Rovers managed to halt their run of defeats with a draw, as two last-gasp goals in either half saved the side from a third defeat in a row, as a 2-2 draw was on the cards against Cardiff City.
Following last week’s unfortunate, but disappointing 2-0 home defeat to promotion-chasing Bournemouth, Tony Mowbray made two changes to the side, who were scheduled to face Cardiff City, today. Lewis Travis and Sam Gallagher returned to the starting side, as Joe Rothwell dropped out due to injury and Tyrhys Dolan made himself comfortable on the substitutes bench.
Just prior to kick-off, there was two-minute silence to respect the life of His Royal Highness, The Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, who sadly passed away on Friday at the age of 99. Alongside the pre-match tribute, both sides also wore black armbands, in memory of the Royal. After the respects were paid, it was Rovers who go the game underway from the kick-off as the Blues looked to try and finally nip their bad run of form, which has stretched to one win in their past 14 games, in the bud.
Less than a minute into the tie and Rovers came narrowly close to taking an early lead through their talismanic forward, Adam Armstrong. The forward who was lurking in the box, did enough to get on the end of Harvey Elliott’s deflected cross, but the striker couldn’t notch his 20th league goal, this season, as his effort from close-range veered wide of Alex Smithies’ post.
In the 8th minute, Cardiff managed to break forwards and close in on goal as Kieffer Moore led the charge for the Bluebirds. After the former Wigan Athletic forward managed to evade a few men, the onus to stop the home side taking the lead, fell on Tom Trybull who managed to execute a fine last-ditch tackle to deny the Bluebird’s rampant attacker from notching his 17th league goal of the campaign.
Rovers again looked bright in the 14th minute as a set-piece handed them a chance to take the lead. A free-kick from Barry Douglas was put into the mixer from the right-hand side before a few bounced and a knockdown saw the ball land to the feet of Sam Gallagher. The forward arguably then rushed his chance, as he snatched at the attempt, failing to keep the shot down as it cleared the crossbar.
From the goal-kick, Cardiff managed to build a sound attack that nearly resulted in another goal, in a game that was looking very end-to-end. Kieffer Moore again managed to get the better of the Rovers defenders as he evaded the offside trap in order to latch onto a through ball that had seen him through on goal, yet despite his prolific nature in-front of goal this season, a combination of poor composure and pressure from Rovers’ defence forced the striker’s volley to be dragged wide of the right-hand upright.
In the 19th minute, the Rovers ‘keeper’s name was taken by referee Jeremy Simpson after a rush of blood saw the shot-stopper bring down Liverpool loanee, Harry Wilson around 25-yards out from goal.
Four minutes later, Rovers managed to get in-behind Cardiff via a long-ball over the top that Armstrong latched onto. The forward did well to keep up with the flight of the ball before bringing it down and cutting in to try his luck, but some fantastic pressure by Curtis Nelson forced the ‘Angel of the North’ into a quick snapshot that lacked the power to trouble Cardiff.
Despite a Rovers edging most of the game on the stats, it was Cardiff who invariably took the lead with a well-worked 27th minute free-kick that Will Vaulks scored, from just outside the Rovers penalty area. Following a few dummies from the set-piece, the ball was rolled, away from the wall and into the path of Vaulks, who drilled his shot towards the bottom left-hand corner of the Rovers goal. With the former Rotherham United midfielder finding the gap for the shot, his effort proved too hot for Kaminski to handle, as despite getting fingertips on the shot, it dribbled underneath his right-hand and nestled perfectly into the corner, as Vaulks somersaulted away in celebration of putting the Bluebirds 1-0 up.
Despite going behind for the fifth time in their last six games, Rovers didn’t look fazed from the kick-off as they looked to build more pressure towards finding an equaliser. Their first attempt since the goal came eight minutes after the deadlock was broken, in the 36th minute, when Sam Gallagher tried to drill his side level, with a shot aimed towards the bottom right-hand corner of the net, in similar fashion to Vaulks’ effort, yet Alex Smithies was on-hand to deny the forward his seventh goal of the league campaign.
