It was a battle of the Championship’s youngest average aged sides at Ewood Park, where despite a scare towards the end of the first-half, Rovers were able to rally back and secure their sixth consecutive win.
Following the late postponement of Rovers’ Boxing Day fixture, away at Hull City, the side were able to gain a few extra days rest, which allowed Tony Mowbray to name an unchanged side for tonight’s fixture at home to relegation-threatened Barnsley. The Blues were hoping that their few extra days rest would help them continue their fine run of form, which saw them beat Birmingham City, 4-0, last time out. Although the side were unchanged, Lewis Travis was racking up his 100th start for Rovers in league competitions, which took him exactly three years to the day!
Just prior to kick-off, Rovers held a special tribute for those who sadly passed away throughout 2021. Following that fitting period of applause, it was Barnsley who got the night game underway at Ewood Park, after referee Dean Whitestone blew his whistle to signal the start of the tie. The Tykes were hoping they could come away from Ewood Park with their first win in seven games.
Rovers thought they’d gone ahead after 57 seconds, when Reda Khadra was slid through by John Buckley, yet Mr. Whitestone had already blown his whistle after a Barnsley clash of heads occurred on halfway.
Following Khadra’s disallowed goal, it took until the 15th minute for the game’s first proper shot on target to appear, after a slow start to the game. Barnsley were able to win the ball back in Rovers’ half and feed Callum Styles, who dropped his shoulder and tried his luck from outside the box, but Thomas Kaminski was alert enough to make a fine save down to his right. Romal Palmer was soon fed the loose ball moments later, but his strike cleared the goal.
Rovers should have been ahead in the 18th minute, but Brad Collins had his woodwork to thank after Joe Rothwell was denied. The midfielder played a one-two with the birthday boy, Harry Pickering, before Rothwell burst into the box, past two visiting defenders. The one-time Barnsley loanee then created an angle for himself and opened up his body, before curling an effort towards the far-post, but Rothwell was unable to celebrate as the ball rebounded back off the post.
In the 23rd minute, Darragh Lenihan found Ben Brereton Díaz with a fantastic long-range pick out, but the striker was unable to hit the target after beating his man.
Moments after the Barnsley goal-kick, Rovers pressed and won the ball back as John Buckley found room and tried to drill a low shot from outside the box, but it narrowly skimmed the post and veered wide.
Buckley wasn’t going to let his missed attempt faze him, as moments later, he managed to notch an assist, as he fed Rothwell through with a fine through ball. The former Manchester United man did well to take a touch past his man and find the bottom right-hand corner, as Brad Collins despairingly dived to his left, as the midfielder wheeled away in celebration of putting Rovers 1-0 ahead.
In the 29th minute, Rovers were again on the attack as Buckley once again pulled the strings. He was able to find Ryan Nyambe who tried to curl an effort from the right-hand side, towards the far-post, but the ball narrowly whistled past the far-post.
Rovers should have doubled their lead in the 36th minute after Khadra released Buckley into a virtually empty Barnsley half. The midfielder bore down on goal and instead of shooting, selflessly tried to find Brereton Díaz, but the pass lacked a lick of power, which allowed Barnsley to get back and clear, through Styles.
A minute later, Brereton Díaz tried to make amends with a bazooka of an effort from inside the area, but Collins was on-hand to deny the forward.
On the stroke of half-time Barnsley’s tails were up as they managed to make a late surge into the Rovers box, despite barely threatening throughout the whole half. Just before one minute of added time was called for, Callum Brittain saw his cross cleared by Scott Wharton, but during the added time, Barnsley managed to capitalise on some poor Rovers defending, as the home side switched off. An almost pinball-like scenario emerged where Rovers failed to clear their lines before the ball was fed to an unmarked Carlton Morris. The former Norwich City striker saw his effort take a few deflections before hitting the far-post and rolling across the goal-line, in the final scene of the first period, prior to the intermission.
Tony Mowbray would have been furious at how his side had lost their run of clean-sheets right at the death, but he would have equally been annoyed at how they had failed to double their lead in the first-half. Although Rovers had looked a bit slow to start the game, they managed to get in gear and stamp some authority on the game, prior to the late suckerpunch and the gaffer would have been quick to remind them of all of their good work.
