Championship
Blackburn
Mar 9, 2014 12.30pm
1
2
HT : 1 0
FT
Burnley
  • Jordan Rhodes 24' goal
  • Luke Varney 55' yellowcard
  • Liam Feeney 71' yellowcard
  • goal Jason Shackell 73'
  • yellowcard Scott Arfield 74'
  • goal Danny Ings 79'

Live Commentary: Blackburn Rovers 1-2 Burnley - as it happened

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Blackburn 1-2 Burnley - as it happened
© Getty Images

East Lancashire rivals Blackburn Rovers and Burnley met in the one and only Championship game on Sunday.

Burnley hadn't beaten their closest rivals for 35 years, but they ended that record with a rousing second-half comeback.

Read how it all unfolded at Ewood Park in our minute-by-minute updates below.

2.25pmAnyway, that's all we've got time for here. Thanks for joining SM. I'll leave you with a link for the latest Championship table. Looks good, eh Burnley fans? Good afternoon!

2.23pmJubilant scenes on the pitch as Burnley's players celebrate what they know is a vital three points.

2.22pmBurnley end their 35-year wait for a win over their East Lancashire rivals. What a HUGE result for the Clarets and surely now promotion to the Premier League is theirs to throw away.

90+5 minFULL TIME: BLACKBURN 1-2 BURNLEY

90+3 minBlackburn are having a real go here as Hanley shoots on the turn but it's a defender's finish and bobbles wide.

90+3 minSAVE! Again it's Conway who delivers for Gestede. This time the striker makes better contact but again his header is too central and Heaton smothers.

90+2 minCHANCE! Oh Gestede will be kicking himself here. He meets Conway's excellent curling cross but can only head straight at Heaton.

90+1 minSAVE! Lowe takes matters into his own hands with a swerving 30-yard drive that Heaton has to acrobatically turn over the bar. Bowyer makes a quick change as Chris Taylor replaces Evans.

90+1 minFOUR minutes of added time are signalled. Can Rovers rescue a point?

89 minBy the way, my 1-2 pre-match prediction looks pretty good!

87 minUnderstandably, Burnley are beginning to sit back a little here but right now Blackburn can't break them down. The visitors looking pretty comfortable.

84 minSo as things stand, Burnley are going to go eight points clear of third-placed Derby and just five behind Leicester at the top of the table. MASSIVE!

81 minBLACKBURN SUB: Bowyer sends on Rudy Gestede to join Rhodes up front. He replaces Varney.

79 minBurnley have turned it around at Ewood Park! What a huge goal this could be in the race for promotion as Blackburn fail to clear their lines before Ings sidefoots home after Barnes had prodded Wallace's cutback his way.

79 minGOAL! BLACKBURN 1-2 BURNLEY (INGS)

76 minThe 4,000+ Burnley fans are now in full voice and spurring their side on. The momentum is with the visitors.

74 minBOOKINGS! Arfield goes into the book for cynically tripping up Henley. Just before the goal, Rovers substitute Feeney was also yellow-carded for a nasty high tackle on Arfield just second after he had come on.

73 minBurnley level as skipper Shackell bravely heads in Wallace's free kick with Robinson about to clatter him. Brave header and we're all square with 15 minutes to go.

73 minGOAL! BLACKBURN 1-1 BURNLEY (SHACKELL)

71 minBLACKBURN SUB: Dunn's impressive game comes to an end as he is replaced by recent Blackburn loan signing Liam Feeney. It's a debut for the midfielder.

70 minNeat one-two on the right wing between Conway and Henley. The former then delivers an excellent deep cross that Varney's ready to head home until Trippier makes a superb clearance.

68 minBURNLEY SUBS: Wallace replaces Kightly before Barnes comes on for Vokes.

66 minDyche will be making the first substitutions of the game by sending on Ross Wallace and Ashley Barnes.

62 minBurnley have a free kick right on the edge of the area after Vokes was bundled over. Jones tries to curl it over the wall with his left foot but it takes a deflection.

