Blackburn manager John Eustace felt his his were hard done by as the Blues beat Rovers 1-0, their first league victory at Ewood Park and first double over the Lancastrians since their 1991/92 Second Division title campaign.

Eustace’s side had three goals disallowed, two for offside - most notably the second netted by Joe Rankin-Costello as Sammie Szmodics was deemed to be standing in front of keeper Vaclav Hladky - and one, finished by Andrew Moran, for a foul on the Czech by Scott Wharton.

“I think we have been hard done by,” said Eustace, still waiting for his first victory in charge of Rovers after 10 games.

“I thought the referee had a fantastic view of the goal from Joe. Sammie wasn't in front of the goalkeeper so I thought it was very disappointing that we didn't get that goal.

“I thought Scott's header was a fair challenge on the goalkeeper as well. The offside was very, very tight, watching that back.

“I don't think it was a foul. I think it was an attempt for the ball and the referee was late with the whistle. I don't think he thought it was a foul but he got some information from somewhere else. I thought it was a fair challenge.”

Reflecting on a second half in which his side, who have dropped to 19th, still three points above the drop zone with one win in their last 18 in the Championship, had the Blues under the cosh for long spells but without finding the net, he added: “I am frustrated but very proud as well, the effort of the group was outstanding.

“After the week we've had with injuries and some sickness in the camp as well, to have possibly four starters out of the group, I thought the players who came in and took their places, their effort was outstanding.

“We went up against a very good team and we played very, very well. We are disappointed not to get anything from the game.

“We are showing some good signs and the team is playing well. There is a level of commitment to be competitive in every game. It's important that we don't get too disappointed about the result.

“I think in the [10] games we've been in, there have been three defeats. A lot of draws and some of those could have been victories with a bit of luck and the table would look different.

“Today, with a bit of luck, we don't come away with a defeat. We are not getting too down, we are staying positive and sticking together, the support was fantastic from the fans, especially in the second half where they got right behind us.”

Photo: TWTD

Mijckl added 21:19 - Mar 29 Don't mention the penalty we should have have had, Pike
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pointofblue added 21:19 - Mar 29 What about the penalty appeal, Eustace? Hard done by that too?
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JimInGreensboro added 21:22 - Mar 29 To be fair, if it were us, I’d feel the same way, but close calls are not the same things as bad calls. The Lino’s did their job. We were also hard done by, especially with a clear cut pen in the opening few minutes. The ref was quick on the whistle and issued far too many cards. C’est la vie, 3 points for the good guys.
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ArnieM added 21:29 - Mar 29 All their “goals” appeared to be offside, but bloody hell, we don’t half invite danger and trouble for ourselves by the slow, pedestrian way we try to play it out of defence. FFS increase the pace and crispness of our play. We over play it so often, when we don’t need to. Yes we win and great 3 points. But against a better team we’d have lost that today. It looked like Cardiff the sequel in the second half.

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bobble added 21:32 - Mar 29 is he saying they should get points fractions for misses and disallowed goals ?
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Saxonblue74 added 22:17 - Mar 29 Nothing wrong with any decision apart from our stone wall penalty. Lino was up with play, can't believe he missed it!!
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Saxonblue74 added 22:20 - Mar 29 Only thing I would say is perhaps Lino thought Szmodics got a touch for their off side goal disallowed?
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itfcserbia added 22:31 - Mar 29 Well it's hard to get a win in 10 games when you're this blind. Not a foul on Hladky by Wharton? What an idiotic comment.
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Facefacts added 22:39 - Mar 29 This guy should still be the BCFC manager. Money ruining football, had them near the playoffs. Today needs to ask himself why his team were outplayed early in the game. He should bang on about the half empty ground too. Would have been a harder game for us with a full stadium. Fortunately these guys don't do their homework, unlike our manager. Plus no 12.30pm kickoff to damage our preparation.

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chepstowblue added 05:41 - Mar 30 I think he has a point. Yes we had a nailed on penalty not given, but their disallowed goal was ridiculous, and the other one very tight, which personally looked level. We played the poorest of the three contenders, but have been rewarded with a near perfect set of results.
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Dissboyitfc added 07:01 - Mar 30 We have come out on the wrong side of a score line and you have to take it, The facts are we probably didnt deserve all 3 points and we couldn't have felt hard done by if they had equalised, the facts are they didn't and our wonderful team and travelling fans left with all 3 points! And finally had VAR been in use yesterday the chances are we would have still left with all 3 points, i of course refer to the blatant penalty we didnt get. The ref i believe got all the other 3 disallowed goals spot on! Szmodics Was in an offside position and interfering with play harsh maybe, the other disallowed offside goal was tight but also 100% correct, i froze the frame and he is, using the lines of the pitch offside. The foul was clear enough to see on Hladky and again the correct decision! Its Football you win some and you lose some but they didnt lose because of the ref!

3

ImAbeliever added 07:16 - Mar 30 I believe all 3 decisions were called correctly.
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ArnieM added 07:30 - Mar 30 I actually don’t care if we “ got away with one” yesterday. So many times this dude has been robbed of points by decisions going against us when they shouldn’t have. What goes around, comes around, as they say. But having said that if you look objectively at those disallowed goals, every one of them was the correct call. For Cambsrover if you’re reading this. FWIW, I saw enough in your team yesterday to make me think you’ll survive the drop. Your players just have to keep doing what they did yesterday and you’ll get those points.

4

SussexTractor added 08:41 - Mar 30 An ugly win for Town but some games are like that. A clear penalty for Town not given was more obvious than the 3 offside “goals”.
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Saxonblue74 added 09:24 - Mar 30 Their Szmodics off side had shades of the Norwich 2nd at PR which should also have been disallowed, along with their first which was off side. We were robbed also at Preston with poor decisions costing us 3 points. "Lucky" Ipswich hey?!
3

scants_itfc_88 added 10:08 - Mar 30 Luck comes and goes in football. As above both Norwich and Preston we were undone by bad decisions. Today we were maybe a little fortunate with the Szmodics one as he wasn’t blocking Hladkys view really. But the other two were correct decisions and yes we should have had a blatant penalty. It wasn’t our finest game but the points are more important than anything else at this stage

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Radlett_blue added 11:20 - Mar 30 He's partially right. While the officials missed the pull on Broadhead & the marginal offside was the right call, some wouldn't have deemed Szmodics to have been interfering & the foul on Hladky was harsh, although these days I think most refs call that a foul. What this does show that there isn't that much between the teams in this league, but that's also shown by Leicester, Leeds & Saints all dropping points yesterday.

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warno added 11:47 - Mar 30 I think that as Szmodics jumped as the ball passed him was also a factor in the offside decision. Hladky is going to have that in his vision and wonder if he is going to be crunched. The Norwich decision was very poor but what goes round......
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Rimsy added 12:23 - Mar 30 He has a point to be fair. Whether we agree with the decisions or not, on another day we could have had 2 or 3 goals against. We've had plenty of things go against us over the season.
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cressi added 12:52 - Mar 30 When a player is in the six yard box and jumps over the ball it's a definite offside. Although you had the ball Mr Eustace in reality you created very little , Broadhead was definitely a penalty and that would have been 2-0 And probably game over I'm afraid the venkys run your club like a certain Mr Evans and going where his stewardship took us.
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blues1 added 20:26 - Mar 30 He has a point on the goal when szmodics was offside. That's it tho. The one where edmundson put the ball in the net was def offside. And was a clear foul on hladky for the other. As for saying he referee was late on the whistle for that one. Thezwhisfle had gone before the player shot
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