Rovers rounded off their consolidation campaign back in the Sky Bet Championship with the result that kicked-off their season, a 2-2 draw. The Blues were able to earn their final point of the season which saw them finish the highest of the promoted teams that emerged from League 1 in the 2017-18 season.
Tony Mowbray’s final team selection of the 2018-19 campaign saw only a single change to the team that watched on as Norwich City celebrated their promotion into the Premier League, at Carrow Road, 8 days ago. Jack Rodwell departed the squad, with rumours over his contractual situation with the club rife, whilst Corry Evans was drafted in to replace the former England international midfielder.
Prior to Swansea City, who were backed by an impressive 863 fans – considering the 12:30pm kick-off time – were able to start the game at kick-off, Danny Graham was presented with the Player of the Season awards, whilst Joe Rothwell was handed the Goal of the Season award, for his spectacular strike against Nottingham Forest at the City Ground in mid-April, after the pair had topped the fans’ online polls.
Soon after the presentations, Graham Potter’s side got the ball rolling in what was a lively Ewood Park crowd.
Rovers started brightly after only 2 minutes as Adam Armstrong picked up the ball out on the right-hand side and used his pace to get beyond his opposing full-back, before drilling in a low cross that fell to the feet of former Swansea forward Danny Graham, who saw his effort blocked before being cleared.
A few minutes later, Swansea had a half-chance of their own as Declan John fed Courtney Baker-Richardson at the near-post, but the 23-year old’s efforted spun behind for a corner, after taking a slight deflection off a Rovers man. Unfortunately for the Swans however, Rovers soon cleared the corner with ease.
Despite that quick start, the game fizzled out into a possessional affair for the opening 20 minutes of the game as both teams equally held possession and tried to break through their opposing backline, to no avail.
The game soon burst to life on the 19th minute as Danny Graham and Bradley Dack combined, for the incumbent Player of the Season to feed his predecessor. Although the ball was an accurate one, Dack, despite being able to get ahead of his marker, saw his shot deflect behind for a corner.
That corner was taken short by Joe Rothwell to Dack who released a deep cross that was nodded up into the air by Mike van der Hoorn before dropping back down into the 6-yard box. The ball dropped into position for visiting ‘keeper Kristoffer Nordfeldt to punch, but the Swedish international’s swipe at the ball only saw it fall as far as Rothwell who hit a cross-cum-shot which again looped up into the air, but this time fell onto the head of Darragh Lenihan, after Nordfeldt missed his punch, before rolling across the line to give Rovers the 1-0 lead, after being awarded the goal by goal-line technology. Whilst the goal-line technology was – seemingly for the first time – being used to award the Rovers goal, the referee who was in-charge of the affair was Australian, Jarred Gillett, who had recently shot to prominence following a video of him officiating his final A-League match with a public microphone attached. Although the official being in England to continue his studies at university, he certainly gave this game a breath of fresh air that supporters needed, in contrast with the standard officials of the division, which started with the use of technology.
Away from the referee, Rovers’ lead only lasted for 3 minutes as the Welsh side were able to draw back on level terms after the Blues had temporarily gone down to 10 men, after Elliott Bennett was forced to vacate his position at right-back and receive treatment on the sideline, which forced Lewis Travis to slot in at right fullback. Declan John and Wayne Routledge combined well to tangle the Rovers defence and the retreating midfield, as the latter dinked in a near-post cross which saw Courtney Baker-Richardson sneak ahead of Derrick Williams and glance a header into the back of the net to equalise at 1-1, as Jayson Leutwiler remained rooted to the spot.
Rovers soon returned to their full compliment of 11 men, but without Elliott Bennett as the versatile captain for the day saw his season end due to his injury, as he was precautionarily withdrawn after 28 minutes, with Travis moving into right-back, as Jacob Davenport, who was making his senior debut for Rovers after signing last summer, came on for Bennett to fill in, in midfield, as the armband was passed over to Graham.
After half-an-hour was played, Dack was able to carve open a shooting opportunity with some good footwork but saw his shot veer wide of its intended target.
