Rovers ended 2023 nursing their wounds, as they again fell to a fourth straight defeat despite a spirited first-half comeback saw them come back from a two-goal deficit, yet they ultimately departed the MKM Stadium with a 3-2 defeat, with ten men, after Dom Hyam was dismissed in the second-half.
After the inexcusable 3-0 defeat away at Huddersfield Town on Boxing Day, Jon Dahl Tomasson was wary of the tight turnaround during a busy fixture list and made four changes for the game in Yorkshire as Semir Telalović came in for his first start since joining Rovers, having exclusively appeared for the first-team off the bench. James Hill, Jake Garrett and Dilan Markanday also joined the German in the starting side as Hayden Carter, Adam Wharton, Andrew Moran and Niall Ennis all dropped to the bench. Birthday boy, Harry Pickering was also set to make his 100th Rovers start in all competitions.
With Hull City treating the punters in the ground to a pre-match light show and some build-up music that had forgotten where the drop in the beat was, it was the home side who got the game underway as the Tigers were hoping to do the double over Rovers for the first-time ever in a league season, in order to sneak back into the top-six.
Ozan Tufan was soon flying in, just five minutes into the tie as he was booked by referee Matthew Donohue for fouling Jake Garrett.
It only took 11 minutes of the game for Rovers’ Achillies’ Heel to rear its head as Liam Delap put Dominic Hyam and Harry Pickering on toast with his pace and power storming down the left. After the on-loan Manchester City forward was played in with a long-ball, skipper Hyam was dragged out wide to fend the attacker off, as Pickering supported him by covering the vacant central defensive area. Delap’s pace proved too much for the recently returning Hyam to handle as he burst past him at the byline before cutting inside onto his left-foot and sending Pickering for a hot dog in the process, before blasting the ball home, past Leopold Wahlstedt at the near-post, at the tightest of angles to give the Tigers a very early 1-0 advantage.
Two minutes later, Rovers were looking for a swift reply as Dilan Markanday picked out Semir Telalović whose shot deflected back off the left-hand post before being cleared.
Bad soon went to worse for Rovers, as with 18 minutes on the clock, Jon Dahl Tomasson’s men found themselves two goals down and fearing a mauling by the Tigers. Another long ball dropped behind the Rovers defence saw Aaron Connolly latch onto Jacob Greaves’ ping. The Irish attacker sped away from James Hill as Dom Hyam converged, but despite both central defenders being within a hair’s breadth away from the ball, the attacker’s agility to slow down and get the better of the defenders paid off, as he somehow squirmed free and found the bottom right-hand corner with a side-footed volley just ahead of the six-yard line, leaving Wahlstedt rooted to the spot for 2-0.
The 21st minute nearly saw 3-0 on the scoreboard as Delap again got the better of the Rovers defence, but his shot was straight at Rovers’ Swedish stopper.
Rovers soon picked up the pace and figured out that there was a game on they were participating in, as in the 22nd minute, Sammie Szmodics looked to try and slip Arnór Sigurðsson in, but the through pass was intercepted and cleared by the home rearguard.
Four minutes later, Rovers were looking the likelier to get the game’s next goal as Szmodics again was the lynchpin for Rovers’ attacks. The division’s top scorer managed to find Brittain with a backheel inside the area, before Brittain’s shot was parried by Matt Ingram into Telalović’s path, but the German’s touch didn’t allow a half-volley as he knocked it back for Brittain who saw his first effort blocked by Amber and Black shirts, before his left-footed follow-up was sliced behind for a goal-kick.
In the 29th minute, Jake Garrett became the first Rover to be booked after he clattered City skipper, Jacob Greaves.
Rovers did manage to muster up a lifeline in the 33rd minute, when Sammie Szmodics extended his lead atop of the division’s goalscoring rankings to 15 – three clear of his closest challengers who have 12 – with another delicate lobbed finish that required a bit of luck to squeeze through. After Sigurðsson picked the ball up just outside his own box, he lifted his head and spotted that fantastic run of Szmodics and dropped a world-class chipped through ball into the goalscorer’s path, who had beaten the offside trap. Szmodics wasn’t fazed by the missed interception attempt of Alfie Jones and was fortunate to break through Greaves with a couple of lucky bounces, but had the awareness to chip the advanced Matt Ingram to reduce the deficit to 2-1.
Another Rovers booking soon came in the 37th minute as James Hill was shown yellow for fouling Tufan.
The former Fenerbahçe midfielder was soon testing Wahlstedt as he latched onto a 39th minute Tyler Morton delivery, but Wahlstedt was on-hand to keep the deficit to one.
After some good build-up in the 45th minute, Jean Michaël Seri picked out Tufan who had peeled away unmarked at the back-post, but despite the Turk’s fine control, his finish didn’t match as he blasted the shot across the face of goal and behind for a goal-kick.
The 1,300-odd Rovers fans who made the journey were soon in raptures as they managed to draw level just after four added minutes were allocated onto the end of the half by the fourth official. After Callum Brittain won the ball back inside his own half, Garrett laid it off to Markanday who found Szmodics centrally inside the Hull half. The goalscorer was charged down by two home players and he fell over the ball, but despite Morton emerging with the ball, the successor to his #6 shirt at Ewood Park, Sondre Tronstad regained possession and found Sigurðsson who droved forwards with Pickering on the overlap. The Icelandic forward slowed play down and slipped it left into the path of Pickering who decided on a low first-time drive that deceived Ingram at the near-post and drew Rovers level at 2-2!
