Rovers increased their lead at the top of the Sky Bet League One table to 5 points ahead of 2nd placed Shrewsbury Town, after comfortably dispatching Blackpool at Ewood Park, with a 3-0 victory, which included a brace by February Player of the Month, Adam Armstrong.
Tony Mowbray used his usual pre-match interview with the clubs’ media team to remind his players that they had to be at their best in the last 10 games of the season, if they wanted to achieve their goals of an immediate return to the Championship, come May.
The team which the 54-year old picked to start the second Lancashire Derby in 6 days saw one change to the side that drew 2-2 with Wigan Athletic last Sunday. Jack Payne was introduced into the starting line-up in-place of Corry Evans, who dropped to the bench for this encounter, as Mowbray decided to go with a more attacking midfield.
Rovers kicked off the game with the intent of extending their unbeaten run to 7 games, whilst Blackpool, were also in a similar position, as they came into the game having not tasted defeat in 5.
Rovers started the half brightly and in good possession of the ball, which allowed them to create the first opening of the game inside the first 5 minutes. A long ball was played up towards Danny Graham, who did well to hold off his marker and nod the ball into Bradley Dack’s path. Dack then took no hesitation in striking the ball at goal from around 25-yards out, but the Blackpool ‘keeper Joe Lumley did well to deny the 24-year old.
6 minutes later, Rovers had a corner which was taken by Dack. The midfielder lofted the ball into the box which saw his cross met by Derrick Williams. Unfortunately for Rovers however, Williams was unable to keep his header down as the ball flew over the bar and out for a Blackpool goal-kick.
Less than 60 seconds later, Blackpool created their first opening of the game through former Rover, Nathan Delfouneso. The ball from the goal-kick found its way through the Rovers defence and into the path of Delfouneso who broke free in the area. The forward then shot at goal, but he was denied through a solid save by David Raya.
On the 16th minute, Rovers were forced into an early change as Ryan Nyambe limped off the field and was replaced by Corry Evans, who slotted into the midfield besides Richie Smallwood, which forced Elliott Bennett into the right-back position for the rest of the match.
After a lengthy spell with both sides trying to break the other down, with no end product, Bradley Dack nearly opened the scoring on the 34th minute as he glided past 3 visiting players before releasing a shot at goal which looked destined to find the back of the net. Luckily for Blackpool however, Clark Robertson was well positioned to clear the ball out for a corner – which came to nothing – before it reached the net.
2 minutes after Dack’s opportunity, Adam Armstrong had one of his own. The forward was played through after making a good curved run, in order to stay onside on the edge of the penalty area. The Newcastle loanee was played in by Corry Evans, but the forward couldn’t make the chance count as he blazed over after taking a touch.
On the 38th minute, Armstong and Evans combined again to create another chance for Rovers. Richie Smallwood played a diagonal ball into Armstrong who nodded the ball down into the path of Evans. Evans, who made a late surge into the box, then connected to the ball with his head, but despite the Rovers dominance, they couldn’t make their efforts count as Lumley, again saved the effort on goal.
With half-time approaching and the sides deadlocked, the referee, Lee Probert, had called for 2 minutes to be added onto the end of the first 45 minutes.
Inside the first minute of added time, Rovers were able to go 1-0 following a pinpoint, perfect delivery by Charlie Mulgrew, from the wide left, which bypassed the Blackpool wall and landed onto the head of Bradley Dack, who was able to glance the ball into the back of the net, to earn his 15th goal of the season and to give the Blues the lead.
As Lee Probert blew for half-time, the dressing rooms would have had mixed emotions following the late goal which saw Rovers head into the lead. Tony Mowbray would have been frustrated with his side – not for the performance – but for their lack of quality finishing, as Rovers could have entered the break at least 3 goals to the good. Gary Bowyer, on the other hand, was evidently frustrated at his players when the Rovers goal was scored and he would have no doubt taken that frustration with him into the dressing room.
After the players re-emerged for the second-half, it was Blackpool who got the game back underway, as they tried to get back into the game with the words of Bowyer ringing in their ears.
