Rovers were put to the sword prior to the season’s second international break, as they suffered their second successive away defeat, this time at the hands of Lancashire neighbours, Blackpool, managed to keep their unbeaten run going by grabbing victory at a packed Bloomfield Road.
After Rovers saw Ryan Nyambe withdraw from international duty with Namibia, after the concussion he suffered in the midweek 3-2 defeat away at Huddersfield Town, the right-back was the only change from Tuesday night, as Tyler Magloire came in to replace him at full-back. Bradley Johnson was part of the matchday squad for the first-time this campaign, as he joined the substitutes bench. This game was also special for Chilean sensation, Ben Brereton Díaz who was set to link up with his nation after this game, as this was set to be his 100th Rovers appearance, in a ground where he has netted three goals during Rovers’ previous two pre-season outings by the seaside.
With all the pre-match preparations complete, referee Josh Smith got proceedings underway as Blackpool took the kick-off hoping to build on their three-match unbeaten run.
Despite all of the hope and expectation from the 3,000-odd travelling contingency, it was the home side who took an early lead as Shayne Lavery bundled the Tangerines into the lead after only four minutes had been played. After holding the ball up well in the final third, Lavery played a one-two before peeling off the back of Daniel Ayala before trying to poke the ball past the Spaniard after opening up his body. Despite getting the shot away, his effort deflected off a retreating defender before wrongfooting Hayden Carter on the line, as the ball trickled into the back of the net to put Neil Critchley’s side ahead.
Rovers’ first attempt of the tie came in the 13th minute as Harry Pickering tried his luck with a free-kick, but his effort lacked the required accuracy.
Three minutes later, Daniel Ayala tried to atone for his previous defensive error as he latched onto a Rovers corner, but despite testing Chris Maxwell, the ball was deemed to have gone out of play during the cross, and thus, ‘Pool were awarded a goal-kick.
Joe Rothwell got himself involved in the affair on the 17th minute as his mazy run ended with a shot at goal which was deflected wide, however Rovers weren’t able to capitalise on the corner as Blackpool managed to clear.
On the 22nd minute, the goalscorer Shayne Lavery was deemed unable to continue following a clash with a Rovers man and was soon replaced by Blackpool’s 2020-21 top-scorer, Jerry Yates.
Despite only being on the field for a couple of minutes, Yates was able to grab his second Championship goal of the season as he nodded into an empty net from yards out to double Blackpool’s lead. A cross into the back-post saw Gary Madine nod the ball back across goal which Yates, who was unmarked, latched onto to make it 2-0 to the home side.
Blackpool broke a minute after the goal to try and triple the host’s lead, but Daniel Ayala was forced to haul down Gary Madine, which saw his name taken by the referee as he received the game’s first booking.
In the 42nd minute, Rovers were also forced into a change, as Sam Gallagher was withdrawn due to injury, with Tayo Edun replacing him.
As the break approached, referee Josh Smith added four extra minutes onto the end of the half as Rovers looked to try and get themselves back into the game.
In the final minute of the added time, Tyrhys Dolan nearly provided the equaliser for Rovers, as his quick feet saw him thread the ball across the face of goal as both Joe Rothwell and Ben Brereton Díaz both lurked around the back-post, yet, neither could connect and push the ball into the empty net.
That proved to be the final action of the first period, as Josh Smith brought the first period to an end, as Rovers nervously scuttled down the tunnel.
Blackpool boss Neil Critchley would have been delighted with how his side had taken the game to Rovers in the first period, despite losing Shayne Lavery to injury. The Tangerines had pushed and kept Rovers at bay as they had dominated most of the first period and had reaped their rewards as a result.
Critchley’s counterpart, Tony Mowbray would have been forgiven for throwing teacups in the dressing room, as he would have been fuming after that sub-standard Rovers performance. The Rovers boss would have been incredibly critical of his side’s poor display at both ends of the pitch, particularly given the following they had amassed in the away end and would have been calling on his players to take the game to the hosts and give the fans their money’s worth.
As both sides returned to the field, Rovers readied themselves to take the kick-off, but not before Blackpool made their second change of the game as James Husband replaced Richard Keogh at the back.
