Rovers’ hopes of breaking into the play-off places for the first-time this season, were dashed, as they fell to a late 1-0 defeat at Ashton Gate courtesy of an 81st minute Famara Diédhiou strike, in a game that was shown in-front of the Sky Sports cameras.
With Rovers set to play their second game in the space of five days, Tony Mowbray – who was taking charge of his 189th Rovers game – made three changes to the side that claimed a last-gasp 2-2 draw away at Brentford, at the weekend. Daniel Ayala, Derrick Williams and Lewis Holtby all came into the side, as the suspended Darragh Lenihan, injured Scott Wharton and Tom Trybull – who will be ineligible for the Blues’ next game at home to Norwich City – all dropped out of the starting eleven. With the skipper’s suspension only being valid for this match, the responsibility of the captain’s armband fell to Bradley Johnson. Along with the teamsheet came a milestone for Sam Gallagher, as the forward was set to make his 100th career league start come the kick-off.
As Ashton Gate remained empty due to Bristol being in Tier 3, the onus fell onto the loud speakers to provide atmosphere for the home side as Callum O’Dowda kicked the game off for Bristol City, as they looked to try and bounce back from their 1-0 home defeat which came at the hands of Birmingham City, at the weekend.
A quiet opening 12 minutes saw very little between the two sides, until the 14th minute where Adam Armstrong managed to craft two chances within 30 seconds of each other. The first effort saw him try his luck from range with a low left-footed drive which dribbled across the turf, before Daniel Bentley palmed away. The second attempt saw him threaded through down the right, before he cut inside, but although he had Sam Gallagher as a passing option, he decided to go for goal himself, but the division’s top goalscorer couldn’t add to his tally as his left-footed curler veered wide of the mark.
The 17th minute saw City get involved in the game, as Jack Hunt fed Antoine Semenyo, but the forward failed to keep his effort on target, as he sliced the ball wide of Thomas Kaminski’s goal.
Moments after Semenyo’s miss, Bristol were in again, after they countered Rovers following a turnover of possession on halfway. O’Dowda was threaded in beyond Rovers’ backline, but the Irishman lacked the necessary composure required to open the scoring, as his shot ended up in the empty stand, behind the net.
Antoine Semenyo again, came agonisingly close to breaking the deadlock in the 22nd minute, as he created some space by twisting and turning on the edge of the area. The attacker managed to create an opening just outside the box, before aiming a strike towards the bottom right-hand corner of the goal, but although Kaminski had the effort covered, the shot skewed narrowly wide of the upright.
After 25 minutes, Sam Gallagher got involved in adding to the attempts, as he tried his luck from range, but Bentley was alert enough to deny the towering forward the opener.
Harvey Elliott and Adam Armstrong combined for the first-time on the 28th minute, as the former played the latter through on goal. Although Bentley came out on-time, Armstrong was able to poke the ball through the keeper’s legs, but then lost his footing, as Bristol did enough to clear the danger.
Rovers continued their good start in a game they were gradually gaining control of. Sam Gallagher bombed down the left-hand side, before finding Lewis Holtby who was overlapping ahead of the forward. The German had both Armstrong and Elliott to chose from, before picking the former whose sweeping effort was intercepted and sliced behind for a corner.
The subsequent corner saw Rovers wreak havoc inside the Bristol City penalty area. Holtby’s cross fell to Bradley Johnson, who managed to dig out a cross which former Robin Derrick Williams met, but the Republic of Ireland international couldn’t keep his header down as Bristol dealt with the loose ball, easily.
The 38th minute saw the game’s first booking by referee Steve Martin, as Nakhi Wells became the first name to be written into his notepad, following a late trip on Ryan Nyambe.
Joe Rothwell looked to make it two in two games on the 39th minute, but his strike from range curled right, which took it away from the intended target.
As the game dipped back into a quiet spell, the officiating team added on one extra minute onto the end of the first-half, as neither side managed to assert total dominance, despite the handful of chances that both sides had created throughout the game.
Home manager Dean Holden would have arguably been the less satisfied of the two gaffers at the break. Although Bristol had shown good form so far this season, under his stewardship, the home side were failing to get to grips with Rovers’ quick football, as they failed to assert the dominance that they would have liked to have had, given they were the home team. Although his side had created a couple of good chances, with O’Dowda squandering the best they had, Holden would have been encouraging his side at the break, telling them to continue how they had been playing, as fatigue within the Rovers camp could potentially be the key to unlock the visiting defence.
Visiting boss Tony Mowbray would have been pleased with the possession and the chances that his side had created throughout the first-half, but the gaffer would have been disappointed that the final step to finishing off the moves, hadn’t been there for his side. Whilst Rovers had looked good with the ball and on the break, going forwards, they were also looking rather drilled defensively, as they managed to restrict Bristol City mainly to chances from outside the area, barring the aforementioned O’Dowda effort. Tony Mowbray, like his opposite number, would have been telling his players to keep doing what they were doing as they were bound to grow in confidence, given the dominance on the ball they had throughout the first period.
After both managers had addressed their respective sides, it was Rovers who kicked-off the second-half, hoping to replicate last year’s 2-0 victory at Ashton Gate, which would in-tun extend their unbeaten run to eight games, and propel them into 6th spot.
