A valiant comeback by Rovers, saw their efforts end in heartbreak, after Callum Wilson’s 95th minute header, compiled with the dismissal of Derrick Williams for deliberate handball, led to Rovers crashing out of the Carabao Cup, in the 3rd Round.
Tony Mowbray rung in the changes for the trip to Bournemouth, as a change in formation, as well as personnel was on the cards. Rovers swapped their traditional 4-2-3-1 formation for a more cautious 5-3-2 – a favourite of Tony Mowbray – which came alongside 6 changes to the side that beat Stoke City, 3-2, on Saturday. Corry Evans, Richie Smallwood, Elliott Bennett, Bradley Dack and Danny Graham didn’t travel with the rest of the squad and were replaced by debutant Jack Rodwell, Ben Brereton – who was making his first start in Blue and White, Craig Conway – who was making his 500th club career appearance, Joe Rothwell, Kasey Palmer and Adam Armstrong, respectively.
With Mowbray electing for the 5-3-2, this saw Jack Rodwell slot in besides Darragh Lenihan and Derrick Williams at the heart of the defence, as he looked to impress in his first game of senior football since 16th September 2017.
Jermain Defoe got the game underway, as Rovers were backed by around 500 fans in the East Stand, who did their best to roar on their players at kick-off.
With less than a minute on the clock, those 500 Rovers fans thought they were in dreamland, after Ben Brereton had the ball in the back of the net, after latching onto Kasey Palmer’s through ball. Sadly, for them and the team, the linesman ruled the goal out due to offside, which has since been debated by fans of both sides.
Bournemouth nearly matched Rovers’ fast start, after a cross into the box led to Jack Simpson having an opportunity to put his side ahead. A cross into the Rovers box saw Simpson leap highest, before seeing his subsequent header fly over Raya’s crossbar.
On the 6th minute, Rovers again had a chance to go ahead through Ben Brereton, but the Nottingham Forest loanee, failed to convert. A burst forward by Kasey Palmer saw him slip Armstrong through. The former Newcastle man then played in a deep cross which deflected into the path of Ben Brereton, whose subsequent effort was poked past the post, which resulted in a Bournemouth goal-kick.
It didn’t take long for the deadlock to be broken, as on the 15th minute, former Burnley winger, Junior Stanislas put the home side 1-0 up, with a venomous volley into the top left-hand corner of Raya’s goal. A cross into the box by Simon Francis, saw Rovers’ defence at sea, as they failed to stop the original cross, or close Stanislas down in time. The winger wasted no time in taking a touch, as he sweetly connected with the bouncing ball, which zipped past the despairing Raya and nestled into the top corner of the net, as Stanislas wheeled away in celebration of his first goal after a long injury layoff.
On the 30th minute, Rovers nearly levelled the scoring through Darragh Lenihan. After some good play by Adam Armstrong to earn a corner, Darragh Lenihan got himself on the end of the set-piece, in an attempt to draw Rovers level, prior to the half-time break. He ghosted in at the back post but couldn’t muster the necessary power needed to guide his header beyond Artur Boruc, who earnt himself a goal-kick.
3 minutes after Lenihan’s header, Defoe nearly got his side, a second. Simon Francis was seemingly unstoppable down the right-hand side, and he eventually managed to get himself down the byline and into a crossing position. Once he put his floated cross in, the England international rose highest in the box to meet the ball, but his header was well saved by Raya.
With Bournemouth ramping up the pressure, Raya had to, once again, deny Defore from making it 2-0, on the 38th minute. Goalscorer Stanislas, crossed the ball into Defoe who tried his luck once more, but once again, David Raya was equal to the forward.
After 2 minutes of added time were added onto the end of the first-half, referee Simon Hooper called an end to the game, which had seen Rovers create very little.
With the team-talks ongoing during the break, Eddie Howe would have been pleased with his sides’ performance and would have been calling on them to continue their domination of the football, especially down the wings, where Rovers seemed the most vulnerable.
Tony Mowbray, on the other hand, would have been frustrated with the way his side had played in the first-half, and would have been calling for a reaction, in order to give the travelling fans their money’s worth.
Rovers restarted the game, in the second-half, and they nearly levelled the scoring through Adam Armstrong, on the 48th minute. An impressive run through the heart of the Bournemouth midfield, by Jack Rodwell, saw the former Everton man set up Adam Armstrong, who used his pace to close down on goal. Once he had created a shooting angle, Armstrong hit a low strike, which trickled past Boruc’s far post and ended up behind the net, rather than in it.