Swansea took momentum from their equaliser and pushed on to go ahead on the 35th minute as Oli McBurnie, the away side’s top scorer, extended his tally from 21 to 22 with a powerful header from just inside the Rovers box. Former Rovers loanee Matt Grimes stood over a free-kick wide on the left-hand side, before floating it in towards McBurnie who jinked away from the Rovers backline and towards the ball as he expertly guided the ball, using the pace from Grimes’ cross, past the slow to react Leutwiler and into the bottom left-hand corner to put the Swans ahead at 2-1.
The Welsh side nearly made it 3-1 had it not been for the trailing leg of Leutwiler, who did well to scramble across his goal and provide a reflex save from Baker-Richardson’s point-blank effort.
As the break approached, Dack was shown a booking for a rash tackle on Swansea’s left-back, Declan John.
Prior to Jarred Gillett calling for the break, the official signalled for 3 minutes of time to be added on which allowed Swansea City to continue dominating their late-half pressure, whilst frustrating Rovers prior to the half-time whistle.
Whilst the game had little to nothing riding on it, bar potential final league positions, both managers would have undoubtedly taken their half-time chats with their players as serious as they did on the opening day of the season, in order to try and encourage them to end their campaign on the highest possible note.
In the home dressing room, Tony Mowbray would have noted to his players, that he was impressed with how they had started the game and that he was looking forward to them executing the same style of play and gameplan in the second period in order to try and overturn the scoreline. Despite that positivity, the manager would have been frustrated with his side’s defensive ‘Achilles heel’ that had plagued them since the opening day, considering the manner in which both goals had gone in, with the McBurnie effort in particular standing out as dire defending.
Across the hallway, Graham Potter would have had a not too distance team-talk to that of Mowbray, due to his team’s impressive retaining of possession and their ability to take advantage of Rovers’ foibles in order to find the back of the net, as they had done during Baker-Richardson’s goal. The former Östersunds boss, however would have noted that, despite the sparks of positivity from his side, they had been susceptible to Rovers’ attacks. Additionally, Potter would have been frustrated with the standard of his goalkeeper, after the Swede failed to assertively deal with the crosses and rebounds that led to Lenihan’s opener.
Once the teams were given their respective lectures, it was Rovers who got the game back underway, with the intent of getting an equaliser, and then potentially a winner, firmly at the forefront of their minds.
It took less than 120 seconds from the restart for the equaliser to appear, thanks to Rovers’ almost-telepathic strike duo of Danny Graham and the finisher, Bradley Dack who notched his 18th goal of the season, in all competitions. After some good closing down by Rovers, the ball broke free to Williams who supplied Dack with a perfectly-weighted pass, as Graham was able to simultaneously take 3 defenders out of the game with a clever dummy that left Dack only needing to find a finish to equalise. Thankfully for the home support, Dack did just that as he took a touch to kill the ball before driving it past Nordfeldt into the bottom right-hand corner to level the scoring at 2-2.
Rovers nearly went back ahead at 3-2 as Armstrong’s cross fell to Dack, who half-volleyed the ball inches wide of the net as the ball bounced off the post, and narrowly missed Nordfeldt on the rebound, before being cleared.
As the clock hit the 61st minute mark, Swansea decided to make their first alteration of the afternoon as Yan Dhanda was introduced in-place of goalscorer Courtney Baker-Richardson.
In retaliation, Rovers made a change of their own, 5 minutes later, on the 66th minute as Craig Conway, who came on for his 200th – and potentially final – appearance for Rovers, took the armband off the temporary skipper Danny Graham, who was withdrawn in his place.
On the 69th minute, Cameron Carter-Vickers entered the referee’s book after the American on-loan centre-half hacked down Armstrong from around 30-yards out. The subsequent free-kick was taken by Conway, whose crossed effort was aimed at Williams at the back-post, however the Republic of Ireland international was unable to connect with the ball, as it trickled behind for a goal-kick.
The 74th minute saw Rovers make their final alteration of the game as Corry Evans left the field which allowed for the arrival of Harry Chapman, who was making his second debut back at Ewood Park, after previously making his first appearance at the ground, as a loanee in last season’s 4-1 league victory over MK Dons, back in August 2017.
