[Archived] Match Report: Blackburn Rovers 1 - 1 Cardiff City

[Kamy100]

Parsonblue's match report from last night's match:

Tuesday 18^th August 2015 – Football League Championship

Blackburn Rovers 1 v 1 Cardiff City

Blackburn Rovers (0) 1

Hanley 88

David Raya; Adam Henley (Danny Guthrie 63), Shane Duffy, Grant Hanley, Tommy Spurr; Craig Conway, Jason Lowe, Hope Akpan, Ben Marshall; Fodé Koita (Modou Barrow 46), Nathan Delfouneso. Subs not used: Jason Steele (gk), Matt Kilgallon, Marcus Olsson, Lee Williamson, John O’Sullivan.

Manager: Gary Bowyer

Cardiff City (1) 1

Mason 5

David Marshall; Lee Peltier, Sean Morrison, Matthew Connolly, Scott Malone; Anthony Pilkington, Kagisho Dikgacoi (Aran Gunnarsson 74), Peter Whittingham, Joe Ralls; Joe Mason (Craig Noone 86), Alex Revell (Kenwyne Jones 65).

Subs not used: Simon Moore (gk), Fabio Da Silva, Eoin Doyle, Sammy Ameobi.

Manager: Russell Slade

Referee: Mr. S. Duncan

Bookings: Blackburn Rovers – Hope Akpan, Shane Duffy

Cardiff City – Matthew Connolly, Lee Peltier, Sean Morrison

Attendance: 12,025

The first win of the season is proving frustratingly elusive to find and the quest is not helped by the Rovers penchant for shooting themselves in the foot. Just five minutes into the game and the Rovers found themselves a goal behind after young David Raya made a catastrophic error in trying to play the ball out of defence rather than adopting the long punt that was required at that point. The setback seemed to set the tone for the rest of the first half, a half which saw the Rovers huff and puff but fail to break down the massed ranks of the Cardiff defence. When they did get the ball into the net a linesman’s flag was raised for offside and the “goal” was chalked off. The second-half produced a more sustained bout of pressure which eventually told and produced a late, late equaliser from Grant Hanley. As with the defeat against Wolves, there were positives to take from the match but until the Rovers stop conceding soft goals those positives will count for nothing.

With Jordan Rhodes ruled out with injury Gary Bowyer opted to stick with the 4-4-2 formation which had worked so well at Huddersfield. Hope Akpan came in for his first start whilst Danny Guthrie dropped to the bench. Another change resulted in Tommy Spurr replacing Marcus Olsson at left-back, with the young Swede dropping to the bench.

On a night when the club and its supporters remembered the passing of Jack Walker, with a pre-match video and a minute’s applause, it was fitting that four products of the Academy – David Raya, Adam Henley, Grant Hanley and Jason Lowe – should be in the starting eleven. Jack’s legacy is very much still alive with two superb training complexes at Brockhall and a modern stadium at Ewood Park.

Sadly, after just five minutes the pre-match atmosphere surrounding the celebration for Jack evaporated in an instant. Raya attempted to play the ball out with a short pass to Lowe. The midfielder was quickly closed down and so put the ball back to Raya who, under pressure, kicked the ball out towards Spurr. However, the left-back was robbed by Lee Peltier who, via Anthony Pilkington, played in Joe Mason and he, in turn, wasted no time in putting the ball past Raya and into the back of the net. After the home defeats to Wolves and Shrewsbury Town, the last thing the manager needed was another individual error of that magnitude.

The Rovers hit back with a couple of free-kicks, from Tommy Spurr and Craig Conway which created half-chances which couldn’t be converted. Fodé Koita met Conway’s free-kick with his head but the ball was directed straight at David Marshall and the ‘keeper gratefully collected the ball.

The goal visibly sapped the confidence of Raya and this was reflected in some shocking clearances whenever he attempted to kick the ball long.

On fifteen minutes, Shane Duffy suddenly found the opposition defence open up in front of him and the young defender took the ball forward before he dragged his shot well wide of the target.

Cardiff were happy to flood midfield and then drop back towards the edge of their own area to deny the Rovers the space to operate behind them. The Rovers best moves tended to involve Nathan Delfouneso who again impressed with his movement and ability to work the channels.

Whilst the visitors had less attacks than the Rovers their forays forward appeared to have more of a cutting edge than that employed by the men in ‘Blue & White’.

On seventeen minutes the Rovers almost got themselves in trouble again when a moment of hesitation between Duffy and Raya ended with the centre-back playing the ball back to the goalkeeper and leaving it somewhat short. Fortunately, the young Spaniard was quick to rush out and clear the ball.

Fodé Koite then found himself in a good position and raced into the area but then produced a moment of comedy when he completely missed his kick as he was about to shoot for goal and fell over. It rather summed up the opening twenty minutes for the Rovers – plenty of enthusiasm but a dearth of quality at the key moment.

On twenty-one minutes Craig Conway produced a neat piece of skill which enabled him to cut in from the wing and hit a long range effort which Marshall collected with relative ease.

Four minutes later the comedy appeared to be catching when Pilkington wasted a good opportunity with another mishit shot.

