form, with them having picked up 15 points from a possible 24, as they sat in 4th position ahead of this weekend.
The first opportunity of the game fell to the visitors after only two minutes as Wednesday captain Sam Hutchinson broke free to try and put his side into an early lead but saw his header loop over the crossbar.
Rovers soon had a header of their own in the eighth minute, which unlike Hutchinson’s nod, tested the ‘keeper between the sticks. Stewart Downing got hold of the ball on the left-hand side and managed to whip in a first-time ball into the waiting Sam Gallagher, who tried to replicate the header that saw Rovers go ahead away at Deepdale last week. Although Gallagher’s leap and contact was solid, the save matched the effort as Keiren Westwood pulled off a great save to tip the ball over and deny Gallagher a third goal of the season, (if you credit him with the first from last week and not put it down as an own goal). The subsequent corner was cleared by Wednesday, who were desperate not allow Rovers to gain momentum in the early stages.
On the 15th minute, the Owls had a second chance to take the lead which forced Christian Walton into a solid save. Kadeem Harris broke through down the left-hand side before releasing a shot that nearly caught the on-loan Brighton and Hove Albion ‘keeper out, before he tipped it behind for a corner that Rovers cleared.
The 21st minute saw another Rovers opportunity and a handball appeal flash by. Bradley Dack and Stewart Downing combined, as Dack tried to poke home from close-range, but saw his effort blocked by way of a hand, which led to appeals waved away by Andy Woolmer, the referee.
After half-an-hour was played, Wednesday had a free-kick which troubled Rovers as Dominic Iorfa’s header looked destined to put the Owls ahead after it beat Walton, who came rushing out to claim. Thankfully for the home crowd, Tosin Adarabioyo was well-placed to clear off the line as the scoreline remained goalless.
Three minutes after that, Rovers had a set-piece of their own which Downing took. The veteran’s delivery fell to Derrick Williams whose first-touch was poor as the ball bounced off his chest and rolled into the hands of Westwood.
The 37th minute saw former Burnley forward Steven Fletcher have his first opportunity of the game as he tried to volley his side into the lead from just outside the box. Unluckily for the Wednesdayites who had made the trip, their top scorer couldn’t add to his five league goals, as his effort diverted wide.
With the underwhelming first-half – which mostly consisted of the nine Sheffield Wednesday corners – showing little goalmouth action that really caused either sets of supporters to get off their seats, the half-time whistle was soon blown by Andy Woolmer.
As the break got underway, the respective moods within both camps would have had a sombre feel to it, with neither side being able to take the game by the scruff of its neck and dominate proceedings.
Tony Mowbray would have been pleased that the close chances that Wednesday had had – including the many corner-kicks – were denied by Rovers, who were still trying to find a perfect formula for their defence, given the absences to central defender Darragh Lenihan and on-loan full-back Greg Cunningham. The Rovers gaffer would have been pleased with his side’s hold on possession and would have been urging them to make their dominance of the ball count during spells of pressure.
Garry Monk would have arguably been slightly disappointed that his side were unable to take advantage of their set-piece bonanza, especially due to the aerial presence and quality of delivery that his side possessed, with the likes of Steven Fletcher for the former, and Joey Pelupessy, Kieran Lee and Adam Reach, for the latter. The well-travelled manager, who has recently settled into the helm at his fourth Championship club, would have been reinforcing to his side, the idea of Rovers’ potential defensive fragility, coupling it with encouragement regarding their attacking play, which would have no doubt offered his players some belief and confidence.
After the messages of the respective managers were given to their players, Rovers returned for the second-half in a bid to try and liven up the game and produce something that the 11,258 home fans could shout about, after having so much frustration in recent weeks. Concurrently, the 2,889 away fans would have been willing that their side would come away from Ewood Park with a well-deserved victory, in order to build on their good recent form, which included a respectable 0-0 draw against free-scoring Leeds United in their previous outing.
On the 49th minute, Rovers managed to craft the first chance of the second period after flying of the traps with great intensity. Lewis Holtby picked up the ball and played a great diagonal ball for Sam Gallagher, who then hit a low cross aimed for Adam Armstrong who saw his subsequent shot was well blocked by Julian Börner, into the path of Lewis Travis, whose effort from close-range was superbly saved by the 35-year old Westwood.