Eight minutes after Gallagher’s attempt, Rovers did manage to draw level as the 43rd minute saw their ‘Angel of the North’ notch his 20th league goal of the campaign, which was also his 50th league goal for the club. After being fed down the right-wing by Harvey Elliott, Armstrong twisted and turned inside the penalty area in order to create an angle as he simultaneously caused havoc for the retreating Cardiff defenders. After creating half-a-yard of space in order to manoeuvre in, Armstrong released a low shot that evaded his marker and caused Smithies to somewhat fumble the ball into the back of his own net, as Rovers’ managed to draw level.
Armstrong’s goal proved to be the half’s final chance, as despite Mr. Simpson adding on two extra minutes of time onto the end of the half, there was only time to book Josh Murphy, before the half ended with both sides level.
Mick McCarthy would have been very frustrated with the manner of how his side had found themselves level at the break. Despite not being in the game for a majority of it, with Rovers having most of the possession, a smart ‘training ground routine’ had managed to socially distance the sides on the scoreboard, before some lapses in concentration saw Armstrong equalise, which would have angered the former Ipswich Town boss. During the interval, McCarthy would have been no doubt encouraging his players by reminding them of their own good form, prior to his arrival which saw them only have three defeats in 16 games, in comparison to Rovers’ own woes.
Tony Mowbray, on the other hand, would have had a similar feeling of déjà vu, in that his side had again not had the rewards that their play had deserved. Despite going into the break level, the Rovers boss could have argued that his side had deserved the lead based on the chances they had created and the ‘softness’ of the Cardiff goal, given that it had come off the back of a set-piece. The manager, who was seemingly under-pressure from everybody but his own hierarchy, would have been continuing to feed his side positivity and reminding them of their good points, rather than lambasting them with criticism or negativity.
As the players returned for the second-half, it was Cardiff who got proceedings back underway as they looked to continue their own charge towards the top-six.
The first two minutes of the half started quite brightly, as Rovers managed to create a chance that nearly fell to Harvey Elliott, had Ciaron Brown not interfered. The Liverpool loanee was threated through nicely by Adam Armstong, but the defender’s persistence and good timing allowed him to put in an inch-perfect tackle to surely deny Rovers a second.
Rovers ramped up the pressure in the 50th minute as Armstrong fed Gallagher who cut inside, from the left and released a fine effort that was only denied by the upright. Despite the home side failing to clear, Gallagher was offered a second bite of the cherry, after some good dribbling, but the forward’s second effort lacked the accuracy of his first, as he hit the side-netting.
Four minutes later, Elliott and Armstrong combined, as the former fed the latter once again, but the forward’s effort lacked the accuracy of his previous goal.
Rovers again broke through on goal in the 59th minute, after they capitalised on some poor play by Marlon Pack. Armstrong managed to steal the ball off the midfielder after his poor touch saw the ball fall loose on the edge of his own box, but Smithies was on-hand to deny Armstrong a second goal of the day, after the ‘keeper gathered the ball at the second attempt.
Cardiff’s first change of the day came in the 63rd minute as Joe Ralls replaced Josh Murphy.
A third yellow card in the game fell the way of Darragh Lenihan who was cautioned for fouling Kieffer Moore in the 65th minute.
A minute later, Rovers nearly got themselves ahead, but narrowly missed the target through Bradley Johnson. A fine through ball by Barry Douglas saw Bradley Johnson latch onto the end of the pass as he nearly tripped up over Adam Armstrong. After the forward left the ball for his teammate, the midfielder, who was under pressure from both sides, managed to release an outside of the foot shot which could only crash into the side-netting.
Rovers were denied with two chances in a minute, as the 69th minute again gave Rovers an opportunity to go ahead. A Barry Douglas free-kick from around 25-yards out crashed back off the crossbar, before a combination of Sam Gallagher and a Cardiff defender nearly saw the ball bundled into the back of Smithies’ net, before a good goal-line clearance kept the score level.
That goal-line clearance proved vital as within 60 seconds, Cardiff managed to put themselves back ahead courtesy of substitute Joe Ralls who capitalised on some shaky passing out from the back, from Rovers. A short goal-kick from Thomas Kaminski saw Rovers’ defence fail to clear their lines as they eventually turned over possession to Ralls who managed to use his fresh legs in order to burst past the backline and slot the ball underneath the legs of Kaminski in order to put Cardiff back ahead.
In the 75th minute, the Cardiff goalscorer Ralls, was soon shown a booking after he battled with Adam Armstrong inside the Rovers half, before winning the ball illegally.
