Rovers returned to winning ways and made it back-to-back home victories after getting the better of newly-promoted Rotherham United, by a 3-0 scoreline, courtesy of a Ben Brereton Díaz brace and a fine first Ewood finish from Sammie Szmodics.
Following a poor midweek display in the 1-0 away loss against Cardiff City, which saw Rovers fail to snatch a dramatic point at the death due to a saved spot-kick, Jon Dahl Tomasson rung in the changes for the clash against the Millers as the Dane swapped three players for this afternoon’s game as he altered the system to a 5-2-2-1. Scott Wharton, Tyler Morton and Sam Gallagher all returned, with Callum Brittain, Tyrhys Dolan and John Buckley – who has started for the under-23s – have all dropped out, with the former duo on the bench. Ryan Hedges will line-up at right-wing back, with Harry Pickering parallel, as the Welshman picks up from where he left off last week, against Millwall.
As the Ewood Park crowd arrived more so hesitant, rather than expectant due to Rovers’ inconsistent form, it was the home side who got proceedings underway after referee Oliver Langford’s whistle sounded at 3pm. Rovers were looking to try and secure a second successive home win, but also turn their ‘yo-yo’ form into something more consistent.
The opening 10 minutes of the game was rather subdued with neither goalkeeper being tested until the 12th minute, when Blackburn-born Ollie Rathbone tried his luck from outside the area and forced Thomas Kaminski – who was making his 100th league appearance for Rovers – into a save that saw Rovers deal with the subsequent corner.
In the 16th minute, Tom Eaves – who netted for Hull City against Rovers last season in the 2-0 defeat in Yorkshire – nearly made it two in two for his personal tally against the Blues as his effort beat Kaminski and ricocheted back off the post.
Although Rotherham had caused Rovers some problems with their direct running into the area, it was Rovers who soon broke the deadlock and got themselves ahead after they were awarded a second penalty in as many games, following Wes Harding’s foul on Tyler Morton who was making a run in from deep. The responsibility for the spot-kick fell to Ben Brereton Díaz, who stood tall and soon dispatched the spot-kick into the left-hand corner of the net to put Rovers 1-0 up.
In the 24th minute, Rotherham nearly came back with an equaliser, but Ben Wiles’ effort narrowly curled wide of the right-hand post, despite causing Kaminski to scramble across goal.
Two minutes later, Rovers nearly doubled their lead as Scott Wharton connected with a Morton corner, but the defender was denied his second goal of the campaign after a Rotherham defender blocked his effort.
Tyler Moron’s influence was continuing to grow in this game as his backheel into the path of Harry Pickering forced Rovers another corner that Rotherham were again alert enough to clear.
A lovely deft 35th minute through ball by Daniel Barlaser saw Ben Wiles through on goal, but the Millers skipper was denied an attempt by the on-rushing Belgian goalkeeper, who quickly rushed out to sweep the ball of the toes of the Rotherham number #8.
In the 42nd minute Sammie Szmodics lined up an attempt from the edge of the box, but Rovers’ short corner routine which led to the effort failed to squeeze through the mass of yellow Yorkshire bodies in the penalty area.
Chiedozie Ogbene was proving to be a real handful for the Rovers defender, especially Daniel Ayala who was getting beaten for pace, but in the 44th minute, Scott Wharton and Thomas Kaminski were both on-hand to bail the Spaniard out, but they were unable to prevent the conceding of another Rotherham corner. Thankfully, despite the Rovers shot-stopper being in No-Man’s Land, Wes Harding failed to keep his nod down.
After two minutes of time were added and played at the end of the first-half, neither side really managed to threaten in the allocated minutes which soon led to the conclusion of the first period, courtesy of Oliver Langford’s whistle.
Jon Dahl Tomasson would have been delighted with the fact that his side had gone into the break with the lead, but the Dane would have been forgiven for demanding more from his players. Although they found themselves ahead, Rotherham were creating a lot of trouble for Rovers, particularly on the counter, which the Rovers boss would have wanted to quell in the second-half with a second goal that would put parity between the two sides.
