ROVERS 3

(Nuttall, 64) (Graham, 70) (Antonsson, 81)

BARNET 1

(Akinola, 33)

THREE second half goals helped Rovers avoid an FA Cup shock at the hands of League Two Barnet as they moved in to round two.

That seemed like a long way off at half-time as Rovers trailed to the Bees were booed off by the home fans after a desperately poor showing.

The introduction of Joe Nuttall at half-time however sparked Rovers in to life, with the 20-year-old scoring his second goal of the week to draw Rovers level just after the hour mark.

Danny Graham put them ahead with 20 minutes to play before another substitute, Marcus Antonsson, made the game with nine minutes to play with a neat finish.

Rovers made six changes for the game, which included a debut for goalkeeper Jayson Leutwiler.  Paul Caddis, Sam Hart, Rekeem Harper, Corry Evans and Ben Gladwin were the others to come in to the side as Tony Mowbray switched to a 3-4-2-1 formation.

Three of those changes linked up in the seventh minute which almost brought Rovers the opening goal.  Good play from Caddis allowed Gladwin to whip in a dangerous ball which somehow Hart wasn’t able to turn in at the far post.

Bradley Dack, with four goals in his previous seven starts, went in search of the opener moments later as his wicked left-foot shot flashed just wide of the post.

They were seeing plenty of the ball, with Barnet happy to sit off and pack their defensive lines.  But Rovers were to puncture those lines with their best move of the half in the 14th minute.  Paul Downing slipped the ball in to Evans who quickly sent Graham clear, only for Barnet ‘keeper Craig Ross to deny his left-foot strike with his legs.

Rovers weren’t always as assured in possession though, with several misplaced passes bringing groans from a sparse Ewood Park crowd.

And Graham’s effort was about as good as it got for Rovers in the first half as Barnet began to feel more comfortable as they reached the half hour mark without too many alarms.

They began to commit more men in to the attack and pressure on the ball higher up the pitch brought with it the opening goal on 33 minutes. Dack’s backpass towards Charlie Mulgrew was intercepted allowing Jack Taylor to break clear before squaring for Simeon Akinola who had the easy job of rolling the ball in to the empty net.

Gladwin went close to levelling almost immediately, as his run and shot drew a fine save from Ross, but the visitors were to end the first half in control.

Knocking the ball about with confidence they were making Rovers chase shadows with their causes aided by plenty of loose passes from the hosts.

One-paced and lethargic, Rovers weren’t offering much of a response, though Evans did go close to a leveller moments before the break when his shot was deflected wide after Mulgrew’s free-kick fell to him at the edge of the box.

To shake things up, Mowbray reverted to a back four for the second half, with Derrick Williams switching to left-back as Joe Nuttall came on for Sam Hart.

And within the opening two minutes of the second half they created more opportunities than they did in the whole of the first.

Three successive Dack corners saw Rovers almost level, the first two seeing Mulgrew denied, before the third saw Williams’ flick on somehow not turned home by a combination of Graham, Downing and Gladwin.

The pressure was starting to build as Rovers played forward more, and a good move in the 54th minute ended with Nuttall volleying over a Gladwin cross.

But just as he did against Fleetwood in midweek, Nuttall came up with the goods to haul Rovers level. Good work initially by Evans and Dack presented Nuttall with the chance which he gratefully accepted, turning the ball home on his left foot from inside the six yard box.

Moments later he was on the hunt for a second, narrowly firing wide as he met a Dack corner on the stretch.

His thirst for goals showed no sign of abating, pouncing on a loose backpass to knock the ball beyond the advancing goalkeeper, only for Charlie Clough to get back to clear.

His influence was rubbing off, as with 20 minutes to go Rovers took the lead for the first time. Danny Graham made a neat run in to the right channel before firing in to the roof of the net passed the helpless Ross.

Barnet were far from finished though, continuing to move the ball about the pitch, but their resistance was finally broken with nine minutes to play.

Charlie Mulgrew’s long ball forward was misjudged by David Tutonda, presenting the chance for substitute Marcus Antonsson to break forward.  Cutting in from the right the Swede fired a lovely left-foot shot out of the reach of Ross for his fourth of the season.

From there, Rovers were able to see the game out, but not after being given a big scare by the League Two strugglers.