Tony Mowbray’s side fell to their second successive league defeat for the first time this season, as a Ben Foster-inspired Watford side, saw Lady Luck favour them, in a midweek tie that Rovers dominated for the most part.
The side that started down in Hertfordshire saw two changes to the side that fell to a late 1-0 defeat to Nottingham Forest on Saturday. The first swap saw deadline day loanee, Harvey Elliott, make his debut, as he replaced Tyrhys Dolan who dropped to the bench, whilst the second alteration to the starting line-up saw Lewis Holtby return to the side following his paternity leave, to replace John Buckley, who also found himself on the bench.
It was Rovers who got the game underway as the visitors looked to try and avoid successive league defeats for the first time this campaign.
Rovers started in the ascendency, as they earnt a free-kick inside the Watford half on the 11th minute. Rovers took the set-piece quickly as Adam Armstrong flicked the ball into the path of Ben Brereton, who was unable to release an effort before Craig Cathcart put the ball behind for a corner, which Watford dealt with.
The 12th minute saw Rovers conjure up a mouth-watering attacking move. Ryan Nyambe and Harvey Elliott worked wonders down the right-hand side, as the loanee found the marauding full-back, who had got in-behind Watford’s left wing-back, Ken Sema. Nyambe’s pace was enough to blitz past the Swede, before the Namibian found Armstrong who was lurking on the edge of the penalty area. Rovers’ top scorer was given enough time to set himself and release a curling effort towards the far-post, but former England international Ben Foster was on hand to deny Armstrong with a fine stop.
From the stop, Foster launched a counter-attack that eventually resulted in the game’s deadlock being broken by the Hornets. Watford worked the ball very efficiently down the right-hand side, through right wing-back, Kiko Femenía. The Spaniard was able to skip beyond Amari’i Bell and pull the ball back to an unmarked João Pedro, who calmly stroked the ball home on the half-volley, past the despairing Thomas Kaminski, as the Brazilian wheeled away in celebration of his third goal of the season.
Watford soon made it a quick-fire double, as it only took four minutes for them to make it 2-0, courtesy of Tom Cleverley’s first goal in 13 months. A long ball down the right-hand channel saw Ismaïla Sarr burst onto the through ball. In an effort to try and beat Kaminski, who was off his line, Sarr tried his luck with a first-time shot which Kaminski proved equal to. What Kaminski wasn’t equal to, however was the follow-up from his parry which fell straight into the path of the Watford skipper, who only had to nod the ball into an empty net to double his side’s lead.
Christian Kabasele certainly had his heart in his mouth in the 22nd minute after he was penalised for bringing down Armstrong just ahead of halfway. The Rovers forward, who had broken free of the Watford backline only had Kabasele and Foster between him and reducing the arrears. Despite skipping past the Belgian defender, Kabasele managed to pull the forward down, midway inside the Watford half, as Armstrong earnt Rovers a free-kick. Although some fans might have been at home calling for a red card, referee Andy Woolmer rightly showed Kabasele a yellow card, given how far out from goal, the challenge was.
From the resulting set-piece, Rovers were fingertips away from grabbing a goal, as Darragh Lenihan and Daniel Ayala were both denied by Premier League-quality saves from Ben Foster. The cross from the free-kick was floated into the box as a free Darragh Lenihan connected well with the ball. Although it looked for all the world like Lenihan was to grab his first goal of the season, Foster managed to pull off a brilliant save to deny the Irishman, what would have been his eighth goal in all competitions for the club. Although Foster wasn’t able to hold onto the ball, Rovers managed to recycle possession to create a chance for Ayala, but the Spaniard’s attempt proved to be an easier save for Foster to make.
Rovers’ pressure soon paid off on the 28th minute as Watford’s backline and ‘keeper were breached by an absolute howitzer by Ben Brereton, who grabbed his first goal of the season for the Blues! A ball into Armstrong saw him hold off his man, as he nodded the ball into the 21-year old’s path. Brereton then wasted no time in bringing the ball down, as he controlled the knockdown on his chest, before releasing a dipping half-volley that had Foster scrambling. Although the Watford goalie had proved his worth throughout the game already, he was incapable of standing up to deny Brereton’s effort which beat him at his near-post as Rovers got themselves back into the game, at 2-1.
