Rovers returned following the international break to make it a hat-trick of wins for Tony Mowbray’s men.
The Blues entered the game on a high, despite the break which caused the postponement of Rovers’ home tie with Fleetwood Town. The team, barring the absence of Jayson Leutwiler, Corry Evans and Charlie Mulgrew, had all carried on training during the international week which gave them more time to work on aspects of the game like tactics and team bonding which certainly looked like to have paid off as Rovers started the game on the front foot.
As a result of Rovers acquiring 2 defenders and a midfielder prior to the closure of the transfer window, the match day squad was expected to be changed to accommodate the new faces, however the team selection remained predominantly the same with only one change to the side that hammered MK Dons, two weeks earlier as Deadline Day loanee Paul Downing came in for his debut at centre-back as he replaced the captain Charlie Mulgrew, who was forced off injured whilst playing for Scotland in mid-week. The bench was drastically changed as Ryan Nyambe and Liam Feeney dropped out, the former due to injury and the latter as a result of his loan move to Cardiff. They were replaced by new recruit Rekeem Harper and the returning Bradley Dack who had recovered from a hamstring injury over the break.
The game was set underway by Craig Conway, who captained the side on his 150th appearance for the club. The game started lively with each side having an opportunity to open the scoring early on as Rochdale’s Jordan Williams had his attempt from the edge of the box blocked whilst a similar effort by Rovers’ Marcus Antonsson was seen wide by Rochdale’s keeper. With the 3,000 travelling contingency singing “We’ve got Richie Smallwood”, it only took 10 minutes for the former Rotherham man to repay the fans’ faith by putting Rovers in-front.
Smallwood started the move as he found Elliott Bennett on the right hand side. The 26-year old continued his run into the Rochdale penalty area as the ball was returned to him. He wasted no time in taking a touch to steady himself as he lashed the ball home at the first time of asking to continue Rovers’ fine form in the league and to put the Blues 1-0 to the good.
Despite it only being the 10th minute of the game, Rovers never looked back as they asserted their dominance and quality on the game as they controlled the ball and limited the home side’s opportunities at goal. So much so that Rochdale finished the game with no shots on target, which was a testament to not only how well Rovers defended, but to how well they controlled possession.
Although Rochdale were restricted to no attempts on goal, the same could not be said about Rovers, who managed to carve open the Rochdale back-line again on the 18th minute mark. Conway charged down the left hand by-line and sent in a cross towards Antonsson who tried to accurately find the bottom right hand corner of the Rochdale goal; however the Swede’s attempt curled wide. It didn’t take long for Antonsson to create another chance. Eight minutes later, more wonderful wing-play by Conway led to a cross towards the far post, which was met by Bennett who headed the ball back across the face of goal towards Antonsson who was surrounded by players in blue. He unfortunately wasn’t able to connect with the ball as the home side cleared.
Conway’s fine game continued towards the latter stages of the first half as he was able to test the palms of Rochdale keeper Brendan Moore himself. The Scot was found on the left hand side by Dominic Samuel – who was having a quiet half in-front of goal. Conway took a touch and dribbled towards the goal before releasing a tame effort at goal which Moore dealt with comfortably.
This led to Rovers entering the half-time interval with the advantage courtesy of Richie Smallwood’s second goal for the club. Both teams emerged from the tunnel with the words of their respective managers ringing in their ears, however judging by how the game panned out, it can be argued that Tony Mowbray’s words were more effective than that of his counterpart Keith Hill.
Although it was Rochdale that kicked off the second half, it was Rovers that crafted the first opportunity. Conway, who was creating chance after chance throughout the game, drilled the ball across the face of goal; however both Samuel and Antonsson, who slid in to try and poke it home, had missed the ball, which resulted in a Rochdale throw. However Rovers’ spirits were not to be dampened as they forged another opportunity in an attempt to double the lead. Conway crossed the ball towards Antonsson once again, who out-jumped his marker and powered a header towards goal, which was superbly scrambled away by the Rochdale keeper Brendan Moore.
Antonsson’s frustrations in-front of goal was to be quelled on the 57th minute as the on-loan striker finally opened his account for the Blues, whilst also doubling the lead in the process after a frustrating number of attempts on goal. Craig Conway once again provided a cross which was intended for – and missed by – Dominic Samuel. However Marcus Antonsson was on hand to nod Rovers into a 2-0 lead and to also end his goal drought in England in which the forward hadn’t scored a goal since October 2016, which was for Leeds against Norwich in the EFL Cup. Regardless, Rovers had well and truly secured all three points by this stage of the game.
With Rovers holding such a commanding lead, Mowbray elected for a double change after an hour with the goalscorer Antonsson being replaced by the returning Bradley Dack and Conway being substituted for Harry Chapman, who has impressed so far in the short time he has been given to play at Rovers. Chapman came on to create an instant impact as he won a free-kick which he subsequently took himself. He lofted the ball into the penalty area which connected with the head of Derrick Williams who was hoping to make it two goals in as many games following his strike against MK Dons; however his header was saved by the Rochdale keeper.
Tony Mowbray played his final substitution in bringing on Danny Graham for Dominic Samuel. This change paid off for Rovers as Graham opened his seasonal account four minutes after his introduction into the game to make it 3-0 and send the travelling fans home well and truly happy. Harry Chapman ran into the box and saw his attempt smothered by the keeper; however the latter fumbled the ball, which subsequently dropped to Danny Graham on the edge of the area who had the simple task of slotting the ball into the empty goal to triple Rovers’ goalscoring.
The game ended how it started; with Rovers in lively fashion. Danny Graham hit the bar with a volley whilst Bradley Dack’s subtle finish from 3 yards was ruled out for offside after he was played in across the face of goal by Chapman.
This third victory in as many games has kept Rovers in 10th place, however with a game in hand over most of the teams above them, fans will be starting to hope whether all of the pieces to Mowbray’s tactical jigsaw have started to fall into the right place, which would then enable the side to kick on and meet their pre-season expectation of promotion.
