A ‘controlled’ performance by Rovers saw them extend their winning run to four consecutive games, as they only needed a single goal – courtesy of an Adam Armstrong strike from range – to edge past a Derby County side whose away woes continued, with the Rams having failed to pick up an away victory since the opening day of the campaign.
There was a sense of quiet confidence around the expectant Ewood Park crowd following the release of the teamsheet an hour prior to kick-off, as Tony Mowbray had named his third unchanged team in a row, something the gaffer had not done since early 2019, when he named the same team for three games in a row – 2-0 and 3-0 wins over Ipswich Town and Hull City, respectively and the 5-2 thrashing by Brentford. As a reminder, the Rovers side that lined-up in their traditional 4-2-3-1 against last season’s playoff finalists was: Christian Walton; Ryan Nyambe, Tosin Adarabioyo, Darragh Lenihan, who captained the side and Stewart Downing, who continued his fine form at left-back; the tenacious duo of Corry Evans and Lewis Travis packed the midfield with energy; Joe Rothwell, who was making his 50th Rovers league appearance, and Adam Armstrong were either side of the in-form Bradley Dack, who slotted in nicely, behind partner-in-crime, Danny Graham.
Following the pre-match pleasantries, it was Rovers who won the coin toss as they took the kick-off and focussed their radars towards the net in-front of the Darwen End, as they looked to continue their mesmerising form in order to, not only extend their winning run, but to narrow the gap down to the playoffs.
The first opportunity of the game fell to the home side, as in-form talisman, Bradley Dack, came within inches of giving Rovers an early lead after just four minutes. Corry Evans picked up the ball picked up the ball on the right-wing and drove inside before laying the ball off for Dack to run onto. The playmaker took a touch to jink away from Craig Forsyth before striking a low drive sped across the face of goal and spiralled behind for a goal-kick.
On the 11th minute, Adam Armstrong and Joe Rothwell combined for the latter to try his luck at goal. Armstrong used his pace to break forwards towards the Derby goal, before seeing Rothwell take charge of the situation after Armstrong laid the ball off to the former Oxford United midfielder. Although Rothwell netted the opener in this fixture last season, he was unable to make lightening strike twice, as his effort from the edge of the area was blocked and subsequently dealt with by Derby.
Eight minutes after Rothwell’s attempt was blocked, Derby were shown the first booking of the game, as former Rovers loanee Tom Lawrence – who was on the receiving end of jeers from the home crowd for both, his part in September’s drink-driving incident and for his miss of a sitter in the 2015 East Lancashire Derby, which Rovers went onto lose against Burnley – was given a yellow card, following a foul on Corry Evans.
Derby’s first chance of the game came on the 26th minute, when some sloppy play by the home side saw the visitors try their luck through former Arsenal defender, Krystian Bielik. With Rovers unable to retain possession, the ball rolled out to Bielik whose effort was deflected over the bar, however the subsequent corner led to nothing, as Rovers did well to avert the danger away from their goal.
Some good build-up play by Rovers on the 28th minute, coupled with a sprinkling of skill from Dack, saw the midfielder start and end the move. A pirouette in the middle of the park by Dack saw him slightly fortunate to come away with the ball, as he bamboozled Bielik before spraying the ball out wide, into the stride of Stewart Downing. The veteran did well to get down the flank before hitting in an early cross which evaded Armstrong, but was caught by Danny Graham, who just about managed to control, then slide tackle the ball away Lawrence, into the feet of Ryan Nyambe, who laid the ball off to Dack, whose strike from just outside the area dropped into the empty seats in the lower tier of the Darwen End.
Graham’s first and only sniff at goal in the first-half came on the 37th minute as he connected with Downing’s corner sweetly, only to see the wrong side of the net ruffle, as his nod from the near-post clattered into the side-netting, rather than sneaking in past on-loan Huddersfield Town ‘keeper, Ben Hamer.
Just prior to the added time being allocated by referee Oliver Langford, Adam Armstrong missed a golden chance to completely change both managers’ respective team-talks as Hamer made a fine stop to deny the 22-year old grabbing his fourth of the campaign. Some dallying on the ball by Bielik, coupled by pressure from Dack and Lewis Travis saw the latter disposes the Pole, as Rovers broke forward quickly. Travis had the each of the attacking trio alongside him but chose the safest option of sliding an open Armstrong through. The ‘wide striker’ had more time than he thought he did, as his first-time effort bobbled across the floor and bounced back out the way it came, after crashing off Hamer’s well-placed leg, as the ‘keeper, who was only making his second appearance for the Rams after making his debut in last Saturday’s 1-1 home draw to QPR, displayed his solid reflexes to deny Rovers a lead at the break.
