Rovers’ second clean sheet of the season resulted in their first win in four games, as a fine second-half display saw them emerge as 2-0 winners over Reading. There was also delight for Thomas Kaminski, who celebrated his 29th birthday with a clean sheet.
After Rovers suffered their third defeat in their last four on Tuesday night away at Queens Park Rangers, who came away from the game with a 1-0 win, courtesy of an Ilias Chair strike, Tony Mowbray made four changes from midweek. John Buckley, Joe Rothwell, Tyrhys Dolan and Sam Gallagher all returned, with Jan Paul van Hecke, the injured Harry Pickering, Leighton Clarkson and Dan Butterworth all dropped out, with all bar the former Crewe Alexandra full-back, on the bench. There was also a change in system, as Rovers ditched the five-back system to go for a more traditional 4-3-3. There were thre milestones racked up in the side as birthday boy Thomas Kaminski made his 50th consecutive start for Rovers, Tyrhys Dolan secured his 50th Rovers league appearance, whilst Lewis Travis secured a century of Rovers starts.
As both teams came out onto the Ewood Park pitch, there was an air of anticipation as both sides looked to quell their poor runs. As both teams readied themselves for kick-off, the game was soon started by John Buckley and Rovers, after the starting whistle from referee Tony Harrington.
The opening 10 minutes of the game brought no chances that worried either goalkeeper, as both sides struggled to grab a hold of the game.
Daniel Ayala managed to have the first attempt at goal which brought Reading ‘keeper Luke Southwood into action. A Joe Rothwell free-kick from deep was floated into the area and Ayala rose highest to connect with the ball, but his header was calmly held by the Reading goalie.
Baba Rahman soon got involved down the left as he tried to put pressure on Thomas Kaminski’s goal. After doing well to storm down the left and turning Ryan Nyambe inside out, the on-loan Chelsea man couldn’t keep his composure as he blasted the ball over the bar.
The 18th minute saw an uproar inside Ewood Park as Josh Laurent’s blatant dive against pressure from Nyambe, went unpunished by referee, Tony Harrington.
Laurent was again involved in the 20th minute as he tried to find the net form a long way out, but his shot was met by the spectators in the Blackburn End.
Andy Yiadom tried his luck with a header from close range, but Kaminski was on-hand to deny the former Barnsley man.
Rovers broke in the 32nd minute as Sam Gallagher was slid through by Joe Rothwell. The forward peeled off his man to control the ball and shift the ball onto his right-foot before trying to finish with style, however his effort cannoned off the corner of the woodwork as Reading soon cleared.
Reading were forced into an early change in the 35th minute as Femi Azeez was withdrawn due to injury, as George Pușcaș came on to replace his fellow forward.
Three minutes later, Rovers were given the game’s first booking as John Buckley clattered into a challenge. During the stoppage for the Reading foul, Rovers were also forced into a change of their own as Daniel Ayala was deemed unable to continue, with Jan Paul van Hecke coming on to replace him.
Sam Gallagher did well to shove Scott Dann out the way as he picked up the ball, on the turn and fired at goal, but his powerful effort lacked the required accuracy as it zipped past the far-post.
As the 45th minute ticked over, referee Tony Harrington added on two minutes onto the end of the first period to make up for both substitutions.
No chances in added time saw the first period end goalless as both teams lacked the intensity and the creativity to test either goalkeeper on a consistent basis.
Rovers would have been annoyed that they weren’t able to edge ahead through Sam Gallagher’s attempt in the 32nd minute, yet they arguably hadn’t created enough chances to deserve the lead. Tony Mowbray would have been full of encouragement for his side as he would have called on them to increase their intensity levels to try and break down Reading’s staunch defence.
Veljko Paunović would have had a similar chat with his team at the break, however he would have wanted more interplay between his side, in order to try and test Rovers’ ‘keeper Kaminski. Barring Yiadom’s header, most of Reading’s attempts had come from outside the area and given the departure of Daniel Ayala and the introduction of George Pușcaș, the Reading boss may have been inclined to tell his team to focus on more direct play in the second-half, to try and unsettle Rovers.
