BLACKBURN ROVERS 2

(Mulgrew, pen 60) (Samuel, 67)

BRISTOL ROVERS 1
(Harrison, 58)

DOMINIC Samuel scored one and won a penalty which Charlie Mulgrew dispatched as Rovers came from behind to beat Bristol Rovers at Ewood Park.

That made it three wins in the space of a week for Rovers who head to Blackpool on Tuesday in what will be their game in hand.

The game turned in the space of 10 second half minutes as the visitors took the lead courtesy of an Ellis Harrison strike, before Samuel, won a penalty with his first contribution before heading home his sixth of the season which proved to the winner with 22 minutes to play.

Rovers’ wait to name an unchanged team continued as Tony Mowbray made one alteration, recalling Peter Whittingham in place of Elliott Bennett who dropped to the bench.

The opening 15 minutes saw the hosts enjoy almost all of the possession, however some intricate passing around the edge of the visitors’ area failed to bring with it an early chance.

They saw appeals for a penalty waved away as after a neat Corry Evans pass, Derrick Williams went clear of his man, with the referee unmoved as he went down under pressure from Billy Bodin.

Boding, the Pirates’ main attacking threat with nine goals to his name this season, did offer a warning to Rovers prior to that, his shot being deflected wide after good play down the left from Liam Sercombe.

Without a natural right winger, much of Rovers’ attacking play was coming down their left side. But it was a long ball forward which was to bring their next sight of goal, Bradley Dack heading down for Joe Nuttall who fired over from 25 yards.

The game was to come alive either side of the half hour mark, with the visitors seeing a goal disallowed for offside. Ollie Clarke slammed the ball home after finding himself free in the six yard box, but a long consultation between referee Ross Joyce and the linesman, the goal was chalked off.

That angered the away fans, while the home supporters would soonn have their own gripes with the officials who deemed it not to have been a foul when Nuttall went down under contact from visitors goalkeeper Adam Smith.

Disallowed or not, the incident had certainly given the Pirates belief and they continued to pour bodies forward as Rovers endured a difficult 10 minute spell. That almost saw them fall behind as after Lee Brown was able to ghost in behind down the left, his cross was headed against the bar by Bodin.

Bodin would then turn provider as after an excellent burst forward after robbing Smallwood of possession, he fed Ellis Harrison whose shot was blocked by Mulgrew and tipped over the bar by the retreating David Raya.

Fortunate to be level at the break, Rovers almost snatched the lead two minutes after the re-start, but Dack wasn’t quite able to turn home an Antonsson volley after he met Smallwood’s cross.

After a wild volley wide after Dack’s corner was only cleared as far as him, Richie Smallwood had a better sight of goal in the 55th minute, only to blaze over the bar from 20 yards.

With their first attack of the second half, the visitors would take the lead in the 58th minute and there was no ruling this out as Ellis Harrison raced on to a ball down the left before cutting inside and firing across Raya and in to the corner.

Mowbray’s response was to send on Danny Graham and Dominic Samuel and the latter would soon be in the thick of the action, winning a penalty with his first contribution. Mulgrew slammed home his sixth of the season, firing in to the top right hand corner, before his inch-perfect free-kick moments later should have seen Rovers take the lead, only for Graham to somehow fail to find the back of the net with his header from five yards out.

But fellow substitute Samuel was to get his name on the scoresheet to put the hosts ahead as he expertly headed a Williams cross back across Smith and in to the far corner.

The move to two upfront appeared to have done the trick for Rovers as their ability to go more direct was helping them. Good play down the right from Nyambe saw both himself and Antonsson have shots blocked before Evans blazed over in the 70th minute.

The visitors switched to three upfront in the closing 13 minutes as they made their final two changes in a bid to find a way back in to the game.

And they weren’t going out without a fight, Liam Sercombe’s dipping volley forcing a flying save from Raya as Rovers began to look nervy at the back.

With the minutes dying down, Tom Nichols missed an excellent opportunity to at least test Raya as he nodded wide a Sercombe cross.