Jason Lowe, in a rare foray forward, had a long range effort which forced Marshall into action.

A corner to the visitors was eventually cleared as far as Joe Ralls who found himself in acres of space and he fired a fierce shot goalwards which Raya fumbled badly before Hanley stepped in to clear the danger.

On thirty-two minutes Kigasho Dikgacoi struck a powerful effort from some twenty-five yards out and it whistled just inches past the post with Raya clutching at air as he dived full length to cover his post.

Up to this point the Rovers were struggling to impose themselves on the game and although they enjoyed plenty of possession it tended to be in areas which wouldn’t hurt the opposition. Indeed, Cardiff stood off and allowed the Rovers to keep possession by moving it around their back line without ever really looking like moving forward with a purpose. Long balls played forward delivered little reward as Sean Morrison and Matthew Connolly had the beating of Koita in the air whilst Delfouneso was making intelligent runs in the channels but not always being found with Lowe being particularly guilty of being incapable of passing the ball forward.

On forty minutes Adam Henley made an excellent run down the right wing which resulted in a corner. This set piece was flicked on at the near post by Duffy and the ball eventually found Akpan on the far side of the area. He came inside to find a more central shooting position but from the edge of the area he fired wide.

The Rovers ended the half on the front foot and on forty-three minutes they had the ball in the back of the net when Spurr’s free-kick on the right was headed home by Koita only to be ruled out by a linesman’s flag. Right on half-time, Spurr’s long throw was flicked on by Duffy and met by the head of Akpan but his header was blocked on the line as Marshall managed to claw the ball away with defenders covering the ‘keeper. The Rovers kept the ball in and around the area and a cross from Conway came to Duffy, via Koita and Defounseo, but with a seemingly open goal in front of him he took a wild kick at the ball and it flew well wide of the target.

It was a frustrating end to what had been forty-five minutes of frustration. Having gifted the visitors an early goal the Rovers had had opportunities to draw level but simply hadn’t taken them whilst Cardiff had continued to pose a threat on the break.

At the break, Bowyer made a change with Koita being replaced by Modou Barrow – the manager later explained that the Frenchman had felt a slight niggle with his knee and he was sensibly replaced as a precaution.

With the introduction of Barrow the Rovers adapted their tactics and looked to play balls behind the defence to utilise the Swansea man’s turn of pace. Sadly, too many passes were played far too short and defenders intercepted them before Barrow had the opportunity to gain possession. However, when he did get the ball he looked a real threat.

Despite enjoying the early possession at the start of the second period Raya was forced to charge from his goal to clear a long ball which had beaten the Rovers back line.

The Rovers continued to come forward and the pace of Barrow and Akpan almost caught the visiting defence out until the move broke down on the edge of the box.

On fifty-seven minutes Delfouneso produced a superb moment of skill when he controlled the ball on his chest, turned and struck a powerful volley which rattled the crossbar after it took a deflection. The corner that followed was again met by the head of Duffy but the defender was unable to keep his header down and the ball flew over the bar.

The Rovers really ought to have drawn level when a Conway free-kick came off the head of Marshall, wrong footed the Cardiff defence and found Hanley on the back post. With the goal at his mercy he put his header the wrong side of the upright to the consternation of the Ewood faithful.

Undeterred, the Rovers continued to dominate possession as they looked for an equaliser and always looked threatening with set-pieces. On 61 minutes, Hanley rose to meet another Spurr free-kick but the defender was unable to get over the ball and his header flew high over the bar.

Bowyer then made another switch with Danny Guthrie being brought on to add more guile to the midfield with Lowe dropping to right-back to replace Adam Henley.

In a bid to stem the tide Russell Slade made his own switch with Kenwyne Jones being brought on to try to provide more punch to a Cardiff attack that had virtually disappeared after the break.

As the game entered the final twenty minutes it was still the Rovers who were doing all the pressing and another goalmouth scramble from a Spurr throw enabled Hanley to do a quick turn and fire in a shot which Marshall held.

On 76 minutes, on one of Cardiff’s rare attacking moves, there was almost a mix up between Lowe and Raya before the goalkeeper took charge and cleared the ball.

The visitors were restricted to breakaways and on one such break, Akpan showed his “Aaron Mokoena” qualities when he stopped one raid with a robust challenge that earned him a booking.

As the game moved into the final five minutes, Bowyer pushed Duffy upfield to play as another striker as the Rovers continued to put Cardiff under pressure but simply couldn’t find the key to unlock the stubborn resistance put up by the Welsh side.

However, on eighty-eight minutes the Rovers got the breakthrough that their efforts thoroughly deserved and once again it was a set-piece that initiated the goal. A corner was cleared but only as far as Conway and when the former Cardiff man delivered a perfect cross to the back post Hanley arrived and scored with a neat left foot finish.

With four minutes of added time the Rovers continued to put pressure on the Cardiff goal with Hanley again going close with a header before a frantic scramble in the goalmouth ended with the ball being cleared off the line by a desperate Cardiff defence.

