It was another Ewood Park pounding as Rovers pummelled Peterborough United on a cold Wednesday evening, as Tony Mowbray’s young side extended their unbeaten run to three matches.
After Rovers earnt a credible 1-1 draw in their last outing, away at Bristol City at the weekend, Tony Mowbray made four changes to tonight’s home clash against newly-promoted Peterborough United, at Ewood Park. The manager re-introduced the fit-again Harry Pickering, who came in for his 150th career league start. Daniel Ayala, Joe Rothwell and Tyrhys Dolan also came in, as the quartet of Tayo Edun, Jacob Davenport, Reda Khadra and Ian Poveda all stepped out of the starting side. Rovers also switched to a 5-3-2 system, as Daniel Ayala who was making his 250th career league start, came back into the side to sit between skipper Darragh Lenihan and Scott Wharton. The battling midfield trio saw Lewis Travis line-up alongside Joe Rothwell and John Buckley, whilst Rovers were spearheaded by Tyrhys Dolan and Ben Brereton Díaz.
As both sides emerged from the tunnel for the 7:45pm kick-off, which was live on the Sky Sports Red Button, it was Rovers who got the tie underway, following the referee, John Brooks’ whistle.
After two minutes, Rovers had a good free-kick on the right-hand side, which gave Harry Pickering a chance to strike at goal, yet his effort lacked the accuracy required as the former Crewe Alexandra man’s effort ended up with the Posh fans behind David Cornell’s goal.
Joe Rothwell managed to craft an opportunity at goal after five minutes had passed. Ben Brereton Díaz linked up with Rothwell, yet the rapid midfielder’s effort was aimed straight down the throat of Cornell who produced a simple save.
Rovers managed to break the deadlock in the 17th minute with a fine move that culminated in Harry Pickering grabbing his second goal for the Blues with a fine header. After Rovers worked the ball out wide onto the right-hand side, John Buckley picked the ball up and delivered a pin-point cross towards the penalty area which Pickering latched onto as he guided the ball past Cornell into the top-right-hand corner of the net, as Rovers took a 1-0 lead!
Ten minutes after taking the lead, Rovers were forced into a change as Daniel Ayala limped off and was replaced by Bradley Johnson, as the former Norwich City and Derby County man slotted in between Lenihan and Wharton.
In the 34th minute, Posh were able to break forwards through Sammie Szmodics who crafted a chance to shoot at goal, but Scott Wharton was composed enough to produce an important block to prevent the former Bristol City man from testing Thomas Kaminski.
That block proved crucial as Rovers soon managed to by doubling their lead to 2-0! After the ball was moved up the other end, courtesy of a Thomas Kaminski free-kick. Rovers’ pressure saw Tyrhys Dolan dispossess Nathan Thompson, before the newly crowned Northwest Moment of the Season winner, found Ben Brereton Díaz who tapped the ball home into the empty net, to grab his 15th goal of the season and put daylight between the two sides.
The 44th minute saw the game’s first booking which was given to Mark Beevers after he clattered into Dolan on the right-wing. The set-piece ended in delight for Rovers as they grabbed their third of the game from Rothwell’s delivery as skipper, Darragh Lenihan rose highest at the back-post to treble Rovers’ advantage.
As the Posh kick-off restarted the game after Rovers grabbed their third, referee John Brooks called for two extra minutes to be added onto the end of the first period, but it wasn’t needed as after Lenihan rifled an attempt from midway inside the Peterborough half, which hit the back of the Darwen End stand, Mr. Brooks called for the break.
Tony Mowbray would have been delighted with how his side had applied themselves in the first-half, yet the boss would have been frustrated at the departure of Daniel Ayala. The Spaniard’s removal was the only negative point to a thrilling first-half which saw Rovers pile the misery on Posh who were the division’s leakiest defence. The Rovers boss would have been quick to praise his side, but remind them of their obligations to go and extend their lead to potentially rid any demons of a United comeback.
Darren Ferguson would have been forgiven for breaking out his father’s hairdryer and giving his side a dressing down at the break. The away side lacked any real attacking intent and looked lost when going forwards as their forward duo of Jonson Clarke-Harris and Siriki Dembélé failed to get themselves involved in the play, to threaten Rovers’ defence.
Just prior to the second period, the visitors made a double change at the break, as Frankie Kent and the booked Mark Beevers departed and were replaced by Ronnie Edwards and Harrison Burrows.