3 minutes after the change, Rovers crafted a great opportunity for Adam Armstrong after Amari’i Bell and Joe Rothwell combined well to feed the forward, however despite the play, the forward’s attempt from close-range was blocked and soon cleared.
With the ball out of play on the 79th minute, Swansea gained the perfect opportunity to make their second substitution of the game as they removed George Byers and replaced him with Joel Asoro.
Jacob Davenport on the 80th minute, nearly bagged himself a debut goal in spectacular fashion as he almost volleyed home from Craig Conway’s cleared corner. After Conway’s corner was nodded away by Oli McBurnie, the ball fell to Davenport who struck it cleanly, first-time. Despite Davenport almost catching the ‘keeper out, the Swedish international shot-stopper was agile enough to get down and palm the ball away from goal to keep his side in the game.
3 minutes later, Rovers nearly earnt a spectacular winner as Conway hit a magnificently weighted diagonal ball into Armstrong’s path who took the ball down brilliantly before using his pace to accelerate past a defender and into a goalscoring position. After leaving his marker trailing in his wake, Armstrong took a touch to divert the path of the ball inwards, to his right, before trying to curl the ball past Nordfeldt from just inside the penalty area. Although the whole move was spectacular, Armstrong couldn’t find the precise finish he needed to edge Rovers back ahead, as the Swede held on well to the effort.
The Swans’ final change of the game, and indeed their season, came on the 87th minute as Wayne Routledge was withdrawn and replaced by former Premier League winner, Nathan Dyer – who secured a medal whilst on loan at Leicester City during their fairy tale run to the top-flight title.
Prior to 4 minutes of added time being added by the fourth official and Jarred Gillett, Harry Chapman was able to speed down the touchline, before getting to the byline and releasing a shot that forced Nordfeldt into producing a smart save, to deny the winger a goal on his return.
Chapman’s effort at goal turned out to be the final chance of the campaign, as the whistle soon blew to bring the curtain down on what was, in the grand scheme of things, a successful season for Rovers following their return to the Sky Bet Championship.
Briefly touching upon the game, itself, which was in truth, a dead-rubber, both sides professionally came out and gave both sets of fans value for their money, as a result of the 4-goal thriller. Although the defending in truth didn’t live up to the adjective of ‘art’, the attacking play that both teams displayed, particularly Rovers during the second-half, was very impressive – something Rovers and Tony Mowbray will be hoping to improve upon and carry on into the 2019-20 season.
Prior to switching our attentions to 2019-20, however, Bradley Dack in particular, must be commended for a fine debut year in the Championship, which resulted in him finishing the campaign with 15 league goals and 18 overall, which was marginally superior to Player of the Season, Danny Graham’s tally, who notched 15 league goals and 16 overall.
Sticking with end of season traditions, following the final whistle, the team and staff thanked the supporters with a lap of appreciation around the pitch, which, unlike last year, didn’t involve a pitch invasion.
As the summer and transfer window approaches, everyone in Blue and White will be hoping that Tony Mowbray can build on the solid foundations he and his staff have created both on and off the field, since arriving in February 2017, in order to strengthen the squad with the additions it requires in order to potentially push for a top 10 or higher finish next season, and with the fixtures for next season set to be released on Thursday, 20th June 2019, all the fans will be hoping for a manageable string of games in order to bleed the new signings in. Furthermore, alongside the progression of the squad, the freezing and reduction of season ticket prices to very respectable and affordable amounts will surely turn a few of the absent heads in order to give the players, on their return, the support they need and deserve for the upcoming season.
With the season wrapping up to a nice conclusion, due to Rovers ironically ending the season in the same vain they started it – with a 2-2 draw – the final league table (shown below), will come as some sort of comfort for many of the Rovers fans who, come August 2018, may have been worrying about how their team would fare in a division that is now ridden with money and Premier League quality. Despite that potential worry, Rovers were able to hold their own against the ‘big boys’ of the divisions, with home victories against Leeds United, West Bromwich Albion and Derby County – all of whom have secured playoffs spots – all springing to mind.
