It was late heartbreak for Rovers as they tumbled out of the FA Cup at the 3rd Round stage for the third successive season, after a 90th minute winner by Birmingham City’s Jérémie Bela saw Pep Clotet’s side triumph at the St. Andrew’s Trillion Trophy Stadium, as the hosts booked their place in Monday’s 4th Round draw.
Despite the league action taking a break, gaffer Tony Mowbray didn’t plan on giving his first-team players the day off as only three changes were made to the side that fell to defeat by a 3-2 scoreline on New Year’s Day away at Nottingham Forest. Jayson Leutwiler, Bradley Johnson – who was making his 550th career appearance – and Sam Gallagher all came into the side as Christian Walton, Corry Evans and Lewis Travis dropped out of the starting side, with the former pair completely out of the squad.
The game – which was the third and final time the sides locked horns this season – kicked-off at the unusual time of 12:31pm, after a minute was taken by both sets of supporters in order to take consideration for their and their friends’ mental health, following the initiative that the FA introduced for all the 3rd ties.
Rovers created the first opportunity of the game only 120 seconds after the kick-off, as Amari’i Bell linked well with Adam Armstrong, as the former slid the latter through down the line. Armstrong did well to control the ball and beat David Davis for pace, before drilling in his low cross, which Birmingham did well to clear before they were pressured by the Rovers frontline.
Whilst the game started positively for Rovers, that hope soon faded after just four minutes when former Arsenal youth academy graduate, Dan Crowley got the ball rolling as he scored a fantastic solo goal to put the host ahead. Kristian Pedersen laid the ball off to Crowley who picked the ball up just inside the Rovers half. The midfielder then became a man possessed as he ploughed forward with a mazy dribble that concluded with a curling effort from just outside the box that eluded Jayson Leutwiler and nestled into the bottom right-hand corner, as Birmingham took the early 1-0 lead courtesy of the midfielder’s first goal for the home side.
The game then became a scrappy one, as Rovers didn’t manage to gain a positive spell in the tie until the 24th minute, which saw Stewart Downing stand over a free-kick midway inside the host’s half. The veteran lofted the ball into the box as Darragh Lenihan connected with the delivery. The Irishman – who has been linked with a move to Premier League high-flyers Sheffield United this window – saw his knockdown fall to the feet of Armstrong. Unfortunately, the forward was unable to properly set himself as his effort was blocked behind for a corner.
From the corner, the ball made its way out to Bell who delivered an inviting low cross which fizzed across the barren turf of St. Andrew’s however Davis was sharper than Ben Brereton and managed to get to the ball before the striker did, in order to avert the danger.
Three minutes later, Gary Gardner played a one-two with Crowley before the former saw his shot veer wide of the mark.
Just after the half-an-hour mark, Sam Gallagher did well to turn his man, following a Rovers throw-in, however he saw his effort blocked by some valiant defending by the home side.
On the 37th minute, an early, but low cross by Bell was met by Armstrong who sped away from his marker. The forward got just about enough on the ball to direct it towards goal, however City ‘keeper Lee Camp couldn’t hold onto the ball, which caused a humorous goalmouth scramble. Armstrong and Brereton ended up going for the same ball, which saw it deflect into the path of the late-coming Sam Gallagher, whose unmarked effort from point-blank range inadvertently deflected off an offside Armstrong as the home side were awarded a free-kick following their shot-stopper’s error.
Rovers were forced into an early change a minute later, as Derrick Williams was introduced in-place of Elliott Bennett who departed with an injury. As a result of that switch, Williams slotted in at centre-back alongside Lenihan, whilst Tosin Adarabioyo took up the vacant right-back spot.
With the action on the field being sub-par in the first period, there wasn’t much for the 7,330 fans – 843 of which were from Lancashire – to get excited about as after two minutes of time was added, referee Oliver Langford called for the break.
During the half-time break, home boss Pep Clotet would have been delighted with how his side had made such an early start, however he would have been frustrated that Rovers had been able to easily cut through his defence on a number of occasions. The Spaniard, who was facing Tony Mowbray’s side for the third and final time this season, would have been familiar with how Rovers operated and would have been hatching a plan at the break, to keep his side ahead come full-time.
In the opposite changing room, Tony Mowbray would have been gobsmacked at the ease of which Crowley had broken through Rovers’ lines and tucked the ball away with such simplicity. Despite not playing much of a rotated side, the former Celtic boss would have been frustrated with how his side had failed to take their chances, given the fact they had ended the first period with a higher percentage of possession.
Just prior to the second-half starting, Birmingham made a change at the break which saw Jérémie Bela brought on, as Jefferson Montero departed.
Five minutes after the break, Rovers were arrowing towards the City goal as Bell again found Armstrong with a cut-back, however the lively forward was unable to jink across to collect the ball as it was cut out by an alert defender.
Bela soon tried his luck from distance, on the 51st minute, but saw the ball fly into orbit.
Three minutes later, Rovers continued their positive start to the half as combative midfielder Bradley Johnson won back possession in the middle before laying the ball off to Armstrong who burst through the heart of the Birmingham midfield before trying his luck from the edge of the area. Like Bela’s shot minutes prior howver, Armstrong’s effort fell to the same fate as it also ballooned over the bar.
Some good play by Rovers saw a quick free-kick by Downing played into the feet of Gallagher, whose snapshot ended up going behind for a goal-kick.
On the 56th minute, Álvaro Giménez saw his name taken by Mr. Langford following a late challenge.
Rovers’ second change of the day saw Harry Chapman burst onto the field as he replaced Ben Brereton.