Moments later, Rovers saw a corner only half-cleared as far as Derrick Williams who tried his luck with a volley from close-range which was blocked by the defiant Wednesday defence.
Rovers soon had a free-kick which Downing floated into Williams, who again tried to find the back of the net, but unfortunately for him, his effort skewed wide of the target.
On the 54th minute, Rovers had more appeals for a penalty denied after Gallagher toppled over in the box after pressure from a Wednesday man led to the forward stumbling after what looked to be a trip in the area. Although the calls had merit, Woolmer, the official, waved play on.
Wednesday soon made their first change of the game, on the 61st minute, in an effort to pull the tie in their favour. Joey Pelupessy was withdrawn and replaced by Fernando Forestieri.
Rovers were soon forced into a change of their own, three minutes later, as Sam Gallagher limped off, in the aftermath of the challenge that constituted a penalty shout, as Danny Graham replaced him to a rapturous applause from the home crowd.
The 65th minute saw Rovers have a free-kick on the edge of the area after Williams was fouled. The set-piece was then taken by Downing, who hit the wall with his effort, before his follow-up shot was blocked, before being cleared.
A second Rovers change occurred on the 67th minute as Lewis Holtby made way for Joe Rothwell.
Wednesday soon reciprocated the change, with one of their own, as their second substitution saw Adam Reach exchange places with Jacob Murphy, who was on-loan from Newcastle United.
The 71st minute saw Rovers enter a period of dominant pressure as Adam Armstrong nearly opened the scoring. A long pinpoint diagonal ball by Adarabioyo was well taken by Armstrong who cut the ball in onto his left-foot before seeing his low effort denied by Westwood.
Armstrong was soon in on the action, two minutes later, as he nearly provided the assist for Joe Rothwell’s opener that never came. A long-ball forward by Ryan Nyambe was again well taken down by Armstrong who stood up a cross towards the near-post that Joe Rothwell connected with. Although half of Ewood Park thought it had gone in, Westwood had other ideas as he superbly got his fingertips to the ball in order to tip it over and keep the score goalless.
Although the Rovers corner didn’t amount to any major chance, Rothwell managed to craft himself another opportunity on the 75th minute. The sub managed to use some clever trickery to gain a yard of space before releasing a shot that was blocked and cleared.
Kadeem Harris’s final contribution to the game before been hooked off, saw him well denied by the outstretched left arm of Christian Walton, who managed to tip the winger’s right-footed shot, to deny Wednesday’s summer recruit his third league goal of his maiden campaign with the Owls.
The final change from the visitors came on the 77th minute as 6’5” forward Atdhe Nuhiu entered proceedings replacing the aforementioned Kadeem Harris.
Nuhiu got straight into the action on the 81st minute as he got on the end of Kieran Lee’s cross, but the Kosovan was unable to keep his effort down, as Rovers were awarded a goal-kick.
Rovers’ resistance was finally broken by the away side on the 83rd minute, as Wednesday’s second substitute, Jacob Murphy, managed to head his side ahead from practically two yards out, after the ball had deflected off the crossbar and into his path. Morgan Fox’s cross deflected off Armstrong and into the path of Fletcher, who got to the ball ahead of the onrushing Walton and managed to connect with a shot that crashed back off the bar and into the path of Murphy who simply had to make connection with the ball to put his side 1-0 up.
With the away side coming into the game leading the league in clean sheets throughout the whole of the calendar year of 2019, with 16 in total up to this point, one would be forgiven to believe that Rovers were officially down and out, given the strength and solidity at the back which Wednesday possessed.
As time ticked on, Rovers were awarded a deep free-kick on the 87th minute, which succeeded their final change of the game, which saw Stewart Downing be replaced by John Buckley, who came onto the field of play carrying a note which he passed to Tosin Adarabioyo. As the on-loan Manchester City defender read the note, Rovers positioned themselves for the set-piece that Elliott Bennett delivered. With note in hand, the towering defender managed to leap highest deep in the box, to connect with the ball as the powerful header looped worryingly over Westwood and dropped into the back of the net as Ewood Park erupted at the sight of Adarabioyo’s first career goal and the equaliser that drew the game level at 1-1.
