Final version. Note: 2 early matches are missing because I had no access to the videos. Players had to be on the pitch for 60 minutes to be graded. Players on the pitch between 60 and 90 minutes had their scores scaled up to 90 minutes.

PLAYER WATCH v Birmingham City (A) Each incident in the match was rated on the following scale: +5 GOAL +4 Excellent play +3 Very good play +2 Pleasing/good play +1 Decent play 0 Routine stuff -1 Sloppy play -2 Disappointing/poor play -3 Very poor play -4 Terrible play -5 Own goal The ratings for each player were then combined to produce a measure of the players overall contribution to the match. Ratings Key incidents per player = coloured stars Overall contribution = numbers Kaminski ******* ** 9 Brown *************** *********** 4 Ayala **************** ***** 14 Wharton ******************** ***** 21 Pickering ******************* ****** 15 Travis *************** ************** 3 Buckley ******************* ******* 23 Edun (45) **** ****** -6 Hedges **************** ******** 10 Gallagher (76) *************** ********* 10 Diaz (65) ***** **** 7 Dack (45) * * 0 Markanday (65) *** *** 0 Vale (76) ***** * 5 Highlights and Lowlights (A justification for the main ratings given above) Tony’s farewell? He’s decided not to pick players who have not committed to the club next year. Players “out of contract” or on loan will not feature…….unless we run out of numbers. James Brown makes his debut. Markanday and Vale (fresh from his 4 goals for the U23s) are on the bench. Kaminski Brown Ayala Wharton Pickering Travis Edun Hedges Buckley Gallagher Diaz 01 A first touch for Brown as he competes with the winger for a loose ball but the winger outmuscles him and gets in a cross …… it’s a bit too long. 04 The first of those infuriating offside situations where Pickering fires a nice long ball down the channels but Diaz has misjudged it. 05 Good challenge from Brown as he takes the ball off the attacker. Now he makes a clearance against the City man and it’s out for a goal-kick. 06 Some nice approach play from Rovers and Pickering lobs the ball to Gallagher, on the penalty spot but it’s a little bit behind him and he doesn’t connect perfectly with his attempted left-footed volley……. it goes straight into the keeper’s arms. 09 Travis jockeys James well and directs him to the wing but when James lays it off, Travis doesn’t stay with him and James runs to the byline and puts in a dangerous cross. Fortunately there’s no one there and Hedges nudges it to safety, out for a throw. 12 Brown wins another challenge on the wing and comes away with the ball. From our half Buckley fires a lovely long ball to Hedges on the right wing. He brings it down nicely on his thigh, cuts inside his marker and from 18 yards out crosses to Diaz on the penalty spot but Ben’s glancing header is a poor contact and the chance is gone. He did get into a great position though, moving in front of his marker neatly! 13 I’ve had a bit of a bee in my bonnet through all the recent defensive failures…..bring back Ayala - who was a rock in the first half of the season, helping to organise the defence and, as here, putting in commanding aerial challenges which send the ball half the length of the pitch! 14 the wily Hernandez tries to kick and rush past Brown but The Rovers man is good enough and comes away with the ball. 15 Pickering is challenged to a foot race by Chong but again the Rover wins the ball. 21 A nice crossfield pass from Diaz to Hedges on the right wing. He takes it forward and fires in a powerful shot from 20 yards but the keeper beats it away at the near post. 25 Another good clearing header from a City corner by Ayala. Edun miscontrols a bouncing ball and it ricochets ro a City forward but his shot hits Wharton and goes out of play. 26 A poor pass from Edun kills the momentum as we looked to counter-attack. 27 Ayala brings the ball to halfway but his touch is heavy and he loses it. There’s a big hole and City have a great chance to attack. Wharton comes across the box to clear up and it’s out for a throw. From the long throw Ayala is back to what he does best, heading well clear. 28 A lovely turn away from his man and then a good crossfield ball from Buckley to Diaz. He lays off to Hedges who lays it gently back to Buckley, 30 yards out on the right, and he smashes it first time into the top left corner of the net!!! Sensational goal, …..could be goal of the season! The other players are stunned, Hedges is holding his head in disbelief! 33 Hernandez has a head start on Brown as they chase a ball down the wing but Brown gets back to get a foot in and hold him up and the City momentum is lost. Then there’s a poor pass by Pickering followed by another from Edun. 35 This time it’s Hedges who plays the poor pass. Now it’s Wharton and it’s a City corner. 