It was ‘goals galore’ during Rovers’ final home game of the prolonged 2019-20 season as Tony Mowbray’s men secured the double over Reading for the first time ever, to round off their campaign at Ewood Park with their lowest number of Championship defeats on home soil, with four, since their relegation from the Premier League in 2011-12.
After seeing their playoff aspirations disappear following Tuesday’s 1-0 defeat away at Millwall, Tony Mowbray made five changes to the side that started at The Den, including offering the chance for some debuts. In came Ryan Nyambe, Hayden Carter for his senior debut, Joe Rothwell, Lewis Holtby and Ben Brereton as Elliott Bennett, Tosin Adarabioyo, Stewart Downing, Dominic Samuel and Danny Graham all departed, with only Bennett and Downing making the bench for the game. Amongst the bench, alongside fellow youngsters Tyler Magloire, John Buckley and Harry Chapman was Jack Vale who was hoping to make his senior debut after only being included within the matchday squad for the second time, after previously being apart of the squad that travelled to Barnsley. The changes to the squad, among which saw Danny Graham omitted from a matchday squad for the first time since the 2-0 home win against Bradford City during the 2017-18 season, saw the inclusion of eight academy graduates, five of which made the starting squad. Whilst Rovers were donning their newly released training kit during the warm-up, there were two milestones amongst the Rovers ranks as Darragh Lenihan captained Rovers in his 150th league start for the club, whilst Joe Rothwell came back into the side to make his 100th club career start.
Once all the pre-match checks were complete and both teams were ready to kick-off following the ‘taking of the knee’ for the ‘Black Lives Matter’ movement, it was Rovers who got their final home game of the season underway, courtesy of Adam Armstrong who stood over the ball on the centre-circle.
Rovers started the brighter of the two teams as they managed to craft an opening after only 120 seconds. Lewis Holtby received the ball and played a delightful flick into the path of Ben Brereton. The young forward did well to latch onto the backheel before trying to pick out Adam Armstrong with a cutback, but it was well-intercepted by the Reading defence.
Ben Brereton’s bright start continued as he managed to notch only his second in Rovers colours and his first for the campaign after only three minutes were played. The forward received the ball out wide from Ryan Nyambe, before regaining the ball from Lewis Holtby after being tackled. Despite being faced with a defender, Brereton – whose only goal came against Bolton Wanderers last season – showed great composure to shuffle the ball onto his left-foot before slotting it coolly past former Napoli ‘keeper Rafael Cabral and into the bottom left-hand corner of the net to put Rovers ahead at 1-0.
Rovers were rampant from Reading’s restart as the scoreline was soon double on the sixth minute mark, thanks to Adam Armstrong whose eighth goal from outside the box this season helped him towards reaching 15 league goals for the campaign, for only the second time in his career. The 23-year old, who only ever topped his current tally on-loan at Coventry City, under Tony Mowbray in 2015-16, where he got 20, was in the right place at the right time to convert off Joe Rothwell’s assist. A quick free-kick by Lewis Holtby saw him lay the ball off for Rothwell to run with. The midfielder, who scored his first of the season in the last home game against West Bromwich Albion drove towards the Reading box, before finding Armstrong who was lurking around the ‘D’. Armstrong allowed Rothwell’s pass, to run across his body in order to fool Reading defender Michael Morrison, before taking a touch to stop the ball moments before he hit a low effort that proved to be out of reach for Rafael, as the ball arrowed into the bottom right-hand corner of the goal to double the lead at 2-0.
The goals kept on coming during the first-half, as former Chelsea midfielder John Swift pulled one back for the Royals with a well-placed free-kick from around 25-yards out after 15 minutes. Despite Reading seemingly looking as if they were out for the count, their hopes of coming away from Ewood Park with something were resurrected by Swift who delivered a well-executed, dipping free-kick into the bottom left-hand corner of the Rovers goal to reduce the arrears to 2-1. Although the set-piece itself showed the fine skill that Swift had within his arsenal, Christian Walton would have been disappointed with himself that he failed to get a hand on it.