From the restart, Birmingham gave the ball away as Gallagher capitalised. The forward got on the end of a misplaced pass by the home side before trying to dink the onrushing Camp, however the effort landed wide of the mark.
On the hour mark, a second change for the home side saw Ivan Šunjić brought on for Gary Gardner.
Šunjić was only on the field for 98 seconds as he was soon given his marching orders by Mr. Langford after he brought down Sam Gallagher following the Croat’s mistake. Some good pressure by the forward on the Croat saw Šunjić forced back towards his own goal. Gallagher proved to be too quick for him leaving Šunjić with no other option than to hand Rovers a penalty in the hope his goalkeeper would save it. As a result of averting what would have surely been the equaliser from Gallagher, the substitute was given a red card for his troubles as he headed back off the field, as Adam Armstrong prepared to take the spot-kick.
With the referee prepared, it was Armstrong who stood up to take his second penalty in as many games against the Blues following his strike in the Boxing Day draw. The forward again made no mistake as he confidently dispatched down the middle, ahead of the Rovers fans, to draw Rovers level at 1-1.
From the restart, Birmingham came forward through left-back, Kristian Pedersen, on the 64th minute. The full-back did well to beat his man before testing Leutwiler with a low shot, that the ‘keeper saved.
Two minutes later, Bela tried his luck again from distance, but like his previous effort, this one again missed the target.
The final Birmingham change saw Wes Harding brought on, with Jake Clarke-Salter being withdrawn as a precaution to risk of injury following some cramp.
On the 72nd minute, Harry Chapman saw his shot blocked into the path of Armstrong whose side-footed effort veered wide of target.
Rovers’ final substitution, which came in the 78th minute, saw John Buckley given a cameo appearance as Stewart Downing was given a breather, following an intense festive period which saw the veteran play in four of the last six matches.
From the change, Rovers burst forward as Rothwell tried his luck from range, but Lee Camp did well to get behind it and deny the midfielder his second of the season.
The 84th minute nearly saw Camp hand Rovers a bye into the next round, as his shoddy handling almost ruined what had been a satisfactory performance from the shot-stopper. Derrick Williams pulled the trigger from just outside the penalty area, however due to the condition of the six-yard box, Camp found himself in a struggle to hold onto the ball, as it spun off his palms and nearly curled into the bottom left-hand corner, but for the ‘keeper’s quick reactions to keep the scores level.
Rovers again were given a chance to win it on the 87th minute as a cross into Armstrong and the back-post saw the forward lay it off to Gallagher who failed to time his effort properly.
The plethora of missed opportunities soon came back to haunt Rovers as Birmingham broke away and grabbed themselves what proved to be the eventual winner, through winger Jérémie Bela. Jacques Maghoma slipped the French winger in-behind Derrick Williams who mistimed his lunge. Rovers’ defensive cover which only contained Tosin Adarabioyo, Darragh Lenihan and Bradley Johnson, were all dropped deeper and deeper into their box as Bela advanced. The Frenchman, unchallenged, then got himself in a position just yards away from the six-yard box before trying his luck at the near-post which saw Leutwiler to give Birmingham what turned out to be their ticket into Monday’s 4th Round draw, as the Rovers contingency within St. Andrew’s were left frustrated.
Unsurprisingly, after three uneventful minutes were added onto the end of the tie, Birmingham emerged as the winners of the tie – on Oliver Langford’s final whistle – which proved to be the epitome of the ‘smash and grab’ gameplan, that fans are usually accustomed to see away from home, rather than in their own backyard.
Of course, to lose any game is frustrating, but a game in which clear-cut chances were the order of the day, is even more so. With Rovers ending the game with 11 shots, five of which were on target alongside 51% possession, they will probably be heading back up to Lancashire – as will the fans – wondering how on earth they only converted a spot-kick that was handed to them on a plate by Šunjić, the substitute. Whilst the game didn’t pull up any trees in terms of team selection from Rovers’ perspective, there will again be frustrations surrounding the frontmen, with inquests to be made regarding their prolificacy especially with the injury to top goalscorer Bradley Dack – who saw his season abruptly end with 10 goals to his name. Additionally, following Mowbray’s scathing comments regarding his side’s defensive efforts in the New Year’s Day defeat at the City Ground many fans will be wondering how on earth both of today’s goals went in, given the criticism from the gaffer.
Although many would confess that the FA Cup was not their priority coming into this season, Rovers now find themselves on a winless run of five games, which cannot be encouraging, especially when one looks at last year’s collapse that occurred in the second-half of the campaign. Many fans would have been hoping that this game could have provided the springboard for a rebound, even more so with the quality that the Rovers team had, come the announcements of the line-ups at 11:30am. Whilst Tony Mowbray has reiterated that incomings will be dictated by outgoings in this transfer window, many fans – whose patience are not wearing thin with the gaffer – will be hoping that the experienced boss can turn the negativity around with the introduction of some fresh faces into the building.
For those interested in seeing ‘what you could have won’ – to take a famous saying from former ‘Bullseye’ host and famous Rovers fan, the late Jim Bowen – the draw for the 4th Round will be on BBC One at 7:35pm on Monday 6th January, in the build-up to the Arsenal vs Leeds tie.
With Rovers’ cup exploits now over for another season, attentions now revert permanently back to the league for this season. Next up for the Blues sees them host local rivals Preston North End on Saturday 11th January at 3pm at Ewood Park. Following that tie, they make the trip to Yorkshire to face playoff-chasing Sheffield Wednesday at Hillsborough on Saturday 18th January at 3pm. Once they return from Yorkshire, Mowbray’s men again play hosts, this time to Queens Park Rangers who travel to Ewood Park on Saturday 25th January at 3pm.