38 Gallagher is first to a loose ball in the corner of the City box. He flicks the ball beautifully through to Hedges, in the clear 12 yards out, but his shot hits the top of the bar. He should have scored. Hedges holds his head again! I think he panicked! 40 This time Hernandez is far too good for Brown and runs rings around him. He passes to Bacuna but his shot is weak and off-target. 41 A bad foul by Edun near the flag and it’s a yellow card. 44 Pickering picks up a loose ball 30 yards out. You have to see this……he offloads casually to Diaz. He’s level with the left edge of the box 25 yards out with a man in front of him. He unfurls the most outrageous inswinging, dipping shot over the startled keeper and into the top right corner of the net. Absolutely no one was expecting that! Fabulous goal and put that down as another contender for goal of the season! This time both Pickering and Hedges have their hands to their faces in wonder! Beam me up Scotty! 45 Edun off, Dack on. 47 It’s a City corner and Pickering loses Taylor who heads the ball towards the top left corner from about 3 yards but somehow Kaminski gets a hand to it! Great save. 48 Bacuna beats Travis comprehensively on the edge of the box, then Buckley has a go…then Travis again and finally the City man is over-crowded and gives up the goal-kick. 58 Pickering receives the ball 30 yards out and runs forward before back-heeling to Diaz who shoots from 20 yards. It’s all along the floor and the keeper flings himself horizontal to parry away. Gallagher chases the rebound but he was offside. 59 Another of those fancy flicks from Hedges but Gallagher isn’t good enough to return the ball. 60 Henandez is too good for Brown this time but Ayala is there to block him out on the byline. Goal-kick. 61 Some fancy footwork from Hernandez beats Travis but Brown slides in effectively to concede the throw. 64 Gallagher, near the centre-circle, wins a long ball flick-on. There’s some sloppy play from City and Gallagher picks up the loose ball and tries to slip it into the box for Hedges. A defender gets a foot in but it still runs for Hedges and near the right corner of the 6 yard box, he tries to lob the out-rushing keeper but it’s saved. Brown loses out to Hernandez but Buckley puts in one of those deceptively effective challenges to dispossess him. John’s been very quiet this half. 65 Diaz off, Markanday on. 74 A good chase back by Brown as he gets in an important challenge on Hernandez. Oh! I thought that was a good robust challenge by Ayala but it’s ruled a foul….just outside the D! Taylor puts it over the bar. 76 Gallagher off, Vale on. Vale blocks out for a throw-in. 77 Pedersen receives the ball just inside our half, on the City left. Markanday is too lethargic as he strolls by. Travis loses James who receives Pedersen’s short pass; he plays a 1-2 back to Pedersen and Buckley’s challenge is powerpuff. He then pokes the ball beyond Ayala into the box. Wharton looks favourite but the City man is more determined, he gets there first and puts the ball into the far right corner. A quality goal in all honesty. 79 Brown misjudges a ball down the wing, ends up on his backside and Hernandez collects near the flag. To be fair, Brown gets back and blocks the City man’s cross out for a corner. 81 Unusual! We get an indirect free kick just inside their box for the goalie picking up a backpass! Buckley taps to Dack but his shot hits the wall. 84 A nice flick from Dack down the wing and Vale puts his cross square across the 6 yard box but there’s no Rover around. 86 Buckley, near halfway, lobs an inch perfect pass to Markanday on the left of the D. After a bit of fancy footwork he squares 10 yards out but there’s no one there. 87 Vale wins a challenge midway in the City half, Hedges slips a neat ball to Markanday and he’s clear one on one. The goalie rushes out and spreads himself to save Markanday’s shot. He should have done better there! Brown’s attempted forward ball hits a City man and rebounds dangerously. Bellingham takes it forward. Brown rushes back and Bellingham’s quick turn puts Brown on his backside just outside the D. His shot rolls wide of the right post. 91 Brown miscontrols a long hoof downfield and concedes the corner. Kaminski punches clear. 94 The final, final whistle goes. Ultimately it was a disappointing end of season which, at one time, seemed so promising. Nevertheless, we are Rovers fans and we learn to endure it. Players come and players go and today we got a glimpse of a future Rovers side. It wasn’t too bad was it? Anyway what keeps us coming back is always the tantalising dream that next season will be the one…..definitely! O.k. that’s all from me. For the folks that have stuck with me over the season, thanks for reading and thanks for the encouraging comments…… I’ve enjoyed your company. Maybe I’ll see you next time?

