Rovers rounded off a campaign full of mixed emotions with one last hurrah as Adam Armstrong’s third hattrick of the campaign helped Rovers come from behind to end the season with their fifteenth victory of the 2020-21 season.
For the final team of the season, Tony Mowbray made two changes to the side that drew 1-1 with Rotherham United in Rovers’ final away game of the campaign. John Buckley and Jacob Davenport returned to the side as they replaced Bradley Johnson and the injured Joe Rothwell. Alongside the return of the young duo, Daniel Ayala returned to the matchday squad for the first time since December 2020,
as he took up a spot on the bench in a bid to get some minutes under his belt following his recovery from injury.
Following the pre-match pleasantries it was Birmingham City who won the coin toss with referee Keith Stroud, as they got football underway at Ewood Park for the final time this season.
After only three minutes of play, Rovers looked lively as Adam Armstrong nearly got his free-kick right, but for the frame of the goal. After Ben Brereton was fouled by Kristian Pedersen, Adam Armstrong took aim at goal from around 25-yards out. Despite the forward’s fine strike at goal, his dipping effort, which beat ‘keeper Connal Trueman, came crashing back off the crossbar.
As Rovers continued to push forwards as they retained possession for a good portion of the first-half, they were hit with a sucker-punch on the 22nd minute, after an error by Thomas Kaminski allowed Pedersen to poke Birmingham ahead. After the Midlands club won a free-kick just inside the Rovers half, Steve Seddon floated a ball in towards the penalty area which looked like ‘meat and drink’ to Kaminski, yet under no real pressure, he dropped the ball straight into the path of Pedersen who stroked the ball home into the empty net to go 1-0 up.
That sense of frustration helped Rovers as they rallied four minutes later. Amari’i Bell was threaded down the left-hand channel by Lewis Travis as the full-back broke into the box looking to pick out a forward. Just as he was about to pull the ball back to a Blue and White shirt, he was clipped by the backtracking Jonathan Leko, which gave the official no choice but to point to the spot, as the former West Bromwich Albion man received a booking for his troubles. Adam Armstrong assumed the responsibility as he sent Trueman the wrong way, as Rovers were drawn back on level terms at 1-1, courtesy of the ‘Angel of the North’s’ penalty which nestled into the right-hand side of the net.
Rovers shifted into a new gear as they looked to go ahead for the first time in the game, on the 31st minute. Armstrong’s cross into the area was chested down by Ryan Nyambe, into the path of Brereton who produced a snapshot on the half-turn, but the forward couldn’t keep his effort on target, as it skewed wide.
Two minutes later, Rovers were appealing for a second spot-kick as Sam Gallagher went down under pressure from Pedersen, but Keith Stroud waved play on.
Gallagher continued to look lively in the 38th minute as he looked to try and get his name on the scoresheet and put Rovers ahead. The forward picked the ball up from deep and drove towards goal before releasing a piledriver from just outside the area.
Despite his shot coming from a slight angle, it was worrying enough for Trueman to deal with as the City ‘keeper parried the ball away before it was cleared.
The game’s second booking appeared in the 40th minute as Ryan Stirk was yellow carded for infringing upon John Buckley.
Three minutes after being fouled, John Buckley came close to scoring his second of the campaign. Following a corner, Rovers recycled the ball back into the box, before it broke for Buckley who looked to curl the ball inside the far-post, but his angles proved to be miscalculated as the ball flew high and wide of the mark.
Just as one extra minute of time was to be allocated onto the end of the first-half, Rovers managed to get ahead for the first time in the tie, courtesy of a free-flowing attacking move which Ben Brereton finished off brilliantly.
After building the ball out from the back, Sam Gallagher picked the ball up inside his own half before picking out the bending run of Brereton with a fantastic over the top pass. The former Nottingham Forest man did well to stay onside with his run before using his strength to bounce Pedersen off him, as he kept his composure long enough to side-foot the ball underneath Trueman as Rovers went ahead at 2-1, courtesy of Brereton’s seventh of the campaign, which was also his second in three games.
The forward timed his goal at the perfect time, as only seconds after the game was restarted, Keith Stroud brought an end to an exciting first-half that displayed the strengths of the Rovers team in full-force.
During the break, Tony Mowbray would have been delighted with the character and tenacity that his side had shown in order to come back from the goal defecit that they had seemingly handed to Birmingham City.
Whilst the boss would have been disappointed with the mistake from Thomas Kaminski, he would have been breathing confidence into his side given the rather young and fragile nature of the Birmingham side who were without their manager, Lee Bowyer.
In the away dressing room, former Sunderland midfielder Craig Gardner would have been offering a team-talk filled with mixed emotions, in the absence of Lee Bowyer, who was with his wife following an operation she had undertaken.
The former midfielder would have been offering the young side some encouragement, following their disintegration towards half-time, but there would have been an air of nervousness around the Brum changing room, given the goalscoring exploits Rovers had shown in their previous home game, which was a 5-2 win over Huddersfield Town.
Moments prior to Rovers getting the second-half underway, in a bid to see the season out in style, Birmingham made a double change at the break as Lukas Jutkiewicz and Alen Halilović replaced Jonathan Leko and Sam Cosgrove.
Rovers started the second-half as they had finished the first as after only two minutes, John Buckley tried his luck again, but despite his effort being on target, this time, Trueman was able to save and hold the ball.
Whatever had been said at half-time in the Birmingham dressing room had clearly worked, as the visitors weren’t discouraged despite Rovers’ early attempt in the second period.