Rovers started the second-half the brighter side, as they nearly managed to open the scoring after 48 minutes, following some great build-up play by the Blues. An attacking move saw Joe Rothwell pick out the overlapping Ryan Nyambe, who slowed play down inside the right-hand channel, in the City penalty area. The full-back managed to pick out Harvey Elliott with a cut-back, but the Liverpool loanee’s effort deflected off his teammate Sam Gallagher and spun into the gloves of Bentley.
Rovers again tried their luck on the 54th minute, as Armstrong had another two chances in as many minutes. His first effort via his left-foot from the edge of the penalty area deflected wide for a corner. The subsequent corner saw Rovers recycle possession, after they earnt a throw-in from the clearance. However, his second attempt, which came via his right-foot, coming in off the left, saw his shot straight into the palms of Bentley.
Three minutes later, the forward again tried his luck from range, after Rothwell and Nyambe combined to set Armstrong up, but the effort once again failed to test the ‘keeper.
The 59th minute saw Derrick Williams provide a goal-saving block to deny O’Dowda the game’s opener. The subsequent corner resulted in Nakhi Wells crafting a curling effort from the top of the box, but the effort edged narrowly over the crossbar.
Just after the hour mark, a misplaced pass by Kaminski gave Bristol City the opportunity to come forward. Despite the unorthodox defensive shape, Rovers did enough to entice O’Dowda into a weak shot which Kaminski comfortably saved.
Adam Armstrong was desperate to grab a second goal in as many Ashton Gate appearances but saw his latest attempt – his eighth of the game – zoom over the bar, on the 63rd minute.
Daniel Ayala nearly came close to breaking the deadlock in the 68th minute from Lewis Holtby’s corner. The Spaniard managed to peel away from his marker and powering a header, but his accuracy let him down, as the nod veered wide of the mark.
The first substitution of the game soon came on the 70th minute, as Rovers introduced Tyrhys Dolan in-place of Lewis Holtby, in a move which saw Joe Rothwell move centrally.
Adam Armstrong continues his single-minded barrage on the Bristol City goal on the 74th minute, as his ninth attempt of the night trickled into the gloves of Bentley, once more.
The 75th minute saw Bristol City make an attacking change, as Famara Diédhiou came on to replace Antoine Semenyo.
A brilliant long-ball out of the Bristol defence by Zak Vyner, saw the ball land perfectly behind Barry Douglas for Nakhi Wells to run onto. The Bermudan did exactly that, as he took the ball into his stride before baring down on goal, yet despite his effort coming within inches of opening the scoring, Rovers were awarded a goal-kick as the ball tricked beyond the post, rather than inside it.
The 81st minute soon brought the game’s first goal, as substitute Famara Diédhiou managed to cause havoc inside the Rovers penalty area, before finishing past Kaminski after a good swivel. Wells’ deep cross was well kept in by O’Dowda, who nodded the ball down to Chris Martin. The former Derby County forward managed to get the slightest of flicks on the ball, as he tussled with Daniel Ayala, in order to knock the ball into the path of Diédhiou. The forward peeled away from Derrick Williams inside the six-yard box, before hitting a first-time volley on the swivel. The shot, which was volleyed into the ground, had enough power on it to bounce over Kaminski’s outstretched leg and nestle into the bottom left-hand corner of the goal, as the home contingency went wild in celebration surely securing a 1-0 win, so late on.
Both sides soon made changes on the 85th minute. Bristol City sent on Taylor Moore in-place of Nakhi Wells, whilst Rovers hauled off Joe Rothwell and Sam Gallagher and introduced weekend goalscorer Jacob Davenport and John Buckley in their place.
After three added minutes were added on in the closing stages of the game, Bristol brought on more defensive reinforcements, as Adrian Mariappa replaced Chris Martin.
That change proved to be the final act of the game, as despite some late flurries forward by Rovers, which included a few corners, they were unable to break down a resilient Robins defence, and were forced to see their seven-match unbeaten run end at the hands of a play-off rival.
Writing this summary around ten minutes after full-time is quite difficult, due to the emotion of the defeat being raw, however it would be fair to say that Rovers played quite well for a majority of the game, as they continued to grow in confidence, whilst also creating some decent opportunities. Although they’ll leave Bristol with no points, the application of the performance can be seen as the game’s only positive, which, following the ‘Never Say Die’ attitude at the weekend, might hold the side in good stead as we head into the second-half of the campaign. Whilst the defeat is, of course, not a good thing, the makeshift defence, which has had an eye-watering ten different combination, with 17 changes from a pool of eight players, so far already this season, in the 17 league games Rovers have played, put on a solid display for the first 80 minutes, which – given the side were without captain Darragh Lenihan – is something to build on.
After Rovers fluffed their chance of being able to break into the top six, by handing 6th place to tonight’s opponents, the defeat leaves the Blues in 10th, with 25 points and a positive goal-difference of +11, from the 17 ties played.
The next three fixtures sees two home games coupled with an away trip to the Potteries. League leaders Norwich City are the first team back at Ewood Park, as they travel to Lancashire to face Tony Mowbray’s side on Saturday 12th December at 3pm. After the Canaries fly off back down to East Anglia, the next visitors are Yorkshiremen Rotherham United, who are welcomed into the Red Rose county on Wednesday 16th December at 7:45pm. Following those back-to-back home games, Rovers travel to Staffordshire where Stoke City will play as hosts at the bet365 Stadium on Saturday 19th December at 3pm.