I’m often surprised when Lenihan gets serious criticism on the forum. To my mind he’s been very consistent. His low scores generally come when he’s up against a classy centre forward. On Saturday, he struggled at full back as Bournemouth attacked with quality down his wing.

Yes, two things: I have modified (refined heh heh!) how I score each incident. I was maybe a bit more generous marking aerial challenges…which favored the centre backs..just maybe. Secondly, maybe we’ve forgotten how well Ayala marshaled our young defence when he came in. He was impressive back then. Oh! I forgot…..Lenihan was just ahead of him (if I remember correctly) when they were playing together…..Darragh has fallen off over the bad run.

Yes. I’ll update it then post it. Ok, this is how it stands now:

Thanks. It's not so bad when I know that you guys are, at least, taking the time to read it.

Thanks Tyrone. I always try to reply to other fans comments and explain anomalies. I’ve appreciated your support over the year.

As for Pickering…..all the big attacks came down the other wing or through the centre….all of the goals, the crossbar hit, the great Kaminski save and the one where Pickering put in a great sliding stop. He also put in some crosses. He looks good (on paper) compared to the other defenders because they took the brunt and suffered for it! Wharton and van Hecke had a lot to deal with and never looked comfortable. He won by default!

PLAYER WATCH v Bournemouth (H) Each incident in the match was rated on the following scale: +5 GOAL +4 Excellent play +3 Very good play +2 Pleasing/good play +1 Decent play 0 Routine stuff -1 Sloppy play -2 Disappointing/poor play -3 Very poor play -4 Terrible play -5 Own goal The ratings for each player were then combined to produce a measure of the players overall contribution to the match. Ratings Key incidents per player = coloured stars Overall contribution = numbers Kaminski ***** *** 5 Lenihan **************** ********** 8 van Hecke ***************** *************** 4 Wharton ********* ********** -4 Pickering **************** ***** 15 Travis ******* ****** -1 Buckley ********* *** 4 Rothwell (59) ******** ******** 1 Hedges (59) ********* **** 6 Gallagher (67) *********** ** 10 Diaz ********* ****** 5 Poveda (59) **** ** 1 Dolan (59) ** *** -4 Dack (67) ** **** -2 Highlights and Lowlights (A justification for the main ratings given above) Well, the dream is hanging on by the tiniest of mathematical possibilities. We have to win everything and our closest rivals have to win zippo. Same team as last time when we hammered PNE. 04 Commentators saying that Bournemouth have 25, 13 and almost 20 million pound players on show! 07 Danger! A throw down their left wing sees Solanke outpace van Hecke but our new Player of the Season gets back and dispossesses him in that seemingly effortless way of his. He hits it to Hedges on the right wing but he is dispossessed too and the Cherries man squares into the box where van Hecke is there again to clear. 08 It eventually results in a free kick for us near halfway and Gallagher takes it quickly, firing it forwards for Diaz to chase but it’s not quite good enough and Diaz can’t bring the ball under control. Nice idea though. 12 Solanke turns Wharton too easily and he’s away, Travis gets a foot in but Billing gets the ball and heads to the box. He pulls the ball back and puts Pickering on his backside but van Hecke stays with him and gets in the crucial block as Billing shoots. Good chance for the Cherries there. 14 A long ball from Bournemouth goes over our defence, Wharton is behind the play and barges into the attacker on the edge of the box. Yellow card! The free kick is on the left side of the D. Billing hits Travis in the wall and it goes for a corner. Bournemouth are trying to claim a penalty! The corner is long and Wharton has lost his man. Travis mis-kicks his chance to clear and it’s chaos but Lenihan hoofs it out of the box. 18 Bournemouth continue to look dangerous. Christie puts it into the box and we are at 6s and 7s. Buckley gets a foot in but there’s no relief. Rothwell gives the ball away and then Buckley brings down Cook midway in our half. It comes to nothing, fortunately. 20 A Bournemouth man brings it out from deep and launches a high long ball midway into our half and the defence is asleep. Van Hecke and especially Wharton have lost their men. Billing, unchallenged, heads it to the totally unmarked Solanke who sidefoots it expertly past Kaminski from 12 yards. Rovers are claiming offside but Lenihan was playing them all onside. Poor, poor defending all round. It had been coming. Travis and van Hecke are having a go at each other. 22 Here they come again and van Hecke robs Billing, just outside the box, as it was looking dangerous again. 25 Lenihan sends in a cross and Gallagher gets up and heads towards goal but it’s tortoise pace and the goalie dives and palms it round the post. 27 Just inside the Rovers half, Lenihan plays a beautiful in-swinging ball down the right wing, behind the defence, for Diaz to chase. He takes it into the box and lets loose near the corner of the 6 yard box but it hits the outside of the right post. A good run by Ben but a disappointing ending….the angle was narrowing all the time. Ben hasn’t scored this calendar year at Ewood. 28 Bournemouth come again down their left wing. First Lenihan is beaten, then Hedges, then van Hecke on the corner of the box. Billing squares to Solanke on the penalty spot but is shot is deflected fortuitously into the arms of Kaminski by a combination of van Hecke and Pickering. 