[Archived] Rovers v Peterborough

[JHRover]

I really enjoyed it last night and in some ways I think that was our biggest win of the season. Given the way the first half went to dig deep and turn it around was huge. Great character and determination, the sort of season defining result against a Peterborough side who got it spot on in the first half and could have made life very difficult in the 2nd had we not pulled one back relatively early. Great atmosphere in the last 10-15 minutes.

Re. the attendance, it was disappointing but not surprising. The culmination of tv, Thursday night and £25+ a ticket will take care of that irrespective of who you are or how well you are doing. Also despite the mere 11,000 it felt more like 20,000 in the last few minutes. The real test on that front will be the Oxford game - the big one, £10 a head, Saturday - if we don't reach 20,000 for that one I'll be very disappointed.

[Lancaster Rover]

38 minutes ago, Tom said:

Tackle of the season by Grant that, absolutely smashed antonsson and the ball, perfectly fair and one you want your midfield general to make 

I thought Grant was fantastic for them, really calm, great touch, clever in the way he drew fouls (or gave them) and barely missed a tackle all game, probably in the top 2 or 3 oppo players I've seen at Ewood this year.

[Bigdoggsteel]

8 minutes ago, Lancaster Rover said:

I thought Grant was fantastic for them, really calm, great touch, clever in the way he drew fouls (or gave them) and barely missed a tackle all game, probably in the top 2 or 3 oppo players I've seen at Ewood this year.

Peterboroughs recruitment strategy means that most seasons they sell their best player and then take chances on lads doing well in non league. You could see a few diamonds in the team, but looked hit and miss. I would definitely take Edwards and Grant 

[Tom]

10 minutes ago, Lancaster Rover said:

I thought Grant was fantastic for them, really calm, great touch, clever in the way he drew fouls (or gave them) and barely missed a tackle all game, probably in the top 2 or 3 oppo players I've seen at Ewood this year.

Yep said as much myself 

Went to look him up and he’s 30 which is a shame as I thought he’d be one to keep an eye on

[arbitro]

In many respects last night mirrored the game at London Road in December. A poor first half from us, second best, going a goal down and pretty much winning the game with a 25 minute spell when our match winners came alive. The tempo seemed to increase during that period and, as we have seen many times this season we can blow teams away who simply struggle to handle the pace. The sedentary pace of the first half makes us easy to play against and allows opponents to close us down and we get caught in possession or hurry our passes. I would love to see that tempo for 70 minutes and then we could really batter some teams.

[Lancaster Rover]

I saw him playing for a Crewe a few years ago and he looked neat and tidy but not one where you thought he'd excel at a higher level, he looked unbelievably composed last night. Managed to combine power in the tackle with being a nice footballer which is pretty rare these days.

[RoverCanada]

1 hour ago, blueboy3333 said:

Another great contribution. And mine was a parody of the sanctimonious crap peddled by you and others. Glad you now recognise your own posts....

Haha... there is something a little sanctimonious about writing a parody of others' sanctimoniousness... (it goes round in circles)

(Sanctimonious is a fun word to say anyway)

[DE.]

A little bit of revisionist history going on here already. We didn't come out in the second half playing better, it was exactly the same. Posh literally came at us again straight from kick off. Even after our first goal they were continuing to attack us. It was only around the 60-65 min mark when Posh tired that we picked them off. There was a notable shift when Samuel came on - after that I don't remember Peterborough having many attacks at all. That was in the 68th minute and we were lucky not to be further behind when Dack equalised. I can't imagine Tony's master plan was 'give them the chance to score two or three goals then boss the last twenty minutes'. We rode our luck for the first two thirds of the match and pounced in the last twenty five minutes when they showed signs of tiredness. From that point onwards we looked much, much better and ran out deserved winners.

[AAK]

21 minutes ago, Lancaster Rover said:

I thought Grant was fantastic for them, really calm, great touch, clever in the way he drew fouls (or gave them) and barely missed a tackle all game, probably in the top 2 or 3 oppo players I've seen at Ewood this year.

Yep him, Adelakun (scunthorpe), Forster-Caskey (Charlton), Carey (Plymouth), Marriott and Maddison (Posh) and Aneke (Mk Dons) have been good players we have played against this season, all the players we should looking at signing in the summer. Wigan also have a couple of very good players, but we will be in the same league as them. Interestingly Jack Payne is still second in the assists table, only behind Carey, thought he would have done so much better here, but hasn't been given too much of a chance.

[CrouchingNunhiddenCucumber]

44 minutes ago, 47er said:

Therefore he's right?  

Not saying he is right or wrong, just agreeing with him. 

[Bigdoggsteel]

Just now, arbitro said:

In many respects last night mirrored the game at London Road in December. A poor first half from us, second best, going a goal down and pretty much winning the game with a 25 minute spell when our match winners came alive. The tempo seemed to increase during that period and, as we have seen many times this season we can blow teams away who simply struggle to handle the pace. The sedentary pace of the first half makes us easy to play against and allows opponents to close us down and we get caught in possession or hurry our passes. I would love to see that tempo for 70 minutes and then we could really batter some teams.

We are hard to beat, we either go up and try to hold on or ,our real strength imo, is when we need to come from behind, you can really see our strengths then. Also on the counter attack. Mowbrays first priority is to keep things tight, no matter who the opposition, can't fault him for that I suppose as we are top of the league(even though it doesn't feel like that sometimes). 

That game against Wigan at Ewood, as strange as it sounds, I think if Wigan scored first we would have won. When forced to go at teams we have such quality that you can see the opposition can't cope. Holding leads is when the problems start....I think our team, while having toughened up a lot physically on the pitch, can be a bit too nice at times. 