10 minutes after Armstrong’s miss, the home side were awarded, what looked like to be a soft penalty, after Ibe looked to have gone down easily after bursting past Lenihan, just inside the penalty area. With the penalty given, it was Ibe who shouldered the responsibility of the spot-kick. After grabbing the ball, the former Liverpool man coolly despatched the penalty to the right-hand side of the goal, as he sent Raya the opposite way, to put his side, 2-0 to the good.
From the goal, Mowbray reacted by changing formation. He replaced Jack Rodwell with Harrison Reed, and changed his system to the more familiar 4-2-3-1, which saw Reed take up a central midfield position.
Seconds after being introduced, Reed nearly found himself on the scoresheet, as he hit an effort from 20-yards out that skimmed past the post.
With the clock on 63 minutes, Rovers manged to pull one back and get themselves back into the game at 2-1, courtesy of Craig Conway, who scored on his 500th club career appearance. The Scot’s closing down, saw him dispossess Jefferson Lerma, before striking a low shot from just outside the penalty area, which Boruc failed to get behind, as the ball went past his outstretched hands and nestled into the bottom left-hand corner of the goal.
Directly after the goal, Mowbray introduced Daniel Butterworth, in-place of Kasey Palmer.
With 20 minutes left on the clock, Bournemouth shuffled their pack, as they introduced Marc Pugh and former Rover Josh King, both of whom replaced Lys Mousset and goalscorer, Junior Stanislas.
On the 71st minute, Rovers were offered the opportunity to draw the scoring level again, after Tyrone Mings’ reckless challenge in the penalty area, gave Adam Armstrong the opportunity to get Rovers well and truly, back into the game. With Mings picking up a yellow card for his troubles, Armstrong placed the penalty down on the spot and side-footed the ball home, via the post, to level the game up at 2-2 and to send the 500-odd travelling supporters, parallel to the goal, wild.
A couple of minutes after Armstrong’s penalty, Eddie Howe thought he would gamble by risking his main forward, as his final change saw Jermain Defore depart and be replaced by Callum Wilson.
Lenihan was soon booked in the 77th minute, after fouling Wilson, just inside of the Rovers half.
As Butterworth’s shot sailed over the bar on the 81st minute, Mowbray made his final change, which saw Ben Brereton be replaced by Lewis Travis.
With the prospect of penalties looming, Jordon Ibe produced a fine save from David Raya in the 84th minute, as the Spaniard remained strong and alert in the latter stages, to deny the winger his second goal of the night.
As 4 minutes of added time were called by the referee, the 93rd minute saw one of the most bizarre moments, probably ever seen in British football, as Derrick Williams was dismissed due to deliberate handball. The Irishman, received a pass from Lenihan, and despite controlling it well, seemed to lose his footing after turning to face his own goal, after being pressured by Wilson. When slipping, the defender – for some reason – picked up the ball, to try and con the referee, and deny Wilson a clear 1-on-1. As a result of his split-second decision making, Williams was forced to leave his teammates to fight for an extra couple of minutes, in the hope that the game would finish as a draw and go straight to penalties.
From the subsequent free-kick, the Bournemouth pressure eventually resulted in Raya pulling off a brilliant save to deny Simpson on the volley, as Bournemouth were awarded a last-gasp, 95th minute corner. From the corner, the home side won the game, as the cross into the box, was flicked on by Callum Wilson, who saw his header beat David Raya and hit the back of the net, to make it 3-2, as cheers of relief echoed around the Vitality Stadium.
As the Bournemouth players ended their celebrations and returned to the centre-circle for kick-off, referee Simon Hooper immediately ended the game following Rovers’ restart, as he called an end to a second-half which was much livelier than the first.
After being dumped out of the cup in such late circumstances, Rovers’ attentions can now be fixated onto the league, until the FA Cup begins for the Blues, in January. Despite some negativity surrounding the result and the red card, the game showed elements of positivity that would have certainly pleased Mowbray and the fans. The main element has to be Rovers’ fighting spirit and their ability to go from, a team with no hope, to a team clawing back a 2-goal deficit. Williams’ handball – which saw him pick up the ball whilst play was ongoing – was a decision which many will question, however it was a decision which he should have never made in the first place, as he had, both Lenihan and Raya as passing options.
Rovers’ next game sees them return to Championship action as they host Nottingham Forest – without both Derrick Williams (suspension) and Ben Brereton (ineligible due to loan) available for selection – at Ewood Park on Saturday 29th September at 3pm. Following that clash, the Blues again host a team in red, as Chris Wilder’s Sheffield United come to Ewood, on Wednesday 3rd October, with kick-off for that game, scheduled for 7:45pm. Once their double header at home is complete, Mowbray’s men make the short trip to Bolton, where they face Phil Parkinson’s side on Saturday 6th October, with kick-off scheduled to be at 5:30pm, as a result of the game being covered on Sky Sports.