Barnsley gaffer, Poya Asbaghi, would have been delighted with how his Tykes had fought for a late equaliser and would have encouraged them to sit back and pick their moments to get forward. After a late surge, the visitors drew level despite holding 58% of the possession and that would have certainly encouraged the former Sweden under-21s manager.
The second-half was started by Rovers who were looking to put the disappointment of losing their clean-sheet run, behind them, in the hope they could come away with a win that would put them level on points with runners-up, Fulham.
Brereton Díaz had a shot blocked in the 52nd minute, but the rebound fell to Buckley whose effort was comfortably saved by Collins in goal.
The first change of the evening came in the 61st minute as Michał Helik, who picked up an injury minutes after half-time, was replaced by Jasper Moon.
After Barnsley had made their first substitution, they also picked up their first booking as Josh Benson chopped down Khadra on halfway.
That proved to be Khadra’s final involvement, as seconds later, he was removed and replaced by Sam Gallagher.
Moments after the change, Rovers managed to get themselves back in-front, through Santiago’s finest forward. Buckley notched up another assist as he threaded the forward through, but Brereton Díaz showed his attacking prowess as he managed to control the ball before coming inside and finding the bottom right-hand corner with a wonderful strike, as the Chilean put Rovers 2-1 up and secured his 20th league goal of the campaign; as well as a lot of money for some Rovers fans!
In the 67th minute, Darragh Lenihan was booked for a poor challenge.
In retaliation to the Rovers goal, Barnsley boss Asbaghi made his final two remaining changes, as Victor Adeboyejo and Devante Cole replaced Clarke Oduor and Aaron Leya Iseka.
Sam Gallagher was booked inn the 83rd minute for holding onto Liam Kitching.
In the 85th minute, Rovers made their final two changes at once, as Tayo Edun and Tyrhys Dolan replaced John Buckley and Joe Rothwell.
In the 87th minute, Thomas Kaminski was booked for time-wasting, by referee Dean Whitestone.
Just as the game moved into the first of four added minutes, Sam Gallagher collected a loose pass from the Barnsley defence and tried his luck at goal but was denied by the head of ‘keeper Collins, as he couldn’t prevent the conceding of a corner, which Rovers wasted.
In the third minute of the four, Brereton Díaz latched on to a fine header by Lenihan on halfway, which set the forward away and one-on-one with Collins, yet despite his sublime finishing this season, he wasn’t able to power past the goalie, as his left-footed effort was skewed wide of the mark.
As Barnsley huffed and puffed with no end product, referee Dean Whitestone soon brought the game to an end, as Ewood Park erupted in relief of their side gaining the three points.
Although it wasn’t the vintage Rovers performance that we’ve become accustomed to seeing over the past few weeks, Tony Mowbray’s men did enough to keep their fine run of form going and see out 2021 how they started it; with a victory.
The fact that Rovers hadn’t played in 11 days arguably showed, as despite having an early goal disallowed, the side struggled to really get a foothold in the game, given Barnsley’s domination of possession, yet following Joe Rothwell’s shot that cannoned off the post, Rovers moved into third gear. Mowbray’s men were able to make their crowd and home advantage count yet were left quite stunned going into the break level, despite their dominance following the first goal. The character and strength of the squad shone through as they were able to make the second period count with a fantastic goal that sent the town into raptures. The only negative aspect to tonight, was the loss of the clean sheet, which saw Rovers fail to keep six on the bounce.
For those of you who missed our recent Rovers Rant which discussed Rovers’ fine form thus far, this season, click HERE if you fancy an in-depth read!
After that fine rally, Rovers now find themselves level with current runners-up, Fulham – who would have betted on that happening after the 7-0?! Mowbray’s side now have 45 points from 24 league games and sit on a positive goal-difference of +15. Additionally, Rovers are two triumphs away from matching their win tally for the whole of last campaign, which is a magnificent feat.
With the date for the cancelled Boxing Day fixture at Hull City, currently unknown, Rovers now turn their attention to 2022 and 2nd January where they host Huddersfield Town at Ewood Park with kick-off on that Sunday being at 2pm, instead of the usual 3pm. Following that tie, the Blues and Wigan Athletic lock horns once again in the FA Cup Third Round, on Saturday 8th January at 3pm, at the DW Stadium. Once the break from the league action is complete, attentions turn to the Cardiff City Stadium on Saturday 15th January at 3pm, where Tony Mowbray and his players travel to – albeit without their fans – in the hope of continuing their fine run of form.