[Tyrone Shoelaces]

Just now, Tom said:

The first half was shocking outside of the first 5 minutes or so, to be fair 0-3 wouldn’t have been an unjustified scoreline and you’d struggle to pick a man outside of Raya who was doing even a competent job.

The comments on here perfectly echo the comments in the stand in the first half and I’m sure in pubs or people around the country watching with their mates it’s just on here it’s preserved so people can see back on it and highlight.

Whatever Tony did at half time worked.

I would have thought that plenty of SKY watchers would have turned off at half time and buggered off to the pub.

[Bigdoggsteel]

Just now, Tyrone Shoelaces said:

I would have thought that plenty of SKY watchers would have turned off at half time and buggered off to the pub.

Oh god ya, it wasn't a great advertisement for us or league 1. Lets be honest, our passing was atrocious. 

[Joar]

3 hours ago, AllRoverAsia said:

Not to excuse the reaction by Antonnsson but he had just been emptied out by a Posh that went unpunished.

It was also probably the only time in the game that Antonnson made a physical challenge for anything.

Evans getting a lot of stick just because he's Evans.

Am I the only one who think Evans basically tries to pass the ball with the inside of his right foot, but since the other bloke is faster, the ball isn't there anymoreand the lack of a football to hit makes Evans kick air and makes it look like a sliding tackle? In my view there's no malice and no intention of hitting the man. Admittedly it could have gone properly bad for the Posh player, but in the end the only thing that seems to hit him is Evans' trailing left foot.

[CrouchingNunhiddenCucumber]

1 hour ago, chaddyrovers said:

Williams had a good game last night. 

Can't have been watching the same game. He made two important headers and that's about it. For me he looks terrified when he gets the ball in space, he will run forward and then literally stop, turnaround and pass backwards to whoever is available, it's appalling to watch. He is one for me that absolutely needs replacing for the Championship next year. 

[Bigdoggsteel]

Just now, CrouchingNunhiddenCucumber said:

Can't have been watching the same game. He made two important headers and that's about it. For me he looks terrified when he gets the ball in space, he will run forward and then literally stop, turnaround and pass backwards to whoever is available, it's appalling to watch. He is one for me that absolutely needs replacing for the Championship next year. 

He crossed it in for Dacks goal also. Was incredibly bad first half, but was one of our better players second half. I wouldn't have him starting left back next year alright though. Could be a good option on the bench as center half though 

[DE.]

Just now, Joar said:

Am I the only one who think Evans basically tries to pass the ball with the inside of his right foot, but since the other bloke is faster, the ball isn't there anymoreand the lack of a football to hit makes Evans kick air and makes it look like a sliding tackle? In my view there's no malice and no intention of hitting the man. Admittedly it could have gone properly bad for the Posh player, but in the end the only thing that seems to hit him is Evans' trailing left foot.

I thought exactly the same. It obviously looks worse in slow motion - all tackles do - but I didn't see malicious intent there on first viewing. 

[G Somerset Rover]

I notice Chaddy has deleted his post saying Williams had a good game. First half I stand by my comment last night that it’s one of the worst LB performances I have seen in a Rovers shirt. Second half he improved in an attacking sense but so did the whole team. Bell needs a run regardless.

[nathan_rovers1]

Reading this thread throughout the game you would have thought we were in a relegation scrap...

Looking at the criticism of players like Williams who for a large part of the season has been good consistently this season is beyond me. 

Samuel for the first part of the season was brilliant scoring 4 or 5 key goals at a time when we needed them, he is a young lad who went through a rubbish time and over the last few games has started working hard. 

The lads first half were not at the races and the second half they came out and dominated! People on here calling TM poor on tactics, jesus we are second in the league with the potential to go up as champions if results go our away. I think individuals need to take a step back and reflect on what has happened. 

Anyway, cracking result, Raya has grown significantly over the last 3 months. Onwards and upwards! 

[nathan_rovers1]

Just now, Gavlar Somerset Rover! said:

I notice Chaddy has deleted his post saying Williams had a good game. First half I stand by my comment last night that it’s one of the worst LB performances I have seen in a Rovers shirt. Second half he improved in an attacking sense but so did the whole team. Bell needs a run regardless.

You have to be joking? Williams did not play that badly, down the left first half was our main threat and he got an assist. 

[JHRover]

If we do go up people like Antonsson and Samuel have chipped in along the way with some crucial goals and that shouldn't be overlooked. Obviously Dack, Graham and Armstrong will get the plaudits and I suspect most people will be happy to see the back of Antonsson and Samuel but lets remember their contributions in vital wins such as Bradford and Scunthorpe away just as we were getting going.

[Bigdoggsteel]

We were very lucky Evans didn't get red, but it wasn't malicious. Red all day though 

[CrouchingNunhiddenCucumber]

26 minutes ago, Bigdoggsteel said:

He crossed it in for Dacks goal also. Was incredibly bad first half, but was one of our better players second half. I wouldn't have him starting left back next year alright though. Could be a good option on the bench as center half though 

Look it's OK for everyone to have an opinion, I get that. However on this occasion you are incorrect ;-0 xxx

[Bigdoggsteel]

I really enjoyed Dack and Samuels time wasting expedition up in the Peterborough corner in extra time. They killed a good 4 minutes that I was expecting to be an excruciatingly painful to watch backs to the wall defensive scramble. Compare it to Gallaghers pass against Preston last season. Dack is a cute player(not like that  ). Some man to waste time and win frees as well as the more glamorous stuff he does 

[Bigdoggsteel]

Just now, CrouchingNunhiddenCucumber said:

Look it's OK for everyone to have an opinion, I get that. However on this occasion you are incorrect ;-0 xxx

On which part?