Rovers rolled to victory at the Kassam Stadium as the Blues made it half a dozen games unbeaten in the league after dispatching Oxford United in a game that was correctly predicted to be a tough one by the Rovers boss Tony Mowbray.
Both sides came into the game fresh off victories from the weekend, with Rovers simply brushing aside Bury 3-0, whilst the hosts Oxford United pummelled Plymouth Argyle 4-0 after the Argyle had a man sent off. The game was set up to be a feisty affair with the sides only being separated by one place in the table.
Rovers made one change to the side that put Bury to the sword on Saturday as Corry Evans returned from his one match suspension to replace Peter Whittingham, who was named on the bench. Elliott Bennett’s inclusion in the line-up, saw the fan favourite make his 50th appearance in Rovers colours.
The visitors kicked off the game that saw around 750 Rovers fans make the 378 mile round-trip to the South East of England; however it was the hosts who had the first opportunity on goal in the game. Inside two minutes, Rovers’ defence was tested by Wes Thomas who marginally failed to get on the end of a cross that was aimed towards the far post, which saw the former Birmingham forward concede a goal kick.
Rovers’ first chance at breaking the deadlock came from a corner on the 4th minute that was taken by Bradley Dack. The midfielder floated the ball towards the back-post which was met by Charlie Mulgrew, who headed the ball back across the face of goal. The captain’s header was met by Derrick Williams who was unable to keep his header down as the ball flew over the bar, much to the disappointment of the travelling contingency.
The always vocal support of Rovers were soon treated to the goal they had paid for, two minutes later, on the 6th minute, when Charlie Mulgrew caused more chaos in the Oxford box as he slotted home from another Dack delivery. Dack once again played the ball in towards the front-post, which was met by Marcus Antonsson who flicked the ball on towards Mulgrew who had the simple task of side-footing the ball into the back of the net, to put Blues into an early lead. Mulgrew was soon the bane of Oxford’s game once again as he managed to stifle an Oxford attack minutes after the restart with a well-timed tackle on their forward.
Despite Oxford’s pressure following the goal, it was to be Rovers who scored the next goal in the game, through Marcus Antonsson, only 11 minutes after grabbing the opener. Dack was once again involved in the build-up as he recycled a poor pass by Oxford, into an attempt on goal, which – former Rover – Simon Eastwood was unable to keep hold of. The subsequent rebound dropped to the Swede who calmly stroked the ball home with his left-foot to grab his fourth goal in three games, making the striker the club’s top scorer overall, with 6 goals in all competitions.
Oxford’s night soon turned from a bad day at the office into a nightmare as the visitors trebled their lead after the referee, John Brooks, awarded Rovers their first penalty of the season, after Dack – who was at the heart of everything positive Rovers did – was fouled by Dwight Tiendalli. Charlie Mulgrew subsequently stepped up and dispatched the penalty flawlessly into the right-hand corner of the goal to grab his second goal of the game.
It didn’t take long however for some sort of retaliation from Oxford, as David Raya was called upon for the first time in the game. Jack Payne’s well struck effort was well saved by the Rovers keeper, as he kept the hosts off of the score sheet, in order to preserve his side’s healthy lead. Minutes later, Rovers nearly made it four on the break, but despite Dack being free in the area, Corry Evans’ pass was unable to squeeze its way past an Oxford defender, who was well placed to cut out the move.
Rovers’ final attack of the first half once again came through Bradley Dack, as the 23-year old did fantastically to get the ball under control in the area, before laying it off to Joe Nuttall who was alongside him. The teenager was looking for his 2nd goal in 3 league games for the first team, but alas, his effort was competently blocked by the Oxford backline.
As two minutes were added onto the end of the first period, Oxford looked to have stepped up a gear in their play as they mounted one final attack before the referee blew for the break. Jack Payne was to be the eventual scorer after he was given the ball from outside the area. The number 10 then wriggled his way through the body of defenders before expertly striking the ball across goal into the far-hand side of Raya’s goal, to reduce the deficit between the sides to 2.