All of Rovers’ good work was nearly undone a couple of minutes after the restart, as on the 32nd minute, Sarr again caused Rovers some problems down the right-hand side, as he used his blistering pace to break free of Rovers’ offside trap. The Senegalese international managed to keep the ball under control before delivering in an inviting cross towards Pedro, whose subsequent touch towards goal lacked the required contact to curl it inside Kaminski’s far-post, as the Brazilian’s narrowly skimmed the post on its way behind.
The final chance of the first-half fell Rovers’ way on the 40th minute as Corry Evans’ shot was blocked into the path of Armstrong. The prolific forward would have hoped to have released a better effort than he did, after managing to stay onside, as despite being able to control the ball well, his shot from around 12-yards out lacked the accuracy required as the ball landed in the back of the stand, rather than the back of the net.
As half-time loomed, referee Andy Woolmer called for two extra minutes to be added onto the end of the first-half, but it proved to be unnecessary, as neither side, surprisingly, managed to create a chance within the final couple of minutes of the first period.
Home manager, Vladimir Ivić would have been quite frustrated with the amount of chances his side had conceded to Rovers, despite leading at the break. The Serbian would have been quick to critique his side’s defensive efforts, despite their rather clinical nature on the counter-attack through Sarr. The home boss would have been hoping that his side could use their Premier League-quality attack to accelerate the game away from Rovers’ clutches.
Away manager, Tony Mowbray, would have had similar feelings to his counterpart, but for different reasons. The Rovers chief would have been confused as to how his side had only managed to score one goal thus far in the game, yet he would have been pulling his hair out at the sight of their almost ‘schoolboy’ defending which led to the home side’s double during the first period. The former Boro centre-back would have been hoping that his side could improve on their defensive efforts but continue their attacking nous in the hope of being able to snatch victory from the jaws of defeat, come full-time.
It was the home side who got the game back underway for the second period, but it only took them three minutes of playtime for them to increase their lead from 2-1, to 3-1, following some misjudged play in the centre of the park by Lewis Holtby. Some Rovers possession saw Holtby try and unnecessarily intercept a pass from his teammate, which inadvertently returned possession back to Watford. The home side managed to work their way down Rovers’ right-hand side, as Sema delivered in an inviting cross, which proved irresistible for Rovers ‘skipper Darragh Lenihan, who had the misfortune to turn it into his own goal to make it 3-1 to the home side.
The 56th minute brought out another fine save from Foster, as Holtby’s cross was headed out to Lenihan whose subsequent effort forced Foster down low to his right, to parry the ball away from his goal.
On the hour mark, Holtby was again involved as he set-up Bradley Johnson from a free-kick, but the latter’s nod was glanced wide.
Watford’s first alteration of the game saw Étienne Capouereplace captain, and Watford’s second scorer of the night, Tom Cleverley.
One minute after the Watford change, Harvey Elliott managed to thread through Adam Armstrong, who beat Watford’s offside trap and managed to bare down on goal. With just an advancing Foster to beat, Armstrong thought best to try and chip the former Manchester United goalkeeper, rather than go around him, or try to place it past him, but the ‘keeper continued his fine form on the night by tipping the ball over crossbar for a corner, which again came to nothing.
The 66th minute saw Rovers forced into a change as Scott Wharton replaced Daniel Ayala, who was withdrawn from the field due to injury.
Three minutes after the Rovers substitution, the away side were handed a lifeline in the game, as Lewis Holtby was deemed to have been brought down in the box, as Andy Woolmer awarded Rovers a penalty which could have been the catalyst for a comeback. Although Holtby had been brought down, it was Armstrong who continued his penalty duties as he stood up to take the spot-kick. Frustratingly for him and for Rovers, he was unable to convert his third spot-kick of the season, as Foster again proved unable to beat for Rovers’ top scorer, with the experienced goalkeeper guessing right, as he dived down to his left to quell the foundations for a potential Rovers comeback.
