Rovers fell to a second successive defeat in dramatic fashion, as a ding-dong battle at Portman Road saw all of the away side’s efforts be in vain, as a catalogue of errors helped the home side, Ipswich Town, enter the automatic promotion spots in the table.
With Rovers reeling from the midweek 3-1 home defeat to Sunderland, they arrived in East Anglia looking to correct their mistakes and try and put a stop to Kieran McKenna’s side’s six wins in seven to start the campaign. Jon Dahl Tomasson made one change to Wednesday night’s team, as Arnór Sigurðsson came in for his Rovers debut from the off, replacing Ryan Hedges who was on the bench.
As 858 Rovers fans somehow managed to get into Blocks V1 & V2, despite the horrendous stewarding which began a free-for-all scramble for vacant seats, it was the home side who got the ball rolling at kick-off, as they were seeking a fourth consecutive victory, following their fantastic 1-0 triumph away at Southampton on Tuesday.
It was Ipswich who started the brighter of the two sides as they immediately managed to test Aynsley Pears in the Rovers goal as Leif Davis’ strike was palmed behind for an early corner. Rovers failed to clear their lines from the set-piece as trouble brewed early on. After some pinball in the box, Conor Chaplin’s effort was blocked into the path of Harry Clarke, whose first-time strike from the edge of the box went through Lewis Travis and Harry Pickering, leaving Pears unsighted, as Clarke was soon seen wheeling away in celebration of his first ever Town goal, with Rovers going 1-0 behind after just four minutes of play.
Despite the setback, Rovers weren’t going to lie down, as just five minutes later, they had restored parity and made it 1-1, courtesy of a fantastically well-worked move, finished off by the debuting Icelandic, Arnór Sigurðsson. Some fine intricate play between the Rovers #7, skipper Lewis Travis and Sammie Szmodics saw the former Colchester United midfielder find his captain, who slipped through a pinpoint ball past the statuesque defence into the winger’s feet. Sigurðsson didn’t even need a touch as he calmly stroked the ball past the on-rushing Václav Hladký to level the scoring before ten minutes had even struck.
Despite being pegged back, Ipswich weren’t going to lie down and allow Rovers to dominate proceedings, as in the 14th minute, they were back at it, as Chaplin was lobbed through on goal, but Pears was quick off his line to deny the former Barnsley forward, with a save via his legs.
The home pressure continued as they retook the lead in the 18th minute in frustrating fashion from the visitor’s perspective. After a deep cross from halfway was spotted, Pears made the decision to again rush from his goal, but his half-volleyed clearance fell only as far as Chaplin, who returned the ball with a half-volley of his own, as he centred his effort towards Nathan Broadhead, who was around 25-yards out. The attacker – who scored the winner for Wigan Athletic at the DW Stadium against Rovers last term – was virtually unmarked and given all the time in the world to bring the ball down and control before his unopposed strike from range found the bottom left-hand corner for 2-1, as Pears slipped in his attempt to dive which left the travelling contingency, near the net, stunned.
Rovers again tried to peg the hosts back, this time just three minutes after going behind, as Pickering and Sigurðsson combined, but the home goalie wasn’t beaten by the Icelandic for a second-time, as he pulled off a fine stop.
Two soon became three, as George Hirst came back to bite the hand that used to feed him to notch his second of the Championship campaign against the club he was on loan at, during the first-half of last campaign. After Christian Burgess wasn’t hassled just inside his own half, the centre-half played a relatively simple ball over the Rovers defence and into the path of Hirst who beat Hayden Carter for pace, with Pears nowhere to be seen. The goalie made a late decision to come and meet the forward, but by then it was too late, as Hirst had complete control of the situation, despite Dominic Hyam’s lurking presence. The attacker didn’t even need to touch the ball into his spell, as he expertly poked it past the on-rushing Pears for 3-1 and capped off a rampant couple of minutes for the hosts by celebrating and enticing the visiting crowd to his left.
After half-an-hour, Andrew Moran became the first player to be booked by referee Keith Stroud after he pulled back on a blue shirt, just outside the Rovers box.
