Rovers succumbed to a third successive league defeat as they went down to a hard-working Barnsley side.
The Rovers side that lined up at Oakwell saw three changes to the side that stuttered to a 2-1 home defeat against Preston North End, five days ago. Taylor Harwood-Bellis came in for his first start, alongside Elliott Bennett and Stewart Downing. The trio replaced Ryan Nyambe, Jacob Davenport and Joe Rothwell. Whilst the system, on paper, looked like a 4-2-3-1, many fans and journalists believed that Tony Mowbray would line up with a 5-2-1-2 system.
With the rain bucketing down in Yorkshire, it was Rovers who got the midweek tie underway as they looked to bounce back from Friday’s derby defeat and get back on track, after two consecutive losses.
The first chance of the game fell to the hosts on the eighth minute as Conor Chaplin tried his luck from the edge of the area with a volley, however Thomas Kaminski was on-hand to palm the ball away, before gathering the cross that followed.
The 12th minute saw Sam Gallagher threaded through, in-behind the Barnsley backline, but the poor quality of the pitch saw the ball bobble away from the forward and into the arms of Barnsley ‘keeper, Brad Collins.
A minute later, Barnsley whipped in a corner from the left-hand side which Cauley Woodrow got on the end of, but the former Fulham forward couldn’t keep his nod down as it harmlessly sailed over Kaminski’s crossbar.
Whilst Rovers continued to try and penetrate Barnsley’s high backline with little luck, the home side came within inches of taking the lead on the 25th minute after their counter-attack saw the ball land at the feet of Romal Palmer, but his attempt curled narrowly wide of the right-hand upright.
Victor Adeboyejo managed to pull of a fine stop from Kaminski, just two minutes after Palmer’s attempt as Barnsley tried to increase the pressure on Rovers. A quick free-kick by the hosts saw Rovers asleep as Adeboyejo moved into space behind the backline. The forward did well to control the ball on the poor surface before opening up his body and trying to find the roof of the net, but Kaminski stood tall and denied the forward by tipping the ball over the bar for a corner, which Rovers soon cleared.
Rovers came narrowly close to taking the lead themselves on the 36th minute, via a corner. After Stewart Downing’s cross was cleared off the line at the near-post, the veteran sent the ball back where it came from, after it was cleared back to him. His second attempt at crossing proved pinpoint as it landed at the back-post invitingly for skipper Darragh Lenihan to head towards goal, however the captain’s effort was denied by Barnsley ‘keeper Collins.
The Blues’ best attack of the game came in the 42nd minute as Adam Armstrong burst down the left after playing a one-two with Barry Douglas and caused the Barnsley defence some issues. After the forward was held up just as he entered the box, Douglas appeared behind the forward to continue his work, as the Scot delivered a cross towards the near-post where Bradley Dack was waiting. Although Douglas’ cross was an inviting one, it proved to be a little low for Dack, who was forced to stoop to connect to his header, which ultimately denied him the perfect contact he required, as the ball looped over the crossbar and dropped onto the roof of the net.
After the extra x minutes that referee Matt Donohue failed to provide a spark in the game, the ugly first-half was ended with the scores goalless and both teams wondering how they could force their opponents to give in.
Barnsley boss Valérien Ismaël would have been rather disappointed that his side had failed to capitalise on Rovers’ poor form, given they themselves had come into the game off the back of a three-match unbeaten run in the league. The Frenchman would have been encouraging his side to try and capitalise on Rovers’ bad run by taking advantage of the poor Oakwell pitch and the adverse weather conditions.
Tony Mowbray would have equally been frustrated with the lack of intent that his side had shown from both ends of the pitch. Despite the odd flash in the pan, Rovers failed to muster any consistent attempts at goal that troubled Barnsley ‘keeper Brad Collins. On the defensive end, Rovers conceded more chances than Mowbray would have been comfortable with, which would have arguably caused Rovers some problems, had Thomas Kaminski not been between the posts.
The second-half restarted via a Barnsley kick-off, as the Tykes looked to build off their 2-0 away win over Brentford in their last outing, in order to continue their late charge towards the playoffs by brushing Rovers aside. The home side’s kick-off was coupled with their first change of the game as Jordan Williams came on to replace Callum Styles.