Soon after Armstrong fluffed his lines, Mr. Langford called for the half to be ended, after nothing of note came of the single minute of time, he added onto the end of the first period.
As both sides settled into their changing rooms to be lectured over the next 15 minutes, both respective gaffers would have had slightly varying views of the first-half, but they would have been united by an overall sense of satisfaction, despite it being for different reasons.
Home boss, Tony Mowbray, would have been pleased that his side had started so positively and were looking to find the net as quickly as possible. Whilst Mowbray would have been pleased with the obvious attacking threat his talented side possessed, he would have also been delighted with the energy in his midfield that Travis and Evans displayed, as they marshalled the centre of the park, not allowing for the defence to be threatened by any close-range chances that would have potentially seen Derby take the lead. Of course, Mowbray would have been cautious of the clear threat that Derby had, but he would have also been encouraging his side and hoping that they could make their dominance pay.
In the visiting dressing room, Phillip Cocu – who was joined by Wayne Rooney as England’s all-time top goalscorer began his coaching journey prior to his player contract being triggered in January – would have been pleased that his side had remained resilient defensively and denied the overbearing Rovers side the lead. Whilst the former Barcelona midfielder would have been disappointed with the standard of passing within his team, with his side only racking up 81% to Rovers’ 83% in terms of pass success rate, as the Rams continuously and needlessly gave the ball away, which allowed Rovers to hit them on the break. The one solace the 49-year old could take was the fact that his side had come into the break level, however it would take a big ask from his players to defy their away day hoodoo in order to consign Rovers to what would only be their third home defeat of the campaign.
After both sides reappeared for the second-half, it was the visitors, who were backed by a strong contingency of 1,283 supporters, that restarted the game from the kick-off. The travelling fans would have been hoping that their team could use their explosive power off the bench in Jack Marriott, in order to get at a tiring – and at times fragile – Rovers defence in the hope of nicking a narrow win and end their away day disappointment.
The first chance of the half did come to the away side, as Martyn Waghorn teed up Bielik whose curling effort curled too much, as it started inside the post, and ended up on its outside, as Rovers were awarded a goal-kick.
That goal-kick started the move that would put parity between the two sides. Rovers were able to keep possession after Walton’s goal-kick, in order to build-up play that would eventually lead to them taking a deserved lead through Adam Armstrong. Rovers patiently knocked the ball around in the middle of the park, before Corry Evans played a midfield-splitting pass through into the feet of Adam Armstrong, who controlled the ball on the swivel with a fine first-touch which allowed him to use his pace to find a yard of space with a touch, before blasting the ball early from around 20-yards out, as he caught Hamer out early with an absolute howitzer that sent Ewood Park into raptures as the Geordie put the Blues 1-0 ahead.
Soon after the restart, on the hour mark, Evans saw yellow after infringing upon Bielik.
Six minutes after Evans’ booking, two substitutes entered the game – one from each side – as the visitors introduced Chris Martin, in-place of the Pole, Krystian Bielik, whilst Rovers brought on Sam Gallagher, who replaced Danny Graham.
Soon after the change, Derby turned to a more direct style of play which got them higher up the pitch. On the 69th minute, on-loan Everton midfielder Kieran Dowell struck a volley from close-range that left Ryan Nyambe seeing stars, as the Namibian valiantly blocked the effort with his face which left him dazed and requiring treatment.
On the 75th minute, Gallagher had an attempt at goal that was blocked by a defiant Derby body.
The 81st minute saw Cocu throw on his last two available substitutes as both Morgan Whittaker and Jack Marriott were introduced to the field of play, with Jayden Bogle and Martyn Waghorn being the withdrawn duo.
Rovers swiftly made a change of their own, only two minutes after Derby’s as Elliott Bennett was thrown on in order to help defensively down the right-wing, with Joe Rothwell being the departing individual.
As the 84th minute ticked onto the clock, Dack and Gallagher combined well in order for the substitute to set up Armstrong, who came within inches of grabbing his second and killing off the game. Dack lifted his head and dinked a ball over Craig Forsyth and Scott Malone, for Gallagher to run onto down the right-wing. The forward – who netted Rovers’ winner last Saturday in the 2-1 victory against Stoke City – did well to hit a low cross whilst in a speedy stride, however Armstrong failed to double his tally for the evening as Rams skipper Curtis Davies was well-placed to blocked the shot over the bar, as the captain conceded a corner that his side comfortably dealt with.
