A fantastic piece of individual brilliance from Joe Rothwell, alongside a valiant team effort, saw Rovers win three consecutive away games in the league since 2015, as they showed their quality at both ends of the pitch in their 1-0 away victory against lowly Cardiff City.
As Rovers headed to south Wales looking for their first league double over the Bluebirds since 1984-85, Tony Mowbray made one change to the side who drew 0-0 at home to Huddersfield Town, two weeks ago, in the Championship. Harry Pickering, who had been ruled out for up to six weeks with a hamstring injury, was replaced by Tayo Edun. Academy graduate, Scott Wharton was also set to make his 100th career league appearance, which highlighted his growth and reliability as a defender. Yesterday’s loan capture, Deyovaisio Zeefuik, meanwhile was not part of the squad, due to him only being announced the day prior to the fixture. Speaking of transfers, 30 minutes before kick-off, Rovers announced the temporary departure of Hayden Carter, who joined League One side, Portsmouth on a loan deal, until the end of the season.
The side, who were set to play their first away league game in over a month, with the last being the 2-0 win at Bournemouth, were looking to get back to winning ways having not tasted victory in their last two games, following a goalless New Years’ Day draw at home to Huddersfield Town and a 3-2 away loss to Wigan Athletic in the FA Cup. This tie in south Wales also kicked-off at 12:30pm, after both sides agreed to play early in order to bypass the 3pm TV blackout in the UK, so that both sets of fans could view the game via their club’s media sources, following the prolongment of Wales’ COVID restrictions, which meant sporting events had to be held behind closed doors fixture.
As kick-off approached, it was the visitors who stood over kick-off, waiting for referee, Matt Donohue’s whistle. Rovers were looking to grab a much-needed win in order to not only further boost their promotion aspirations but push themselves back into the top two.
The first opportunity of the game fell to the hosts on the 8th minute as a Cardiff corner is hoisted into the box and met by Curtis Nelson, but he was unable to get his nod on target.
Mark Harris soon tried to find James Collins with a 12th minute cross, but the former Luton Town forward was unable to rise high enough to meet the cross.
Cardiff were soon regretting their missed opportunity as moments after Rovers restarted play, they found themselves ahead, courtesy of a fantastic finish from playmaker, Joe Rothwell. The former Oxford United man picked the ball up just inside the Cardiff half, after Reda Khadra flicked the ball into his path. Rothwell then drove forward with the ball, through one of his trademark runs before opening up his body and finding the bottom right-hand corner of the goal, to put Rovers 1-0 ahead.
It took the Bluebirds some time to try and compose themselves after going behind, with their next sniff at goal coming in the 26th minute. After their corner was cleared by the Rovers defence, Will Vaulks tried his luck, in an attempt to grab his third career goal against the Lancashire club, but Lewis Travis was well positioned to clear the ball off the line.
Perry Ng stormed forward in the 38th minute and tried to grab his first goal of the season, but he was denied by a fantastic save by Thomas Kaminski.
Despite making his Cardiff City debut after signing on loan from Leeds United, on Wednesday, Cody Drameh became the first player to be booked in the game after a poor challenge on Scott Wharton.
Two minutes later, in the 42nd minute, Rovers saw their own on-loan man booked, as Jan Paul Van Hecke clattered into Mark Harris.
As the first-half drew to a close, referee Matt Donohue called for two extra minutes to be added onto the end of the half.
The final chance of the period came in the first minute of added time, as John Buckley tried his luck from distance, but Alex Smithies was able to make a simple save, moments prior to the half-time whistle.
Rovers would have been delighted with how they managed to get themselves ahead, despite having to withstand heavy Cardiff pressure. Tony Mowbray would have been quick to praise and encourage his side after their fine first-half display but would have been quick to remind his side of the potential that Cardiff had within their ranks and the boss would have demanded that no complacency creeped into Rovers’ game.
Cardiff boss, Steve Morison would have been annoyed with the manner in which his side had conceded the goal. The former Norwich City forward would have been encouraged by the play his side had had on the ball, as well as the chances they had created, but he would have been frustrated with their lack of prolificacy in the final third.
The home side got the second-half underway, as they looked to try and turn the game around, in the hope they could ease their fears of potential relegation.
