July - August 2008
All
the goals from Rovers pre-season build up to the new season
Blackburn
Rovers F.C. - Pre-season - 2008-2009
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Rose
Monday 14th July 2008 ATT 2,034 1st Game under Paul Ince |
FIRST
INCE WIN! Old Boys do the business for Rovers Macclesfield 1 - 2 Blackburn Rovers Paul Ince took Rovers away for their first pre-season friendly at Macclefield, and the Manager recorded a 2-1 win over his former club with goals either side of the break. David Dunn was on target in the 42 minute and Tony Kane provided Paul Gallagher with the perfect cross to head home less than a minute after the interval. The Silkmen beat Brad Friedel three minutes later through Francis Green - but a pretty young Rovers squad looked the more likely to score in the remainder of the game. No David Bentley (calf strain) Roque, Andre, Brett and Aaron all still on holiday. But the squad still included Friedel, Reid, Samba, Nelsen, Warnock, Derbyshire, Dunn, Vogel, Pedersen, Roberts, McCarthy for the first half, and Brown, Kane, Winnard, Khizanishvili, Olsson, Doran (sub Clarke), Judge, Hodge, Treacy, Gallagher, Rigters in the second. |
Macclesfield
Francis Green 48'00 |
Blackburn
Rovers David Dunn 42'00 Paul Gallagher 46'00 |
1-2 |
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Austria
Monday 21st July 2008 ATT *,*** |
NOT
SO FRIENDLY ... Rovers loose their first pre-season tour match TSG 1899 Hoffenheim 3 - 1 Blackburn Rovers The Press Association report that Blackburn crashed to a 3-1 defeat to Bundesliga newcomers TSG 1899 Hoffenheim in their friendly in Austria. "After a goalless first half, which saw Morten Gamst Pedersen pick up an injury, Rovers boss Paul Ince made a host of substitutions with Robbie Fowler coming on for his Rovers debut. And it was Hoffenheim who took the lead six minutes into the second half when Christoph Janker followed up after Jason Brown saved a header. Benni McCarthy's 63rd-minute volley drew Rovers level but two minutes later Matthias Jaissle's header just squeezed beyond Brown to give the Germans the lead again. And in the final minute Janker grabbed his second to ensure victory for Hoffenheim." So like last Monday at Macclesfield, Ince took the opportunity to see a host of players over the 90 minutes, Brad Friedel playing for the first 45, Jason Brown after the break. It was good too to see Roque Santa Cruz, Andre Ooijer, Brett Emerton, Tugay and Aaron Mokoena back in action after they joined up with the rest of the lads on Sunday. ROVERS 1st half: Friedel, Reid, Ooijer, Nelsen, Warnock, Derbyshire, Emerton, Pedersen (sub Judge 34 mins), Treacy, Roberts, Santa Cruz. ROVERS 2nd half: Brown, Kane, Nelsen, Warnock, Olsson, Judge (sub Hodge 75 mins), Tugay, Mokoena, Gallagher (sub Peter 75 mins), Fowler, McCarthy. (21st July 2008) |
TSG
1899 Christoph Janker 51'00, 89'00 Matthias Jaissle 65'00 |
Blackburn
Rovers Benni McCarthy 63'00 |
3-1 |
| Portugal Guadia Cup Villa Real St. Antonio Stadium Friday 25th July 2008 ATT *,*** |
MUCH
BETTER BLACKBURN ... Guadia Cup Benfica 2- 3 Blackburn Rovers PLUS Benfical 6-7 Blackburn, in penalty shoot out. If Monday nights defeat was 'a good workout' - then tonight's Guadiana Cup game was a great one ... A very warm night for a full strength Rovers squad. But it only took 7 minutes for Benfica to open the scoring .. Uretta Viscaya on hand to put away a ball initially pushed clear by Brown. But on the half hour Morten Gamst Pedersen took a 30 yard free kick - curling the ball into the net 1-1. Only 4 minutes later, a long Rovers throw from Reid found Jason Roberts who made it 1-2. And that was the score at half time - Rovers looking good value for their lead. Five minutes into the second half Pedersen looked like claiming his second - but at close range he was denied. Moments later - Pederens cross and a rare diving header from Brett Emerton gave Rovers their 3rd! But Benfica were still very much in the contest, and with 66 minutes gone, Jason Brown made another good save - but this time Makukula is there for the follow up and makes it 2-3. Undoubtedly Rovers have to do some serious defending. Meanwhile, Robbie Fowler replaced Jason Roberts and the game moved from end to end. Rovers made a few more changes - and continued to look for more goals but the match ended with Rovers 3-2 winners. HOWEVER - that wasn't the end of the action - after a short break, fans were treated to a penalty shoot out! With 5 taken by each side - it was all square at 5-5 ... but then Rovers scored their 6th and 7th - with a first ever goal for Ryan Nelsen. But Benfica had their 7th saved by Jason Brown to give Rovers their second win on the night 6-7! Despite the heat, Paul Ince watched most of the match enthusiastically on the touchline and seemed to be enjoying the whole contest. ROVERS: Brown, Reid, Ooijer, Nelsen, Warnock, Emerton, Mokoena, Tugay, Pedersen, Roberts, Santa Cruz. Subs: Fielding, Treacy, Judge, Fowler, Olsson, Hodge, Kane. (25th July 2008). |
