Yuki Ohashi battles for possession (Image: CameraSport - Lee Parker)
Yuki Ohashi battles for possession (Image: CameraSport - Lee Parker)
Rovers’ poor run continued with a narrow defeat against play-off hopefuls Hull City at Ewood Park.
Lewis Koumas slotted home inside the final 10 minutes and the goal stood despite strong appeals for offside.
Ivor Pandur had earlier made a big save to deny Ryan Alebiosu before the right-back came off at the break.
Valerien Ismael made one change from the side that drew against Watford, with Ryan Alebiosu returning to the starting line-up. Andri Gudjohnsen and Kristi Montgomery were both back on the bench.
The visitors were on top in the early stages, with Balazs Toth making a decent stop low to his right to keep out Regan Slater’s effort from the edge of the box.
But after weathering the early storm, Rovers started to gain control and ask questions of the Tigers’ backline.
Ryoya Morishita got into a dangerous position after a quick free kick but his low drive was blocked by a defender.
Alebiosu then had the best chance of the half, drifing inside and beating his man before forcing Ivor Pandur into an impressive save at full stretch.
There was a nervy moment from the resulting corner when the Nigerian internaitonal hesitated, allowing Liam Millar to get in behind, but a combination of Alebiosu and Toth kept the scores level.
Oli McBurnie went down after an incident off the ball which saw Cantwell cautioned, although the Hull forward was furious as he protested to the linesman.
Rovers were forced into a change at the break, with Alebiosu making way for Miller on the right side of defence.
Joe Gelhardt saw a shot deflected wide by Eiran Cashin early in the second half before Sondre Tronstad sent a striker over from distance
Rovers started to have joy down the wings as Ohashi’s header forced Pandur into a save from Morishita’s cross. Moments later, Mathias Jorgensen flashes a header over from Connor O’Riordan’s delivery.
Cantwell then picked out substitute Moussa Baradji on the edge of the area but after a clever turn, the midfielder couldn’t keep his strike down.
Rovers had a let-off at the other end when the ball dropped nicely for Kieran Dowell but he could only blaze over the bar.
But they weren’t as fortunate when Koumas got in behind the backline and fired a ruthless finish past Toth nine minutes from time. There were strong appeals for offside from the Rovers squad and Sean McLoughlin was cautioned for his protests.
Kyle Joseph had a big chance to put the game to bed on the break but Toth made himself big and pulled off an impressive save.
Hull saw out seven minutes of stoppage time and it’s now one win in 14 league games for Rovers, who remain in the drop zone.
Referee: Thomas Bramall
Attendance: 13,769 (2,948)