Astonishingly, whatever was written on that note that was brought on, clearly worked, as Wednesday’s impressive resolve was broken, not once, but twice by Rovers late on.
After four minutes of added time were announced, Rovers managed to go ahead after 20-year old John Buckley grabbed his first senior goal to surely win the tie for the Blues. The pressure continued from Rovers at the kick-off, as a long ball forward, towards Dack, was flicked over the top of the defenders towards Graham, who took advantage of a miss-kick and slip by Börner. Although Graham couldn’t craft a shooting opportunity, he kept the ball alive by laying it off to Rothwell who saw the ball poked away from him by the German defender, before falling to the feet of Buckley, who got the ball under control with his first touch, before releasing a shot that deflected off a number of legs and wrong-footed Westwood, as it trickled into the bottom left-hand corner of the goal as Ewood Park exploded into joy and celebration at the sight of taking the lead at 2-1.
Wednesday restarted the game with desperate urgency as nine of the 11 Rovers players, barring Buckley and Rothwell who did the closing down, were all camped inside their own box, as they continued to withstand the late Owls barrage during the remaining three minutes of added time.
The defiant Rovers block was nearly broken in the 93rd minute, but for a fantastic stop by Christian Walton, from Sam Hutchinson’s close-range effort after Fernando Forestieri’s long-range effort caused hysteria inside the penalty area. In a game which could have been ridiculously dubbed as ‘game of the blocks’, due to the ridiculous number of block shots that occurred throughout the 90 minutes, it nearly took one to equalise the game, after one led to the second Rovers goal. Forestieri picked the ball up from around 25-30-yards out before his drive cannoned off Adarabioyo and then the post as it fell into the path of Hutchinson, who forced a fantastic last-minute save from Walton, as he parried the ball both behind, and away from the lurking Nuhiu, who would have undoubtedly levelled the scoreline had he timed his run better.
The drama soon ended after Rovers cleared Wednesday’s subsequent corner as Andy Woolmer called time on what was, up until the last 10 minutes, a drab affair that lacked any real cutting edge in-front of goal, but one which will delight Rovers, Tony Mowbray and the fans, especially after the bitter taste of the derby defeat last weekend, and the poor run of form in the lead up to this tie.
As the sweet taste of victory and relief descended around Ewood Park ahead of the club’s organised fireworks display, the team participated in a group huddle which displayed their commitment and desire to which many – including the manager in the recent defeat at Birmingham City – had questioned. Whilst the victory offers us an extra three points, it by no means corrects the dismal run that had occurred prior to this result, however whilst hoping to remain ‘glass half full’ rather than ‘glass half empty’, the bumps in the road that started with the defeat at home to Luton Town, at the end of September, cannot be totally ignored. In terms of perspective, this result offers the players and the manager a platform to build upon in order to try and ‘right their wrongs’ over a longer period of time, despite the daunting task that awaits them in next week’s fixture. It now remains to be seen how Rovers go ahead with their games up until the January transfer window opens, which – whilst it is early days to discuss incomings and outgoings – will give Mowbray the opportunity to potentially cure Rovers’ defensive Achilles’ heel and offer a much stronger platform in which to build on during the second-half of the season in the hope of reaching his targeted total of 70 points.
Things are looking slightly less bleak in-terms of the league table, with Rovers now in 16th place with 18 points and a -3- goal difference from the 15 games that they’ve played. Whilst that may seem disastrous to some, it’s worth noting that 6th place is only seven points away, which, is of course, an achievable target in this topsy-turvy tight division.
As alluded to previously, ‘next week’s daunting fixture’ sees Rovers travel to Elland Road to face current table-toppers Leeds United on Saturday 9th November at 3pm, in a game that should, in all honestly, be seen as a chance for Rovers to signal their intent towards the division, and if needed, reinforce their ‘passion and commitment’ like they did today. After Marcelo Bielsa’s team are played, the second international break of the season begins, before Rovers return to action, a fortnight later, at home at Ewood Park to relegation candidates, Barnsley on Saturday 23rd November at 3pm. Following the visit of Barnsley, Rovers’ home double header continues into the midweek calendar, as Brentford – and the familiar face of David Raya – are pencilled in for a visit to Ewood on Wednesday 27th November at 7:45pm.