31 Bournemouth are liking their left wing as another attack arrives. Zemura squares the ball into the box past 3 or 4 players to Solanke near the penalty spot. Wharton gets in half a challenge….enough to make Solanke re-think and pass back to Anthony on the edge of the box and his shot crashes against the top of the bar with Kaminski beaten! It’s all too easy for Bournemouth and we are lucky to only be one down. Neither Lenihan nor Rothwell did enough in that build up. 32 Dear dear, we are being made to look second rate here. 36 The commentator says that Mowbray’s 5 year stint will be remembered “quite fondly”! His colleague agrees and says Tony can leave with his head held high! 39 Hedges mis-controls and as the challenge comes in, he’s booked for diving. Rather harsh I think. 44 Another wasted short corner. Why do we do that? 46 Rothwell puts a speculative left-footed shot well over the bar. Lenihan wins 4 aerial challenges in a row! The whistle goes for half-time. 47 Rovers continue to pass side to side in Bournemouth’s half with no spark of inspiration or attacking intent. Hedges, on the right wing, can’t get a cross in as he has to turn back each time to get the ball on his good left foot. Pickering has lofted a couple of half-decent balls into the box but that's it. Oh! Diaz makes a good run infield from the left wing and feeds Hedges on the edge of the box. He gets it back to Diaz who skips past a defender and fires in a shot from the left corner of the 6 yard box but it’s narrow again and the keeper blocks at the near post. Now Buckley commits his regular “yellow card” poor tackle to pass the initiative back to the Cherries. As Tyrone pointed out last time….we are at the bottom of the disciplinary charts in the Championship! How is that possible when our aggression levels are as low as I can remember them? 50 Now van Hecke leaps in recklessly, near halfway, and it’s another yellow card. The crowd is a creditable 21396. 56 Zemura goes past Hedges, Lenihan and Travis; he heads into the box and outpaces van Hecke embarrassingly. He reaches the 6 yard box but he’s narrow and Kaminski saves at the near post. It rebounds to Lerma 10 yards out with the goal gaping but Pickering slides in to make a fantastic save on the line. Another massive let-off. 58 Rothwell goes on one of his runs into the middle of the Bournemouth half before releasing a lovely ball for Diaz to chase into the left channel. He’s in behind the defender and runs into the box but again he’s wide and his shot is blocked at the near post. Gallagher and Hedges were well-placed in the middle….squaring would have been a better option. 59 Hedges and Rothwell off, Poveda and Dolan on. 66 Bournemouth have us all worked out as we continue to pass back and forth across the field just inside their half. No more Preston derring-do, we don’t seem to have a clue how to break them down. Oh my! Solanke leaves Wharton for dead. He beats van Hecke and Wharton again as the 2 Rovers fall over each other! There’s only Kaminski to beat but from 14 yards Kaminski puts in a great save. We can’t handle these guys at the moment! 67 Gallagher off, Dack on. 69 Christie finds Dembele in acres of space on their left. Van Hecke brings him down recklessly but the ref plays advantage. Solanke casually jogs with the ball into the box. Lenihan and van Hecke front up but Solanke simply slips the ball between the 2 of them to the incoming Billing who smashes home from 10 yards. There were FIVE defenders in the box and every one of them had eyes only for Solanke. No one saw the danger man arriving - Pickering was too slow to react. It was all too easy and sadly inevitable. There’s some confusion about whether van Hecke has received a second yellow but he’s still on the pitch! 73 Travis puts in a good cross from the right wing to Dack, in the box, 10 yards out. Dack controls, turns and shoots but he’s tightly marked and the defender deflects out for a corner. Pickering takes but it’s poor. 77 A nice ball forward from Lenihan but Diaz is offside. A long ball comes forward from Bournemouth and Wharton is beaten in the air by Billing. Pickering gets a head to it before Solanke but Wharton gets the ball tangled in his legs and Dembele comes away with it, he nutmegs van Hecke and the ball is on a plate for Billing again, he fires past Kaminski from 11 yards inside the left post. Game over. Many fans have decided that’s enough as they head for the exit. The remaining fans blast out “Rovers till I die” in defiance. 81 Another nice chip into the box by Lenihan to Dack but he’s offside this time. 83 Our lack of ideas going forward is highlighted now by Dack continually dropping back into our half to get a sniff of the ball! 84 Dack flicks a nice ball over the defence but Diaz lets it hit his back and go out for a goal-kick. He was offside again anyway. 86 Oh! Dack is dropping even further back in his frustration! 87 A bit of neat interplay between Poveda and Dolan on the edge of the box and then Travis falls over in the box claiming a penalty…..errrr…no! 88 Dack, van Hecke and Travis all seem intent on proving that the only way we can stop this lot is by fouling them. Frustration abounds. The final whistle goes. The players walk round the pitch applauding the fans. Later Tony brings out the whole crew including wives and kids but only the very dedicated few are left in the ground. A sad sight in truth. So many blown chances have led to this……it should have been different but …….the way the team are performing right now, any progress beyond here would likely have been embarrassing. Ah well! There’s always next year!

