Blackburn Rovers returned to winning ways in-front of their home crowd, for the first time in December 2023, as they ground out a hard-fought three points, in a 2-1 victory over bottom-half side, Bristol City.
With Rovers frustrated after their solid performance against Leeds United at the weekend resulted in a 2-0 defeat, Jon Dahl Tomasson was given a stroke of luck as he saw some returning bodies that allowed him to make two changes to the side he chose to face the Robins. Niall Ennis and Arnór Sigurðsson returned to the starting eleven, with the former making his full league debut for the club. Lewis Travis was also back in the team, but only on the bench as Sammie Szmodics donned the armband for a third successive game. There was some celebration for Rovers, even before a ball was kicked, as 15-year-old Rory Finneran became the youngest ever player to be named in a Rovers matchday squad which was a proud moment for himself, his family and the academy staff who aided his development.
As 336 Bristolians made themselves at home in a very cold Darwen End, it was their side who got the ball rolling for the evening as they came to Lancashire searching for a second win since Liam Manning’s appointment.
The game started quite slowly with the first attempt of the game coming just after a quarter of an hour when City’s Tommy Conway let fly from range, but his effort cleared the top of the crossbar.
Referee James Linington was soon called into action in the 22nd minute when he produced the game’s first card in Hayden Carter’s direction after the centre-back chopped down Samuel Bell.
11 minutes later, Rovers won a free-kick on the edge of the area and they tried a technique off the training ground as Sammie Szmodics was teed up for an effort that curled just past the right-hand post, with some members of the crowd believing it had just snuck in.
The 35th minute saw the deadlock broken on a very tepid night at Ewood Park. After Rovers built the play up as Hayden Carter drove over halfway and handed possession over to Adam Wharton. The latest to put pen-to-paper on a new deal spun on a sixpence and fed Szmodics, who wasted no time in sending Arnór Sigurðsson away with a first-time through ball which the Icelandic forward did brilliantly to control into a shooting position as he touched the ball past his marker, whilst having the strength to hold him off as he charged into the area, before scooping the ball past Max O’Leary to give Jon Dahl Tomasson’s side a first-half 1-0 lead!
Sigurðsson’s goal proved to be the only high aspect of the first period, as it took until the 44th minute for the next couple of opportunities as Callum Brittain and Niall Ennis combined to set up Sammie Szmodics whose effort deflected behind for a corner. The short set-piece resulted in a back-post cross which Scott Wharton headed into the palms of O’Leary.
Despite one minute of time being added onto the end of the first period, that soon passed without a threat to either goal, as Mr. Linington soon called time on an under-par, but successful first 45 minutes.
During the half-time break, Jon Dahl Tomasson would have been happy that his side had come into the break with the lead and a clean-sheet, but would have urged them for more urgency and fluidity as they had lacked a real cutting edge, despite not being threatened much by the Cider Army. The Dane would have been quick to encourage his team to continue sticking to their principles in order to try and continue to create chances to extend their lead.
Liam Manning would have been forgiven for going back to the drawing board at the break as his side had struggled to really muster any threatening attacking intent, despite them having some good spells of possession. City would have been reminded of the travelling support who had made the long journey down to support them and would have been encouraged to try and get back into the game, given the narrow one goal margin in the tie.
Just before Sammie Szmodics got the game back underway for the second-half, against his former club, Rovers made their first change of the game at the break as Niall Ennis was withdrawn with Harry Leonard taking his place.
In the 50th minute, Harry Pickering stormed down the left in an almost unstoppable manner as he picked out Sigurðsson who combined with Andrew Moran before the pair teed up Szmodics. The Championship top scorer wasn’t able to extend his tally at the top of the charts as his first effort was blocked before his follow-up volley landed in the Blackburn End.
Jason Knight became the first Robins player to earn a booking as he infringed upon Adam Wharton in the middle of the park.
With the momentum of the game in Rovers’ advantage, the home side – backed by the home crowd – managed to extend their lead courtesy of a family connection as the Wharton brothers combined to make it 2-0 as Adam assisted for Scott. The Wharton junior delivered in a corner aimed towards the back-post which Wharton senior did fantastically to be the highest in the box and find the bottom left-hand corner with an expert nod to double Rovers’ lead at 2-0!
As they tried to get back into the game, the Bristol City pressure increased as another Tommy Conway effort saw Leopold Wahlstedt on his toes as the City #15’s effort flashed across goal and ended up behind for a goal-kick.