The first booking of the game appeared in the 53rd minute as Mads Andersen brought down Armstrong on the edge of the area, however Douglas’ subsequent cross into the box form the set-piece was cleared only as far as Lewis Travis, whose effort was blocked and cleared.
The 55th minute saw Barnsley made a triple change as they looked to try and push the tide in their favour. Carlton Morris, Dominik Frieser and Daryl Dike all came on and replaced Victor Adeboyejo, Conor Chaplin and Cauley Woodrow.
Rovers looked to react from the home side’s changes as Armstrong teed up Elliott Bennett who tried his luck from range, but the returning midfielder saw his effort blocked.
A 61st minute deep Rovers free-kick taken by Downing, saw Darragh Lenihan flick the ball onto Sam Gallagher. The forward then tried to guide the ball goalward, but lacked the required pace to trouble Collins.
Barnsley’s final change of the game, which came in the 64th minute saw Herbie Kane replace Romal Palmer.
Alex Mowatt’s 67th minute wide free-kick nearly saw Barnsley go ahead courtesy of a rare Kaminski error. The set-piece was swung in from the right-hand side and the ‘keeper struggled to claim the wet ball, which put pressure on his defence to clear, before Lewis Travis managed to draw a foul from his opponent.
The 72nd minute finally saw the breakthrough after Barnsley’s substitutions paid off to make it 1-0 to the hosts. Barnsley played the ball down the left-hand side before feeding into Carlton Morris, who had only been on the field for 17 minutes. The former Norwich City academy graduate picked the ball up on the left and cut inside to create a shooting angle before letting fly. Luck was on his side as the weather conditions and the state of the pitch saw the ball bobble past the despairing Kaminski and hit the back of the net, via the right-hand upright, as the home side looked set to continue their fine form.
Tony Mowbray took four minutes to assess the situation, before making a triple change of his own on the 76th minute. Tyrhys Dolan, Corry Evans and Harvey Elliott were all introduced as Elliott Bennett, Stewart Downing and Bradley Dack all made way.
The 83rd minute saw Taylor Harwood-Bellis become the first Rovers player to see a yellow card, as he was cautioned. That stoppage allowed Rovers to make a fourth change as Joe Rothwell came on for Lewis Travis.
A fifth and final change by Mowbray, came in the 87th minute as Ben Brereton replaced Sam Gallagher.
Barnsley put the game to bed in the 90th minute as skipper Alex Mowatt managed to cap off a hard-fought performance for the home side, with a fine run and finish beyond Kaminski. The former Leeds United midfielder managed to ghost past the Rovers defence and ‘keeper with the ball and tuck it home into the empty net to seal the deal for the South Yorkshire side at 2-0.
Rovers were hoping they could spark a revival through Adam Armstrong in the third of five added minutes that referee Matt Donohue allocated onto the end of the game. Harvey Elliott’s introduction seemingly did that for the forward, as he got his first sniff of the game, as he latched onto the end of a pass by the Liverpool loanee, which allowed Armstrong to chip on-rushing Tykes ‘keeper Collins from around 20-yards out, in order to reduce the deficit to 2-1 and give Rovers and their fans a glimmer of hope, whilst also picking up his second in as many games.
That glimmer was squashed two minutes later, as Mr. Donohue brought the game to a conclusion, as Barnsley picked up their first home win of 2021, and managed to extend their unbeaten run in the league to four games. From a Rovers perspective, Tony Mowbray’s poor run at Oakwell continued, with the manager having now lost six of his last seven league visits at Barnsley, with his last win being as manager of Middlesbrough in 2011-12.
There’s not much to say about that game, other than Rovers’ performance lived up to the weather and the Oakwell pitch. The apparent change of system, which looked more like a four at the back, in possession and a five, out of it, had little to no impact on the game, which is something the manager will have to consider going forward…if there is a ‘going forward’.
After other results, and their own, failed to go their way, Rovers now find themselves in 12th, with 39 points and a +10-goal-difference from 29 games played.
Rovers’ next game sees them travel to the Midlands to face Nottingham Forest on Saturday 20th February at 3pm. After that, Watford are welcomed to Ewood Park for the midweek clash, on Wednesday 24th February, at 7:45pm. Following on from the visit of the Hornets, a double bill of home games is rounded off with the hosting of Coventry City on Saturday 27th February at 3pm.