This is true. Lenihan is usually involved in more incidents than anyone else. Ayala was always well up there too. I thought it was because they were in the heart of the defence…with all the aerial challenges to win. But it seems it’s more than that; even on the wing Lenihan still manages to get stuck in. It’s attitude too I guess. The midfielders did ok but commentary covers every “big” event and their names don’t appear positively all that often. It’s not just the numbers. Buckley was very good for the first hour but he blotted his markbook with some sloppy stuff later. This is just my opinion of course….this is not the definitive assessment of the game.

Back to his best I think….aggression mixed in with 2 lovely, long passes, a critical block and, of course, a goal. He was involved in more ‘significant’ incidents than anyone else. (30 I make it).

Thanks for the detailed comments. I agree 100% about the fouls and the pathetic nature of some of the fouls we commit. They kill any momentum we have or they give the opposition a free attack on goal. As for writing the reports, mostly I have watched the game live and have recorded it at the same time. Then I watch it back and write the report. It's essential to have the "rewind 10 seconds" button to review complex incidents and goals.....sometimes I have to review several times before its clear! I do (mostly) write the brief intro before the game though....so I'm not influenced by knowing the outcome.

PLAYER WATCH v Preston North End (A) Each incident in the match was rated on the following scale: +5 GOAL +4 Excellent play +3 Very good play +2 Pleasing/good play +1 Decent play 0 Routine stuff -1 Sloppy play -2 Disappointing/poor play -3 Very poor play -4 Terrible play -5 Own goal The ratings for each player were then combined to produce a measure of the players overall contribution to the match. Ratings Key incidents per player = coloured stars Overall contribution = numbers Kaminski **** 9 Lenihan ************************* ***** 37 van Hecke ****************** ** 23 Wharton *********** ** 14 Pickering ********* ******* -1 Travis ************* **** 17 Buckley (86) ************** ******** 14 Rothwell (86) *************** ******* 7 Hedges ******** ******** -1 Gallagher (76) **************** *** 17 Diaz ********* **** 11 Poveda (76) * 2 Dack (86) 0 Edun (86) * 2 Highlights and Lowlights (A justification for the main ratings given above) Down to ninth. We’ve gone to a back 4 with Lenihan at right back, then Buckley, Travis and Rothwell with Gallagher, Hedges and Diaz up front. 00 Pickering booked! 01 Rothwell fails to prevent Potts getting in his cross from the byline. Lenihan heads away and Hedges gives away a dumb foul near the flag. Lenihan again heads clear. 05 Buckley receives a throw on halfway and slides a lovely ball through for Hedges to chase. He takes it to the left side of the box but his cross is poor. Diaz manages to get a touch and Travis feeds Rothwell who tries an ambitious shot from outside the box; it’s deflected and the keeper scoops it up. 08 We get a free kick 24 yards out on the left wing. Pickering takes, Diaz, 10 yards out at the near post, gets in a glancing header which flies across goal and hits the right post. Gallagher is quickest to react and launches himself horizontally to head the rebound past the keeper from 4 yards. 1-0. 10 It’s another free kick but 35 yards out. Everyone is lined up along the edge of the box and Rothwell takes. Wharton and the full back chase the header but the Preston man does well to get there first. Corner but this time it’s poor from Rothwell. 11 Pickering and Diaz bring the ball forward and feed Buckley. He takes it forward and from 30 yards unleashes a cracker along the floor. It’s deflected slightly and streaks inside the right hand post. John’s second of the season. EIEIEIO rumbles around the stadium. 14 Blimey, that’s a new dimension to our full-back play from Lenihan…..aggression! First he dominates an aerial challenge and then comes in with a robust tackle. I like it! 16 Some nice interplay from Rovers just outside the Preston box and Travis slips it to Hedges on the penalty spot but it hits his heel and rebounds. Travis perseveres and it runs to Hedges again, 10 yards out but Johnson puts in a full-blooded tackle just as he’s about to shoot and the ball squirts away for a corner. I thought it looked a good tackle at first glance but on replay there’s a decent shout for a penalty! Most of the Rovers’ Players think so! 20 Another sloppy foul and yellow card for Gallagher. 22 Some nice 1-2 football from Rovers. 27 A nice crossfield pass from Buckley to Diaz….who is offside. 28 For the first time Preston are putting a few passes together. Rovers are pressing but can’t get the ball. Cunningham receives the ball 30 yards out. Travis misses his tackle and ends up on his backside. Pickering, in the box, has left the whole of the wing exposed and is marking nobody. The ball goes out to Browne who moves easily round Pickering and fires towards goal - it hits Wharton’s head and deflects past Kaminski. Too easy! I knew it was too good to be true. 33 Another chance for Preston but Cunningham makes a mess of the cross near the left post and it goes for a goal kick. It was half a chance. 34 I don’t like the Rovers players crowding the ref, demanding that he book one of the opponents. It seems soft. 36 Lenihan wins his header on the wing and Hedges is fouled 25 yards out. (That must be the 3rd or 4th time Hedges has been fouled!) Rothwell takes and Lenihan on the left corner of the 6 yard box rises unchallenged and heads back across goal and into the net! Not a thunderbolt but a well-placed looper by Darragh. 38 Potts runs down their right wing and Pickering can’t stop the cross. Travis is haring back into the box, he can’t get out of the way, and volleys the ball towards goal!!! Kaminski makes a good save to spare Travis’s blushes! His best effort on goal all season! (Edit - see later!) 40 It’s all Preston! They attack down their right again and van Hecke can’t prevent the ball coming into the box. Johnson is unmarked 14 yards out but Lenihan blocks the shot! Close! 47 Good tight pressing from every Rover in the Preston half. Buckley, Diaz, Rothwell, Gallagher and Hedges! The whistle goes on the best half we’ve seen for many a long while. Good grief if it continues like this, we could be back in the mix! It’s too much to ponder! 46 Gallagher is winning a lot of long ball flick-ons today. 51 We get a throw, 20 yards out on the left. Diaz receives and meanders his way cross field before slipping a beautiful ball through to the on-rushing Travis, in space 25 yards out. His first touch is perfect and he weaves his way into the box between 2 defenders before side-footing the ball past the keeper into the bottom right corner. A perfect striker’s finish. His first for 2 years and he knee-slides over to the fans to celebrate! 58 A Preston corner and Rothwell on the near post flicks a header behind him, right across the face of the goal. A Preston man heads it against Johnson and it falls perfectly for Jakobsen on the 6 yard line. His shot is brilliantly blocked by Kaminski on pure instinct. He gives a double fist-pump. 59 High booted challenge by Buckley 27 yards out and dangerous. 61 Yellow card for Whiteman’s challenge on Rothwell. Now Rothwell passes a ball to Diaz on the wing. It goes over his head and Diaz tries to catch it! The Preston players are demanding a yellow card for handball! I mean, what’s that all about? It used to be a man’s game! 62 Buckley might have earned the hook now. Another poor challenge 30 yards out and it’s yellow. He’s turned sloppy all of a sudden. 65 Preston are having a bright spot right now. 66 Now Lenihan picks up the ball and drives down the wing. He puts a great ball behind the whole defence for Gallagher to chase. He picks up at the right corner of the box and goes on. He’s 10 yards out but wide right and his shot is comfortably saved low at the near post. It was a very good run from Gallagher but a disappointing end. It’s a corner. 72 Ole ringing around the ground as Rovers pass the ball confidently from side to side. 73 Whiteman goes through the back of Buckley but John lays it off nicely anyway. More neat inter-passing and Lenihan gets it on the wing before swinging in a nice cross to Diaz 8 yards out but his header loops on to the top of the bar. Credit to Ben for getting there but the finish was a bit disappointing in truth. 76 Whiteman clatters into the back of Buckley again!! Very nasty. Hmm, Gallagher is sat down too. Sam off, Poveda on! 81 Buckley seems back to normal now. Nice flick there. 88 A tired attempted challenge by Hedges allows the Preston man to square into the box. It’s crowded in there but some kind of weak shot comes in (Travis managed to get an important foot in) and van Hecke blocks and tidies up. 94 Final whistle and we’re up to 7th with a nice boost to our goal difference. Well, I can still dream can’t I? It’s part of the pain of being a Rovers fan. That’s the best performance since that brilliant run. Where has this team been hiding? Passion, skill and ……for heaven’s sake….goals! Two to go.