After an eight-minute period, Tony Mowbray made five changes at once in an attempt to shift the tide of the game in his side’s favour. Lewis Travis, Tom Trybull, Bradley Johnson, Harvey Elliott and Sam Gallagher all departed the field and were replaced by Jacob Davenport, Stewart Downing, Lewis Holtby, Tyrhys Dolan and Ben Brereton, as Rovers looked to add a blend of raw youth and experience, alongside fresher legs, in order to try and salvage a point from the game.
The privileged few who were inside the Cardiff City Stadium nearly saw a case of lightning striking twice as Harry Wilson nearly replicated Adam Armstrong’s long-range goal from last season, on the 85th minute, yet luckily for Rovers their blushes – alongside that of Thomas Kaminski – were spared as the Belgian did enough to palm the ball behind for a corner.
After the corner failed to bring anything for the hosts, Rovers found themselves up the other end attacking, a minute later. Armstrong managed to use his pace to get into the area and release an effort which saw him aim at the far-post, but the forward lacked the required accuracy as he narrowly evaded the far corner.
Ben Brereton tried to get in on the act, in the 88th minute as he cut inside from the left and hit an inviting shot that looked destined to root Smithies and draw Rovers level, but the power in the forward’s attempt hindered, rather than helped him, as the ball curled wide of the mark.
Rovers’ huffing and puffing soon paid off with a bit of luck as the side managed to draw themselves level on the brink of four minutes of added time being allocated. Some fine build-up by Rovers saw them patiently work an opening as Adam Armstrong managed to cap the move off with the goal it deserved. After Rovers worked the ball around the Cardiff midfield, the unpredictability of Tyrhys Dolan saw him draw a few Cardiff bodies out of their own box before the ball was worked to Lewis Holtby. The German managed to exploit the space created by Dolan in order to feed Armstrong who was peeling off the back of his defender. Armstrong then received the ball with a fine first touch before pressure from his marker and the on-rushing Smithies saw him almost trip over the ball, before he quickly managed to compose himself with a fine prod underneath the ‘keeper, which drew the visitors level at the death, at 2-2.
The final act of the game, despite the added four minutes of time, was the introduction of Jonny Williams in-place of Harry Wilson.
Although the stats would probably suggest that Rovers could count themselves unlucky to not win the game, especially given the nature of the two Cardiff goals, the side left Wales knowing they had put in a decent overall performance and got something for their efforts.
After noting last week that Rovers fail to perform when Adam Armstrong is off the boil, the forward certainly returned to silence his critics with this fine performance. Although Rovers still seemingly have a lot of work to do in order to return back to the joy of the early season, a display like this against a side who believe they should be in the playoffs, will go a long way to boost confidence within the group. Rovers’ positive nature today, can be summed up by Cardiff City manager, Mick McCarthy who claimed that ‘(Rovers) certainly played well in the second-half and I can’t say they didn’t deserve something from today.’ Such an admission arguably highlights all the issues that Rovers have been dealing with during their run, in that despite all the positives, the scoreline has been the main sticking point.
Whilst the animosity within the fan base cannot be ignored, this result still isn’t enough to end that frustration. The fact of the matter is that Rovers have still only won one game in their last 15, despite the positivity one can garner from today’s game. Although Rovers have felt ‘hard done by’ in recent weeks, one could argue that ‘you can’t be unlucky for 15 matches(!)’.
Although the league table is rather redundant at this stage, given Rovers’ playoff ambitions disappeared long ago, it’s still worth nothing that the side are 17th after 41 games, 11 points clear of the drop zone. Despite still having a positive goal-difference of +5, some fans might be looking over their shoulders, especially given Rotherham United have four games in hand over the Blues.
Rovers’ next three games could see them steer well clear of any relegation worries some might have, with their next three games coming up against sides who are down in the mix. The first team is Derby County, who Rovers host at Ewood Park next Saturday, on 17th April at 3pm. After that, the team make the trip to Yorkshire, to face Sheffield Wednesday on Tuesday 20th April at 7pm. Following that game, Rovers return to Lancashire to face a second Yorkshire side in a row, as Huddersfield Town make the weekend trip over the Pennines, as the sides lock horns on Saturday 24th April at 3pm.
