Mowbray’s men are left feeling unfulfilled
‘FRUSTRATION’ more than summed up Blackburn boss Tony Mowbray’s overriding emotion after his side didn’t go on to beat tenman Oldham following a dominant second-half performance.
Rovers were dismal in the first period as Wolves loanee Duckens Nazon fired Oldham into a 2-0 lead in a feisty Lancashire derby but the hosts had levelled it up by the 70th minute.
Then, Oldham saw Wilfried Moimbe sent off for two yellow cards, still with a quarter-of-anhour to play, but Rovers couldn’t press home their advantage to bag what would have been a precious three points.
Mowbray said: “The feeling is one of frustration and disappointment.
“Perhaps we needed a bit more patience in that closing period but I suppose after being 2-0 behind at half-time, I should be content with a point.
“Other teams around us lost too, so it’s not been too desperate.
“The first-half performance just wasn’t good enough. There were a few harsh words said at half-time.
“There’s still 15 games to go, don’t forget – that’s still a third of the season, so we’ll just put this result behind us and move on.”
French-born Haitian Nazon was in inspired form for the visitors in the opening 45 minutes.
The first of his two cracking goals came as he latched on to goalkeeper Johnny Placide’s long punt forward and turned Paul Downing inside out before slotting home underneath the body of David Raya.
Twelve minutes later, the Oldham lead was doubled as, this time, Nazon drilled home superbly from an angle after being neatly teed up by strike partner Craig Davies.
The hosts bossed the second period from the off and they halved the deficit when Charlie Mulgrew curled home a free-kick.
When sub Adam Armstrong converted Bradley Dack’s cross to score on his 21st birthday, Rovers were well on top.
Moimbe was then given his marching orders, picking up a second yellow card for crudely hauling down Elliott Bennett, but Mowbray’s men couldn’t find a winner.
Oldham boss Richie Wellens was content with a battling point.
He said: “It’s a bittersweet feeling after that, though the game, as a whole, I thought was a great advert for this league.
“I’m happy with a point as my players showed energy, passion and commitment.
“That could be a massive point for us in the end and once again, we’ve seen that winning in this division is never easy.”