Yes, agreed, but he did cause trouble. He’s not my cup of tea but we’re stuck with him!

It was bad. Better second half but we never looked like wrenching back control. Impotent.

What gets me….our centre backs have been the usual top scorers consistently….now they’ve fallen apart. Ayala seems to be out of the picture completely. He was a big influence, I think, when we were putting together that “impenetrable” back 5 back in the day.

He’s the most frustrating bloke. Sometimes, I swear, he’s the worst forward I’ve seen…..other times, like Saturday, he was a real handful. How can that happen?

PLAYER WATCH v Stoke City (H) Each incident in the match was rated on the following scale: +5 GOAL +4 Excellent play +3 Very good play +2 Pleasing/good play +1 Decent play 0 Routine stuff -1 Sloppy play -2 Disappointing/poor play -3 Very poor play -4 Terrible play -5 Own goal The ratings for each player were then combined to produce a measure of the players overall contribution to the match. Ratings Key incidents per player = coloured stars Overall contribution = numbers Kaminski ***** * 4 Nyambe ************* **** 15 Lenihan *************** ***** 18 van Hecke (45) ****** ******* -4 Wharton ********** ************* -4 Pickering *************** ********* 15 Travis ************** ****** 13 Johnson (66) ***** ********** -5 Dolan (74) *** ****** -4 Gallagher ****************** ****** 20 Diaz ******** ****** 0 Rothwell (45) ****** *** 6 Buckley (66) ******* * 9 Hedges (74) ***** * 7 Highlights and Lowlights (A justification for the main ratings given above) The teams around us keep losing so we are still floating around the top 6 remarkably. Stoke in mid-table have nothing to play for so we’ll be OK today. 03 It’s a simple ball slipped through the middle to Brown 35 yards out. Wharton is on him but somehow lets him turn and run clear. Kaminski comes out to meet him but from the edge of the box Brown slides the ball past him and into the net. Terrible defending. 09 Stoke are passing around with confidence. We can’t get the ball and when we do we lose it. Also we are conceding an alarming number of free kicks. Lenihan is the culprit this time. 15 Devoid of ideas as we pass the ball back and forth (mainly back) around the halfway line. 19 The 2nd or 3rd poor foul by Wharton. 23 Pickering is taking all the set-pieces today. Here he puts a decent ball into the Stoke box. Wharton and van Hecke go for the ball and head each other. 25 Stoke are happy to stroll around with the ball at the back and there’s absolutely no pressing from Rovers. 29 Rovers lack ambition; under no pressure we go from halfway to Kaminski when Nyambe was the only man in our half! 31 Another Wharton rugby tackle earns him a yellow card. He was turned too easily by Brown.. 33 This time it’s van Hecke who can’t handle Brown. Foul on halfway and another yellow card. 36 Another nice delivery from Pickering from the corner. Van Hecke is in space but his header is well over. Disappointing. 37 Oh dear! Van Hecke is beaten again and resorts to pulling the man down. Lucky not to receive a second yellow…..much worse than Edun’s efforts last game. He has a tendency to lose his head JP. 39 Johnson fires the ball forward but it’s intercepted. It doesn’t matter though as both Diaz and Gallagher were offside! 42 Dolan slides the ball to Diaz on the right wing and he miscontrols but Bellis slips and Ben heads to the box. It’s a good run but he’s wide and his shot from a narrow angle is saved at the near post. 43 Diaz, at the near post heads a Stoke corner straight to a City man on the penalty spot. Lenihan is the only Rover to react and as he slides in the ball is blocked for another corner which Diaz heads out of the box this time. 46 A good strong run by Gallagher deep into the box but there’s too many defenders and he loses the ball. Half time and Pickering throws the ball into the ground. Frustration abounds. Boos ring around Ewood and this shadow of a team looks broken. 45 Rothwell on, van Hecke off….to save him from an inevitable red card! 46 Dolan dives. 53 Travis gets a chance to shoot from just outside the box but there’s a reason he hasn’t scored forever and the ball sails 10 yards wide. 54 At last some neat interplay between Rothwell, Travis and Gallagher and Sam steams off towards the box again but as before he is dispossessed. 55 Stoke cuts us apart again and Nyambe just gets a foot in to put the City man off his shot. 67 We get a free kick 32 yards out and Diaz is standing in a blatantly offside position….so it’s all a waste! 69 Buckley somehow manages to survive a couple of robust challenges and Diaz lays the ball off nicely to Pickering on the wing. He puts in another good cross and Gallagher rises above the Stoke man 10 yards out. His header is brilliantly saved by the keeper just under the bar. The ball comes to an unmarked Travis on the edge of the box who performs his usual Row T mis-shot. 71 Buckley has definitely made a difference. A nice little run here but it went just over the byline. 72 Dolan, for some reason, tries to lob a harmless ball goalwards from just outside the box. It’s well over. Then he falls over again. He’s having another poor game. 74 Dolan is put out of his misery. He’s off and Hedges is on. Some nice footwork from Hedges around their box followed by a cross square through the penalty spot but there’s no one there. 75 A nice ball from Rothwell to Gallagher just to the left of the box. Sam sends it square into the box but it seemed to bounce off Hedges’ legs! 76 A lovely ball from Buckley into the box on to Gallagher’s chest but he’s offside! 80 Lenihan loses out to Bidace and Brown eventually gets the ball on their right. His cross comes in; there’s 4 men in the goalmouth, Wharton misses it and the rest fall down! It hit Maja I think but Nyambe somehow got his foot to it first! Comedy hour! Rothwell runs the ball out of the box and Hedges performs a delightful backflick to Travis and he feeds Gallagher near halfway. Sam’s off, he does a quick 1-2 with Hedges and fires in a decent shot from 25 yards but the goalie saves at his near post at the 2nd attempt. 82 A nice block in our box by Travis. 83 Buckley threads a neat ball down the left wing to Gallagher’s feet, midway in the Stoke half, and Sam’s steaming away and into the box again. This time he fires in his shot from a narrow angle and it scrapes the top of the bar! He’s having quite a game today. Worthy of an equaliser that one. 88 Rovers’ defence is stretched and Brown receives and moves into the box before firing his shot at goal but it’s at Kaminski and he parries it back to Brown and this time his shot hits Lenihan’s arm. No penalty! Fortunate. 90 Diaz offside again! 91 Travis from 28 yards lofts a ball into the box and Hedges, 9 yards out, gets a good glancing header on target inside the left post but the keeper is equal to it and pulls off an excellent diving save. Diaz hits the rebound into the side-netting. 94 The final whistle goes along with any dreams we may have been holding on to. Killed by another terrible first half. A very unhappy Easter!

