Late goals not enough for Cherries against Blackburn: 3-2

Blackburn Rovers v AFCB

23 August 2014

Attendance: 13,900

I believe Simon Francis travelled with the squad up to Blackburn but was not part of the squad so Adam Smith again slotted in at right back. Junior Stanislas also won a place in the starting line up on the left wing while Pugh was still absent. Brett Pitman did make it back on to the subs line up though and it as a pretty strong line up to face Rovers.

From what I can tell of match reports AFCB did not get of to a great start and to be 3-0 down in under half an hour it was always asking a lot to get anything from Ewood Park. But with the introduction of Fraser, Rantie and Pitman the Cherries did well to pull back two goals in the last few minutes of the game and to give the hosts a nervy end to the game. Pitman scored a penalty on 81 minutes and Steve Cook scored his first goal of the season on 90 minutes, but the Cherries still went down 3-2 from first half goals from Rhodes, Hanley and Gestede.

AFCB now drop down to 11th in the table, two points outside the play offs and have another hard away game to come at Norwich where they will aim not give themselves such a big deficit to pull back by half time.

AFCB official match tweets:

Here they are! The two teams are out here at Ewood Park and we are minutes away from kick-off. Do we have any score predictions? #BRFCvAFCB

01: We're underway at Ewood Park, where the Cherries begin proceedings shooting away from the traveling fans. #BRFCvAFCB

03: Early chance for #afcb as Stanislas shoots from the edge of the area. Robinson spills, but claims before Wilson can pounce. #BRFCvAFCB

09: First sight of goal for #brfc. Olsson rifles in a shot from the corner of the area & Camp parries away http://bit.ly/1sfot0x #BRFCvAFCB

13: Cook is caught in possession by the byline, and Rhodes keeps his cool to slot the ball beyond Camp. http://bit.ly/1sfot0x #BRFCvAFCB

19: Stanislas retreives Wilson's under-hit pass on the edge of the area, but shoots straight at Robinson. http://bit.ly/1sfot0x #BRFCvAFCB

21: Hanley heads beyond Camp from Cairney's corner to double #brfc's lead. #afcb now trail 2-0. http://bit.ly/1sfot0x #BRFCvAFCB

24: Conway's long-range effort is deflected off Gustede to wrong-foot Camp. #brfc 3-0 #afcb. http://bit.ly/1sfot0x #BRFCvAFCB

26: Ritchie tries his luck from inside the area, but his looping shot fails to trouble Robinson. http://bit.ly/1sfot0x #BRFCvAFCB

27: It's almost four as Gustede almost meets Conway's cross from the right. It goes wide - just. http://bit.ly/1sfot0x #BRFCvAFCB

28: Olsson cuts the ball back to Rhodes, but his left-footed shot cannons off the far post. http://bit.ly/1sfot0x #BRFCvAFCB

39: Marshall's shot from the edge of the area is palmed away by Camp. #brfc look dangerous going forward. http://bit.ly/1sfot0x #BRFCvAFCB

41: Cook is booked for a foul on Gustede on the edge of the area. The resultant free-kick comes to nothing http://bit.ly/1sfot0x #BRFCvAFCB

Half time at Ewood Park: #brfc 3-0 #afcb. #BRFCvAFCB

46: The second half is underway, and it is confirmed - Fraser replaces Ritchie for #afcb. #BRFCvAFCB

46: Fraser almost immediately has an impact as his cross towards Kermorgant in the area is headed away. http://bit.ly/1sfot0x #BRFCvAFCB

48: Close for #brfc. Marshall's cross from the left is inches away from being met by Evans in the middle. http://bit.ly/1sfot0x #BRFCvAFCB

50: Stanislas' free kick cannons off the wall, before Kermorgant's follow-up shot is tipped over. http://bit.ly/1sfot0x #BRFCvAFCB

53: Better! Wilson forces Robinson into a smart save at the near post. http://bit.ly/1sfot0x #BRFCvAFCB #afcb

