Rovers stuttered to their second defeat in three days, after bottom of the league Barnsley produced a ‘smash-and-grab’ display to increase their chances of surviving relegation, whilst simultaneously damaging Rovers’ ambitions for a playoff spot.
After the disappointing 2-0 defeat against Wigan Athletic, away at the DW Stadium on Saturday, Tony Mowbray shuffled his pack with four changes to the team due to a combination of injuries and family reasons. Darragh Lenihan was withdrawn from the squad due to his wife going into labour, whilst Lewis Travis did not travel due to a knee injury he sustained in Saturday’s defeat. The other two changes remained part of the matchday squad as Sam Gallagher and Ben Brereton both dropped to the bench. The quartet of replacements were Charlie Mulgrew, who was playing his first game since December 2019, Bradley Johnson, Dominic Samuel and Adam Armstrong. Among the substitutes, alongside fellow youngster Hayden Carter who has previously made the bench on numerous occasions, Wales under-21 international Jack Vale was included in the matchday for the first time in his young career.
There were also a quartet of milestones among the squad as Christian Walton made his 150th career league appearance, Charlie Mulgrew made his 100th Rovers league appearance, Tosin Adarabioyo made his 50th career league start and, if he was to come on, Ben Brereton was set to make his 100th career appearance, if he entered the fray.
Just prior to Barnsley starting the game from kick-off, there was the now-usual remembrance and applause for the victims of COVID-19, as well as the ‘knee’ in support of the vitally important ‘Black Lives Matter’ campaign.
Much like Saturday, it was the home side who started the brighter of the two sides as Barnsley managed to craft themselves a sight at goal after only 120 seconds. Former Fulham forward, Cauley Woodrow did well to work himself an opening before striking a low drive at goal. Thankfully for Rovers, Christian Walton was behind the ball and managed to comfortably keep it within his grasp to avoid going behind at such an early stage.
The Barnsley bombardment did not stop there, as the sixth minute saw Woodrow try his luck again, but this time with a half-volley. Some good passing by Barnsley allowed them to build-up play. They played within the lines and bypassed Rovers’ midfield before a chipped pass fell to the feet of Woodrow who hit a snapshot from just outside the penalty area. Despite his lively start to the game, the Tykes’ top scorer couldn’t extend his 14-goal tally in the league, as Walton was alert enough to parry the stinging shot away from goal.
Rovers were struggling to get themselves into the game as Barnsley kept knocking on the Rovers door. Barnsley captain Alex Mowatt tried his luck with a close-range attempt on the 17th minute, yet Tosin Adarabioyo was on-hand to put his body on the line for the cause, as he blocked the effort by the former Leeds United man.
The first shot on goal the visitors had came in the 23rd minute, after the first-half drinks break, through the ever-growing talismanic figure of Adam Armstrong. The Geordie forward showed his pace and power as he cut inside from the left and tried to curl one in past Tykes’ ‘keeper Jack Walton, yet the shot-stopper did well to keep concentration and save the ball with consummate ease.
The spark returned to Rovers after that Armstrong effort, and the former Barnsley-loanee was at it again just four minutes later. Joe Rothwell picked out Armstrong before he tried to replicate his previous effort, yet the Barnsley goalie was again on-hand to only concede just a corner, rather than a goal.
Rovers should have arguably been ahead on the 28th minute after a corner. Stewart Downing’s initial set-piece was hammered towards goal by Bradley Johnson. The Barnsley defenders were well-placed to deny the former Derby County man, yet they failed to properly clear their lines as the ball bounced back off Dominic Samuel, onto the flailing Jack Walton, then over the bar via Armstrong in an effort that arguably looked harder to miss than score.
Tony Mowbray and his players would have been confused as to how they hadn’t scored from any of the previous chances, yet their best chance of the half thus far came in the 33rd minute through a combination of Joe Rothwell and Dominic Samuel. The former hit a diagonal ball out to the latter who did well to skip past two Barnsley defenders and deliver a cross-cum-shot across the face of goal that narrowly missed Joe Rothwell’s foot by inches, before going out for a throw-in.
The game’s first substitution was an enforced one on the 37th minute, as Barnsley’s Callum Styles came on to replace Romal Palmer, who was withdrawn due to injury.
The first booking of the game was produced on the 39th minute, and like the substitution, it fell the way of the hosts. Elliot Simões was cautioned following a poor tackle on Rovers midfielder, Joe Rothwell.
In the second minute of the four added as half-time edged closer, Rovers had the final opportunity of the half before referee Tony Harrington called for time. Elliott Bennett burst down the left-flank before cutting onto his right and whipping in a cross. It was Lewis Holtby who connected with the delivery, yet he saw his nod diverted behind for a corner which Barnsley dealt with.
After a disappointing period of play from Rovers, where they had been offered more than enough chances to take the lead, referee Tony Harrington called for an end to the first-half.
Half-time would have come at a good time for the home side and their manager Gerhard Struber. The Austrian – whose first game as Tykes boss was at Ewood Park in the reverse fixture – would have been pleased with how his team had applied themselves during the opening 15 minutes, but would have been annoyed with how many chances Rovers’ had in quick succession. Despite returning from lockdown with four points and two clean sheets from their two games prior to this encounter, the Austrian would have been desperate to remind his players that they should not rest on their laurels, despite the ease of the opening period of the game.
In contrast, Rovers and Tony Mowbray would have probably wanted the half to go on for a bit longer. Unlike their hosts, Rovers have yet to keep a clean sheet post-lockdown and would have been mightily relieved that they had not lost another goal during the brief Barnsley onslaught during the first 15 minutes. Mowbray, who has been quick to praise Barnsley in his pre-match interviews, would have been frustrated his side had not taken their chances, but would have focussed on making sure his players returned to the pitch in the second-half with fresh minds, highlighting that the missed opportunities were now meaningless, but their build-up play was encouraging.