On the 20th minute, Armstrong again tried his luck from outside the area, but history failed to repeat itself for the ‘Angel of the North’, as his effort kept rising, as it landed in the Darwen End.
After the drinks break on the 22nd minute, former Rovers assistant manager, Mark Bowen who was in the Reading hotseat, was forced to make an early defensive alteration as Liam Moore came on, after 35 minutes, to replace Tom McIntyre who was forced off with an injury.
Rovers remained on top throughout the rest of the first-half and they increased the pressure on Reading, as Armstrong again tried to find the back of the net, on the 40th minute. The Geordie forward received the ball on the left and tried to curl one in after cutting inside, yet his aim was unusually off, as the ball flew over the bar.
As the break drew near, referee Tim Robinson added on three minutes onto the end of the half.
The added minutes gave Rovers enough time to try and grab a third just before the break as, in the first minute of added time, Brereton tried to double his tally for the game from close-range. After being played in by Armstrong, Brereton did well to control the ball before releasing a snapshot that was a carbon copy of his goal earlier on in the half. Luckily for the visitors, however, despite their defence being switched off, substitute Liam Moore was alert enough to track back and deny the forward a brace with a well-timed block that forced a corner which Rovers couldn’t make count.
Not long after the Rovers set-piece, Tim Robinson called time on an eventful first period that Rovers had mostly dominated from start to finish.
The Rovers dressing room would have been a nice place to be at half-time, as Tony Mowbray would have mostly been full of praise for his side, who dominated the visiting Royals for a majority of the period. The gaffer would have pleased with his forward’s quickfire double at the start of the half and would have been hoping that their exploits could continue. Additionally, Mowbray would have been pleased with his side’s defensive efforts despite the disappearance of the clean sheet.
Mark Bowen would have been hoping for a happier return to Ewood Park than the one he was in the midst of. The former assistant to Mark Hughes would have been frustrated with the fact that his side had not been switched on during the opening 10 minutes of the games, despite both sides generally having nothing to play for bar pride. The Royals boss would have been quick to urge his side on and remind them of the quality they possess within the side which saw them thump Luton Town, 5-0, a few weeks ago.
Although Reading restarted the game for the second-half, it was Rovers who the first opportunity of the second period fell for, courtesy of a free-kick on the corner of the area on the 49th minute. Lewis Holtby tried his luck with a left-footed effort that was looking to trouble Rafael in the light rain, yet the shot was intercepted by Bradley Johnson who tried to poke home. Although Johnson’s intentions were good, his movement was not in tandem with the delivery by Holtby, as the former Derby County midfielder was flagged offside.
The 51st minute saw Joe Rankin-Costello try and guide the ball towards goal after Lewis Travis’ cross fell for him, but the utilityman failed to keep his effort at goal, as it veered wide of the mark.
Three minutes later, Adam Armstrong tried to pick off where he left off in the first period, but despite gliding past two defenders, Rafael was on hand to comfortably deny Armstrong a brace.
The 56th minute finally saw Rafael’s resolve broken as Rovers managed to find the third goal that put daylight between the two sides, courtesy of Joe Rothwell who added to his assist with a goal of his own. A short corner by Rothwell saw him play a one-two with Holtby before using his acceleration to burst past Omar Richards and George Pușcaș, before firing an effort which wrongfooted Rafael after deflecting off Liam Moore, to make it 3-1 to Rovers.
Rovers’ pressure continued two minutes later, as Ben Brereton latched onto a back-post cross, but saw his first-time effort skew wide of the far-post.
Mark Bowen played his hand on the 59th minute as he made a triple change in an attempt to change the balance of the game. Tyler Blackett, Omar Richards and George Pușcaș all departed the field as Garath McCleary, Jordan Obita and Sam Baldock all came on in their places.
The changes seemingly did the trick for Reading as, only six minutes later, Reading found themselves back in the game as they reduced the gap between the sides to 3-2. Recent arrivals Obita and Baldock combined to bring Reading back into the game as the former’s early cross from the left-hand side arrived perfectly onto the head of Baldock, who used his fresh legs to burst ahead of Darragh Lenihan and latch onto the cross before guiding it beyond the despairing Walton and into the bottom left-hand corner for 3-2.
