Blackburn avoided an FA Cup upset on Saturday when recovering from a goal down to beat League Two side Barnet at Ewood Park – not that Tony Mowbray was particularly impressed but victory was the main thing.
An upset was on at half time as Barnet went into the interval one-up, Simeon Akinola scoring.
Whatever was said at half time did the trick as a dominant second half showing saw Joe Nuttall continue his goalscoring form with the equaliser to set us on the way.
Bradley Dack, who set up the first too, put in Danny Graham, previously denied twice by Barnet goalkeeper Craig Ross, to put Blackburn ahead before on-loan Leeds forward Marcus Antonsson secured a place in the second round.
Mowbray admitted to being ‘let down’ at half time by some of those given a chance on the day, which perhaps proved some weren’t as ready as they thought, but another win at this stage – where Rovers haven’t been beaten since 1971 – was all that mattered in the end.
‘I felt let down at half-time, to be honest. I’d given a few of them a chance to show that we need a full squad and it obviously wasn’t good enough in the first half. The intensity, making the right pass and the right decision – it just wasn’t there,’ he told the Official Website.
The boss continued: ‘Sometimes footballers feel they’re ready, but they need to be at much higher levels than they were in the first half. But cup competitions are about getting over the line and into the next round and we did that.’
It wasn’t a day for him to enjoy as such but Mowbray was pleased to see three forwards on the scoresheet.
He said: ‘There weren’t too many positives other than having three strikers scoring goals. It’s great for Joe to score again, Danny worked hard and got his reward, but it was a frustrating day, not one I enjoyed.’
