A nervy Ewood Park, following the second international break of the season, witnessed a goal bonanza and a Bradley Dack brace as Rovers emerged victorious from a ‘ding-dong’ battle against lowly Barnsley, via a scoreline of 3-2, as the visitors from Yorkshire saw their winless run extended to 16-games, despite their recent change of manager, as Rovers were left with more questions than answers from this tie.
Following the two-week international break, Tony Mowbray made three changes to the side that fell to Leeds United by a 2-1 scoreline at Elland Road, prior to the intermission. Darragh Lenihan, Amari’i Bell and Joe Rothwell came into the side at the expense of Ryan Nyambe, who was ill after returning from his international commitments with Namibia, Derrick Williams, who picked up an injury and a goal whilst on duty with the Republic of Ireland and Stewart Downing, who dropped down to the bench after some quiet performances recently, despite impressing during the early weeks of his Rovers career. The Blues lined up with a different structure to their attack, as Adam Armstrong took the centre-forward spot, with Sam Gallagher on the wing, whereas most would have anticipated the pair’s positioning would have been reversed. One positive for Rovers was the return of Ben Brereton, who was named among the substitutes bench after undergoing knee surgery several weeks ago.
Barnsley started the game from the kick-off with 1,315 Tykes fans making the 74-mile journey from Oakwell to Ewood Park, hoping to see their side pick up their first victory since the opening day of the season, which was a 1-0 victory at home to Fulham.
Rovers started fast as they controlled possession for the opening five minutes, but soon saw themselves incensed after they had a penalty appeal on Lewis Holtby turned down. The German – who got married over the international break – skipped into the area after receiving the ball from Joe Rothwell, but was stopped in his tracks by Aapo Halme, who clattered into the midfielder inside the box, however referee Dean Whitestone waved the adamant Rovers appeals away.
It took until the 16th minute for the next notable chance of the half to appear, as turnovers in possession were plenty in the preceding minutes. Lewis Travis was hauled down on the edge of the area, as the ball broke through to Rothwell on the advantage, whose subsequent shot was blocked and soon cleared by the Barnsley defence.
Soon after, on the 18th minute, Barnsley had the game’s first shot on target as former Fulham forward Cauley Woodrow saw his strike from range denied by Christian Walton, who comfortably held onto the powerful effort.
Two minutes after his strike from range, Woodrow tried his luck again, this time with a left-footed effort from around the penalty spot which Walton did well to save. A free-flowing Barnsley passing move saw the ball flicked into the path of Woodrow who drove into the box and released a goal-bound effort that Walton did well to deny, before the ball was cleared.
Jacob Brown soon found his name taken by the match official, on the 22nd minute, after he clattered into Darragh Lenihan, in the Rovers half, with a late challenge, after Lenihan had already played the ball. Despite calls from the home crowd for a red card, Dean Whitestone only produced a yellow for a challenge which, could have easily seen red had Lenihan suffered serious damage.
The 24th minute soon brought about the game’s first goal, which fell to the way of the home side and their newly-engaged playmaker, Bradley Dack. Lewis Travis’s high pressing saw him intercept Mads Andersen’s poor pass before laying the ball off to Adam Armstrong, who squared it into Dack after seeing Barnsley’s ‘keeper Sami Radlinger rush out to close down his shooting angle. Dack’s first-time effort from just inside the penalty area soon nestled into the empty Barnsley net for his seventh of the campaign, as Rovers took the lead at 1-0.
Once play restarted, it didn’t take long for Rovers to again head forward on the attack, on the 27th minute. Holtby managed to find Amari’i Bell with a long, sweeping cross-field ball, before Bell controlled and found Rothwell. The midfielder did well to manoeuvre the ball under pressure before drilling in a dangerous cross that missed all the bodies in Blue and White before being dealt with by a Barnsley man.
Moments later, Rovers had another crossing opportunity spurned as skipper Elliott Bennett, combined with the goalscorer Dack, to try and fashion an opening for Sam Gallagher, which the former Southampton man couldn’t take advantage of. Bennett managed to find Dack with a low cross, who then got the ball across to Gallagher, whose effort steered wide of the mark.
With Rovers in the ascendency throughout most of the first-half, they managed to fashion one final half-chance on the 42nd minute. Bell unleashed Armstrong with a brilliant through-ball, however the pacey forward’s touch saw him veer wide as he tried to round the on-rushing Barnsley ‘keeper. Despite the change in his route, Armstrong managed to keep the move alive as he found Dack, who fizzed in a low cross towards Gallagher, who had tucked in from the wide-right. Although the cross was good, however, Gallagher marginally missed it as it fizzed passed him.
After three minutes of added time were added, following a clash of heads between Rothwell and Halme, referee Dean Whitestone called time on a first-half that left Rovers in control and in the ascendency, despite their lead only being by a one goal margin.