After both sides had had their words of wisdom, they returned to the Ewood Park surface for the second-half. It was Peterborough who got proceedings back underway, as they looked to try and pull off a mammoth comeback to try and avoid a third consecutive defeat to Rovers, when looking at the head-to-head.
Peterborough came close to reducing the deficit in the 49th minute as they forced a smart save from Kaminski. After the visitors started the second-half lively with a number of balls into Rovers’ box, including a few attempts which flew over the bar, Szmodics broke through on goal, but the Belgian was alert enough to come out and deny the Republic of Ireland international a third league goal of the campaign.
The second booking of the game came in the 53rd minute as Rovers’ Chilean forward, Brereton Díaz, was booked after he kicked the ball away during a stoppage in play.
Rovers broke away in the 57th minute as Joe Rothwell worked the ball nicely to break free after he dinked the ball over Thompson. The midfielder then had the awareness to pull the ball back to Dolan who saw his effort blocked.
The home side didn’t have to wait long to celebrate another goal, however as Brereton Díaz grabbed a brace on the counter-attack to pile on Posh’s misery on the hour mark! Rothwell showed his class once more, as he intercepted the ball in midfield following some sloppy Peterborough possession before sliding Brereton Díaz through, who had all the time in the world to carry the ball forwards before composing himself and slotting past Cornell for his second of the night and his 16th of the campaign, as Rovers extended their lead to 4-0!
Posh’s final change came moments after the fourth goal as Conor Coventry replaced Oliver Norburn.
Rovers also made a change of their own following the goal, as Brereton Díaz was denied the possibility of grabbing a hattrick because Reda Khadra was introduced in his place. Despite his departure, the Chilean received a standing ovation from the 8,771 Rovers fans inside Ewood Park.
Jonson Clarke-Harris nearly grabbed the visitors what would have been a consolation, as he was offered a chance to head Posh onto the scoresheet but failed to take his chance as Kaminski claimed the nod.
Rovers’ final chance of the evening, came in the 68th minute, as Danny Butterworth replaced John Buckley.
In the 71st minute, Ronnie Edwards was cautioned after he scythed down Danny Butterworth on the counter.
Butterworth soon tested Cornell, as he received the ball from Rothwell and tried his luck from range, which saw Cornell fumbled the attempt to Dolan, who couldn’t divert his header towards goal.
Reda Khadra tried to grab back-to-back Ewood Park goals in the 78th minute, as he picked the ball up on the left from a Rovers throw and tried to piledrive one at goal, but Cornell was behind it, all the way.
Tyrhys Dolan again broke away in the 79th minute, but saw himself crowded out, as he held the ball up until Butterworth caught up with him. Dolan laid the ball off for Butterworth, who took a touch to steady himself, before releasing an effort from outside the box, but it dribbled just wide of the right-hand post.
As the game fizzled out with Rovers resorting to potshots from range, referee John Brooks added on one extra minute of time onto the end of the game, as Peterborough United and their 267 fans looked to be put out of their misery.
After Joe Rothwell was announced as the home sponsor’s Man of the Match and the 9,038 fans began to flood out of Ewood Park, John Brooks soon called time on a game that showed Rovers’ quality both, in-front of goal and at the back, as they proved that they could move up a gear when required.
An outstanding display from the team in a game that could have so easily been a banana skin. As mentioned on Twitter, the clean sheet does wonders for the team’s confidence, especially after the early departure of Daniel Ayala, which could have unravelled had Posh got themselves back into the game, early in the second period. Furthermore, the goal-tally not only proves that Rovers are clinical on both, the counter and through set-pieces, but shows how quickly the previous defeat against Fulham can be eradicated, with all but one of the goal-difference being nullified in Rovers’ following two home games, with the four tonight, and the two – (minus the away goal) – in the 3-1 win over Sheffield United, before the international break.
After Rovers picked up 30 points from the 19 games they’ve played in the Championship – which is their best return since promotion from League One – Tony Mowbray’s side are sat 7th, on the cusp of the playoffs. Although the side could have found themselves in the prized positions tonight, a late Luke Amos goal for QPR kept Mark Warburton’s side in 6th. As noted, Rovers are 7th with 30 points from 19 games, with a now positive goal-difference of +6.
Looking ahead to the future, Rovers’ weekend sees them travel to the bet365 Stadium, to face Stoke City on Saturday 27th November at 3pm. Following that tie, Rovers host a Lancashire Derby against Preston North End on Saturday 4th December, also at 3pm. A week later, Rovers are back on the road as they make the 275-mile trip down to the south coast to face AFC Bournemouth, on Saturday 11st December, at 3pm.