Some good build-up by the away team saw the ball worked out to Seddon who delivered a delicious cross towards the back-post where former Burnley centre-forward Lukas Jutkiewicz was waiting.
The striker, who had only come off the bench minutes prior, did what he was sent on to do as he headered the ball past the rooted Kaminski in order to draw the away side level at 2-2.
Rovers tried to react to Birmingham’s second goal, much like they did the first, as Darragh Lenihan tried to nod home a corner, three minutes later, but he couldn’t keep his effort down.
In the 57th minute, Tony Mowbray made a triple change. Daniel Ayala, Stewart Downing and Harvey Elliott all came on to replace Taylor Harwood-Bellis, Jacob Davenport and Sam Gallagher.
Two minutes after the changes, Rovers were in on goal again, as Travis slide Armstrong through, but Trueman was again on-hand to deny Rovers a third goal.
The 66th minute saw Armstrong turn provider as he fed Harvey Elliott, but the Liverpool loanee’s left-footed strike failed to hit the target.
Just before play was restarted, Tyrhys Dolan was introduced as Rovers’ fourth change of the game, as he replaced the scorer of Rovers’ second goal, Ben Brereton.
It didn’t take Rovers long to go back ahead, as on the 71st minute, Adam Armstrong managed to notch his 28th goal of the campaign in all competitions – beating the previous tally set by Jordan Rhodes in 2012/13 – with a fine strike from distance that saw the ball almost go through Trueman as Rovers went 3-2 up. The forward picked the ball up deep inside the Birmingham half before tiptoeing towards goal under no pressure whatsoever. As he was invited to have a crack at goal, he decided to take the option up from 25-yards out as he hammered the ball low and hard towards goal with his left-foot as Trueman failed to keep it out, despite getting a glove on it.
Rovers’ final change came in the 74th minute as Corry Evans replaced John Buckley.
Birmingham also made a change of their own a minute later, as Riley McGree replaced former Rovers loanee, Rekeem Harper, who was withdrawn due to injury.
Armstrong thought he had secured his hattrick on the 79th minute but was denied by the assistant’s flag. After Corry Evans picked the ball up on halfway, he turned and slid through Armstrong who had seemingly beaten the offside trap. The forward, who had half of the field to himself, managed to put the ball into the bottom left-hand corner, but not before the referee’s whistle, meaning the goal was ruled out.
Despite the flag for offside, the 84th minute saw the goalfest continue as Goal of the Season winner, Harvey Elliott signed off his spell at Rovers with a fantastic chip that itself, was arguably worthy of the award he’d already won. After Rovers won possession back on halfway, Corry Evans again delivered a delightful first-time ball in his final game for Rovers, as he put it perfectly into the path of Elliott who cut inside and made his way into the box, unchallenged, before delicately chipping the ball over the diving Trueman to put the game beyond doubt at 4-2.
The Rovers Players’ Player and Junior Rovers Player of the Year winner wasn’t about to let the campaign end without grabbing his third hattrick of the season. Armstrong – who was named in the WhoScored.com’s Championship Team of the Season – managed to put space between himself and Jordan Rhodes’ previous record by notching his 29th of the season in all competitions, which helped put the game beyond doubt and round off Rovers’ season spectacularly, with ten goals in their last two home games. From kick-off, Rovers were able to win back possession as Amari’i Bell found Corry Evans who in-turn was able to slide Armstrong in, down the left-hand channel. The ‘Angel of the North’ did well to touch the ball through the legs of Pedersen, before calmly finishing the move off with a right-footed finish which nestled into the back of the net, via a deflection off the legs of Trueman, as Rovers capped off a fine afternoon with their fifth goal as the scoreline read 5-2.
Although Rovers pushed for a sixth, it didn’t come despite a couple of corners coming their way. Following the allocation of two extra minutes, which brought no real goalmouth action to speak about, Keith Stroud soon brought both the game, and the campaign to an end as Rovers were able to revel in their goal-glut, despite the overall sense of disappointment surrounding this campaign.
Whilst this season has offered some high points, such as this game and the other goal-fests we have witnessed, there is no getting away from the bottom line, in that this season, by the expectations of everyone associated with the club, whether coaching staff, players or supporters, that this season has been extremely underwhelming. Whilst many people have offered their ‘two cents’ regarding why, whether that being the injuries, the lack of crowd, the state of the pitch, one would like to believe that the coaching staff have a plan in-place for such a disappointing mid-season collapse not to happen again next season.
As we look forward to potentially being able to return to Ewood Park during the 2021-22 season, after a full season of absence, the summer will no doubt be huge for the manager and the players as Rovers are set to embark on a mini-rebuilding of the squad, given the high volume of players set to return to their parent clubs or be released, one of whom will be Corry Evans who bagged two assists in this game. Whether Rovers are also put under pressure with regards to interest in Adam Armstrong, remains to be seen, but either way, these upcoming few months will be crucial regarding how Rovers fans look towards next campaign.
What we do know as fans, is that 15th place is unacceptable for a side aiming to get back into the big time.
Whether you’re Mowbray ‘In’, ‘Out’ or indeed, ‘Shake It All About’ – (Sorry I can’t help myself!) – the foundations as a club are in-place for success on the pitch, given the talent in the squad. It remains to be seen whether this manager will be able to get the best out of this group of players, whether that’s with, or without Adam Armstrong.
We would just like to thank all readers for their support through what has been a tough year.
We look forward to keeping content going into our fifth year, in 2021-22!
The final 2020-21 Championship Table is replicated below – there is warning regarding the relegation places, as off-field issues could potentially see Derby County relegated to League One, with Wycombe Wanderers surviving in their place;