Here’s some more madness. We’ve been trying our best to drop ourselves out of the play-off places but the other teams won’t let us go! It’s true we’ve been the worst over the last 5 games ( 5/15 points). but the teams around us haven’t been much better! Fulham 6, Bournemouth 8, Huddersfield 7, Luton 8, Forest 12!, Sheffield 7, Boro 7, Coventry 8, Millwall 5. it makes the Peterborough result look even worse, doesn’t it? If the Boro v Huddersfield result stays at 0-2, Town will jump up to 10, Boro will drop to 4! We’re still not out of it because everyone else is almost as bad as we are. Remarkable.

That’s a heartfelt post. We did seem to have ‘something’ when we went on the good run….that’s what hurts…..it was all a fragile mirage. As long time supporters we know chances like this come along rarely…..so many opportunities slipping through our fingers……even when we had a bad week…..the opportunities for redemption kept coming……but to no avail.

I meant to say: The image of the 4 of you travelling back, dissecting the game in detail………great stuff, that’s what it’s all about.

It was the worst yesterday Tyrone. I have to admit I thought we had a decent formation…..enough for Posh anyway……but there was no spark, no drive, no ambition. I’m glad you enjoyed the rugby league at least.

As I’ve been doing this I’ve got used to other fans expressing surprise at some of my ratings (Last match it was Travis). I value the comments and have used them to fine tune the system. I think I’m a fair bit better than when I first started…..but far from perfect heh heh! The opinion I’ve formed from these comments and from comments on the match thread is that fans are conditioned to remember the spectacularly good or spectacularly bad and this can tend to override other less obvious contributions. This is more the case, I think, if the player is a personal rogue or hero. Even more so when we are so down in the dumps - like yesterday. This is just my theory. I judge every incident that occurs during the game; I decide if they’re significant or not. If they are, they appear above as coloured *. Look at Lenihan’s contribution - it puts some others to shame. He was the most committed player on show if you judge from the number of significant incidents he was involved in. Just for fun, I looked up whoscored.com. Lenihan was our highest rated outfield player at 7.2. (Kaminski 7.5).

