It was a day of celebration at Ewood Park, as both Blackburn Rovers and Blackpool celebrated the career of Tony Parkes, by sharing the spoils and the points, on a sunny Lancashire afternoon.
After Rovers were held to a 2-2 draw in the 99th minute last week, after Viktor Gyökeres equalised for Coventry City late on, Tony Mowbray made three changes for this afternoon’s Lancashire Derby as Darragh Lenihan returned to replace Joe Rankin-Costello in order to skipper the side, whilst Tyrhys Dolan came in for Ryan Giles and Ben Brereton Díaz returned as John Buckley dropped to the bench.
Just prior to kick-off, there was a rather special moment as Rovers and ‘Pool legend, Tony Parkes was given a guard of honour following his decades of service at Rovers and his caretaker spell at Bloomfield Road. With the game dedicated to raise funds for dementia, it was a very heart-warming scene to see the former Rovers stalwart lap up the applause from all four corners of Ewood Park.
As 3pm ticked over on the clock, it was Rovers who got the game underway, as the home side looked to get back to winning ways in order to try and get back into the playoffs, having been dumped out of the playoffs, due to other results going against them.
Rovers started the brighter of the two teams as in the 6th minute, Ben Brereton Díaz nearly grabbed himself a goal after Joe Rothwell’s corner was cleared as far as the Chilean who swung his boot at the ball but saw the attempt veer wide.
In the 8th minute, CJ Hamilton capitalised on a slip by Scott Wharton but the Blackpool forward’s attempt was well saved by Thomas Kaminski who couldn’t prevent the conceding of a corner. From the set=piece Ben Thorniley had an attempt, but couldn’t guide his shot inside of the post.
Rovers were soon able to break the deadlock in the least Rovers-type fashion ever, as Thomas Kaminski delivered the longest of balls as the Belgian’s punt up-field evaded everyone and fell kindly for Sam Gallagher who killed the ball with a fantastic first-touch. The forward managed to keep the ball under his spell despite a heavy second touch as he broke into the box, before expertly lifting the ball over Chris Maxwell to put Rovers 1-0 to the good with his 8th goal of the campaign.
In the 14th minute a big penalty appeal was waved away as Brereton Díaz was found by Gallagher, but the Chilean went down too easily under the challenge from an orange shirt, as referee Matt Donohue waved play on.
The game fizzled out as Rovers were soon on the attack, 13 minutes after Rovers’ penalty shout as Joe Rothwell’s corner was met by Rovers’ Chilean, but Brereton Díaz failed to keep his header on target.
As the game dipped into quiet spells, the 43rd minute saw Rovers again on the attack with Rothwell again finding Ben Brereton Díaz via a corner, but Rovers’ top scorer again failed to find the net.
The first caution of the game came in the 45th minute as Kenny Dougall was cautioned for fouling Lewis Travis.
With half-time approaching, referee Matt Donohue added a minimum of one minute onto the end of the first-half.
Despite some late Blackpool pressure, Rovers were able to hold onto their lead and head into the break with the 1-0 advantage, as Matt Donohue soon called time on the first 45 minutes of the game.
Tony Mowbray would have been fairly pleased with how his side had dominated most of the first-half, but would have been frustrated that his side had failed to make their abundance of corners count for a second goal that would have put some breathing room between the sides. The boss would have been happy with how Rovers had got ahead, but would have been encouraging them to try and take their chances and pile the pressure onto the visitors.
Neil Critchley would have had been annoyed with how his side had faltered at the sight of Kaminski’s assist for the goal, but the former Liverpool coach wouldn’t have been panicking at the break and would have been hatching a plan for his side to attack with in the second-half. The ‘Pool manager would have been encouraging his side to take the game to Rovers in the second-half and not be afraid of the atmosphere that the home fans were creating. Critchley would have also been looking for a reaction from his side after they were defeated 1-0 by bitter rivals, Preston North End, in midweek and the boss would have been using that hurt as motivation for his side in the second-half.
After both sides returned to the field of play, it was Blackpool who got the game back underway as they looked to try and notch three points for the first time in three games.
Blackpool came flying out of the blocks in the second-half as CJ Hamilton missed an early chance to draw the visitors level, but within three minutes of the second period, Blackpool did find the equaliser that they arguably deserved given their chances. A corner for the visitors saw a scramble occur in the penalty area as Rovers failed to clear leaving a chance for Marvin Ekpiteta to poke home from close-range to level the score at 1-1.
Rovers looked to the bench for some inspiration in the 62nd minute as John Buckley and Bradley Dack were called upon as Ryan Nyambe and Tyrhys Dolan departed as Tony Mowbray switched his side to a back four.
In the 63rd minute, Sam Gallagher became the first Rover to go into the book.
Five minutes after being booked, Sam Gallagher looked to double his tally after Travis delivered a ball towards the back-post, but the forward failed to hit the target.
In the 70th minute, Sam Gallagher saw his shot from just inside the area, blocked by a barrage of orange shirts.
Blackpool soon made changes in the 71st minute as Josh Bowler and Keshi Anderson replaced Charlie Kirk and CJ Hamilton.
In the 75th minute, John Buckley forced a simple save from Chris Maxwell, as the substitute’s effort was bulleted down the throat of the goalkeeper.
A minute later, Rovers thought they’d gone ahead after Bradley Dack managed to power past Maxwell, but his celebrations were cut short after the assistant raised his flag.
In the 80th minute, Harry Pickering was booked.
After Scott Wharton was withdrawn via a concussion substitution with a nosebleed, following a clash of heads, Ryan Giles was introduced to replace him as Rovers looked to try and put the pressure on, late in the game.
Alongside the Giles change, Blackpool made their third change – with them awarded a fourth due to Rovers’ use of the concussion change – as Richard Keogh came on to replace Shayne Lavery.
In the 85th minute, Gary Madine was booked for a foul on Jan Paul van Hecke.
As a minimum of five minutes was added onto the end of the half, by referee Matt Donohue, Blackpool stormed forward looking for a late winner through substitute Josh Bowler who saw his effort deflected behind for a corner which Rovers soon cleared.
In the 92nd minute, Bowler was booked for fouling Ryan Giles.
Rovers soon made their fourth and final change as Ryan Hedges replaced Rovers’ goalscorer, Sam Gallagher.
The final act of the game saw both sides end up in a melee, with Calum Connolly ending up in the referee’s book.
Although Rovers do have five games left to their season, many would be forgiven for taking a slightly pessimistic view to proceedings, given how below-average Rovers’ performances have been over the past few weeks. Although there is still all to play for, with teams around Rovers also dropping points today, combined with the fact Tony Mowbray’s side only sit two points off sixth place, the performances and the lack of stability at either end has left many fans concerned regarding whether this season will fizzle out, disappointingly.
As mentioned, Rovers are two points off the playoffs spot, but sit in 7th place with 63 points from 41 games played, including a positive goal-difference of +10.
Rovers now head into the final run-in with the bit between their teeth. Next up for Rovers is a trip to relegation-threatened Peterborough United on Good Friday, 15th April with kick-off scheduled for 3pm. After that, Rovers return home to host Michael O’Neill’s Stoke City on Easter Monday, 18th April with kick-off pencilled in for 3pm. Following that home clash, Rovers remain in Lancashire, but make the trip across the M65 to lock horns with Preston North End at Deepdale, on Monday 25th April, a fixture also available on Sky Sports.