The second-half was restarted by Rovers, but unlike the first period, it took only two minutes, for them to have a sniff at goal. The 48th minute saw Stewart Downing whip in a free-kick towards the back-post that was begging to be smashed home. Dominic Samuel was the man with the gilt-edged chance, yet his side-footed effort lacked the conviction required, as his strike bounced into the turf and behind for a goal-kick.
The 56th minute saw Herr Struber make a triple change as Marcel Ritzmaier, Elliot Simões and Jordan Williams all departed, with Luke Thomas, Conor Chaplin and Kilian Ludewig all replacing them.
The changes, much like on Saturday, paid dividends for the home side as the Tykes’ second top scorer, Conor Chaplin, put his side ahead only two minutes after coming on. The forward, who has a history of netting against Rovers, having scored at Ewood Park in the reverse fixture and for Portsmouth at Fratton Park during the 2017-18 League One campaign, managed to continue his streak of netting against Tony Mowbray’s men in this game. A ball out wide to Ludewig saw the German, on-loan from Red Bull Salzburg hit a cross from deep, aimed towards the 5’7” centre-forward in Chaplin. The 23-year old did remarkably well to get between Ryan Nyambe and Tosin Adarabioyo and connect with the ball well enough to nod past the despairing Christian Walton, as the forward wheeled away in celebration of his side’s 1-0 lead. Despite scoring, Chaplin seemed less than impressed with his manager, as he gave him a glaring look, despite the manager seemingly putting his faith in the forward to deliver the goods.
Tony Mowbray reacted nine minutes later, once the ball had gone out of play after the kick-off, with four changes in one go, which is probably a new Rovers record(!) Adam Armstrong, Joe Rothwell, Lewis Holtby and Dominic Samuel all left the field of play and were replaced by Danny Graham, Sam Gallagher, Jacob Davenport and Ben Brereton.
Ben Brereton’s stay on the field only lasted seven minutes as the red mist descended on the young forward. After being knocked off the ball and to the ground in fair challenge, the freshly introduced striker retaliated with a late challenge on Kilian Ludewig. Although the tackle has had mixed reviews from fans and commentators, referee Tony Harrington deemed it to be reckless and red card worthy, meaning that Rovers had to mount and uphill task of overturning a one-goal deficit with ten men.
With Rovers down to ten, Barnsley were given the freedom of Oakwell as they managed to counter-attack and grab the killer second goal, only two minutes after Brereton’s dismissal. After Tosin Adarabioyo pushed up to try and challenge Chaplin to a shoulder-height ball, Chaplin did well to lay the ball off to Mowatt who delivered a perfectly-weighted pass over Adarabioyo and into the path of Jacob Brown, who beat the offside trap, Charlie Mulgrew and Ryan Nyambe for pace before giving Christian Walton ‘the eyes’, and slotting the ball into the bottom left-hand corner to seal the points for the home side, at 2-0.
A deflated and short on confidence Rovers made their final change in a bid to trigger a late rally. Mowbray introduced Harry Chapman from the bench, for an out-of-form Elliott Bennett, on the 82nd minute, as Stewart Downing filled in at left-back for the final eight minutes of the game.
As time ticked on, and four minutes of time were added on top of the 90, Rovers’ frustrations increased as the game withered to a conclusion after Jacob Davenport and Harry Chapman were booked, on the 91st and 94th minute respectively, before referee Tony Harrington called time on another disappointing away day for the Blues.
After such as positive performance in the first game since lockdown against Bristol City, it’s incredibly disappointing to see Rovers drop six points in such infuriating circumstances. Whilst credit has to be given to Barnsley in this game, for their dogged performance and their manager’s tactical and personnel changes paying off, Rovers have to look long and hard in the mirror at themselves if they want to keep this season ticking along and not spiral out of control like last campaign did. Although some might class the season as ‘already over’ given Rovers’ tough remaining games and the ever-growing gap to the playoffs, it’s not too late for the players to cap off what has been a difficult season – in more ways than one – with some unexpected positivity. Despite being an encourager of Ben Brereton over his time at the club, as many past match reports have shown, his decision to lunge – whether the decision was right or wrong – was a terrible one, as he shouldn’t have given the referee the initial choice. With Rovers and Mowbray already dealing with a depleted squad as it is, it will be interesting to see whether Brereton will have to fight his way back into the squad after his three-match suspension ends or whether his season will be over. One positive which some may class as ‘grasping at straws’, that comes from the suspension, is that it offers some of the younger players – like Hayden Carter and Jack Vale – a place to fight for in the matchday squad.
Rovers’ poor run away at Oakwell continued with this result, sadly. The club have failed to win at the Yorkshire ground in their last three visits, with the last victory coming on 29th December 2012, where goals from Josh King, Rubén Rochina and Jordan Rhodes saw Rovers leave Oakwell with a 3-1 win.
Away from the history lesson and back to the present, the league table sees Rovers dive into 10th place, still with 59 points to their name and now a positive goal difference of five after 40 games played.
Things don’t get any easier for Rovers in their next game, as they will host table-topping Leeds United on Saturday (4th July) at 3pm as the Premier League-seeking side make the short trip across the Pennines to Ewood Park. After that game, the Blues have a midweek clash in South Wales in a game against Cardiff City, that might prove pivotal to both side’s playoff aspirations. That clash against Neil Harris’ men comes on Tuesday 7th July at 7:45pm. After that clash, Rovers return home to Ewood, where Tony Mowbray will welcome his old side, West Bromwich Albion, who themselves – like Leeds – will be looking to increase their chances of sealing an automatic promotion spot back to the Promised Land. That tie against the Baggies occurs on Saturday 11th July, at 3pm.
