Fredrikstad 2 Blackburn Rovers 8 - Peter White reports

TEN goals, three penalties, two red cards...the only thing missing was a partridge in a pear tree as Blackburn Rovers rounded off their Scandinavian tour with a sensational late scoring spree at the windswept Fredrikstad Stadium last night.

Six of Rovers' goals came in the last 21 minutes as they rang the changes and their strength, superior fitness and technique finally forced a Fredrikstad cave-in of stunning proportions.

And the display of ruthlessness in attack, even in the closing minutes when Fredrikstad had been reduced to nine men, was welcome.

Second half sub keeper Per Kristiansen has been doing some training with Rovers but he still seemed startled by the savageness of the late assualt.

There were some great goals too - Callum Davidson's cracker, thumped high into the net from distance with the power of a rocket-launcher perhaps the pick.

But there was also much to admire about the passing and movement which set up Matt Jansen for his goal and Jimmy Corbett produced a delightful left-foot chip for another.

Rovers might also have found a new penalty taker in Lee Carsley, though they had to go down a familiar road of missing one first when Jansen's shot was saved.

Substitute Carsley stuck the next two spot kicks away in clinical fashion. It was just a shame that two unnecessary second-half dismissals for the Norwegians ruined the game as a spectacle and made the result a formality, after they had surprised everyone by taking a shock lead.

But, to be fair, Rovers had established a grip and a 2-1 lead by the time Fredrikstad's first man got his marching orders in the 62nd minute.

And it was already 5-1 to Brian Kidd's boys when the second home player was sent off for conceding their THIRD penalty in the 80th minute!

You could not have asked for any more from Rovers as an attacking force, once they had settled down in the blustery wind and on a slippery pitch.

Though it took them some time before they started producing some real quality to go with their dominance of possession.

More than half the side which started were aged 21 or under, though Kidd decided to use Corbett as a sub rather than from the start.

And Leam Richardson's hopes had to take second place behind the chance to give Jeff Kenna just over half an hour as a sub.

Fredrikstad, understandably, adopted a smothering 4-5-1 line-up and, for half an hour or so, it must have worked better than they dared hope with a ninth minute breakaway lead.

Lone frontrunner Lars Petter Hansen raced through, looking clearly offside, Alan Fettis slipped and then just failed to keep the shot out. Rovers were careless at times, conceding possession easily in the final third of the pitch, but they finally came good in style.

Damien Johnson got the equaliser in the 36th minute after good work by David Dunn in the penalty area and a far post cross from Gary Croft. Johnson bravely threw himself at the ball to bundle it over the line.

Rovers then stepped up a gear and, six minutes later, ripped Fredrikstad apart with a lovely passing move involving several players.

It ended with Damien Duff pullling the ball back perfectly for Jansen to strike the second.

A minute later, another glorious move saw Kevin Gallacher cleverly 'dummy' David McNamee's pass. Dunn ran on to it, shrugged aside a challenge but hit the woodwork.

It was a portent of things to come.

A spate of substitutions, and a switch to 4-3-3, saw Rovers driving forward after the break and the floodgates should have opened when defender Jon Forsberg 'saved' a goalbound Jansen shot.

He was sent off but Jansen's shot was blocked by the keeper who also stopped the follow-up from tireless Jason Wilcox.

Carsley was now calling the shots in midfield and the landslide really did begin on 69 minutes.

Great work on the right by Gallacher produced a long cross and Davidson, steaming forward on the left, smashed in a blockbuster, first time from outside the penalty area. At 3-1 against 10 men, it really was all over but there were plenty of fireworks to come in the final 15 minutes.

Christian Dailly, getting another full game, crossed into the box, Kevin Davies challenged and Jansen turned it back perfectly for Johnson (75 mins) to drive home the fourth.

Three minutes later, Corbett was fouled and Carsley smashed home the penalty. Within two minutes, he had another chance and scored easily again from the spot with defender Hjalmar Johansen getting a red card for taking out Jansen in front of goal.

Surely only FIFA would have demanded two red cards in a friendly and I doubt they were watching. The penalties would have been sufficient punishment.

On 83 minutes, Corbett's delightful chip from a Wilcox pass made it 7-1 and, a minute later, Kenna's cross came off a defender for Davies to whack in the eighth.

The one blemish came three minutes from time when the hard-working Hansen broke again to score his and Fredrikstad's second - fair reward for his perseverance.

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