Life without Bradley Dack for a second time in just over a year started difficultly for Rovers, as Tony Mowbray’s side were forced to settle for a St. Patrick’s Day draw after Bristol City held the home side to a goalless draw, after the home side dominated the possession column, but not the shots section.
After falling to a narrow 1-0 loss at the hands of Brentford, five days ago, Tony Mowbray made six changes to the side that tasted defeat in-front of the Sky Sports cameras on Friday night, with one of the six being enforced due to Bradley Dack’s unfortunate injury. Joe Rankin-Costello, Bradley Johnson, Lewis Holtby, Joe Rothwell, Harvey Elliott and Adam Armstrong all returned to the starting side as Rovers looked to try and bounce back from Friday’s rather damaging loss. The departing sextuple of Ryan Nyambe, Tom Trybull, John Buckley, Bradley Dack, Sam Gallagher and Tyrhys Dolan saw five of the six take their places on the bench.
Just prior to referee Craig Hicks blew his whistle to get the 7:45pm kick-off underway, Rovers players were out training and warming up with white t-shirts that had ‘Dack #23’ on the back and ‘#WeAreTogether’ printed on the front as an homage to the recently injured talisman, as Rovers continued to show their support and display how tightly-knit the group in the dressing room are.
After winning the game’s first kick-off, Bristol City were looking to iron out their mixed form which saw them come to Ewood Park off the back of three victories in their last six games.
The game started as a tight affair with both sides vying for possession, but it was Rovers who managed to craft the game’s first chance on the 7th minute. Barry Douglas stormed down the left before whipping in an inviting cross from the wing which dropped perfectly for Adam Armstrong. The returning forward, however, mistimed his finish by a split second as the ball flashed across the face of goal before the Geordie could make solid contact with the ball to provide the finish.
Rovers were granted a free-kick in a promising position on the edge of the Bristol City box, after Armstrong was brought down on the 20th minute, but Barry Douglas’ set-piece disappointingly crashed against the wall.
Moments later, Rovers again had a set-piece in a position that was slightly further out than the first attempt, but despite Douglas opting for the cross towards the back-post, rather than the shot, Ben Brereton’s connection was cleared behind for a Rovers corner, where despite earning a second successive corner, Rovers weren’t able to make either set-piece count as Bristol soon regained possession.
Armstrong was again played through on goal on the 28th minute, but his effort after cutting inside was well-blocked by the staunch Bristol defence.
Rovers conceded possession in the 41st minute as Nakhi Wells picked up the loose ball before winding up an effort from 25-yards which veered wide of Thomas Kaminski’s right-hand post.
From the goal-kick, Rovers were able to build an attack as the build-up saw the ball fall to Joe Rothwell who decided to run from deep. The midfielder broke into the Bristol final third before finding Armstrong who faked a shot before slipping in Joe Rankin-Costello who was making a gut-busting overlap down the right. The full-back did well to keep the ball under control in space, in the box before his near-post effort was palmed behind by Max O’Leary for a Rovers corner which the visitors soon cleared safely.
As the break approached, referee Craig Hicks added on an extra two minutes of time onto the end of the first period, which came as a result of some injuries which required treatment earlier on in the half. That added time proved redundant as neither side were able to test their goalkeeping counterpart as Mr. Hicks soon called time on an extremely underwhelming first period of football.
Tony Mowbray would have been pleased with his side’s display as they showed everything he would have liked, bar the elusive goal that would have put his side ahead. The team did well to keep control of the ball which was shown by the mammoth 71% possession they held by the time the break came around, however the quality of the chances that Rovers had were poor and they barely tested City ‘keeper Max O’Leary properly. The boss would have been hoping that his side could continue their solid first period display in the second-half, in the hope that they could continue to prise open Bristol’s mixed defence and net that elusive goal.
In the visiting changing room, Nigel Pearson would have been fuming at the display his side had put on for him, his coaching staff and the Bristolians watching on iFollow or Sky Sports’ Red Button. The former Watford head coach would have been baffled by how his side had failed to even craft a shot on target, despite Nakhi Wells releasing a wayward effort from distance just prior to the break. The 57-year old would have been annoyed that his side had performed so poorly when attempting to retain the ball, with his side only managing a measly 29% possession throughout the first 45 minutes.
After both managers were able to get their respective team-talks across, it was Rovers who got the second-half underway in the hope of grabbing the goal that would settle the nerves that were anxiously building across the town as the side again failed to score in the first period of the game for the second successive game.
Thomas Kaminski’s footwork nearly handed Bristol an opportunity on a plate in the 53rd minute, but the Belgian was able to recover and clear. The shot-stopper somehow got the ball stuck under his feet as he tried to play his way out of trouble, before he was closed down by Wells. The Bermudan forward did well to force Kaminski out of his six-yard box before the Belgian scampered back to clear the ball right to another Bristol man. Despite conceding possession, Bristol were unable to make their opportunity count as their one-two in the box fell straight back to Kaminski.