In the 38th minute, Harry Leonard’s hard work saw Rovers regain possession, as he played a one-two with Lewis Travis before seeking Sigurðsson in the box, but the goalscorer failed to connect with the inviting delivery.
The debuting attacker soon found himself cautioned for the first-time, as he was disciplined for fouling Wes Burns.
Successive corners were soon in the offing for the hosts, as the first saw Chaplin’s nod deflected behind, before the second corner was cleared.
Just before three minutes of time were called for at the end of the first period, the half’s final act saw Broadhead strike an effort off the post, as Keith Stroud soon brough the half to a close after neither side fashioned a chance worth mentioning during the added time.
Kieran McKenna would have been over the moon with his side’s clinical first-half display as they managed to carve Rovers apart on multiple occasions, whilst also managing to stifle Rovers for the most part, despite losing their own clean-sheet. The former Manchester United and Tottenham Hotspur coach would have called on his side to remain focussed and not become complacent in the second period.
Jon Dahl Tomasson would have been forgiven if he had thrown a few teacups against the away team dressing room’s wall during the break after a less than satisfactory half for the Blues and their travelling support. Whilst they had managed to see their debuting forward net his first goal in English football, the rest of the team left a lot to be desired, as they now faced a great challenge to make a comeback in the second period.
The Dane reacted with a double change at the break, before Sammie Szmodics got the ball rolling for the second period, as Ryan Hedges and Tyrhys Dolan replaced Andrew Moran and the goalscorer, Arnór Sigurðsson, whose withdrawal was pre-planned according to the boss in his post-match interview.
Although Rovers started with the possession in the opening moments of the half, it was Ipswich who grabbed the period’s first opportunity, as Pears once again pulled off a save to deny Broadhead a brace.
In the 48th minute, Wes Burns was booked for tripping Szmodics.
Rovers’ first chance of the half saw Leonard look for Dolan in the area, but the substitute’s effort from close-range was superbly denied by Václav Hladký.
The visitors soon had a corner which made its way out to Callum Brittain, but the full-back’s effort was blocked and cleared by the home side.
It didn’t take long for Rovers to take advantage of their pressure as the visitors were given a route back into the game courtesy of a combination between Harry Leonard and the first goalscorer of the day, Harry Clarke who was credited with the own goal. Brittain picked the ball up just outside the area and delivered an inviting cross towards the centre which bounced off the hip of Clarke and wrong-footed his goalkeeper, as the Rovers players grabbed the ball and retreated to the centre-circle as the scoreboard ticked over to 3-2.
Soon after the restart, Rovers were enforced into a change as the substitute was substituted, with Dilan Markanday replacing the stricken Ryan Hedges.
Václav Hladký was again called into action to deny Rovers another leveller and this time produced the best save of the game in the 57th minute. After Harry Pickering delivered the ball for Leonard on a plate, the youngster’s nod towards goal forced the goalie into action as he denied Leonard another Championship goal.
The 59th minute saw ex-Rover George Hirst booked for dissent after he kicked the ball away after fouling Hayden Carter.
During the stoppage, Ipswich made their first changes of the tie as Premier League duo, Omari Hutchinson and Brandon Williams entered the fray – the first being on loan from Chelsea whilst the latter coming from Old Trafford – as they replaced Wes Burns and Harry Clarke.
Omari Hutchinson was the latest Ipswich player to be thwarted by Pears as the Chelsea loanee saw his effort denied by the feet of the Rovers ‘keeper.
The 62nd minute saw Hutchinson utilise his fresh legs as he broke away from the Rovers defence, but forced Carter into receiving a booking as the defender brought down the substitute as he moved into the left-hand channel.
The Chelsea man – who scored the winner in Town’s 1-0 win over Southampton – again was showing his quality off the bench as he tested Pears’ reactions, but the Rovers ‘keeper got down to his near-post to deny Ipswich a fourth.