PLAYER WATCH v Peterborough (A) Each incident in the match was rated on the following scale: +5 GOAL +4 Excellent play +3 Very good play +2 Pleasing/good play +1 Decent play 0 Routine stuff -1 Sloppy play -2 Disappointing/poor play -3 Very poor play -4 Terrible play -5 Own goal The ratings for each player were then combined to produce a measure of the players overall contribution to the match. Ratings Key incidents per player = coloured stars Overall contribution = numbers Kaminski ******* * 16 Nyambe(42) ** *** -2 Lenihan **************************** ************ 21 van Hecke ******************** ************ 11 Wharton *************** ******** 12 Giles ******** ******* 1 Travis *********** **** 10 Buckley (71) ****** ******** -2 Edun (40) ******* ****** -4 Gallagher (45) ****** *** 4 Diaz ******** ****** 9 Johnson (42) ********* *** 8 Dack (45) * ** -1 Dolan (71) * ** -2 Highlights and Lowlights (A justification for the main ratings given above) Posh have won 6 games this season. Nothing to fear here! 02 Diaz, in the box, controls the incoming ball on his thigh and swivels to fire just over the bar. Decent effort. 03 A lapse in concentration by Wharton forces him to concede a corner. 04 Giles gives the ball away near our box but the Posh shot is wide. 07 Travis picks up the ball and is a bit lucky to wriggle past 2 defenders to the edge of the box. He squares it to Gallagher who hits it first time along the floor (firmly but central) and the goalie goes down to parry it away well. 10 Lenihan is drawn forward and the ball ends up looping over him to the edge of the box where van Hecke only manages to head the ball to the feet of the on-rushing Posh man, 12 yards out but Kaminski is there to save us again by blocking his miscued shot. Bad miss in truth. 14 More comedy defending as another Posh man tests Kaminski. Tell me how our previously impenetrable back 5 has degenerated into this shambles? 21 Gallagher manages to get the better of Kent 30 yards out as Buckley’s looped pass comes towards him but he’s pulled down as he tries to run to goal. No foul! Poor decision….arguably could have been red as he may have been the last defender? Now Diaz loses control and as Knight sets off on a run, Edun clips him to the floor. A soft yellow card. 22 More unconvincing defending as Kaminski collects another Peterborough shot. 25 More last minute, panicky tackles/touches as we somehow keep hold of the ball. I’m shaking my head. 26 Van Hecke passes straight to a Posh man but fortunately his through ball is poor when our defence was gaping wide. 30 Buckley on the right wing, 20 yards out, sends a perfect ball to Diaz on the 6 yard line and he puts a well-directed header back across goal and into the net. Sadly it’s judged a nudge in the back of the defender by Ben and it’s chalked off. It doesn’t look like there was much contact to me. 32 Now Wharton gets a clear push in the back….no foul! 34 Van Hecke and Lenihan stuff up and Posh attack. Lenihan gets back to cut out the ball 10 yards out but he miscontrols and Szmodics robs him. Fortunately his left-footed shot slides across the face of goal. Terrible defending again but a bad miss too by Posh. 36 Edun loses the ball, Travis is easily beaten and Posh attack down their left wing. The cross arrives to Harris, 12 yards out, who volleys first time into the ground and Kaminski brilliantly paws the ball over the bar. We’re being given a football lesson from the bottom club in the League! 40 Dear dear! Edun receives a pass in our half but he mis-controls and to prevent the Posh man heading for goal he brings him down. Second yellow and off! Both cards seem soft but he did prevent a Peterborough attack each time. 42 Nyambe (sacrificed on his 200th appearance) off, Johnson on, into midfield. 44 Wowee, Posh are stroking the ball around with confidence. Lots of Rovers players showing their frustration. 47 The ref is giving some really soft fouls against us. 45 Gallagher off, Dack on. 47 Posh players are throwing themselves on the floor. Harris this time. 51 A Dack free-kick 20 yards out, just to the left of the D. Straight into the wall. 52 But it’s a corner. Van Hecke gets a touch and Lenihan, from the byline, hammers in a square cross. It ricochets into the air and a defender heads out for another corner. 54 A feeble attempted challenge on halfway by Buckley concedes a foul. Now Johnson gives away a soft free kick. 57 Posh stroll right through our defence again but it’s an easy save for Kaminski. 59 Same again but this time van Hecke blocks out twice and it’s a corner. 64 Same again but this time Marriott, unmarked in the box, hits his shot low to the right post and Kaminski saves. 68 Same again but this time Harris mis-controls the incoming pass near the penalty spot and the ball runs through to Kaminski. Wharton and van Hecke both slipped to give him a free shot! 69 Same again and Lenihan is beaten easily but Travis blocks the cross for a corner. 71 Buckley off, Dolan on. 72 Giles takes forever to take a throw-in. 74 A shot comes in from 26 yards and it’s comfortable for Kaminski. 76 A nice 1-2 from a long clearance by Posh between Travis and van Hecke. JP curves a beautiful long ball to Diaz on the edge of the box. He lets it run forwards off his chest and, from 11 yards, he smashes the ball inside the right post. Great finish! Who’da thought? Players and fans go wild! Ben’s first this calendar year! Have we got the bottle? 78 Travis fouls 30 yards out. The free-kick hits the wall. The fans are loud! 81 Lenihan allows the winger to get in a dangerous cross from the byline and Kaminski has to punch away. It goes out to Diaz who is dispossessed and falls over looking for a foul. Posh push on and carve us wide open. Johnson is standing still, Wharton and van Hecke are bypassed and Szmodics puts the ball past Kaminski from the right corner of the 6 yard box. 85 A Peterborough corner and it’s ping pong in the box until Johnson hoofs it away. 86 A Dolan drive pushes us downfield but the ending is poor as he tries to do too much and loses the ball. Posh stream forward. Nobody is marking the right winger…and it’s 5 against 3. The ball is slipped through to the winger, van Hecke can’t stop the cross to Randall, unmarked and 9 yards out. Lenihan makes a fantastic last ditch block and van Hecke hoofs clear. Good grief! Posh come back down the right wing. Dack is knackered. The ball is fired into Harris on the penalty spot, Lenihan is wrong-sided, allowing Harris to lay back to Marriott a few yards back. He is totally unmarked and is able to miscontrol before arcing the ball into the left side of the net. Where was the defence? It’s hard to allocate blame as we were all at sea throughout and we didn’t get back quickly enough. What a terrible way to concede. 92 A long punt downfield is headed on and sees Lenihan and Wharton challenging a lone Posh striker into our box. Wharton can’t keep up but fortunately Marriott falls over and it’s no penalty. 94 Lenihan fires in a good ball from halfway to the edge of the box. Van Hecke touches it on to Dack but he’s off-balance and Knight is too strong and the chance drifts away. The final whistle goes. It’s so depressing. How many times can we throw wonderful opportunities away? Down to 8th I think. Afterthought: the centrebacks have too much to do.

Yes but not long to go! The lack of “fight” was depressing. It shocked me…..especially after the players’ ecstatic celebrations after the goals at Coventry!