Thought we had it right in the first half, frustrated them and threatened in the latter stages. Defenders and midfield were solid but we lacked a cutting edge up front. The front two were poor and it was no surprise to see them replaced. Trouble was their replacements were no better. Was looking forward to seeing Wordsworth come on and bring some creativity. However, he was disappointing too. He needs to go out and affect the game rather than waiting for it to come to him. It was a 0-0 game but unfortunately it was Rovers who got bit of luck with their goal.

2

When the usually hirsute Snr turned up wide-eyed and irritable, sporting a face dense with follicles of grey it felt alarmingly like an ominous indication of how today might go. A Town unchanged bar the return of Henderson from last weeks mauling of Boro came to the recently Premiership big top of Ewood Park. The hosts naming a number of recent Town connections.

For the former ITFC goal machine and fans favourite was a start on the subs bench. Having recently signed from QPR on loan, as well as the ever-steady Orr at right-back and joining DJ on the subs bench was former Jewell target Goodwillie. Rovers opted to start with once Town obscure super-sub Rhodes alongside Kazim-Richards.

In the Baltic conditions high amongst the hills the game started in dull and glacial fashion. Neither side managed to do much. Town started worse cutting down the top class quality of Pedersen and Murphy whose creativity in midfield was not matched in the final third.

Solid defending and cut outs from N'Daw saw much of the opening drag and drone – finding excitement was like trying to find Nessie but from our vantage well above sea level. Cresswell managed to get forward but his inability to beat his man with either the ball at his feet or delivering it to his colleagues wasted the precious few opportunities he had.

Town seemed to favour long balls over the top all too often to little avail. Murphy out wide was wasted and the hosts whose edge on chances were wasted all too often. Kazim-Richards should have done better at the back post, following an earlier freekick blasted over by Pedersen. The foul drawn by N'Daw after Cresswell walked himself back into trouble on the area's edge.

Up front the Mc's might have attacked in stereo but they rarely connected. Town's lack of chances was not for want of pressure. For Edwards' game was as narrow as it short. Hesitant to beat his man despite having the ability and looking for ghost passes deep and inside Town were lopsided for much of the half.

The crowd groaned and shivered as the locals who had not deserted their club having gone from sh1t to busting down through the trapdoor last season were silent and scant. The game opened up as it became apparent the official was as incompetent as he was officious and fussy. Bizarre incidents piled up and oozed throughout the game like equine gelatine in the Findus factory's bin. Deflections were waved the wrong way, fouls seen and unseen with no reason or rhyme as both sides cancelled each other out despite the massive disadvantage Town found themselves at.

Gamesmanship was a new tactic from Olsson and Kazim Kazim as they both took dubious dives time and again with rewards granted. It was actually Rhodes who suffered the first injury and incident of medical note well into the half. Strewn with blood presumably from an errant and accidental clash his absence was thus fair implied up until he went off to receive treatment. It looked nasty and unwelcome on the field of play..

To counteract the lack of rhythm and endeavour Town showed, Mick swapped Murphy and Mclean it was nearly a master-stroke despite not pressing our 4 minutes of one man advantage. The Irishman immediately gave the big and bulky CBs some of their own ill treatment. Buffeting the ball out to Cresswell who wasted the cross under heavy pressure. The early short game of N'Daw had kept us ticking along but his ability to pick a pass improved as he set away Stearman to win a corner.

Looking every inch the CB in stature the loanee is cultured and clever RB, two footed and too quick to be dismissed as a square plug stretching a round hole. His determination put Blackburn on the back foot but Town failed to punish as out on the right Carlos looked jet-lagged whilst perhaps it was JET we lacked today.

As half time came and the welcome warmth of reflection that only a moment at a communal urinal can bring came and went all too briefly, it seemed apparent Town needed to change something. They didn't and neither did Blackburn as the sides came out for the second period. A blatant penalty shout turned down just moments before the whistle gave the previous 20 minutes a sense of foreboding, perhaps the footballing gods were shaking their hoary locks in our direction.

Space was hardly at a premium on such a big pitch as McLean was found in space by the improving young LB again. Eager to impress he drove the ball forward and his shot well wide. It was encouraging but not encapsulating the desire us shivering in the stands had to get a much needed lead.

