Blackburn show their class

Slightly warmer, probably just from the daytime start, but for some a note of relief and optimism at last following the signing of a striker and, supposedly at least, one with a bit of pace. With Matt Spring also surely to
make his second debut for the Town, and the absence of Robbie Savage after
breaking a leg against Watford on Tuesday, perhaps this could just be the Town's day and the start of a revival?

Well it is Saturday morning and I always feel like that on a matchday.

Arriving at the ground the news that Spring had left the warm-up appearing injured. And the team news seemed to confirm this:

Beresford

Foley Coyne Perrett Davis

Bell Langley Robinson Emanuel

Boyd Talbot

On the bench Brill, Keane, Morgan, O'Leary, Stevens

Can't understand why Morgan at least isn't playing, whinger though he is. For Blackburn some names to respect, Friedel, McCarthy. Pedersen, Henchoz,
Warnock, Emerton. And Francis Jeffers on the bench.

A promising start from the Town, with Rovers seemingly content to play on the break. The first shot however came from a Pedersen free kick, after a Coyne foul which clearly hurt Coyne's knee. Fortunately it was easily saved by Marlon.

A minute later Rovers were ahead as the Town defence stood waiting for a flag that never came and watched a Matt Derbyshire shot whistle past Marlon into the top corner after Coyne was outpaced.

Nonetheless the Town pressed on, with Langley, Robbo and Bell tireless, but Blackburn snapping into tackles that had the Town leaping to avoid injury.

Talbot showed plenty of pace, looking like a younger and slimmer Vine - if either of those are possible.

On 17 Coyne's knee gave up. He went down, and then off, forcing a reshuffle as Keane came on, and slotted in at centre back. A bit small, but the threat was more on the ground anyway.

The game was pretty open and the Town were giving as good as we got, although Boyd was always wanting too long to control and turn, and was not reliable as an outlet. Most of our moves went down the right, where Foley and Bell were able to make progress. On the left however Emanuel was more isolated and struggled to beat Emerton on his own.

On 33 the first Town corner. Emanuel swung it in, and Talbot flicked it goalwards. Langley couldn't make contact, and although it was scrambled out for another corner, Friedel gathered easily and immediately set Rovers away. Seconds later it was 0-2 as McCarthy stuck the ball past Beresford after a Pedersen cross was knocked back by Derbyshire. Keane had hardly made it back
onto our half by that point.

Rovers seemed to treat the rest of the half as a practice match, flicking the ball from one side to the other and making us chase it.

So 0-2 at half-time, and the Town needed to get improvement in two areas, the left flank where Davis was not getting forward to support Emanuel, and up front where Boyd just wasn't in it.. Either one demanded the presence of Morgan. But the Town subs were all knocking a ball about on the pitch during the interval, so a change seemed unlikely.

And none were made.

3 minutes in and Robbo went down having already made a couple of great challenges.

But he was soon up.

On 8 minutes a Rovers break saw Sol make an incredible recovery tackle but a
minute later it was 0-3 as a Pedersen free kick was crossed into the box for Derbyshire to head past a static Beresford.

And Newell finally saw the obvious and brought on Dean Morgan. But incredibly it was a straight change for David Bell. The crowd immediately started booing and chanting Bell's name.

So we hustled and bustled. Morgan in particular looked the part, but we threatened not at all. Meantime a fourth goal for Rovers, a Pedersen special after which he bowed graciously to the crowd.

But it was all a bit embarrassing really, and by the end the chants against Bill Tomlins had started.

Scores:

Beresford 5 somehow Marlon never seems to make a difference - is he actually any good?
Foley 6 coped pretty well against Pedersen and linked well with Bell
Coyne 5 not on for longn and his injury looks ominous
Perrett 7 a strong performance
Davis 6 sound and committed
Bell 7 hard-working and full of trickery - our best player yet
again
Langley 6 a much better performance, without looking dangerous
Robinson 7 worked very hard
Emanuel 5 no change at all out of Emerton
Boyd 3 so far off the pace it is hard to believe he is a
professional footballer
Talbot 5 some promise, but little service

Keane 5 positional sense questionnable, but didn't embarrass himself
Morgan 7 replaced the best Town player on the pitch, and then became it. Why not the two together Mike?

So overall a poor but not awful performance, against a very good Blackburn side.

Oh and two more injuries to key players - of course.

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