Rovers began racking up the chances during the closing stages of the tie as the latest attempt at goal came through Dack on the 86th minute. Elliott Bennett perfectly pinpointed a cross-field ball into the feet of Dack who tried his luck at goal after cutting inside, but Hamer was equal to his attempt, as the ‘keeper held on to avoid embarrassment of a spill.
Dack and Armstrong soon combined for the goalscorer to try and grab his second, but his 87th minute attempt was well blocked behind for a corner, that the away side again dealt with.
These missed opportunities by Rovers were looking like gilt-edged chances as Derby stormed forward on the 88th minute. Tom Lawrence, who hardly had a sniff all afternoon, nearly snatched an equaliser against his former loan club, but for Tosin Adarabioyo’s crucial interception, which stopped the visiting attack in its tracks, as the Manchester City loanee cleared the danger.
Rovers’ final substitution of the game came on the 89th minute as John Buckley was given a brief runout at the expense of Adam Armstrong, who departed the field to a standing ovation.
As 90 minutes hit the clock, referee Oliver Langford allocated an extra five minutes of time, which saw Derby earn a second wind.
The 93rd minute saw Jack Marriott spring to life as he glanced a header, from around 12-13-yards away from goal, wide of the mark.
The former Peterborough forward came agonisingly close to levelling the scoring at the death, but for the fantastic reactionary saves of Christian Walton, who may as well have spent the first 85 minutes of the game sat in one of the dozens of available seats in the Darwen End, given the lack of threat Derby imposed throughout the game. A long ball forward from Hamer due to a Derby free-kick saw the ball flicked on by Martin, into the path of Marriott, who connected sweetly with the ball via a snapshot on the turn, but Walton was quick and alert enough to get down to his right and deny the substitute attacker his second goal of the season, as roars of satisfaction and applause reverberated around Ewood Park.
That attempt by Marriott, proved to be the final action of the game as Oliver Langford soon triggered the release of mass celebrations on the pitch and the stands as Rovers managed to hold out for their fourth consecutive win, and also their fifth consecutive win over the Rams, with their last defeat to the Midlands club coming at Pride Park in February 2016, by a 1-0 scoreline.
This performance will no doubt be high up there when fans discuss which performance, they believed to be the best by their side, this season. Whilst many would categorise the home result against Brentford as the best thus far, this game, despite only having a single goal, showed that Rovers were capable of mixing in with the Championship ‘big boys’. Although the Rams have been extremely poor away from Pride Park this season and have lost a number of key players following the departure of Frank Lampard, there is no denying that the quality that remains within the Rams’ squad, is dangerous at any level. The clean sheet and the resilience at the end prove that Rovers have improved their defensive efforts within the latter stages of the game, with them potentially letting this game get away from them, had it been played last year. Whilst they should have come away from Ewood Park with more than the one goal they got, everyone in Blue and White would be encouraged by the fact that Rovers have kept the third most clean sheets in the division with six from 20 games played, behind Leeds, who had 11 and Nottingham Forest and Brentford who are joint second with seven.
Hilariously, Rovers started the season bottom with no points after their opening two games were played, which created anxiety across the town. Now, they sit 10th – after Sunday’s game which saw West Bromwich Albion thrash Swansea City, 5-1 – with 30 points and a neutral goal-difference of zero, after 20 games played. Whilst the playoffs are only two points away, Rovers and their fans must remain grounded and focussed on the busy December schedule in order to push on and achieve the results that continue their fine form and help cement them as serious playoff contenders.
Looking towards said schedule, Rovers and Tony Mowbray are set to be trapped for a week together as the squad travel down to South Wales to face Swansea City, which is available to watch via the Sky Sports Red Button, on Wednesday 11th December with kick-off pencilled in for 7:45pm. After that encounter with the out-of-form Swans, Rovers remain down south as they prepare and train ahead of their weekend encounter at Ashton Gate against Bristol City on Saturday 14th December at 3pm. Following their tiring week on the road, the Blues get a eight day rest ahead of their next fixture, which sees them return back to Ewood Park to face relegation-threatened Wigan Athletic in-front of the Sky Sports cameras on Monday 23rd December, with kick-off scheduled for 7:45pm.