60 minCLOSE! Ings does brilliantly the win the ball from two Blackburn players on the wing. He bursts into the box before poking an inviting cross along the six-yard box, but there's no Claret shirt coming in to prod it home.

59 minPoor decision-making from Kightly as he tries to beat Evans on the outside instead of looking inside for his teammates when Burnley had good numbers on the counter-attack.

55 minBOOKING! Dean has his yellow card out for the first time as Varney scythes down Kightly on the right wing.

55 minOFF THE POST! Goodness me, that's a bad miss from Rhodes. Like Ings in the first half, Rhodes is gifted a one-on-one opportunity because of a bad backpass. He just has Heaton to beat but can only slide the ball against the foot of the post.

51 minExcellent goalkeeping from Heaton as he manages to clutch Spurr's fierce low cross at the second attempt. Great end-to-end start to the second half.

49 minPENALTY SHOUT! Well, well, well. Burnley feel that they should have a penalty and perhaps Hanley should be sent off as well. Trippier looped the ball into Ings's path and the striker appeared to get the first touch before being tripped by Scottish defender Hanley. It could have very easily been given and if it had been, Hanley would have had to go as he was the last man.

46 minKICKOFF! Blackburn get us back underway. Can they hold on for a big win over their East Lancashire rivals?

1.32pmThe two sides are back out for the second half. No changes from either manager.

1.29pmUPDATE: The first of three FA Cup quarter-finals today has a pair of quick goals as League One side Sheffield United go 2-0 up on the Championship's bottom side Charlton.

1.25pmLooking at replays of the goal, you have to question the defending of Burnley captain Jason Shackell. For me, it looks like he could have easily stepped forward and intercepted the ball but instead dropped back before failing to block Rhodes's shot on the turn.

1.21pmIf you're only just getting in from a Sunday walk and want a quick update on the first period, check out our half-time report here.

1.18pmHome side Rovers take a one-goal lead with them to the dressing room at half time then. To be honest, it's been a pretty even 45 minutes. Rhodes took his chance, while Burnley's top scorer Ings fluffed his lines with his.

45+2 minHALF TIME: BLACKBURN 1-0 BURNLEY

45+1 minJust the one minute of added time signalled. Blackburn will be delighted with their display so far.

43 minOFF THE LINE! Now it's Blackburn who threaten as Conway cuts the ball back to Lowe. The Blackburn academy graduate rarely scores goals but he cleverly uses the outside of his boot to turn it goalwards. Burnley keeper Heaton is stretching but luckily for him Mee is on the line to hoof it away.

39 minCHANCE! Oh what an opportunity for Ings to level the scores. He is gifted a one-on-one opportunity as Conway fails to see him and passes straight to the Burnley man when trying to return it to Robinson. Ings opens his body but hits it straight at Robinson from the left side of the area. I think he was trying to make it look like he was going for the far corner and then go near post, but ended up hitting it straight at the Blackburn keeper.

34 min@OptaJoe on Twitter: "757 – Jordan Rhodes had gone 757 minutes without a league goal before netting against rivals Burnley. Relief."

32 minSuperb side-stepping from Dunn to get into the box but he is then unbalanced and Burnley clear. The home fans want a penalty but Mike Dean isn't interested.

29 minTop atmosphere inside Ewood Park now but Burnley are trying to silence the home fans by having plenty of the ball. They're struggling to break down the hosts' defence at the moment.

26 min

24 minThe striker's goal drought is over! It's his 17th league of the season as he takes a touch with his back to goal before firing low into the corner on the turn. Brilliant finish.

24 minGOAL! BLACKBURN 1-0 BURNLEY (RHODES)

22 minRhodes with a snapshot on the turn that whizzes a couple of yards wide of the upright. Still no real clear-cut chances as we reach the halfway point of the first half.

20 minJUST WIDE! Blackburn almost shoot themselves in the foot as Spurr allows Kightly to close him down. The ball breaks into the path of Ings, whose shot isn't well-hit and rolls across the face of goal and a yard wide.

18 minNext to try his luck is Rhodes, but his effort after heading the ball over Duff is weak and easy for Heaton to collect.

