“You’re not fit to referee” was ringing around Ewood Park by full time as Rovers’ return off the back of four straight wins, ultimately ended in disappointment as the visiting Wombles picked up their second win of the season.
The team that Tony Mowbray picked for the game had one change from the team that had gotten the three points away at Scunthorpe in mid-week. Rekeem Harper, who had impressed in his first half cameo at Glanford Park, before being removed due to an injury was replaced by Craig Conway who himself had recently recovered from a hip injury he picked up, a week ago, at Rochdale.
It was the visitors who started the game; however they immediately conceded possession to Rovers who were quick out of the starting blocks as opposed to their opponents. Inside the first two minutes of the game, the Blues had already got their first shot on goal, as Dominic Samuel capitalised on some poor passing to have the first shot of the game, however Wimbledon keeper George Long was alert enough to parry the ball away from the goal.
The game continued the way Rovers had hoped as they controlled a majority of the possession as Wimbledon failed to find their feet within the opening ten minutes as they played a few passes astray and were at times caught in possession by the hosts. Despite Wimbledon’s poor opening 10 minutes, it was them who broke the deadlock after 16 minutes, arguably against the run of play.
Wimbledon went 1-0 ahead against the run of play as Kwesi Appiah grabbed his second goal of the season after Wimbledon broke away with the ball. The former Crystal Palace man made it into the Rovers box after being hassled by Richie Smallwood who managed to tackle the forward, but simultaneously failed to clear. The ball luckily broke to Appiah who had the task of skipping past Smallwood, who was on the floor as a result of the tackle and putting the ball into the back of the net, which he did, to put the visitors’ one goal to the good. Although Rovers were caught on the break, the entire back four, including midfielders Corry Evans and Richie Smallwood were in the box by the time the ball found the top left hand corner of Rovers’ goal, which will no doubt be viewed by Tony Mowbray as a very poor and soft goal to concede on the break.
The next opportunity on goal fell for the hosts on the 26th minute mark as Rovers put together a lovely move which was concluded by a Dominic Samuel header. Craig Conway picked the ball up on the left hand side after a string of passes found the Scot. He took a touch before providing a lovely ball into the box which was met by an unmarked Dominic Samuel whose header fizzed over the bar, which led to a Wimbledon goal kick.
The first substitution of the encounter was made by Rovers on the 33rd minute as they replaced Craig Conway with Bradley Dack, which was presumably due to Conway’s’ injury recurring, despite feeling fit before the game, hence why he started. Regardless, Dack’s introduction was met with an impact as on the stroke of half-time he nearly drew the Blues level as he broke into the Wimbledon box and stayed on his feet despite the pressure from the defence. His subsequent shot on goal towards the near post was saved by George Long in the goal.
The half ended in confusion for Rovers as the players and fans were both in disbelief as to how Rovers hadn’t drawn level through the free header of Dominic Samuel. From a Wimbledon perspective however, the game couldn’t have be going any better as their counter-attacking mentality was being executed down to a tee.
After the players came out for the second-half, it took 6 minutes before the next chance on goal was created, which fell to the way of the visitors as Andy Barcham had an attempt on goal blocked. This was directly followed up by another attempt; this time by Dean Parrett was also blocked by the Rovers defence.
Soon after, Rovers introduced Danny Graham to the fold, in place of Richie Smallwood, in order to add a more attacking influence on the game. This substitution changed Rovers’ style of play as they went more direct, however the game soon sparked into life as Rovers had two penalty claims revoked by the referee, Trevor Kettle, who incurred the wrath of the home fans and seemingly became the centre of attention as he became the pantomime villain after a number of poor calls against the hosts. The two penalty shouts were identical, as Rovers, desperately chasing the game, crafted two shots on goal which were seemingly on course to challenge the goalkeeper, however on both occasions they were met by a hand of a Wimbledon defender and on both occasions Rovers were dismissed.
Dominic Samuel once again had a chance to draw the game level on the 66th minute as he was on the receiving end of a Bradley Dack cross. The former Reading forward unfortunately glanced his header wide, much to the disappointment of the Rovers fans. Rovers’ third and final change saw Marcus Antonsson being replaced by Harry Chapman, who brought a sense of enthusiasm, skill and pace to the Rovers attack.
Rovers were becoming more and more desperate for a result as the minutes ticked by and their disappointment was compounded by the 77th minute when substitutes Dack & Chapman combined to create a glorious chance for the Blues to draw level. Chapman’s tricky wing-play down the right hand of the pitch culminated in a deep cross to the far post, which was met by the head of Bradley Dack. The 23-year old’s header was superbly saved by Long in the Wimbledon goal and the follow-up effort by Paul Caddis was blazed over the crossbar.
The game turned into a very scrappy affair as frustrations mounted, both on the field, in the dugout and in the stands, with tackles flying and balls being launched into the box, however Rovers were unable to draw level, as the game drew to a close despite an extra 6 minutes of added time being played as a result of the referee’s stoppages. Neither team were able to craft out a decent attempt on goal after Dack’s opportunity was cleared off the line and the final result sent the Dons fans back to the South of England with nothing but a jubilant smile on their faces.
There was a lot of disappointment for Rovers as the referee was on the end of a lot of criticism from the fans, however despite their best efforts, the Blues were unable to extend their four match unbeaten run to five as this defeat saw them drop down to 11th in the table after 7 games, four points adrift of a playoff place in 6th and a whopping 11 points off top of the table Shrewsbury, who Rovers travel to next week, in the hope they can rekindle their winning form and give the hard-working fans who follow their team, week in and week out, what they deserve.
