ROVERS YOUTH 3 BLACKPOOL YOUTH 1

BLACKBURN Rovers went through to the second round of the FA Youth Cup at Ewood last night but struggled after a controversial penalty handed Blackpool a way back into the game.

It was appropriate that Rovers' talented attacking trio of James Thomas, Damien Duff and Damien Johnson should share the goals between them, but they had to wait until the last minute before the third enabled them to breathe more easily.

Rovers should have won more comfortably but a clinical Thomas header, from a Johnson cross in the 15th minute, was all they had to show for a first half when they were clearly the better side. Five minutes after the break, Duff scored an opportunist second but Blackpool, closing players down and pressing strongly, forced their way back into the game.

One of a number of poor decisions allowed Gary Hall (56 minutes) to halve the deficit from the penalty spot after a Mark Benson tackle and their main tactic of using long throws into the box caused problems.

Rovers were disappointing in midfield and couldn't have complained if Blackpool had equalised. Instead, the excellent Thomas and Duff combined to create an easy third for Johnson.

ROVERS: Stewart, Benson, Taylor, Brown, Brewer, Trudgill, Staton, Watkins, Johnson, Thomas, Duff. Subs: Featherstone, Owler, Bingham.

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