Rovers 3-0 Newcastle; Sam’s revenge and out of the bottom 3. Highlights.

By: Jimmy | January 18th, 2009

Benni drew a penalty and scored from the spot and Roberts bagged two as Big Sam and the Rovers crushed Newcastle 3-nil yesterday at Ewood Park. Read more on the game after the jump.

An abysmal first half of football for both sides, which produced the only highlight of a Keith Andrews clearance off of the line, means I won’t even talk about that half. Rovers came out of the locker room and started right away though in the second half. Subs Grella and Dunn helped solidify a shakey looking Rovers XI and Grealla complemented Andrews well as he was able to go have a run about and fund himself a little.
Side note: I think despite being a bit behind the curve still, Andrews’ fitness and his growth in every match he features in is a great thing for Rovers.

Benni Mac forced a great save from Given on his free kick but drew a controversial penalty call to make good on his hunt for a goal. It looked a penalty in real time, but the replay angles have got me second guessing myself. I’ll go with my gut and say it was warranted. Jason Roberts’ first goal for the Rovers second showed how to utilize Paul Robinson’s long boots forward and his second goal was nothing less then Rovers deserved after that magnificent build up. Dunn (I believe) to Andrews to Pederson(who had a cracker of a game) who crossed it perfectly to Roberts for the tap in. Roberts taught me this today:
Roberts strength and ball control is stills second to none.
and
He’s a great scorer when he is pressured/rushed and has to shoot on his first touch.

All in all, fantastic with Nicky Butt deservedly getting shown the rad for two rought challenges and Joey Barton fighting team mates. Take a deep breath. You smell that? That’s the smell of things looking up for Rovers.

A few new faces perhaps soon, I’ll keep you up to date with the latest. Highlights below: