Blackburn deputies halt Barnsley progress

Blackburn Rovers 3 Barnsley 1

Richard Slater
Thursday 17 January 2002 01:00 GMT
Comments

Your support helps us to tell the story

From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.

At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.

The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.

Your support makes all the difference.

Having survived a couple of early scares, Blackburn ultimately overwhelmed a spirited if one-dimensional Barnsley side thanks to a display of speedy passing coupled with the patience needed to create penetrative openings. And, when the opportunities arose, the home side applied the final touch, a quality sorely lacking in the performance of the visitors.

Either Graeme Souness, the Blackburn manager, fancied his side's chances against lower-league opposition or had little relish for the prospect of an away tie at Millwall, the fourth-round reward for this tie's victors. Whatever the reason, he made eight changes from the team that defeated Charlton at the weekend, but the deputies rose quickly to the challenge.

The home team made the early running, such as it was, and Mark Hughes forced a fine save from Kevin Miller with a 20-yard drive before trying his luck with a volley from outside the box.

The speed with which the Premiership side moved the ball through midfield was impressive but the under-pressure striker Corrado Grabbi, making his first appearance in half a dozen games, was too often slow to respond to the opportunities presented. Having quelled the early threats, Barnsley began to enjoy more possession. If their route to goal was less inventive, there was no doubting its effectiveness and Alan Kelly, making his first start of the season, reacted smartly to deny Mike Sheron's rasping strike from the edge of the penalty area after a delightful crossfield ball from Kevin Donovan.

Mitch Ward, with a long-range half-volley, also tested Kelly but it was Rovers, given too much time to pick passes in the box, who made the breakthrough. Hughes muscled into space on the left of the box and played a ball to Lucas Neill who had no trouble finding Grabbi, whose marker stood off. The former Ternana forward turned and shot with power.

Sheron was then presented with a simple opportunity to equalise after the defender Martin Taylor miscued in his own box but with just Kelly to beat he fired wide. Grabbi too missed what appeared a simple chance but Rovers' advantage was doubled just before the break. Alan Mahon found Lucas Neill in the box and he was bundled off the ball by Chris Morgan. David Dunn converted the penalty.

With just five minutes of the second half played, Blackburn added a third against a side unbeaten in their previous nine fixtures in all competitions. Craig Hignett delivered an in-swinging free-kick from the left that Taylor, without any kind of close marking, headed home with ease. And, rather than sit on the lead, Blackburn's second string sought to impress.

Mahon had the final touch in the game's best move and, though his strike was too high to trouble Miller, the build-up involving four players and orchestrated by the recently out-of-favour Dunn was an effective barometer of the difference between the sides.

Barnsley too were admirably reluctant to let the scoreline deter their efforts and if their manager Steve Parkin learned anything from this fixture it was that his side has the fighting qualities required by a team seeking to escape a relegation battle. Bruce Dyer typified the endeavour and scored with a deflected strike.

Blackburn Rovers (4-4-2): Kelly; Curtis, Taylor, Johansson, Neill; Gillespie (Hignett, 24), Johnson (Tugay, 78), Dunn, Mahon; Grabbi, Hughes Substitutes not used: Bjornebye, Duff, Friedel (gk).

Barnsley (4-4-2): Miller; Mulligan, Morgan, Chettle, Barker; Donovan (Christie, 63), Ward (Sand, 76), Neil, Barnard; Sheron (Jones, 79), Dyer Substitutes not used: Regan, Marriott (gk).

Referee: P Dowd (Stoke-on-Trent).

Join our commenting forum

Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies

Comments

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in