Both sides went into the break with mixed emotions; Rovers were surely happy with the work they had done in order to go 3 goals ahead, however they would have been disappointed with the manner in which they conceded Payne’s goal, with there being no attempt at tackling the Oxford man. The hosts however, were probably preparing themselves for the hairdryer treatment off their manager, Pep Clotet, who would have been furious with what he had seen from his team throughout the first 45 minutes.
It was Oxford who kicked off the second half, wanting nothing but goals in order to try and salvage something, from a game which quickly spiralled out of their control. Their wishes nearly came true as they forced David Raya into a save on the 50th minute as a result of a miss-hit cross diverting towards the Rovers goal.
A minute later, Tony Mowbray introduced his first substitute into the game, as Rekeem Harper was brought on in place of Corry Evans, with the boss clearly having Saturday’s fixture at home to Bristol Rovers in mind. With no real action towards either goalmouth, ten minutes passed before Oxford also made their first chance, as Alex Mowatt was introduced in place of James Henry. It didn’t take long, however, for the substitute to make an impact as he wound up an effort from around 20-yards out; however the shot was a poor one that dragged wide.
More substitutions occurred on the 65th minute, this time for both teams; as Dominic Samuel was brought on to replace Marcus Antonsson for Rovers; whilst Oxford sent Xemi Fernandez and Jon Obika on to replace Ryan Ledson and Wes Thomas respectively.
Elliott Bennett soon burst into life after the substitutions took a few minutes to settle in. He skinned his man down the right-hand side and lofted in a ball towards the centre, aimed at Bradley Dack, who leapt up to meet the cross. Despite the midfielders’ best efforts, the effort ballooned over the bar.
This disappointment of not officially putting the game beyond Oxford was soon to be rectified on the 71st minute as Joe Nuttall eventually grabbed his 2nd goal in 3 league games off the back of some wonderful wing play by Elliott Bennett. Bennett produced an almost carbon-copy of the run he crafted earlier, to set up Dack, and excellently managed to keep the ball in play by crossing from the byline. Nuttall got on the end of the cross and somehow managed to bundle the ball past the despairing Simon Eastwood, to make it 4-1.
David Raya, who had done well to keep concentration following the lengthy spells of Rovers possession, was again called into action and again did superbly well to deny Oxford a second goal. Substitute Jon Obika picked up the ball and drove a shot towards goal which the Spaniard was equal to, as he got down quickly – almost cat-like – to deny Oxford a route back into the game.
Rovers’ final substitution saw Bradley Dack replaced by Danny Graham, who was probably wishing he had started the game in the hope of nicking a goal, as a result of the poor Oxford defending during the first 45 minutes.
Although Rovers were in control of the game for the majority, Oxford managed to once again, reduce the margin between the two sides to two goals by the 85th minute as substitute Jon Obika did what he was sent on to do, as he doubled the host’s conciliation tally. The goal itself was well concocted, as Obika used his upper-body strength to turn Paul Downing, before slotting the ball into the left-hand corner of Rovers’ net.
Despite the late scare, Rovers never looked like bottling the game after taking such an advantageous lead, so early on. The game ended, after 5 minutes were added on by the referee, to a chorus of boos by the home side who were furious with their team’s display. The Rovers fans however were euphoric as they continuously praised their team and manager with songs and chants.
Although Rovers would have expected to see themselves in the top two after 17 games being played, it can be fair to say that sitting in 6th, with a game in hand is a good position to be in. The Blues head into the weekend clash at home to Bristol Rovers with 31 points and a positive goal difference of 14, which was boosted due to tonight’s goal-scoring exploits. In terms of the campaign overall, league leaders Shrewsbury are only 9 points off Rovers in 6th and with over half of the season still to be played, the Rovers faithful will be hoping their recent inspired form continues.