Blackburn made their quality tell as they began to demonstrate the depth on and off the field compared to Town's worryingly weak looking bench. Chances which were rare in the first half started to creep in as CBs lost that split second of concentration and yard of space to the attackers with increasing frequency. Hyam picked up a final warning as he clawed and at a classy Danny Murphy once too often in the centre of the park.

The dependable Smith and Chambers echoed earlier fears when the wasteful Rhodes put through his strike partner with too much ease. The resultant corner saw the prospect of Town's most natural finisher this season getting his first sniff at goal; having entered for his début minutes earlier. Our weakness at set pieces at both ends has punctuated a season of woe and Blackburn duly delivered.

It was to be Rhodes who peeled away celebrating wildly after the ball had been swung in and stuck home scrappily. The clambering MOTM (according the home fans) Hanley knocked the cross down, the ball ricocheted. Stearman slipped and studded it. Henderson back up on all fours nodded it over the line emphatically despite the Lion of Playford Rd claiming another notch on his tally initially.

It sunk fragments of glassy Suffolk hearts as the myth of the boy who has traversed the White and Red roses of Yorkshire and Lancashire following two big money moves grew; having finally blossomed at this level years after leaving us. Mick sprung into action taking a whole ten minutes to change things. Having seen Campbell start to create and conjure. The little magician put Rhodes yards ahead of Smith who almost made the ground cutting back across the area just as Henderson whipped out an arm to tip the tame low effort wide for a corner.

In the meantime Murphy again made his case for POTY adding to a dependable MOTM display by firing across for an outstretched McG to miss a tap in from only yards out. Carlos collected the ball but dithered, wasting a second chance to score instead. Enter Chops and Wordsworth to a bizarre mix of boos and cheers from the travelling faithful. It seems you are what you tweet.

The former Bluebird sparked life into Town having left another blue bird behind this week He harried defenders and made things happen, just all too slowly. Town switched to a 433 with Edwards leaving for Nouble as the chances like the injustices piled up around us again. Town ran at Blackburn but were pushed off and over with little given our way. Nouble was charging down on goal when he was handed off by Hanley akin to Chabal. It was baffling to see play waved on.

N'Daw volleyed agonisingly wide with what would have been another spectacular effort again from Murphy's work rate and Wordsworth's build up. However the golden chance to restore parity, justice and sense of fairness was to be our last.

Flying across goal and unmarked from two yards out, my previous subject of adoration Stearman headed the ball as only a defender could – safely away from the net. It was a cruel blow to our chances.

The game fizzled out into the cold grey gloom of Lancastrian winter views a Town fittingly clad in black trudged off mourning an unjust loss of more than just 3 points. A verdict and result more keenly felt than the politically inclined as those below us all made ground in the marathon that is this club's Championship survival.

-2

My first visit to Ewood Park and instantly forgettable. My reports are normally long-winded affairs but during the first 45 minutes nothing happened. Two dull, unispiring sides cancelling each other out and almost no goal action at all. Dull, dull, dull. I can't recall either goalkeeper making anything resembling a save.
The second period started pretty much in the same vein. Chances were negligible and once we got the ball forward, we did not carry enough threat. Shortly after the debut of our top scorer for our opponents, some pinball in the Town area following a corner resulted in Blackburn scoring. The goal was credited to" the one that got away" and Rhodes celebrated although I have no idea how the ball ended up in our goal! We livened up a bit, and an excellent Murphy cross just evaded the onrushing McGoldrick as we finally threatened the home goal in earnest. Mick took too long to bring his substitutes on, eventually replacing McClean and McGoldrick with Chopra and Wordsworth. Nothing really changed. The home side had more of the game and the former Town Academy product Rhodes forced Henderson into an excellent save after a sublime pass by Campbell. Still little genuine threat from Town and it looked like Rovers were more likely to add to their lead. Approaching 90 minutes, N'Daw volleyed agonisingly wide before Stearman headed wide a golden opportunity to draw level after excellent work by Murphy who delivered the ball expertly to the back post. Stearman knew he should have scored. As they say, it was almost harder to miss than score!
A very poor game I'm afraid and time to battle it out again. I'm not usually one to be critical of referees but today was one of the poorest performances I have ever seen from an official. His decision making genuinely had me considering the word "biased" at times - he was dreadful and gave us nothing whilst Rovers seemed to get almost every decision. Both Rhodes and former loanee Orr acknowleged the Town fans as they left the pitch. No consolation but a nice touch.
Some comments on the players:
Henderson - not much to do really. Can't comment on the goal but it seems it hit him and went in. A good save from Rhodes late on.
Stearman - a decent performance. Wanted to get forward. Great chance to score but fluffed it!
Creswell. Had a decent game all round for me.
Smith - won most of his aerial challenges and again a decent defensive effort
Chambers - solid for the most part.
Edwards - just don't know what Carlos brings to the team anymore. Cuts inside too much and delivers almost nothing going forward. Good servant but Mick was right to bring him off.
Hyam - all over the pitch and put himself about. Never really able to get his foot on the ball though
N'Daw - fine volleyed effort and plenty of tackles won. Distribution not great and caught in possession dwelling on the ball. Sometimes he just needs to move it quicker.
Murphy - ineffective as a left sided midfielder. Better when moved up top. Having said that, did his best work putting in three good crosses when running the channels after going up front
McClean - you can't fault his work ethic but his contribution was neglible today
McGoldrick - Ran the channels well, sought to hold it up but rarely threatened the Rovers box. I see what he could bring but it didn't quite come off today
Chopra - ran around but little impression for his efforts
Wordsworth - won a few headed balls but little else worth telling you
Nouble - One forceful run which was stopped by an obvious foul (that the crap ref never saw) but little else to report.
We need to collect 4 points from the next two home games otherwise we will find ourselves back in the drop zone.

