Rovers were again unable to arrest their winless league slump as a lively opening 23 minutes saw both goals before the game petered out into a lacklustre stalemate, as Huddersfield Town grabbed the point that they would have looked for upon their arrival to Lancashire.
After Rovers managed to fit in a midweek 3-3 draw against Brazilian top-flight side, EC Bahia at Manchester City’s training complex, where all the first-team got at least 45 minutes, as Dilan Markanday, Adam Wharton and Semir Telalović were on the scoresheet. Jon Dahl Tomasson made five changes from the side that fell to an embarrassing 4-1 defeat to West Bromwich Albion last week, as Aynsley Pears returned from injury between the posts, as Leopold Wahlstedt was taken out of the firing line. There were also returns to the starting side for talismanic attacker, Sammie Szmodics and first-choice right-back, Harry Pickering, who both returned from illness, whilst Sam Gallagher grabbed his first start since the 2-1 home win over Middlesbrough back in September. The fifth change saw Ben Chrisene line up for his Ewood Park bow, as Scott Wharton, Andrew Moran, Arnór Sigurðsson and Harry Leonard all dropped to the bench, alongside the Swedish goalkeeper.
As the Ewood Park crowd began to increase periodically despite the freezing weather, it was Rovers who got the contest underway as they began their first of four consecutive home fixtures as they hoped to start a positive run.
The game started incredibly well for Rovers as they managed to score the first goal in the game, for the first time since the New Year’s Day fixture against Rotherham United as Adam Wharton got his boyhood side ahead as Huddersfield Town essentially handed the ball to the young midfielder on a plate. Wharton’s high press saw him intercept a loose pass from Jonathan Hogg, before gliding into the open space left by the split defence as he coolly guided the ball into the bottom right-hand corner for 1-0!to
As the momentum increased in Rovers’ favour, Sam Gallagher was played in as he was played inside before firing a shot towards goal via his right-foot, but he couldn’t angle his effort on target as it deflected into the side-netting via a Huddersfield Town body.
The subsequent corner was only cleared as far as Harry Pickering who sent it back whence it came as Dominic Hyam tried to guide a header in to double Rovers’ lead, but Lee Nicholls was on-hand to keep it 1-0.
In the 18th minute, Rovers were hit with a big blow as they were forced into an early change, as Hayden Carter went down injured following the Hyam chance, as Scott Wharton was drafted in to partner the Rovers skipper in the heart of defence.
Come the 23rd minute, Rovers again forced to pick the bones out of another conceded set-piece goal as Michał Helik leapt highest in the box to flick on a Sorba Thomas corner, as Huddersfield managed to equalise the scoreline. With Rovers lining up with a bit more height than usual, following the introductions of Gallagher and Chrisene, the Polish defender was cute enough to gravitate away from his marker in Gallagher and time his leap to perfection as he flicked the ball inside the far-post to level the scoring at 1-1.
Amidst a lovely heart-warming 37th minute applause in memory of life-long fan Glenn Entwistle, who sadly recently passed away, the Rovers fans were soon up in arms as there were intense cries for a penalty after Sam Gallagher was seemingly brought down in the area after latching onto a Sammie Szmodics through ball, but referee James Linington waved the appeals away.
The cards were out in the 39th minute as Sondre Tronstad was the first player of the afternoon to be booked.
Rovers looked completely lost moments later as Huddersfield hit them on the break after Josh Koroma managed to skip past the entire Rovers backline and have half of the field to himself as he and Jack Rudoni broke forwards against the retreating Rovers defence. Despite some blue and white bodies getting back, Huddersfield were virtually only up against Pears as Koroma fed Rudoni who somehow managed to skew his point-blank effort at goal wide of the target.
As the 45th minute ticked over on the clock, a minimum of seven minutes were allocated onto the end of the half, to make up for the stoppage of Carter’s injury, alongside a few other niggles that required attention.
The half’s final act before intermission came in the fifth minute of the extra-time, which saw Jake Garrett play a one-two before cutting inside onto his left-foot inside the box as his effort crashed against the side-netting, despite his appeals for a corner as the whistle was soon blown a few moments later.
The Rovers players would have been forgiven if tempers had flared in the dressing room at the break, given the manner of the Terriers’ goal and the main goal-gaping chance they had manufactured. Jon Dahl Tomasson would have been quick to remind his side of their dominance of the ball and encourage them to continue their fine control of the ball, despite the obvious fallacy of the counter-attack being available for the visitors.