The unthinkable soon happened, from an Ipswich perspective as the Rovers fans near Hladký’s goal went wild in disbelief as their side managed to bring the scores level again, this time to 3-3, courtesy of Sammie Szmodics who was netting his third career goal at Portman Road. Markanday brought the ball down the right and found Leonard, who turned and threaded Szmodics in, who had a lot of work to do. The midfielder did fantastically to spin away from the centre-back and tee himself up for an effort from the edge of the area, but his fine finish saw him beat the Town goalie, to find the bottom left-hand corner for 3-3 as he celebrated with the travelling support in the top tier of the Cobbold Stand.
With the momentum in Rovers’ favour, Jon Dahl Tomasson’s men were again bursting forward in the 68th minute as he slid in Brittain on the overlap, but the right-back’s cross was intercepted by the home shot-stopper, as bodies in Rovers’ black away kit were lurking.
George Hirst was looking for his first Championship brace in the 69th minute, but his header from Brandon Williams’ cross looped over the bar.
The 72nd minute saw Lewis Travis booked, as Rovers began to tread carefully with the bookings racking up.
In the 75th minute, Dolan nearly teed Rovers up for a fourth, as he got to the byline and tried to pull the ball back into the penalty area, but again, the fortunate bounced fell in Ipswich’s favour as a deflection off a defender saw the ball easily scooped by the gloves of Hladký.
Three minutes later, another Ipswich double change was in the offing as Dane Scarlett and Marcus Harness replaced George Hirst and Conor Chaplin.
Not long after the changes were introduced, Ipswich managed to regain the lead in pulsating, but heartbreaking fashion. As Ipswich tried to work an opening, the ball was played out to Harness who delivered a cross that looked simple for the unchallenged Pears to claim, yet the goalie elected to weakly punch the ball inadvertently into the path of Massimo Luongo who took a touch before hitting a half-volley into the top right-hand corner for 4-3 as Portman Road erupted into a frenzy of delight.
With ten minutes left and Rovers looking to push for another equaliser, a turnover saw Hutchinson burst free, but Pears atoned for his previous error by denying the home side a fifth.
A Rovers double change came in the 81st minute as Joe Rankin-Costello and Semir Telalović replaced Callum Brittain and Harry Leonard, as Rovers began to search for a fourth of their own.
Ipswich soon made their final change moments after Rovers’ double switch as Jack Taylor replaced Nathan Broadhead.
With Rovers pushing forwards to no avail, even six added minutes at the end of the game weren’t enough for Jon Dahl Tomasson’s side to again draw level at 4-4 to really give the fans their money’s worth, as after a couple of direct balls into the Town box fell in the hosts’ favour, Keith Stroud soon called time on a pulsating afternoon, leaving the visitors searching for their first win in two, as the travelling support faced a long journey back to East Lancashire.
Whilst it was an honour from a personal perspective to be amongst the fantastic travelling support for such a long and expensive journey, it was a shame that we weren’t rewarded with the result that the second-half display deserved. Whilst there were many factors to blame for the eventual result, it cannot be denied that Rovers showed some quality during the second period, with the third goal being the main highlight and standout showing the attacking patterns Rovers were able to produce. Another positive from the game was the long-awaited initial appearance of Arnór Sigurðsson who dazzled in the first-half with some clever movement and interplay, not to mention his first goal in England. It’s hard to disagree with the comments of the gaffer, who believed that Rovers weren’t ‘poor’ as a defensive unit, but again like most weeks, it is the individual errors that put Rovers to the sword, with the ultimate irony being that the team with the most missed chances in the division scored three, but lost the game.
Whilst there were some Championship games on Sunday and Monday, midweek sees the focus switch to the Carabao Cup in England, meaning Rovers head into next weekend sat in 14th with a negative goal-difference of -4 from eight league games played, despite it still being early days.
As mentioned, the Carabao Cup is what Rovers turn their attention to next, with Cardiff City the opponents at Ewood Park for the Third Round clash on Wednesday 27th September at 7:45pm. After that tie, Rovers remain at Ewood to host their first recently-relegated opponent in Leicester City, in a clash of the former Premier League Champions on Sunday 1st October at 12pm, in a game that will be shown live on Sky Sports. After that Ewood Park double header, Rovers are back on the road as they travel to the Midlands to face Coventry City on Wednesday 4th October at 7:45pm.