Newly-appointed Millers boss, Matty Taylor, would’ve been frustrated to be behind at half-time, but rather satisfied with his side’s overall play as they had taken the game to Rovers at Ewood Park. The new Millers boss, whose father is a Chorley-born Rovers fan would’ve been wanting to put any family ties aside for this afternoon and inspire his players to Rotherham’s first win in East Lancashire since 1979.
After the players re-emerged from the tunnel, it was Rotherham who got the second period underway as they looked to turn the game around and try and secure their fourth league win of the campaign.
Five minutes into the second period, Rovers nearly grabbed as second as Lewis Travis and Ryan Hedges combined to try and pick out Sammie Szmodics, but the pass was cut out by Rotherham goalie, Viktor Johansson.
Ollie Rathbone marked his return to his hometown by being booking after a scything challenge on Tyler Morton.
Hedges and Szmodics soon combined again, as the former’s cross into the latter allowed the playmaker to nod towards goal, but the summer signing’s effort was off-target.
On the hour, Ben Brereton Díaz saw two shots denied; the first was blocked, before the second forced a fine save from the Swede between the Rotherham posts.
The Chilean didn’t have to wait long to sort his brace out, though, as in the 63rd minute, he managed to tap Rovers into some parity, as he doubled his team’s lead. Some fine Rovers build-up play saw them work it down the right-hand side to Szmodics who delivered a wonderful inviting ball towards the back-post where the Chilean forward was lurking. Brereton Díaz was then offered the simplest of tasks of tapping the ball into the net for 2-0.
In the 67th minute the Chilean came close to a hattrick, as Scott Wharton’s pass set him through, but his early effort ballooned high and wide.
Rotherham soon made their first and second changes of the game in the 71st minute as Cameron Humphrey came on to replace Brooke Norton-Cuffy, whilst Conor Washington swapped places with Tom Eaves.
Two minutes later, Rovers made a change of their own as Tyrhys Dolan came on to give Ben Brereton Díaz the rest and the ovation his two goals and fine performance deserved.
The Rovers fans were soon on their feet again, two minutes later, as Sammie Szmodics grabbed his first goal at Ewood Park to make it a treble for Rovers on the day. Rovers were keen on the counter as Dolan threaded through Szmodics who used his balance and pace to speed away from the tired defence of the visitors, offering the midfielder a one-on-one with Johansson which he duly took by nutmegging the Swede to make it 3-0 to the Blues.
Rotherham reacted to conceding a third by replacing Lee Peltier with Shane Ferguson in the 76th minute.
Rovers again sped forwards on the counter in the 78th minute, as Dolan combined with Hedges, but the pair couldn’t conjure up goal number four for Rovers.
Minute 80 saw Rovers dip into their bench as Clinton Mola and George Hirst – who was coming on for his 100th career appearance against his former loan club – replaced Harry Pickering and Sam Gallagher, before Jamie Lindsay replaced Ollie Rathbone for the visitors, a minute later.
In the 87th minute, Bradley Dack came on for his 150th Rovers appearance, alongside Adam Wharton who was making his fourth, as the duo replaced the influential pair of Tyler Morton and Sammie Szmodics.
Although there were three minutes allocated onto the end of the game just after Daniel Barlaser was booked, Rovers huffed and puffed without grabbing the fourth as the final whistle soon sounded which allowed them to celebrate in relief and delight after returning to winning ways.
A fine afternoon for Rovers saw them leave the Ewood Park faithful with a smile on their face and a spring in their step after a clinical performance that could so easily have been more than the three they notched. Although Rotherham United did show signs of promise early on in the game and throughout the first period, Rovers’ quality shone through over time as Jon Dahl Tomasson’s men managed to banish their midweek blues and tally up another three points.
Despite winning, Rovers have dropped out of the playoffs into 7th due to results elsewhere and the results on Wednesday night going against them, but Jon Dahl Tomasson’s men currently have 21 points and a positive goal-difference of +1.
Next up for Rovers is a Lancashire derby of sorts, as they travel to Wigan Athletic on Tuesday 11th October for the 7:45pm kick-off, that will be viewable on Sky Sports. After that trip, the Blues are again on the road, this time to the North-East, where they play out-of-form Middlesbrough on Saturday 15th October at 3pm before returning to Ewood Park to host Sunderland and former Rovers boss, Tony Mowbray on Tuesday 18th October at 8pm, in another Sky Sports-controlled fixture.