Darren Moore’s half-time reaction would have been of delight, as his side had shown character to come back into the game despite their early mistake putting Rovers ahead. The ex-Sheffield Wednesday promotion-winning manager would have been praising his side for their defensive resilience in being able to quell a lot of Rovers’ chances, by either their good positioning or by putting their bodies on the line.
Once the sides returned to the field, it was the visitors who got proceedings back underway as they were looking for their first victory since – ironically – beating Rovers, 3-0, on Boxing Day.
Four minutes into the second-half and Adam Wharton was looking to replicate his first-half heroics as he looked to capitalise on a loose ball to grab a brace, but his second-half effort deflected behind for a corner.
In the 54th minute, Rovers’ goalscorer was on-hand to take a corner which was headed out as far as Tronstad whose eventual strike on the half-volley was skewed wide of the near-post.
Four minutes later, Huddersfield made their first change of the game as Bojan Radulović replaced Josh Koroma.
In the 64th minute, just as Huddersfield had stormed down the right-hand side and squandered an opportunity to take the lead, Harry Pickering saw his hamstring go as he came across to challenge Sorba Thomas. That forced Rovers into a change, which saw two new arrivals as Joe Rankin-Costello replaced the stricken Pickering, whilst Arnór Sigurðsson took the place of Ben Chrisene.
In the 65th minute, Jonathan Hogg was booked after he brought down Sammie Szmodics.
A second Terriers change came in the 67th minute with David Kasumu replacing Chelsea loanee, Alex Matos.
Moments after the change, Terriers substitute, Bojan Radulović was fed through in the box as he had all the time in the world to pick his spot, but a fine save from Aynsley Pears kept Rovers in the game and the scores level.
The 70th minute saw Rovers make their final two changes as Andrew Moran replaced Jake Garrett, whilst Semir Telalović took the placed of Sam Gallagher.
Four minutes later, Joe Rankin-Costello had a pop at goal but his effort was easily tracked and claimed by Nicholls.
The 76th minute should have seen Huddersfield take the lead as Kasumu broke down the right-hand side and exposed Rovers’ unbalanced defensive line. As he broke into the box, he somehow managed to miss the target as he dragged his shot wide of the far-post.
Moments later, Sigurðsson had an effort from the edge of the box easily saved by Nicholls as Rovers continued to knock on a door that never looked like opening.
Goalscorer Helik was the next to try and grab a late lead for either side, as a switch fell to the giant centre-back on the volley, but his effort flashed across the face of goal and went behind for a goal-kick.
Joe Rankin-Costello was again looking like Rovers’ best attacking threat as the final whistle edged near as he saw his 89th minute shot blocked and bounce to Brittain who decided a shot from outside the box would be a better idea than crossing it back in for a forward, as Huddersfield were awarded a goal-kick.
As five minutes were added onto the end of the game, once the clock hit 90 minutes, Bojan Radulović was soon booked, in the 91st minute for dissent after arguing with the official.
With 93 minutes gone, Callum Brittain looked to cut the ball back from the byline into a busy six-yard box for Szmodics to tap home a late winner, yet the league’s top scorer couldn’t react quick enough as the pass deflected off a defender, and out for a goal-kick via the shin of the attacker.
The game’s final act saw Rovers squander a late opportunity. After Adam Wharton slide through Joe Rankin-Costello who was marauding forwards, his first touch popped the ball up before he attempted a left-footed volley whilst off-balance, but the substitute couldn’t pull off a spectacular finish as the ball flew over the crossbar, as the final whistle was soon blown.
A performance that matched the weather conditions – freezing. Rovers never even looked like scoring a second, in all honesty with the five minutes of added time bringing forwards the most urgency that Rovers showed throughout the whole afternoon. Their defensive unit looked completely exposed by the pace of Huddersfield’s frontline, particularly that of ex-Rover Sorba Thomas who seemingly played the game of his life in both fixtures against his previous temporary employers.
Rovers during the closing stages looked completely unbalanced in their defensive line, with what started looking like a three-at-the-back, ending up in a free-for-all with Scott Wharton at left-back, with Rovers looking ridiculously exposed. Despite Jon Dahl Tomasson opting for a shake-up in his line-up, Rovers looked really lethargic and out of attacking ideas.
After chalking up a point, Rovers sit in 17th place after 28 games with 33 points and a negative goal-difference of -6.
Rovers now have three consecutive games on home turf, starting with the Emirates FA Cup Fourth Round tie against Wrexham on Monday 29th January, at 7:30pm, which is live on BBC Wales. After that, Queens Park Rangers are the first side to visit Ewood in February with Martí Cifuentes’ side arriving on Saturday 3rd February at 3pm before hosting Stoke City, a week later, on Saturday 10th February at 3pm.
