Grabbi-ng the glory

Handed a recall by manager Graeme Souness, Rovers' £6.75 million summer signing responded with his first goal in 116 days as the men from Ewood devoured First Division Barnsley.

But whether or not that proves to be little more than a parting shot remains to be seen as Rovers contemplate the prospect of selling him back to Italy before the Italian transfer window closes at the end of the month.

Precious little has gone right for the former Juventus star since he swept through the doors at Ewood amidst a blaze of publicity in July after Souness plucked him out of Serie B.

Plagued by injuries and bouts of homesick, the 26-year-old striker has often looked like a man carrying the weight of the world on his shoulders during a desperate run which had yielded just one goal from 11 starts prior to last night.

So when he turned neatly and fired past a startled Kevin Miller in the 30th minute, a giant wave of relief lapped around the ground, even engulfing the voice on the other end of the Public Address system which boomed: 'We've waited a while but opening the scoring for Rovers is Ciccio Grabbi.'

Thankfully, Souness was slightly more charitable when it came to assessing the performance of his wayward star.

In his heart of hearts, the Rovers boss still believes Grabbi has the necessary tools to make a success of his move to England.

But whether or not he gets the chance to prove that now depends on the player himself, particularly in the wake of Andy Cole's arrival from Manchester United.

"That was Ciccio's first 90 minutes since he arrived, I thought he worked very hard, got the goal and could have had another when three players all converged on the same ball after Mark Hughes did his impression of Rivaldo in the first half," said Souness.

"So I'm sure if certain circumstances are right and he really wants it, then he can still do very well in English football.

"But there's one or two 'ifs' in there which only he can answer."

Grabbi's strike -- his first since he netted the winner in a 1-0 victory over Everton on September 22 -- was a fitting reward for those who braved the elements on a wet and wild January night.

Barnsley had travelled across the Pennines more in hope than expectation, knowing their chance of pulling off an upset had all but disappeared when Craig Hignett stooped to head home his late equaliser in the original tie at Oakwell 10 days ago.

And, even though Souness gave them brief encouragement by making eight changes from the team which started against Charlton on Saturday, the men brought in as replacements still possessed too much class and know-how to avoid any slip-ups.

Grabbi put Rovers in the box seat with a classy opener before the impressive David Dunn then struck a major psychological blow by successfully converting a penalty in first half injury time -- amazingly, the team's first such award of the season.

It was then left to Nils-Eric Johansson to effectively seal Rovers' passage into round four with an expertly taken header four minutes after the break.

But, though Souness was delighted with the overall tempo and pattern of his side's play, he was disappointed at the way they took their foot off the pedal in the final half hour as Bruce Dyer was allowed to hand the visitors a lifeline.

"For an hour I thought we did a Hell of a lot right. We played some good football, dominated proceedings, and scored some good goals," said Souness.

"But when it went to 3-0, we then became a bit sloppy and wanted to start showing how good we were individually.

"That happens when you've got young players so the important thing is we learn from that.

"They know they let themselves down in the last half hour because they should have gone on and made it a real exhibition for our supporters."

With Damien Johnson back to partner Dunn in midfield, there was a vibrancy to Rovers' approach play in an entertaining first half.

And what about the contribution of evergreen striker Mark Hughes up front who gobbled up the ground like a hungry teenager?

This famous old competition has been kind to the 38-year-old down the years, so much so that he's the only man to have ever won four winners medals at Wembley.

Once again the scent of further FA Cup success, in possibly his last season, brought the best out of the Welsh warhorse as he led the line magnificently.

And his hold-up play in the final third gave Dunn and Co exactly the platform they needed as they tried to work little one-twos in and around the Barnsley box.

Rovers raced out of the blocks, forcing the visitors onto the back foot from the opening whistle.

Hughes forced a wonderful full-length save out of Kevin Miller with a rasping drive and then nearly caught the Barnsley keeper napping with a dipping 25-yard volley which flashed inches over.

In a rare Barnsley break, Alan Kelly had to plunge to his left to palm away a vicious volley from Mike Sheron.

But it was Grabbi who broke the deadlock with half an hour gone.

Hughes played a neat ball into Lucas Neill on the left as he burst into the box and from the Aussie's lay-off, Grabbi turned smartly before shooting past Miller from 12 yards.

Sheron then missed a golden chance to grab an equaliser when he fired wide and somehow Dyer escaped even a booking after appearing to land a jab on Johnson's chin.

It was Rovers who continued to dominate, though, and only a breakdown in communications between Grabbi and Craig Hignett prevented the Italian from bagging his second after more Hughes magic.

However, Dunn then virtually killed the tie as a contest when he scored from the spot in first half stoppage time after Chris Morgan had needlessly pushed Neill to the ground.

It was game-over within five minutes of the restart as Johansson rose to meet Craig Hignett's free kick with a brilliant header which flashed into the bottom corner on 49 minutes.

But as Rovers began to showboat, Dyer pulled one back in the 65th minute with a 25-yarder which took a deflection off Taylor.

It was to prove no more than a consolation on the night, however, as Rovers secured the 'reward' of a trip to Millwall in round four.

RESULT:

ROVERS...3

Scorers: Grabbi 30, Dunn 45, Johansson 49

BARNSLEY...1

Scorer: Dyer 65

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