The Reading revival did not end there however as after the second drinks break of the game, the 68th minute saw Rovers’ advantage nullified courtesy of fragile defending from the home side. Lewis Travis failed to clear his lines as Sam Baldock came in to steal the ball from behind him cleanly. The goalscoring substitute did well to fool Hayden Carter with a fake cross before his actual cross was flicked on by Yakou Méïté, past the flailing Walton, as the scoring was levelled at 3-3, with 20 minutes to go.
Rovers reacted after conceding twice within four minutes as Tony Mowbray introduced Jacob Davenport, John Buckley and Sam Gallagher, in-place of Bradley Johnson, Lewis Holtby and Ben Brereton.
Jacob Davenport was on the field for less than 60 seconds before he became the first Rovers player to be booked after he infringed upon a Reading man, 25-yards from goal. Luckily for Davenport, the free-kick from Swift did not replicate his first-half effort, as Rovers cleared their lines.
The 77th minute saw Hayden Carter called into action as he put his body on the line to deny Michael Olise from close-range, as the debuting defender did well to block the French teenager’s shot on goal.
Rovers’ fourth and fifth changes of the afternoon soon came on the 78th minute as Harry Chapman and Jack Vale replaced the goalscoring duo of Joe Rothwell and Adam Armstrong.
The drama was not concluded for the afternoon as the 87th minute saw Rovers come up with the winner their attacking display duly deserved. Harry Chapman picked up the ball on the left-hand side before setting himself up for a crossing opportunity which he aimed towards the back-post. The former Middlesbrough winger’s cross was spot on as it landed invitingly for Sam Gallagher to pounce on. The former Southampton forward showed spectacular centre-forward play in leaping to connect with the ball against Obita, despite being almost horizontal, in order to guide the cross perfectly into the bottom right-hand corner, beyond the despairing Rafael, to put Rovers back ahead at 4-3 in a thrilling game and notch his fifth league goal of the season.
As the 90th minute approached, referee Tim Robinson added on an extra seven minutes of time onto the end of the game, in order to compensate for the goals, the changes and the drinks break.
The final act of the game came in the fifth minute of added time as debutant Jack Vale came within inches of notching a goal on his senior debut. Despite taking the attempt well, the youngster’s effort crashed back off the bar as Rovers were denied the perfect ending to the game.
Although Vale’s goal would have been the icing on the cake, the seven goal-thriller was soon brought to an end by Tim Robinson, as the curtain came down on the football at Ewood Park for another season.
Despite this game holding nothing bar professional pride, the players despite the changes within the team selection proved that they were more than capable of putting in a performance to satisfy the fans at home. Although the game was worthy of a capacity crowd, given the twist, turns and the final result, this game offered Rovers more positives than negatives, despite their defensive Achilles’ heel being evident once again. Whilst the whole team performed well, the bright performances of Hayden Carter and Ben Brereton were very encouraging given the new season is on the horizon. Those displays coupled with the positive cameos of Sam Gallagher, Harry Chapman and Jack Vale in particular offer Rovers and their fans hope that there is a better foundation for next season that perhaps some initially thought.
Although the Goal and Player of the Season Awards were not announced today, Rovers fans will have to wait to see who claims the coveted awards, given that football has ended at Ewood Park for this season.
With this win, Rovers have bettered last season’s points tally, in addition to confirming a top-half finish for this season, despite there being one game left to play. Although many will debate whether this season has been a definitive improvement over last campaign, Rovers now find themselves in 10th with 63 points and a positive goal difference of four from the 45 matches played so far this campaign.
Despite Tony Mowbray’s men only playing for pride, they head into their 46th and final game of the season with a key hand in how the relegation battle can probably end, due to their final game of the campaign seeing them face a revived Luton Town side. The Blues’ clash with Nathan Jones’ side at Kenilworth Road will see Mowbray’s men wrap up their season in midweek, on Wednesday 22nd July, with the game scheduled to begin at 7:30pm.