Benfica Uretta Viscaya 7'00 Makukula 66'00 |
Blackburn
Rovers Morten Gamst Pedersen 30'00 Jason Roberts35'00 Brett Emerton 50'00 |
2-3 PLUS 6-7 (pens) |
| Portugal Guadia Cup Villa Real St. Antonio Stadium Saturday 26th July 2008 ATT *,*** |
NO
BACK TO BACK WIN .. Guadia Cup Sporting 2-1 Blackburn Rovers PLUS Sporting 5-4 Blackburn, in penalty shoot out. Rovers continued their pre-season campaign in the Guadia Cup at the Villa Real St. Antonio Stadium with Sporting as their latest test. Another hot night for late night football - and this time it was Rovers who claimed the first goal after just 20 minutes. Benni McCarthy takes a sport kick and makes no mistake. But within a minute Sporting were level courtesy of Pedro Silva, and it was still 1-1 at the break. Half way through the second half and Sporting played the ball across the box where Tonel was waiting to make it 2-1. Rovers didn't look as together as in the previous match against Benfica with plenty of changes - but this seems to have been a much tougher test and the games ended with Rovers losing this one 2-1 to Sporting. But like last night it wasn't all over without a penalty shoot out. Sadly for Rovers there was no glory moment this time, with Chris Samba and Sergio Peter both missing the target, and then at the death Keith Treacy having his shot saved. So this part of the tour is over and it's back to England and away at Wolves next Saturday, before the last pre-season game at home on August 9th. (26th July 2008) |
Sporting Pedro Silva 21'00 Tonel 73'00 |
Blackburn
Rovers Benni McCarthy (pen) 20'00 |
2-1 PLUS 5-4 (pens) |
| Molineux
Saturday 2nd August 2008 ATT *,*** |
POOR
PRE-SEASON AT MOLINEUX Wolves 4 -2 Blackburn Rovers Matt Derbyshire and Roque Santa Cruz both found the target in the first half, but Wolves - who've just signed former Rover Michael Gray - found two more in the second half for the home win. And to add to Blackburn's woes, just after he scored, Roque went off injured. Also hobbling off was David Dunn, who asked for the change with ten minutes left in the match. It was Wolves who opened the scoring after 9 minutes when Paul Robinson initially made a good save, but George Elokobi headed home from the corner. But Rovers were quick to respond, and Matt Derbyshire made it 1-1 connecting with a headed down ball from Pedersen. Keogh gave the home side the lead again in the 23rd minute - only to concede an equaliser from Blackburn when Roque slots home in the 24th. Roque pulled up after the goal and had to be taken off for treatment. 2-2 at the break and the second 45 looked promising. But sadly for the 300 traveling faithful the half offered little. Dunny gave away a penalty just before the hour, Iweluma converted from the spot to make it 3-2. Matt Jarvis came on as a Wolves sub, and scored their 4th in the 74th minute. So despite the delights of a hot sunny day in the midlands - the fans brought back little more than a suntan from the penultimate warm up game of the Summer. (2nd August 2008) . |
Wolves George Elokobi 9'00 Keogh 23'00 Iweluma (pen) 59'00 Matt Jarvis 74'00 |
Blackburn
Rovers Matt Derbyshire 9'00 Roque Santa Cruz 24'00 |
4-2 |
| Ewood Park Saturday 9th August 2008 ATT *,*** |
LETS
GO DUTCH Rovers share spoils with NAC Breda Blackburn Rovers 1 - 1 NAC Breda Rovers final pre-season game brought Dutch outfit NAC Breda to Ewood Park. On a wet afternoon, the conditions didn't help - but Blackburn still managed to have the upper hand in the first half - until the 45th minute! Just before the whistle went Csaba Feher beat Paul Robinson to make it 1-0 to the visitors. But not daunted, Rovers returned for the second half determined to level the score. And it took under 10 minutes for Keith Treacy to provide Jason Roberts with the perfect cross for the striker to find the back of the net. 1-1 and honours even ... and despite all Blackburn efforts, and four subs, that's how things remained. Roque was still out injured, Ryan Nelsen in Beijing with New Zealand, Morten Gamst Pedersen and Brett Emerton were observers for the afternoon. The match did provide Ewood debuts for Paul Robinson and Danny Simpson, with Robbie Fowler Aaron Doran, Tugay and Alan Judge all coming off the bench to play their part. So Paul Ince told RADIO ROVERS he was very happy with the work out. Now the challenge is to select the 11 who'll start the season next Saturday away at Everton with 3 points. (9th August 2008) |
Blackburn
Rovers Jason Roberts 54'50 |
NAC
Breda Csaba Feher 44'52 |
1-1 |
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GJM MMVIII
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