Two minutes later, Barry Douglas spotted a free-kick on the left-hand side. The Scot managed to whip in a near-post free-kick which Armstrong connected with, but despite making solid contact, the forward was denied by the bar, as Bristol cleared.
Darragh Lenihan managed to get on the end of a 58th minute Joe Rothwell free-kick, but the Irishman couldn’t mark St. Patrick’s Day with a goal as his effort was put wide.
Bristol City got their first shot on target recorded in the 61st minute as former Rovers loanee Kasey Palmer nearly came back to haunt his old side, but for Thomas Kaminski. Nakhi Wells burst down the left before his low cross landed perfectly for Palmer to try his luck. Despite getting his attempt on target, however, Palmer’s effort flew straight into the palms of Kaminski who managed to hold the ball and prevent the ball from being spilled into Palmer’s path for a rebound.
City drew first-blood in-terms of substitutions on the 65th minute as they made a double change. Nakhi Wells and Henri Lansbury departed the field as Callum O’Dowda and Liam Walsh were introduced.
Rovers managed to get into the Bristol box again, in the 68th minute as Armstrong was played in. The forward managed to twist and turn before getting a shot off which was blocked before it fell to Lewis Holtby whose own effort was blocked before a visiting player cleared the danger.
A minute later, Holtby was again involved as he tried to find Ben Brereton who was lurking at the back-post. The forward’s leap however proved mistimed as the ball hit him in the face, rather than him attempting a proper header, which saw the ball loop over the bar and behind for a goal-kick.
The 70th minute brought a quadruple change from Rovers. Tom Trybull, John Buckley, Sam Gallagher and Tyrhys Dolan all came on as they replaced Bradley Johnson, Harvey Elliott, Adam Armstrong and Ben Brereton.
Minute 74 saw the game’s first booking appear as Kasey Palmer was cautioned for fouling Joe Rothwell.
Palmer’s involvement in the game would only last another three minutes before he was removed in the 77th minute and replaced by Zak Vyner in City’s third change of the evening.
Rovers managed to break into the box in the 82nd minute as John Buckley slid Lewis Holtby in, but despite turning his man and trying his luck at goal, the German could only find the near-post’s side-netting, as the game continued to frustrate Rovers who were holding the bulk of the play.
Bristol City’s fourth change of the night saw Antoine Semenyo leave the field and be replaced by Ádám Nagy.
The 85th minute saw Famara Diédhiou finally get involved in the game as he released a rocket from around 25-yards which stung the palms of Kaminski as he tipped it onto the post before Rovers cleared the ball behind for a corner which Kaminski then claimed.
Sam Gallagher’s 88th minute cross was only half-cleared out to Lewis Holtby whose effort was deflected into the arms of O’Leary as Bristol continued to search for their second clean sheet in a row.
A minute after Holtby’s effort, his midfield partner Joe Rothwell was replaced by Corry Evans as Rovers looked to solidify their defence in the hope of a final push forwards.
Although Mr. Hicks – who was taking charge of his first ever Championship game – added on an extra three minutes onto the end of the game, they proved futile as the game failed to pick up, as the final whistle wasn’t far behind the fourth official’s board.
Despite Rovers’ pressure and their possession – which saw them end with 74% – the problems in-front of goal continued for Tony Mowbray’s side, despite the return of Adam Armstrong to the side.
There’s not much to say about that game other than, ‘I wish I watched the Champions League on BT!’ It wasn’t a game for the football purists, to be honest and it was probably a good thing that we weren’t allowed into Ewood Park, because the atmosphere might have been a bit toxic had we all been in the ground. Regardless of that, Rovers can take positives in the fact they managed to keep a clean sheet against a side that scored three in their last outing against Birmingham City, yet the fact that Bristol City twice, came close to opening the scoring in the second-half, with the Palmer and Diédhiou attempts might leave Rovers worrying that on another night, history could have repeated itself, as it has so many times this season.
After the midweek fixtures were complete, Rovers still find themselves rooted to 15th in the table, with a gap of two points opened between themselves and 14th-placed Luton Town. Tony Mowbray’s men now have 45 points despite their positive goal-difference of +8 from the 37 games played.
Rovers’ upcoming fixture list sees them face two of the top six and one of the bottom three, as Saturday’s fixture sees them travel to table-topping Norwich City on 20th March at 3pm. After that tie and the international break, the Blues make their way to Adams Park to play against Rovers fan, Gareth Ainsworth’s Wycombe Wanderers who look like they’ll be plying their trade in the 2021-22 League One, barring a miracle. That tie will be on Good Friday (2nd April) at 3pm. Once those ties are played Monday 5th April sees Rovers host Bournemouth at Ewood Park at 3pm as the sides buttheads on Easter Monday.