2

......This one is simple....ruined by a diabolical ref and so in-sensed that I am now looking to the FA site to see if as a supporter I can make a complaint. (makes you wonder where allegiances lie when this fella was from Peterborough....match fixing anyone.....it was that blatant)
Town never looked up for this with mediocre performances throughout the whole side. ......never looked like we were actually going to score despite the two chances in the dying minutes.....as a blue I would have eagerly have taken a point as it would have given us something to cheer about on the long journey home.....but recognise we didn't do enough to sort this out......lets be clear about this....the future is bright but ONLY if we stay in this league.....we are right back in a relegation dogfight and with the other teams on winning streaks we could end up dropping like a stone......MM and TC are doing what they can but the players need to perform week in week out in order to make April and May a bit less stressful.
Carlos....best performance against middlesborough.....poor again against Blackburn.....he needs to be fined everytime that he passes the ball back.....and the team need to take a serious look as to why when momentum is building they seem to naturally slow it down.
Town supporters strangely quiet right from the off and never raised much of a whimper.
Luke Chambers again looking desolate when coming over to applaud away fans .....found it difficult to clap back.
Summary ...need to do better and quickly...... 1nil and its a long way home!!!

0

Bit late posting this, but interesting to read the fans post-match comments. Let me put one thing straight, Blackburn are not Premiership quality by any means. Rhodes has to be the best striker in this division - I still can't believe folk on here were questioning whether he could make it in the Championship. Madness, the guy will be in the Premiership before long. He was the only real difference between the two sides. A crappy refereeing performance didn't help, but it wasn't why we lost.

I was impressed with Smith who was solid throughout and kept Rhodes quiet for the first 70 minutes. N'Daw played quite well too, as did Hyam. But we really lacked width all game. Murphy is not a wide midfielder and didn't have the best of games, but he created our best chances when he moved up front.

McLean and McGoldrick didn't have good games, but didn't get much service either - no wingers you see. I was hoping for something from Wordsworth when he came on, but he really didn't get in the game at all and looked a bit out of his depth. But harsh to judge hom on 20 minutes, but I hope he's not another bit part squad player like Drury seems to have become.

Chambers had a shaky start with 3 mistakes. He improved, but he worried me all day. Henderson made a cracking save to keep a certian 2nd Rhodes goal out after a great move between Kazim-Richards and DJ. Cresswell played well agaon today. Edwards played well too - better than other performances I've seen from him this season. But he didn't really get forward in the way you'd expect a winger too.

It was interesting to see which players insticntively went over to the fans to thank them at the end of the match. I think Mick's getting a core team together capable of competing next season. But it's now desperately tight down the bottom - a few points separating about 9 teams. And we stand on the brink of the mire.

I think we just all have to remember where we were when Mick took over - bottom and in dnager of getting cut adrift. Mick didn't get us in this mess. Cleggy's gone and we really all need to get behind the team to make sure we don't end up in League One. In Mick We Trust!

0