17 minRovers's first shot for a few minutes comes from Varney, who shifts the ball onto his right foot before curling high and wide.

16 minAgain it's Trippier with the ball in as this time he floats it to the back post for Arfield, who tries to loop a header to the far corner but can only find the roof the net.

15 minTrippier and Ings have linked up so many times for goals this season but this time it doesn't really work as Ings fails to connect properly with his header.

13 minDuff cheaply gives away possession but gets away with it as Lowe's through-ball to Dunn is overhit.

12 minThe visitors continue to impress as Trippier finds the run of Ings, who looks for strike partner in the middle but plays it a little behind the Welshman.

9 minThat disallowed goal seems to have perked Burnley up after a sluggish start.

7 minDISALLOWED! Vokes thinks he's given the visitors the lead against the run of play but he's flagged offside. Replays show that he was just inches ahead of the last man when Arfield scuffed his shot across goal.

4 minRhodes almost breaks his goal drought by cleverly flicking on Dunn's cross, but the header's not powerful enough to beat Heaton, who makes an unconvincing save but keeps it out.

3 minHere's the fowl play (sorry!) I'm on about:

1 minCHICKEN ON THE PITCH! Remember the Ewood chicken from a couple of years ago in protest of the Venky's ownership? Well, there's one back on the pitch that leads to a brief stoppage in play.

1 minKICKOFF! Visitors Burnley get us underway!

12.28pmBurnley have February's Championship Player of the Month in their ranks in striker Sam Vokes. Blackburn's veteran keeper Paul Robinson was also one of the four nominees.

© Getty Images

12.25pmPREDICTION TIME! With just five minutes until kickoff, it's time for my pre-match thoughts. I'm expecting an electric atmosphere that will lead to a great game. For me, Burnley will edge it by two goals to one.

12.22pmAlthough Rhodes scored that day, he's currently on the longest run of his career without a goal.

12.20pmBlackburn have a superb record against Burnley. They haven't lost their last 11 games against the Clarets, whose last win over the hosts was way back in 1979!

When these two last met in the reverse fixture in September it finished 1-1 at Turf Moor thanks to Jordan Rhodes's freakish late goal.

12.17pmREFEREE WATCH: The man in charge today is the stern character of Mike Dean, who regularly takes charge of top-level games in the Premier League.

© Getty Images

12.14pmWe're at the stage of the season where there's always a storyline for both sides. We're near enough to the end for all games to have an impact, but not too close to the season finishing so that some teams have little to play for.

Blackburn are reeling after last week's drubbing at Bolton, but still have realistic hopes of reaching the playoffs if they can finish the season strongly. Victory today will move them to within three points of the top six.

As mentioned above, Burnley can pull eight points clear in the automatic promotion places with a win.

12.10pmUnsurprisingly, Sean Dyche names the same starting XI for the eighth game running. There's absolutely no need to change this winning formula.

12.09pmBURNLEY SUBS: Cisak, Wallace, Stanislas, Edgar, Treacy, Long, Barnes

12.08pmBURNLEY XI: Heaton; Trippier, Duff, Shackell, Mee; Kightly, Marney, Jones, Arfield; Ings, Vokes

12.06pmGary Bowyer doesn't hesitate in shaking his side up after last week's 4-0 defeat to another Lancashire rival in Bolton Wanderers. There's five new faces in the starting XI, with Grant Hanley, Michael Keane, Corry Evans, Luke Varney and David Dunn getting the nod. The return of captain Hanley is massive. He'll partner new loan signing Michael Keane in defence.

12.04pmBLACKBURN SUBS: Eastwood, Kane, Olsson, Williamson, Taylor, Feeney, Gestede

12.03pmBLACKBURN XI: Robinson; Henley, Hanley, Keane, Spurr; Conway, Lowe, Evans; Varney, Dunn; Rhodes

12.01pmHello folks! The one and only game in the Championship today is at Ewood Park as Blackburn take on Burnley. No time to waste, let's get to the team news.
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