Ultimately the Rovers had to settle for a point but, as in the previous two League games, there were positives and negatives to take from the performance. On the positive side the improved defending of Grant Hanley and Shane Duffy was more than welcome. Hanley, in particularly, looked to have rediscovered the form he showed a couple of years back and was immense in both penalty areas. In midfield the performance of Hope Akpan was hugely encouraging. Akpan looks to have good technique and is both mobile and forward looking in his approach. He could well develop into the box to box midfield player that the Rovers have lacked for so long whilst at the same time he looked very accomplished defensively.

Another positive was the performance of Nathan Delfouneso who, once again, caught the eye with his movement and ability to run at defenders. Modou Barrow too, in the second half, did more than enough to suggest that he has the pace to trouble defences and create chances.

Rovers’ set-pieces were good throughout and free-kicks, corners and Spurr’s long throw, created a number of very promising situations in front of goal.

On the negative side young David Raya had a night to forget. The youngster’s early error seemed to visibly sap his confidence, particularly with his kicking. Youngster’s make mistakes and this is all part of the learning curve and, of course, there is usually no place to hide when a ‘keeper makes an error. In midfield, Jason Lowe had another disappointing game with too many passes going astray or, more frustratingly, going backwards. With the crowd on his back one can’t help but think that the time has come to either move him to right-back, a position in which he seems more comfortable, or leave him out altogether. Akpan demonstrated that he can do the same job as Lowe defensively in midfield but seems more forward looking and attack minded.

Whilst two points from nine is hardly great it merely reflects a newly, and hurriedly, assembled team that is in the early stages of coming together. Clearly there are areas that the manager needs to address but the three League performances haven’t been as poor as the points total would suggest.

Whilst this may not, at this moment in time, be a squad that looks geared to mount a promotion challenge, it certainly doesn’t resemble an outfit that should be threatened with relegation. However, on the day that Bristol City made a £9 million bid for a striker it merely underlines how difficult it will be for the Rovers to compete whilst the embargo restricts them to loans and free-transfers. Sadly, the days of Jack Walker are long gone and the old economic realities that we thought had gone for good have returned with a vengeance.

[JBiz]

cheers Parson. I really do think Duffy/Hanley have the raw materials to be a good back two.

[Mercer]

Really grateful for Parsonblue's match reports at all levels - does an excellent job.

However, some stark reality from 'blueyedboy' - IMV, the best local football writer bar none:

https://blueyedboy.w...rs-splash-cash/

[K-Hod]

I must admit I take issue with the last paragraph! Though I feel there will be 3 worse teams than us when the dust settles come May next year.

But then, it's a game of opinions I guess......

[tomphil]

cheers Parson. I really do think Duffy/Hanley have the raw materials to be a good back two.

They actually performed like a partnership last night which is helped in no small part by Hanley getting his act together. Last night it just seemed to work well with Duffy having a guy he could easily dominate in the air and he seemed to take the lead for a lot of the airiel stuff. Hanley getting in the muck and bullets stuff on the ground and doing the covering. Good signs although not a right stern test attack wise from Cardiff it has to be said.

[Feniscowles Blue]

Newly and Hurriedly put together team?????

Thought GB had been here 3 seasons

[DE.]

Newly and Hurriedly put together team?????

Thought GB had been here 3 seasons

I found that line a little odd when 7 out of the 11 starting have been in the first team squad for at least two seasons and it would have been 8 out of 11 if Rhodes had started!

[ABBEY]

Huffed & puffed in the first half ? Gary said we were brilliant .

Huffed and puffed until we scored I. Thought ,

I found that line a little odd when 7 out of the 11 starting have been in the first team squad for at least two seasons and it would have been 8 out of 11 if Rhodes had started!

It's all in the subtle brainwashing

[Rover_Shaun]

Newly and Hurriedly put together team?????

Thought GB had been here 3 seasons

Only 3 years into the 5 year masterplan though

[den]

I must admit I take issue with the last paragraph! Though I feel there will be 3 worse teams than us when the dust settles come May next year.

But then, it's a game of opinions I guess......

That last paragraph has been coming since we appointed him.

[K-Hod]

That last paragraph has been coming since we appointed him.

I'd say it's more since Venky's rolled into town!

[Rover_Shaun]

Really grateful for Parsonblue's match reports at all levels - does an excellent job.

However, some stark reality from 'blueyedboy' - IMV, the best local football writer bar none:

https://blueyedboy.w...rs-splash-cash/

your link is broken

https://blueyedboy.wordpress.com/

oooooffff!!!

I’m still hearing people describe this squad as one that a better coach than Bowyer would have much higher up the table.

I think they might be right but only because I’m beginning to think he will take us a lot lower than even I believed he could if he’s left to it much longer.

And there’s a limit to how often you can end up jiving on the Riverside because the lads “gave it a right good go.”

[Kamy100]

Jim has asked me to pass on his thanks for both the positive and negative feedback to his column this week, he hasn''t been so well so the response to his column has really given him a lift.

[Stuart]

Jim?

[K-Hod]

I presumed he was meaning Parson Blue, real name Jim.

[Tom]

Nope he meant @jimwilkz blue eyed boy - I didn't realise he no longer posted here.