The 70th and 71st minute saw both sides make their second switches of the night, as Rovers replaced Corry Evans with Norwich loanee Tom Trybull, who came on for his debut, whilst Watford brought on Jeremy Ngakia, in-place of Kiko Femenía.
A few minutes after the changes, Ryan Nyambe again sent in a cross into the Watford box, but despite connecting with the delivery, Bradley Johnson’s effort dropped off target.
The 75th minute saw substitute Jeremy Ngakia booked.
Watford came within inches of making it 4-1 in the 76th minute, as the Hornets launched a frightening counter-attack that was led by Manchester United loanee James Garner and Sarr. The defensive midfielder – who was a Rovers target during the summer – managed to drive up the pitch with the ball, before teeing up Sarr for what looked like an inevitable tap in. Thomas Kaminski, however, was having none of it, as the Belgian did brilliantly to scramble across and deny the Senegalese a goal, via a save from his legs.
Rovers’ final change of the evening came on the 77th minute as goalscorer Ben Brereton departed the field and was replaced by Tyrhys Dolan for the final 13 minutes of the tie.
The game soon decelerated into attack vs defence, as Rovers tried everything to try and get back into the game, whilst Watford were happy to sit back and pick Rovers off on the break.
Despite the change in the respective gameplans, the chances decreased until the 85th minute where Tom Trybull came narrowly close to marking his debut for Rovers with a goal, as he nodded his compatriot, Holtby’s corner wide of the mark.
Watford’s final change of the game came in the 89th minute as they continued to run down the clock. Their third substitution of the game saw influential winger Ismaïla Sarr, replaced by former West Ham United midfielder, Domingos Quina.
As the 90th minute approached, referee Andy Woolmer called for an extra five minutes to be allocated onto the end of the game, but much like at the end of the first-half, the extra minutes proved unnecessary, as Watford managed to expertly run down the clock and secure a valuable three points for the Hertfordshire side.
Whilst the game ultimately saw Rovers earn nothing from it, the stats suggested that Rovers dominated every part of the game, bar the scoreline, which in itself will create a divide in opinion amongst those whose glasses are half-full versus those whose glasses are half-empty. Although Rovers had the better of the game, the Man of the Match award should be given to Ben Foster for what was an outstanding, 11/10 performance as he denied Rovers on multiple occasions, including the penalty. From a Rovers perspective, the players themselves had solid games, including the debuting Harvey Elliott, who was able to show his quality, both on and off the ball, during the opening spell of the game, before Watford went ahead. Another glimmer of hope for Rovers was undoubtedly their goalscorer in Ben Brereton, who capped off a lively performance with what was unquestionably his best goal in his career, so far. Whilst nobody out in a Rovers shirt had a ‘shocking’ performance, Amari’i Bell did not have his best game up against Sarr, as the winger ran the full-back ragged on more than one occasion, including for both first-half goals. After seeing two debuts, with Elliott playing the full 90 minutes and Tom Trybull only playing 20 minutes, it remains to be seen whether the boss will continue introducing the new recruits in gradually, or whether he will let all four of the signings loose at once.
Following matchday six of the league, Rovers now find themselves in 14th place, with 7 points and a positive goal difference of +5.
With the pace of the games increasing by the week, Rovers’ next fixture sees them travel to face one of the gaffer’s former teams in Coventry City, on Saturday 24th October, at 3pm. Following that game, Rovers play hosts to Reading, a week from today, on Tuesday 27th October, at 7:45pm. After that tie with the undefeated Royals – who are currently topping the table – Rovers again hop back on the bus as they face the frightening journey to South Wales, where they will aim to give Steve Cooper’s Swansea City a scare, on Halloween afternoon, at 3pm.
