Back-to-back wins and clean sheets were on the cards for Rovers as they made it an unbeaten January in the league, despite leaving it late to overcome a hard-working, defensively resilient Luton Town.
As Rovers looked to finish the month of January unbeaten in the Championship, injury issues within the squad saw Tony Mowbray forced to make two changes to the side that secured last Sunday’s 1-0 victory at Middlesbrough. Stewart Downing and Ben Brereton returned to the starting-11 to replace the injured duo of Jacob Davenport and Bradley Johnson. As Brereton returned, it meant that Joe Rothwell – on his 100th Rovers appearance – was brought back to play in a deeper role, alongside Lewis Travis and Downing, to allow Brereton to play up top, alongside Harvey Elliott and Adam Armstrong. Alongside making his first league start of the campaign, Stewart Downing was also racking up his 750th career appearance, which is a remarkable achievement for the former England international.
Just prior to the kick-off, Rovers and Luton Town paid tribute to all the Rovers supporters who sadly lost their lives over the past 12 months, with a fitting period of applause. This was followed by the taking of ‘the knee’ in support of anti-racism.
After the respects were paid and the deteriorating Ewood Park pitch passed the inspection of match official Jeremy Simpson, it was Rovers who lined-up for kick-off as they looked to extend their unbeaten run to four games and continue their charge towards the playoff places.
Rovers were the first side to break through on goal, however failed to make the chance pay. The third minute saw Adam Armstrong played through in-behind the Luton defence and looked certain to put Rovers ahead. Former Charlton Athletic defender, Tom Lockyer had other ideas however, as he managed to recover brilliantly in order to challenge and dispossess the Rovers forward before, he could do any damage.
The home side’s bright start continued on the 6th minute after a flick on by Joe Rothwell landed at the feet of Barry Douglas. The on-loan Leeds United man managed to then find Ben Brereton with a well weighted pass, but the forward’s effort was blocked behind for a corner that Luton managed to deal with.
Stewart Downing was forced into a vital block on the 19th minute after Luton countered well following a breakdown in Rovers’ attack. Harry Cornick managed to pick out Pelly Ruddock-Mpanzu who looked destined to shape up for a left-footed shot towards Thomas Kaminski’s near-post, however veteran midfielder Downing managed to bust a gut in order to get back and deny the visitors a proper attempt, as the 36-year old blocked the effort.
Harvey Elliott burst into life on the right-hand side after Joe Rothwell found him with a diagonal ball. After cutting in from the right onto his left-foot, the 17-year old’s attempt at goal lacked the necessary dip as the ball sailed over the crossbar.
The first-half soon fizzled into an intense battle for possession as neither side managed to craft an opening at goal before one minute of added time was added onto the end of the period by referee Jeremy Simpson.
After the extra minute was played, the official soon brought the half to an end in a game in which Rovers have had the better of the chances that themselves, have been few and far between.
Tony Mowbray would have had mixed feelings at the break, given his side had managed to be the more dominant team. Although Rovers had had the better of the chances, there was cause for concern over both, the lack of real goalmouth action and the fitness of Everton loanee Jarrad Branthwaite, who required treatment on his ankle towards the end of the first period after he overstretched and collided with an attacker whilst clearing the ball. The Rovers boss would have been satisfied, but not overjoyed with his side’s domination of possession, however the lack of a shot on target would have worried him, especially after Armstrong’s chance in the opening stages of the game saw the forward fail to get a shot away.
Nathan Jones in the opposite dressing room would have been relatively pleased with how his side had executed his game plan. Despite also not yielding an attempt on target, the Bedfordshire side managed to keep Rovers’ attacking talents at bay, whilst also threatening the home defence with numerous counter-attacks which had them on the ropes on several occasions. Although the Hatters had failed to secure a hold on the game, they managed to keep their defensive resilience against the division’s joint-top scorers and offer themselves a defensive platform in which to build on during the second-half.
After the players returned to the field for the second period, it was Luton Town who got proceedings back underway in the hope that they could replicate last season’s Ewood Park performance and gain a victory that would extend their unbeaten run against Rovers to three games, with their last defeat at the hands of Rovers coming in the 2007 FA Cup tie, where the then-Premier League side brushed the then-Championship outfit aside by a 4-0 score.
The 46th minute saw Rovers start the second period as brightly as the first as Armstrong got onto the end of a through ball played down the right-hand side. The forward managed to carve some space in order to try a left-footed effort, yet the Luton ‘keeper Simon Sluga proved equal to the attempt.
Six minutes after Armstrong’s attempt, Lewis Travis went into the referee’s book after he fouled Leicester City loanee, Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall.
The 61st minute saw Tony Mowbray play his hand and make four changes in one go. Lewis Holtby, Bradley Dack, Tyrhys Dolan and Sam Gallagher all came on to replace Stewart Downing, Harvey Elliott, Joe Rothwell and Ben Brereton as they altered the formation from a 4-3-3 to a 4-2-3-1.
