Ten v ten share the points at the seaside

A tough game was expected at Bloomfield Road, and a true derby atmosphere provide both sets of fans with an afternoon of entertainment and drama. After last weeks disappointment, and the loss at Wigan, Team GB were keen not to make it a third defeat in a row. So when Matt Kilgallon committed a foul in the penalty area after just 12 minutes, Thomas Ince gave the home side an early lead, But in a competitive match, Rovers were next to score from the spot, when Jack Robinson hand balled at the other end, and Jordan Rhodes claimed his tenth goal of the season. Rovers had come close to taking the lead a couple of times when Dan Gosling made it 2-1 with a long range shot - his first goal for the tangerines. In the 83rd minute, things got nasty with play stopped for fighting. DJ Campbell saw a straight Red, followed by Jack Robinson for Blackpool. And in the melee, Leon Best who was on the bench, somehow found his way onto the field of play and get a yellow card for his trouble. Chaos ensued and there may well be further action taken against both clubs. Five minutes of extra time was signaled, and Rovers went in search of a late equaliser. As they applied some pressure, Steve Davies obliged with an own goal 2 minutes into injury time, and ten v ten claimed a point each on the coast. With other results, Rovers dropped to 12th now on 16 points from 13 games played. They avoided a third defeat, and probably deserved the hard earned point. (26th October 2013)

When you read that Charlton have failed to win one game away this season, and that their Manager was celebrating 1000 days in charge - their position just outside the drop zone seems irrelevant! You just know there could be a upset, and so there was. After some excellent recent home form, things went wrong very early on when Simon Church claimed the opener just 7 minutes in. Jordan Rhodes came close on a good few occasions, Jason Lowe looked likely, but nothing Rovers tried could beat the Charlton keeper. Even 6 minutes of injury time wasn't enough to find an equalizer. Manager Gary Bowyer told RADIO ROVERS "We spoke about them coming with a game plan and they were spot on with their game plan. We felt that we were disappointed with their goal that we conceded because we felt it was hand ball from the lad. Had they not scored then we'd probably be looking at a goalless draw similar to the Huddersfield game. I thought we responded quite well but we were just lacking that quality and creativity in the final third. You certainly couldn't fault the players for their work-rate or their efforts. The ball just didn't bounce a couple of times for us, it just didn't quite run for us. It was one of those days for us today."
Other results largely went in Rovers favour, and they dropped just one place to tenth - but now 7 points outside the top six. It's the Lancashire derby at Blackpool next weekend, who beat Wigan at Bloomfield Road earlier. (19th October 2013)

Almost there! 10 man Rovers make it 'till 92nd minute

Rovers played the last hour of their Lancashire derby at Wigan with ten men after Grant Hanley saw red on the half hour mark. But by that time the visitors were already 0-1 up, and Tommy Spurr had his first Blackburn goal after just 8 minutes. Gary Bowyer had to make a change to his starting eleven with Scott Dann missing through injury. Once Hanley had gone, hanging on to their lead was always going to be tough - but they did so until the 70th minute when Grant Holt made it 1-1. Despite the home side claiming most of the possession, it looked as if Rovers would hang on for a worthy point, but with a minute of extra time already played, Emmerson Boyce ruined the traveling fans day stealing the winner for Wigan. Gary Bowyer was both proud and disappointed with the result. He told the clubs official website 'We are gutted to not be at least coming away with a point. I thought we started tremendously well, we were totally the better team and we got the goal. Obviously the sending off affected the game but we then showed unbelievable spirit and character. To say that is our third game in a week, the energy levels of our lot, I can't praise them enough. The players were magnificent, cheered on by a fantastic support. We leave here with our heads held high, but gutted that we didn't get anything from the game. We've done ourselves proud in terms of how we've dealt with ten men. The lads truly showed great courage today and the fact that so many of our fans stayed behind at the end to applaud them off speaks volumes."
They now have a an International break before returning to Ewood to play Charlton on 19th October, and drop a place to 9th - 5 points off a play-off place. (6th October 2013)

After the 3-1 at Bournemouth, this evening's home tie against Watford was going to be a "whole other ball game"! The visitors work really hard, and man mark tightly. But it was Jordan Rhodes who came closest in the first half. 0-0 at the break probably a fair reflection. But for the second half Rovers needed to step up a gear, and they did despite Watford claiming much of the possession. When the goal came it was with the help of Ben Marshal who'd replaced Leon Best just five minutes earlier. He headed on to Rhodes who used his head to find the back of Almunia's net. There were still more chances for the clubs top scorer (now on 9 for the season) before a late bush from Watford, but they failed to break down Rovers' defenses. Post match Gary Bowyer described the result as an: "Outstanding effort. We backed up the performance on Saturday with an excellent win against a top, top team. Jordan Rhodes is appreciative of his team mates. I don't get bored about talking about Jordan. He deserves the plaudits because of his finishing. But the other lads are doing tremendous work as well. Watford were top scorers before the game and we kept a clean sheet and that says a lot about our young team."
So Blackburn moved up to 8th and complete another hare week on Sunday with a trip across to Wigan. A good night at the office! (1st October2013)