In the 46th minute, Vaulks was again on the attack, as he tried to once again net against Rovers, but the body of van Hecke denied the midfielder, as Rovers could not prevent the conceding of the corner, which they soon managed to deal with.
Lewis Travis and Darragh Lenihan soon received bookings in the 50th and 56th minute respectively, as the Rovers pair were forced to walk on a tightrope for the rest of the encounter.
The 59th minute saw more bookings handed out, as booking number five of the game went to Perry Ng for a late tackle on Lenihan, whilst booking number six went to Ryan Nyambe, for speaking out of turn to the referee.
In the 63rd minute, Ben Brereton Díaz capitalised on a loose Cardiff pass before driving towards the box and firing his attempt wide of the mark.
The first change of the game came in the 65th minute, as a rather trademarked substitution took place, as Sam Gallagher replaced Reda Khadra.
At the same time as the Rovers changes, Cardiff made a double change of their own as Marlon Pack and Isaak Davies replaced Mark Harris and Will Vaulks.
Thomas Kaminski was called into action in the 68th minute as a Cardiff corner was again met by Curtis Nelson and despite a distraction from a potentially offside James Collins, the Belgian was able to make a ‘camera save’ to deny the former Plymouth Argyle defender, the equaliser.
Rovers saw a penalty appeal in the 70th minute waved away by Matt Donohue, after Gallagher was seemingly obstructed by Ng in the penalty area.
A terrible challenge by James Collins on Scott Wharton saw the Republic of Ireland international booked, after he raked down the back of the defender’s Achilles.
Rovers were soon down to 10 men, as in the 76th minute, Ryan Nyambe received a second yellow card for a late nudge on Ng, on the right-hand side, which gave Mr. Donohue no option but to give the Namibian his marching orders.
Tony Mowbray reacted to the sending off by making a change in the next break in play. Daniel Ayala was soon introduced in-place of Ben Brereton Díaz, who was given a much-needed rest.
Alongside the Rovers change, Cardiff introduced Rubin Colwill in-place of loanee, Cody Drameh.
Rovers’ final change of the game came in the 84th minute as Bradley Johnson came on to replace Lewis Travis.
As the 90th minute ticked over, Matt Donohue added two extra minutes onto the end of the game as Rovers tried to hold their nerves.
In the 92nd minute, Thomas Kaminski was booked for timewasting.
The final act of the game saw Marlon Pack booked after fouling John Buckley, as moments later, referee Matt Donohue called the game to an end.
A fantastic rear-guard performance from Rovers saw them come away from south Wales with a vital three points that gets them back on track, after two games without a win in all competitions. Eight wins from their last 10 games, including six clean sheets from their last seven league games, has shown that Rovers really are a force to be reckoned with this season. Although there is still a long way to go with some terribly tough fixtures on the horizon, Rovers are showing that they are capable of being where they are, on merit and that they are also doing the job where it matters most, whereas in previous years, they’ve succumbed to many a banana skin fixture.
Whisper it quietly, Blues, but Tony Mowbray’s men are now joint top of the Sky Bet Championship, after Luton’s 97th minute winner against Bournemouth, which sees the Dorset and Lancashire sides only separated by four goals. Bournemouth lead the way with 49 points from 26 games and a positive goal-difference of +20, whilst Rovers aren’t far behind, with 49 points from 26 games and a positive goal-difference of +16. Fulham, on the other hand, who are sat third, have 48 points, but are sat on 24 games with a humongous positive goal-difference of +39.
Rovers’ next three games sees them enter a spell where they annex Sky Sports’ Championship coverage, as their next two games sees the broadcaster host Tony Mowbray’s side, both home and away. The first of those games sees Rovers play their previously postponed Boxing Day fixture, away against Hull City at the MKM Stadium, on Wednesday 19th January at 7:45pm, which will be on Sky Sports Football as the main game. After that game, Rovers are part of the broadcaster’s Monday Night Football, on Monday 24th January, when Chris Wilder’s Middlesbrough come to Ewood Park, for the 7:45pm kick-off. After that, Tony Mowbray’s Rovers revert to playing on a Saturday as they travel to Bedfordshire, to face today’s allies, Luton Town, on Saturday 29th January at 3pm.