Once both sides returned to the field, it was Reading who go the game underway, as they looked to return to winning ways, following their last minute 3-2 defeat in midweek at home to Blackpool.
The 49th minute saw the half’s first chance as a Rovers corner fell to Sam Gallagher who was lurking around the edge of the area, but his effort cleared the crossbar.
Six minutes later, Gallagher was at it again after he was threaded through by van Hecke, but the forward again couldn’t find the net as Southwood saved his outside of the foot effort.
The 56th minute saw Reading receive their first booking of the game after John Swift fouled John Buckley on halfway.
On the hour mark, Rovers were forced to make a second change due to injury, as Ryan Nyambe departed and was replaced by Ian Poveda.
The fresh legs seemed to have inspired Rovers as they went on to break the deadlock seconds later. Some good play in midfield saw Joe Rothwell pick the ball up from deep and run through the whole Reading team before beating his man with some great feet and striking the post with an effort. Although he was off-balance when shooting, Rothwell caused enough panic to tangle the Reading defence to allow Sam Gallagher to move in under the radar and pounce on the rebound off the post to put Rovers ahead at 1-0.
One soon became two, three minutes after Gallagher’s goal as Tyrhys Dolan grabbed his fourth goal of the season with a fantastically finessed effort from the edge of the area. The winger, who had moved out onto the left following the introduction of Poveda, picked the ball up and moved inside before picking out the bottom right-hand corner with a fantastic strike as Rovers doubled their lead to 2-0.
The 66th minute could have seen Rovers grab a third as Dolan’s cutback failed to find a man in Blue and White.
Jan Paul van Hecke was soon booked in the 72nd minute after he hassled George Pușcaș.
Ian Poveda also received a booking in the 79th minute for descent after he kicked the ball away.
The 83rd minute saw Reading make their second change of the game as Jahmari Clarke replaced Ovie Ejaria.
Rovers came agonisingly close to sealing the game with a third after Jan Paul van Hecke nearly grabbed his first goal in English football. The Dutchman managed to tackle John Swift on the edge of his own penalty area before laying the ball off to Poveda and carrying on his run. After bursting through the centre of the park, Van Hecke found himself inside the Reading box as the ball from Poveda flew over his head and was knocked down by Ben Brereton Díaz, who found the Dutchman. The centre-back saw his name up in lights as he stretched at the ball with his left but couldn’t slip it inside the post as Reading were soon awarded a goal-kick.
Rovers soon made their third and final change as Bradley Johnson replaced Joe Rothwell in the 86th minute.
Tyrhys Dolan came close to doubling his tally and giving Rovers a third, but his carbon copy attempt failed to find the back of the net this time.
Just before the added time was allocated, Bradley Johnson was booked for stopping a counter-attack on halfway.
As the 90th minute appeared, Tony Harrington added on four minutes onto the end fo the tie, as Rovers looked to hold onto their clean sheet.
The last act of the game saw on-loan Chelsea midfielder, Danny Drinkwater booked in the 92nd minute.
After Rovers managed to keep Reading quiet during the final stages, Tony Mowbray men soon managed to keep their second clean sheet of the season, as the referee soon brought the game to an end, much to the delight of the home crowd.
Following such a mixed week where we’ve had defeats and lots of questions asked of the club, it’s always nice to end the week with three points and a clean sheet, isn’t it? Although the first-half left a lot to be desired, Rovers were able to capitalise, on the hour mark, on the introduction of fresh legs and a slight tweak in their play to put Reading to the sword through a quickfire double. The players once again showed their quality and arguable should have come away with more goals and more points from this week as a whole yet have lifted the weight off their own shoulders with a fabulous display.
With such a packed week of football now over, Rovers find themselves smack bang in the middle of the table, in 12th place with 20 points and a positive goal difference of +6 from the 14 games they’ve played in the league this season.
Rovers now arguably face the toughest run of their campaign, as they set off down to administration-owned Derby County, on Saturday 30th October for a 3pm kick-off. Following that tie, they face a double bill of relegated sides as they host Fulham on Wednesday 3rd November at 7:45pm, before welcoming Sheffield United on Saturday 6th November at 3pm, to celebrate the club’s 146th birthday.