On the 52nd minute, the first chance of the half came as Charlie Mulgrew whipped in another inviting free-kick into the Blackpool area which caused some havoc; unlike the goal however, it was Derrick Williams who got on the end of the cross, and like his effort in the first-half, the ball found itself in the stand, rather than the net.
11 minutes after Williams’ attempt, Adam Armstrong created an effort on goal following a solo run and a give-and-go with the Rovers full-back. The ball was released from Rovers’ half on the break and brought down superbly by Armstrong as he led the Rovers counter-attack. As the blue and white bodies got forward, the striker played a one-two with Derrick Williams, before the forward skipped past a ‘Pool defender and ploughed his shot wide of the mark.
After the game was restarted with a goal-kick, Blackpool created their first chance of the half, through a combination of Colin Daniel and Kyle Vassell. The former got the ball out wide and crossed it onto the head of the latter who was unable to keep his header on target.
5 minutes after Blackpool failed to level the scoring, their misery was compounded as Rovers went up the other end and doubled their lead courtesy of a fabulous finish by February’s Player of the Month, Adam Armstrong, who got the goal his performance had deserved. Bradley Dack had combined well with the scorer to tee him up on the edge of the area, before Armstrong stroked the ball into the top right-hand corner of Lumley’s goal from the top of the box.
During the Rovers celebrations, Tony Mowbray made his final two substitutions, as he brought on Craig Conway for Jack Payne and Amari’i Bell for Bradley Dack. Gary Bowyer also shuffled his pack by introducing Daniel Agyei and Danny Philliskirk in-place of Kyle Vassell and Viv Solomon-Otabor respectively.
On the 82nd minute, Charlie Mulgrew lofted a free-kick into the box which was only cleared as far as Corry Evans, who was urged to shoot. The Northern Irishman obliged to the crowd’s calls for him to shoot, but saw his effort from around 30-yards well blocked.
4 minutes after Evans’ shot was blocked, Danny Graham had to put himself on the line and defend Rovers’ lead as he cleared a header from a Blackpool man off the line, after they had gained a corner and floated the ball into the box.
That goal-line clearance proved to be a crucial one for Rovers as it set them away for them to grab their third goal of the afternoon, courtesy of Adam Armstrong, who grabbed his brace. The ball found its way to Elliott Bennett who was on the overlap. The winger, turned right-back got to the by-line before playing the ball across goal and into the feet of Armstrong who provided a composed finish into the bottom left-hand corner of Lumley’s goal.
As the celebrations ensued, the referee called for 5 minutes of added time.
Inside 3 of those 5 minutes, Rovers were forced to finish the game with 10 men, as Danny Graham was taken off, having injured his ribs in a collision and with Rovers having made all three of their subs, they had to see out the game, a man light.
Thankfully for the 12,000-odd Rovers fans in the stadium, the side were able to clinch a solid, hard-earnt victory which extended their lead at the top of the table. With the side now full of confidence ahead of the 9 games that remain to the season, it will be interesting to see how the likes of Shrewsbury, Wigan and Rotherham react to Rovers’ continued fine form.
Speaking of the fellow promotion contenders, Shrewsbury beat Walsall 2-0, whilst Wigan snatched a late draw at home to Scunthorpe as they drew 3-3 whilst Rotherham, on the other hand fell to a defeat at home to Rochdale. This round of fixtures leaves the League One table looking like this; Rovers are top with 76 points from 37 games, Shrewsbury are 2nd with 71 points from 35 games, Wigan are 3rd with 68 points from 33 games, whilst Rotherham lag behind in 4th with 62 points from 35 games. With 9 games, at least, to play for – from Rovers’ perspective – the race for the League One title remains wide open.
With this victory and the vital three points solidly wrapped up, Rovers will be hoping to continue their fine form when they travel down to Gillingham on the 17th March. After that encounter, there’s a wait to see whether the away game at Doncaster Rovers on the 24th will be postponed due to potential international call-ups from within the Rovers ranks, if that game is postponed, then the next game – after Gillingham – would be Bradford City at Ewood Park on the 29th March.