A minute into the second-half, Marvin Ekpiteta was booked after chopping down Tyrhys Dolan near the corner flag.
From the subsequent free-kick, Daniel Ayala rose highest to once again test Maxwell, but the former Preston North End goalie once again denied the Spaniard from close-range.
Rovers managed to get themselves back into the game in the 49th minute as Ben Brereton Díaz got himself on the end of John Buckley’s cross to pull one back for Rovers. Some good possession resulted in the midfielder putting in an inviting cross towards the back-post which Brereton Díaz latched onto as he side-footed the ball into the roof of the net, before wheeling away in celebration of his 10th of the season, which reduced the arrears to 2-1.
The Chilean once again tried his luck at goal, minutes later, as his effort from outside the box was spilled by Maxwell, but the ‘keeper managed to reclaim the ball before Dolan sneaked in and finished the chance off.
That save by Maxwell proved costly, as it proved to be his final action of the game as he picked up a thigh injury in the process of saving Brereton Díaz’s effort. After a lengthy stoppage and a brief restart, Maxwell signalled to be removed, as his replacement, Stuart Moore proved to be Blackpool’s final change.
In the 70th minute, Ben Brereton Díaz tried his luck from just outside the box, but his shot was blocked behind for a corner. The set-piece was well met by Ayala, who could have had a hattrick today, but he again failed to keep it down.
Three minutes later, Rovers had a penalty appeal turned down as Dujon Sterling went in on Tyrhys Dolan.
The 78th minute saw a fine Rovers move end in disappointment as a Harry Pickering cross towards the head of Ben Brereton Díaz saw the Chilean nearly equalise, but an intervention by James Husband saw the substitute go down easily, which conned the referee into awarding the hosts a free-kick.
Rovers’ second change of the game came in the 81st minute, as Reda Khadra came on to replace Tyler Magloire as John Buckley went in to fill in at right-back.
Rovers thought they’d equalised in the 83rd minute as Brereton Díaz managed to beat Moore, but saw his seventh goal in a week chalked off for offside.
Tayo Edun tried his luck from close-range in the 85th minute but saw his effort narrowly deflected wide for a corner which Rovers wasted.
Ryan Wintle was booked in the 87th minute, after smashing into Joe Rothwell on halfway.
Rovers’ final change saw Joe Rothwell replaced by Dan Butterworth.
Following all the stoppages, referee Josh Smith added on eight extra minutes onto the end of the tie.
As Blackpool looked to try and waste time, Josh Bowler was booked in the 95th minute.
Moments after the booking, Stuart Moore pulled off a fine save to deny Tyrhys Dolan from flicking Rovers into an equaliser.
Although Rovers huffed and puffed in the final few minutes, their efforts were left in vain as their poor first-half performance ended up costing them as they were unable to snatch a draw from the jaws of defeat, ending an eight-match unbeaten run against the Seasiders.
It really is a wonder how Rovers can perform so badly in the first period and then come out looking like a different team in the second-half? It’s not the first-time this has happened under this manager, which is quite worrying, however I guess we have to live with it. It was brilliant to see Ben Brereton Díaz notch his sixth goal of the week which will no doubt set him in good stead with his national team manager, as he sets off to potentially play in all three of Chile’s games, following an agreement announced by the Chilean FA in the week. Looking more closer to home, however, Rovers will now no doubt take advantage of this international break to try and get their house in order regarding the injuries to their key players. The loss of Sam Gallagher mid-game will be a concern, however the returns of Ryan Nyambe and skipper, Darragh Lenihan, as well as the health of Daniel Ayala will arguably be more important, given the defensive frailties, Rovers have suffered over the past 180 minutes of football this week.
Although it’s a case of how one ends the season and not how you start it, Rovers have dropped down to 8th place following this gameweek, as they remain on 16 points with a goal-difference of +5 from the 11 games they’ve played.
As Rovers head into the international break, they return to action on Saturday 16th October at 3pm, as Rovers host high-flying Coventry City at Ewood Park. After that, Rovers make the midweek journey down to London to face Mark Warburton’s Queens Park Rangers on Tuesday 19th October at 7:45pm. The third post-international break tie sees Rovers return to Ewood Park to face Reading on Saturday 23rd October at 3pm.