With the break in full flow, both managers would have been offering alternate views on how the game panned out thus far, to their respective teams.
Experienced boss, Tony Mowbray, would have been encouraged by how his side conducted themselves throughout the first 45 minutes, as they gradually grew into the game, asserting more and more dominance and control in the lead up to the break. The gaffer, who celebrated his 56th birthday yesterday – Friday 22nd November – would have been wary of Barnsley’s threat, despite Rovers’ perceived dominance, and would have been calling on his team to make their chances count in order not to suffer a similar fate against Barnsley to the games against their fellow newly-promoted teams, Charlton Athletic and Luton Town.
Recently appointed gaffer, Gerhardt Struber, who joined the Tykes on Wednesday (20th November) from Austrian Bundesliga side and Europa League participants, Wolfsberger AC, on a two-year deal, would have only been able to influence his players minimally prior to this game, however his reaction to what his side had produced during the first-half at Ewood Park, would have been mixed. Despite Woodrow fashioning a couple of chances, Barnsley remained under the cosh for a majority of the half and Struber would have been calling for a reaction from his side during the second-half in order to try and combat Rovers’ fragile defence – something the Austrian gaffer would have undoubtedly noted during his brief scouting of the Blues.
Before Rovers got the second-half underway from the kick-off, Barnsley made a double change which saw Patrick Schmidt and Aapo Halme depart, the latter of whom due to his collision with Rothwell earlier, with Kenny Dougall and Conor Chaplin replacing them, in the hope that some fresh legs would offer Struber’s side a different impetus.
It didn’t take long for said impetus to take effect as within three minutes of coming on as a substitute, Conor Chaplin managed to bag the equaliser that the travelling fans were craving for. Jacob Brown was played through, down the left-hand channel by Barnsley skipper Alex Mowatt, as Brown managed to turn and find Chaplin, who had broken free of four Rovers defenders and got himself into the box. Chaplin wasted no time in taking a touch as he powered a first-time strike past the starstruck Walton, into the back of the net in order level the scoring at 1-1, despite being surrounded by Blue and White bodies.
The 51st minute nearly saw a freak goal fall in Rovers’ favour. Adam Armstrong was threaded through but was beaten to the ball by Radlinger whose clearance only fell as far as Rothwell. Despite calls from the crowd to shoot first-time, the midfielder opted to move a few yards upfield before trying his luck from 40-yards out. Sensationally, Radlinger managed to scramble himself back and pull off a double stop – one from Rothwell’s effort and another to pick up the ball in order to deny Armstrong having an attempt.
Four minutes later, Barnsley nearly got themselves ahead for the first time in the game as Toby Sibbick and Jacob Brown combined. The former crossed for the latter, but Brown’s subsequent effort found the side-netting, rather than the back of the netting.
On the 56th minute, Sam Gallagher displayed his tremendous pace and power on the ball as he cut inside from the right-hand side and drove towards the Barnsley box, hurdling a couple of challenges before getting out of a final one and falling to the floor. The referee, despite seeing that Gallagher had avoided numerous challenges before hitting the deck, deemed that Gallagher had dived on his final hurdling of a challenge and booked the forward as a result.
On the hour mark, Mowatt tried his luck from around 25-yards out, but saw Walton save and hold onto the shot at the second attempt.
The 62nd minute saw a double change for Rovers. Following calls from the fans for the introduction of Danny Graham, in the hope that a goal would appear with the forward on the pitch, Tony Mowbray obliged as he introduced the veteran duo of Graham and Stewart Downing, who replaced Sam Gallagher and Lewis Holtby, respectively.
Three minutes after Rovers made their changes, Barnsley nearly edged ahead for the first time in the game. Mowatt and Woodrow played a one-two on the edge of the Rovers box, which then gave Mowatt the opportunity to try his luck but was unlucky to hit the target.
With 69 minutes gone, Mowbray’s substitutions came up trumps for Rovers as they took a 2-1 lead courtesy of the unlikely source of Stewart Downing, who netted his second goal for the club, and his first in the league. The midfielder found Rothwell who saw his shot from inside the area, blocked and fall out to Downing, who was lurking just outside the box. The former Middlesbrough man was able to control the ball before unleashing a low, powerful right-footed drive from inside the ‘D’ which nestled into the back of the net, as Downing wheeled away in celebration of the goal that put the scoreline at 2-1.
A double chance within seconds of each other on the 74th minute saw Rovers come marginally close to killing off the game. The first opportunity saw Graham burst through on goal, and instead of going alone, he tried to find Armstrong with a square ball which Ben Williams did well to intercept and put behind for a corner. The second opportunity saw the corner bobble out to Travis whose shot deflected over and behind for another corner, which was cleared.