The 59th minute saw Liam Manning turn to his bench as he made a triple change, introducing Harry Cornick, Anis Mehmeti and Taylor Gardner-Hickman for Joe Williams, Tommy Conway and Samuel Bell.
Those changes gave Bristol City a new lease of energy as less than 60 seconds after the alterations were made, they managed to reduce the arrears and get themselves to within a goal of Rovers as Mark Sykes made it 2-1. After Rovers tried to play it out from the back, a loose pass and some miscommunication between Hayden Carter and Andrew Moran saw the fresh Gardner-Hickman nick ahead of Moran and find Jason Knight who picked out the free Sykes who was bursting into the box on the right. The Irishman kept his composure as he closed down on goal to side-foot the ball past the already diving Wahlstedt for his fourth goal of the season.
As Bristol City’s tails were up, Jason Knight tried to draw his side level from outside the box as his low shot looked destined to roll into the bottom left-hand corner of the net, but Leo Wahlstedt tracked the shot the whole way and did brilliantly to get down and turn the ball round the post.
To react to the increase in pressure from the visitors, Jon Dahl Tomasson made a double change to try and solidify and shift the momentum back into his side’s favour as Jake Garrett and James Hill replaced Andrew Moran and Adam Wharton for the final 17 minutes.
Sykes and Knight were again proving to be Bristol City’s biggest threats as the former fed the latter, but Wahlstedt again got down quickly to keep Rovers ahead.
In the 78th minute, Knight was again causing havoc as he seemed determined to net the equaliser past Wahlstedt, but the Swede again was in the right place at the right time to deny the Irishman’s header.
Despite the Irish pair looking to be Bristol City’s most effective outlets, Liam Manning decided to withdraw them both in the 79th minute as Andreas Weimann and Ephraim Yeboah were both thrown on to try and salvage at least a point for the southerners.
In the 82nd minute, Rovers managed to get themselves forwards as Szmodics and Sigurðsson combined but the Icelandic couldn’t grab a brace as his effort cleared the crossbar.
Moments later, a poor Bristol City goal-kick saw Hayden Carter pick up the ball on halfway before he powered forwards and was urged to shoot by the home crowd, but the support probably wished they’d kept their mouths shut as the defender’s effort dragged wide of the target.
A fourth change was made by Rovers as Lewis Travis replaced Scott Wharton, which saw Callum Brittain revert to right-back as James Hill partnered Hayden Carter at the back, with Lewis Travis taking up a left-midfield role.
In the 85th minute, Szmodics managed to chip the ball over O’Leary and into the back of the net against his former side, but he was miles offside ahead of taking the shot.
The yellow card was soon out again twice as Callum Brittain was booked for kicking the ball away in frustration, which mirrored the booking given to Szmodics who was also yellow carded for giving the referee a piece of his mind. Moments later, Lewis Travis was soon booked for a tactical challenge.
As the 90th minute ticked over on the clock, referee James Linington allocated a minimum of five minutes of added time which saw Bristol City try and work the ball into the box on multiple occasions throughout the extra time, however Rovers remained compact, alert and defended with great grit as they managed to see the three points over the line, which was aided with some fine commanding moments from Leopold Wahlstedt, as the final whistle soon blew.
This game was definitely not one that will be remembered come the end of the campaign, but the value of the points will. One of the main positive points of this performance – barring the two goals – is the fact that Rovers showed great mentality, determination and resolve as well as togetherness for each other, the supporters and the badge. Many times in the past, we have seen Rovers teams falter and crumble when conceding the first goal, but to see out the three points so late into the game will undoubtedly stand this young group in good stead as the season progresses.
After returning to winning ways, Rovers remain on the cusp of the playoffs, sat in 8th position with 31 points from 21 games with a neutral goal-difference of naught.
With the Blues on a high, Jon Dahl Tomasson and his side will have to wait until Saturday to get back into action, when they travel to face Russell Martin’s Southampton on 16th December for the 3pm kick-off. After that, Watford are at Ewood Park at 3pm, for the ‘We are the Rovers Trust’ Fans’ Takeover day, which will see Rovers further extend into the community with a potential bumper crowd anticipated. After the final home game of 2023, Rovers are in Yorkshire on Boxing Day as they face lowly Huddersfield Town for the 3pm start.