55: Wilson has an effort from a similar position. Robinson parries & quickly gathers the follow-up. http://bit.ly/1sfot0x #BRFCvAFCB

64: Second substitution for #afcb as Kermorgant is replaced by Rantie. http://bit.ly/1sfot0x #BRFCvAFCB

65: Left-back Olsson bursts forward before firing his shot into the side netting. Still #brfc 3-0 #afcb. http://bit.ly/1sfot0x #BRFCvAFCB

67: Substitute King's shot deflects off Elphick, before Baptiste heads over from the resultant corner. http://bit.ly/1sfot0x #BRFCvAFCB

69: Rhodes fires over from the corner of the area, under the tight surveillance of captain Elphick. http://bit.ly/1sfot0x #BRFCvAFCB
74: Final substitution for #afcb as Pitman replaces Stanislas. http://bit.ly/1sfot0x

79: Pitman smashes the ball into the top corner from the spot, after Smith was tripped in the box. #brfc 3-1 #afcb. #BRFCvAFCB

86: Arter shoots from 25 yards out, but it goes way over Robinsons goal. Still #brfc 3-1 #afcb. http://bit.ly/1sfot0x #BRFCvAFCB

88: Cook rises highest to convert Daniels' corner. Now just one more... #brfc 3-2 #afcb http://bit.ly/1sfot0x #BRFCvAFCB

Full time: #brfc 3-2 #afcb. #BRFCvAFCB

AFCB
Camp, Smith, Daniels, O'Kane, Elphick, Cook, Ritchie, Arter, Wilson, Kermorgant, Stanislas

AFCB Subs
Gosling, Rantie, Pitman, Harte, Fraser, Flahavan, Cargill

Blackburn Rovers
Robinson, Lowe, Olsson, Crainey, Hanley, Baptiste, Marshall, Evans, Gestede, Rhodes, Conway

Blackburn Subs
Henley, King, Eunn,, Eastwood, Varney, Williamson, Taylor. 

Rovers are still a form team

It was only after looking back in last season's record books that you discover that Blackburn Rovers have gone unbeaten at home in the Championship since March last year, when they came a cropper to guess who? Yes, that's right a 0-1 home defeat to the Cherries. Since then Rovers have managed six draws and seven wins with just one slip up in the Capital One Cup against Scunthorpe Utd when they played a slightly weakened side. Well that was until last Tuesday when they fell to 3-1 reverse at Norwich City. So what are the chances of AFCB repeating their great away performance of last season at Ewood Park?

Blackburn players at the Goldsands stadium last season.

I believe this is a perfect warm up game for when the Cherries follow Blackburn in going to East Anglia at the end of the month, but AFCB are certainly capable of going to both of these away grounds and retrieving all six points. The fact that every one has been chasing the Cherries means that all teams were lifting their game when they saw AFCB on the other side of the pitch. Blackburn Rovers are one of those teams that will roll their sleeves up to try and batter our players into submission, but the Cherries have to be cleverer than that as the players we have can't out muscle Rovers. The stage is set for Callum Wilson and Junior Stanislas among others to give Blackburn plenty to think about, but given the recent performances of Rovers a draw would still be a very good result for the Cherries.

It is not that Jordan Rhodes has been banging in the goals but strike partner Rude Gestede has. It looks like the Frenchman has finally got used to the Championship and is consistently putting the ball in the back of the net. Tom Cairney has also been in good form with the goal against Cardiff and against Norwich, and his midfield shooting is something the Cherries will be looking to shut out. Cairney was voted Blackburn's player of the year last season and it kind of underlines the fact that Blackburn are far from a one-man goal scoring machine.

So expect a tight match and maybe just one mistake or two to settle this encounter. Eddie Howe and Gary Bowyer are great tacticians and previous contests indicate the first goal again will be crucial as both teams won away against each other when they scored first last season.

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