Conor Chaplin continued his seemingly personal barrage on Christian Walton’s goal, on the 77th minute as he tried to sneak a ball past the 6’5” ‘keeper, but the Brighton and Hove Albion loanee did well to stop the Barnsley substitute.
Rovers’ final change came on the 79th minute as John Buckley replaced Joe Rothwell.
The nervousness that emerged following the first Barnsley goal, that was somewhat subdued due to the Downing goal, reappeared in the 82nd minute as Barnsley managed to grab a second equaliser courtesy of Cauley Woodrow, despite Bradley Dack being adamant that it came off the arm of the Barnsley forward. Walton did well to parry Brown’s low cross, but Rovers failed to clear their lines as the ball fell back to Chaplin who twisted and turned before firing in a chest-height cross that Woodrow converted. Despite Barnsley wheeling away in celebration and a chorus of ‘Mowbray, sort it out’ broke out in the Blackburn End, numerous Rovers players fronted by Dack began to berate the officials following what looked a contentious decision, however the goal stood as Barnsley again managed to peg the hosts back, this time to 2-2.
Immediately after the goal, Barnsley made their final change as Mike-Steven Bähre departed the field of play, with Luke Thomas replacing him.
Although frustration and nervousness broke out around Ewood Park following Barnsley’s second equaliser, the visitors’ stuffing got knocked out of them, only three minutes after their second goal as Bradley Dack popped up and grabbed Rovers a third, and what looked to be the winner. Stewart Downing’s free-kick from the wide-left was nodded on towards goal by Darragh Lenihan. Dack then tried to guide it home with his head, but forced Radlinger into a superb reflex save, but the Austrian couldn’t deal with the rebound as Dack karate-kicked the ball into the back of the net from an unmissable angle to send Ewood Park wild as Rovers took the lead for the third time in the game, at 3-2, courtesy of Dack’s seventh league goal of the season, which earnt him the Man of the Match award. Funnily enough, although Dack managed to take his frustrations out with the goal, he made sure that the referee knew he was unhappy with the earlier decision to allow the Woodrow goal to stand as he began taunting the official as part of his celebration.
As the clock soon ticked down to the 90th minute, the referee Dean Whitestone called for four minutes of added time, but despite some intense late pressure by Barnsley due to multiple set-pieces including a corner which saw their ‘keeper come up and cause havoc, Rovers managed to weather their late storm and see out an important victory.
Whilst it’s always good to get wins on the board, as the adage goes, one can’t help but feel frustrated given the manner in which the game panned out. Although it would have been foolish to simply class this game as being ‘an easy three points’ given the toughness and rather ridiculousness of this league at times, especially considering they came into the tie on a winless run of 15 games, the annoyance stems from the manner in which the two Barnsley goals were conceded, with a lack of defensive press from Rovers’ perspective as, as seen by the Chaplin goal, they were merely allowed to break through the defence with ease, which happened on numerous occasions which didn’t end in a goal. As noted earlier, there were heavy calls for the manager to ‘sort it out’, which is the first time since the Doncaster Rovers home game in League One, since the players and manager have actively been called out, at Ewood Park. Whilst the result nipped that in the bud quickly, the underlying frustrations do undoubtedly remain among the terraces and it remains to be seen how the tensions fare in this busy winter period. Having highlighted at the beginning of this piece that this game yielded ‘more questions than answers’, the prospect of the upcoming transfer window in January will be one that many Rovers fans will be looking upon with mixed emotions, depending on what side of the camp they lie in terms of their opinions on the manager. Whilst everybody is entitled to their opinion regarding their club, the consensus around the need for defensive additions is one of the ‘questions’ which were exacerbated by this game and it will be interesting to see whether a solution can be found or fixed between now and the window opening. A special mention has to go to Bradley Dack, however, as despite noting that his ‘second season syndrome’ may have kicked in, at the end of the previous match’s report, his performance in-front of goal made sure those words were well and truly eaten as he notched up his sixth and seventh league goals of the campaign, as well as give the referee an earful!
Following those vital three points being added to the board, Rovers have moved up to 17th place with 21 points and a -3-goal difference to their name from 17 games played. With the playoffs only eight points away, this upcoming winter period will be key if Rovers wish to amount a threatening burst into playoff contention and match the aspirations of their manager.
Speaking of this busy winter period, Rovers only have to wait four days before they’re back in action at Ewood Park, with David Raya’s Brentford the visitors on Wednesday 27th November at 7:45pm. After Brentford depart, Rovers head to Stoke City on Saturday 30th November, where they face a rejuvenated Potters side at 3pm. After locking horns with Michael O’Neill’s side at the Bet365 Stadium, Rovers then return to Ewood for their first December fixture as they welcome Phillip Cocu’s Derby County on Saturday 7th December at 3pm, in the hope that they can start their six-game month on a high.