The first period was soon ended moments after the restart, as Rovers showed great character and resilience to come back and draw the game at the break – a feat that Rovers fans have rarely seen in recent years.
At the break, Liam Rosenior would have been scratching his head at the manner of the two Rovers goals, but would have kept his chat with his team positive and would have praised them for showing the pace and power to effectively bully the away side during the opening stages of the game. The former City player would have wanted his team to continue showing the same effort and ruthlessness in the second-half, to try and return to winning ways after two consecutive defeats.
Jon Dahl Tomasson would have had similar feelings to his counterpart, except in reverse. The Dane would have been quick to question his side’s defensive lapses and focusing on why that happened. He would have also been quick to praise them for their reaction after conceding two, giving them credit for their character and persistence as well as their fine attacking play, that could have arguably resulted in them taking a lead into the break, had one or two chances fallen differently – particularly that of Telalović, at 1-0.
After the sides returned out onto the pitch, it was Rovers who got the kick-off for the second period, as they were looking to try and end this dismal run of form that has seen them sit bottom of the form table.
Less than ten minutes into the second period and Sondre Tronstad became the latest Rovers player to be shown a yellow card, as his very soft challenge on Connolly was penalised by Mr. Donohue.
In the 55th minute, Szmodics saw his effort deflected behind for a corner that the home side soon cleared, despite Rovers’ best efforts from the set-piece.
On the stroke of the hour mark, Dom Hyam was booked for a very soft push on halfway.
Moments later, Wahlstedt was called into action as he got his whole frame behind a low drive from distance by Adama Traoré.
The Malian was soon testing Wahlstedt once again as a Hull corner was cleared as far as Adama Traoré who hit a true strike that the goalkeeper did brilliantly to tip over the bar.
Despite the quality of the save, the corner proved ominous for Rovers as Hull City regained their lead in the 63rd minute with more below-par defending that led to the host’s third of the night. Morton’s delivery was deftly flicked at the near-post by Delap before it bounced off Brittain on the six-yard line. Consequently, Alfie Jones was the quickest to react as he managed to screw the ball, via a half-volley into the back of the net for 3-2.
In the 68th minute, Rovers reacted with three changes as Andrew Moran, Adam Wharton and Niall Ennis replaced Dilan Markanday, Jake Garrett and Semir Telalović.
Jean Michaël Seri found his way into the book in the 72nd minute as the card happy Donohue booked the Ivorian for fouling Moran.
Someone had clearly told Mr. Donohue that Christmas hadn’t passed as his handing out of cards continued, much to Rovers’ frustration, two minutes later, as Dom Hyam was given his marching orders via a second yellow card, after the skipper tugged on Tufan down the right-hand side, which left Rovers with a mountain to climb.
Jon Dahl Tomasson made a fourth change in the 76th minute in response to the sending off, as Hayden Carter replaced Arnór Sigurðsson.
The Tigers simultaneously made their first switch of the evening as Burnley loanee, Scott Twine replaced Adama Traoré.
In the 81st minute, Tyler Morton was booked for bringing down Niall Ennis.
The former Rover was involved moments later as his loose pass fell to Andrew Moran on the edge of his own box as the Brighton and Hove Albion loanee teed up Adam Wharton, but the youngster’s effort lacked any power to cause Ingram any panic as he gathered the ball with ease.
Aaron Connolly was given an early night as he departed in the 84th minute and was replaced by Greg Docherty as Liam Rosenoir looked to see out the victory during the final stages of the game.
That proved true in the 89th minute as Allahyar Sayyadmanesh and Cyrus Christie replaced goalscorer Liam Delap and general nuisance, Ozan Tufan.
Despite Rovers showing great signs of life as they dominated the ball for a majority of the second period, even with ten men, their efforts came in vain as although they were afforded another five minutes in added time, Hull expertly held on to claim three valuable points and return to winning ways.
What can you say? Fixture pile-up and a thin squad causes problems for any team, but you’d think with the overall quality we have in this side, we wouldn’t slump to six defeats in seven. The defensive mistakes have been mind-boggling, because we’re not used to this standard of player performing so inconsistently. Yes, we’re not the best team in the league, but we’re certainly better than what we’ve shown throughout December…or maybe December is the new February? Feel free to read my detailed thoughts on the current situation & my post-match ramblings over on X (Twitter).
That defeat has seen Rovers slip down to 15th place, still with 31 points from 25 games, but their goal-difference now reads a negative -9.
With 2023 ending on such a poor note, Rovers will be hoping to start 2024 on the right foot as they host bottom side Rotherham United at 3pm on New Year’s Day. They remain in Lancashire for back-to-back home games as Cambridge United make the long trip up north for the FA Cup Third Round clash on Saturday 6th January at 3pm, before the Blues are on the road again a week later on Saturday 13th January as they head to The Hawthorns to face West Bromwich Albion with kick-off placed at the standard time of 3pm.