Glen Rea became the first Luton player to see his name go into the book after he hauled down Holtby. Sadly, for Rovers, Bradley Dack’s resulting effort from the free-kick, which came around 35-40 yards out from goal, lacked the required accuracy to be a Goal of the Season contender.
Soon after the set-piece, Luton made their first substitution of the game as Danny Hylton replaced James Collins.
The Hatters’ second change soon came on the 72nd minute after former Rovers Matty Pearson was injured. The former Accrington Stanley defender was soon replaced by Martin Cranie.
A golden chance fell to Tyrhys Dolan on the 73rd minute, but some valiant defending by Luton denied the youngster the opener. Dack won the ball back and found Gallagher whose cross dropped to Lewis Holtby in the box after bouncing free off a defender. The German tried to unleash a first-time effort but tripped on the turf before laying the ball off to Dolan whose subsequent effort was well-blocked over the bar by the visiting defenders.
Rovers’ free-flowing football continued on the 77th minute as Holtby and Douglas combined with the full-back soon finding Dolan. The substitute did well to keep control of the ball and cut inside, yet his off-balance effort veered wide of the mark.
The breakthrough final came for Rovers late on as Adam Armstrong managed mark his 200th club career start with his 17th goal of the season to put Rovers ahead in the 86th minute. From a dropped ball in which possession was given back to Rovers, Lewis Holtby managed to pick out Sam Gallagher with a cross towards the back post. The forward, who was unmarked managed to knock the ball down to Armstrong who delivered a header of his own which left Sluga rooted to the spot as the ball nestled into the top corner of the Luton goal, as Rovers edged into a late 1-0 lead.
The 88th minute saw two more changes for the visitors as Kal Naismith and Sam Nombe came on to replace Glen Rea and Jordan Clark.
Despite Rovers going ahead, the drama wasn’t going to end there as Luton thought they managed to peg their hosts back just two minutes later in a move of chaos and confusion. A wide free-kick from the right-hand side saw Sonny Bradley power a header at goal, before a combination of Barry Douglas and the post denied Luton a late leveller. The drama didn’t stop there, however, as Harry Cornick managed to lash the ball home from Douglas’ clearance, however the visitors were denied their late equaliser courtesy of the offside flag which left the Hatters furious.
As the 90th minute ticked over on the clock, referee Jeremy Simpson added on three minutes of extra time onto the end of the game, which signalled an opportunity for Luton to start piling men forward in the hope of snatching a leveller at the death.
The only ‘heart in mouth’ moment for Rovers in the three minutes came from a Luton corner which ‘keeper Simon Sluga came up for. With no social distancing in sight in the Rovers box, more or less every Luton man crowded into the home side’s penalty area in the hope of grabbing the equaliser. Although the odds seemed to be stacked against Rovers given the physical size of Luton Town, Thomas Kaminski remained determined to keep his clean sheet, as he came out and claimed the ball with consummate ease despite the lack of space to move, within the box.
After the Rovers ‘keeper claimed the ball, it was not long before the final whistle came as Rovers managed to not only end January unbeaten in the league, but they managed to claim back-to-back wins for the first time since late November/early December, whilst also coupling it with their first set of back-to-back clean sheets since October. All of which combined to seal a sound weekend for Mowbray’s men!
Without being a complete jinx, it seems like Rovers have now made a habit of grinding out nasty 1-0 victories, after making it two in a row! Whilst the result is equally as satisfying as the Middlesbrough tie, Rovers still made hard work of the game, despite emerging as the victors. The fact it took until the 86th minute for the side’s first shot on target was rather worrying, especially given that most fans on social media were more worried about being hit on the counter-attack, rather than finding a winner(!) Despite that, the defensive solidity that the past two games have seen is what we have been crying out for as Rovers fans, whether that’s down to our own hard work, or due to the opposition having an ‘off-day’, the more we can keep the ball out of our net – as cliché as this sounds – the better chance we have of winning games. A special mention should be given out to Thomas Kaminski, who once again proved his worth today in the dying embers of the game.
After that pleasing result, Rovers have now moved up to 8th place, with 39 points from the 26 games they have played thus far. Although Rovers’ goal-difference is still positive at +13, they are no longer the division’s top scorers, as their tally of 41 has been overtaken by Brentford – who now sit on 45 goals scored – after their mammoth 7-2 win over Wycombe Wanderers.
Next up on the schedule for Rovers, is a trip down to London where they will travel to the Kiyan Prince Foundation Stadium to play a lowly Queens Park Rangers side on Saturday 6th February at 3pm. After that clash, the side are back in action, six days later, as they host local rivals Preston North End on Friday 12th February in a game that will be televised live on Sky Sports at 7:45pm. Following that encounter, the midweek games are back for the Blues as they make the trip across the Pennines to face Barnsley on Wednesday 17th February at 7:45pm.
