MAKE no mistake this late, great and sweetest of victories was a triumph of team spirit.

But if one man epitomised the resilience that beats hard at the heart of the tightly knit squad Gary Bowyer has virtually built from scratch then it was the recalled Jordan Rhodes.

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With his Rovers goalscoring record now standing at a remarkable 60 in 114 appearances, after his match-winning double here, you cannot imagine the prolific striker has had to endure too may sleepless nights since his arrival at the club.

But Rhodes, a thoughtful individual, admitted recently that his penalty miss in the 0-0 draw against his former club Huddersfield last month had been keeping him awake.

It is safe to say, then, he went out like a light on Saturday after he banished that memory in the most dramatic and thrilling of fashions.

There were three minutes of normal time remaining when the pulsating 92nd meeting of the Roses rivals took one final, decisive twist.

Substitute Luke Varney, the Leeds old boy booed mercilessly by the 6,900 travelling fans after his game-changing arrival for the out-of-sorts Rudy Gestede, darted into the box and went down under a challenge from Sam Byram.

Referee Kevin Wright, who had reduced Rovers to 10 men five minutes earlier by showing Tom Cairney his second yellow card, pointed to the spot.

As the Whites players protested nearly 60 seconds passed before Wright finally sounded his whistle to signal that Rhodes could take the penalty.

Long enough, certainly, for what happened against Huddersfield, at the same end of the ground, to come flashing back through his mind.

Lesser players may have crumbled.

But not Rhodes as he sent Marco Silvestri the wrong way from the spot to unleash a roar so loud that it threatened to take the roof right off Ewood Park.

As moments go it will take some beating.

Much like, of course, this Rovers team.

Of the 30 points they have accrued so far this season – 10 better than this stage 12 months ago – 23 have come from losing and drawing positions at the break.

Without a defeat since September 30, a run of eight games, the comeback kings simply do not know when they are beaten.

Rovers boss Bowyer credited this latest second-half revival as being a direct result of a team-bonding day during the international break.

“We went to a company called Challenge for Change in Trafford Park in Manchester and they took the players out of their comfort zones,” said Bowyer.

“It was based on character, communication and working together and I think all that came to the fore in the last five minutes of injury-time.

“They were all helping each other and that’s what the day was all about.”

From the excellent Jason Stele between the posts to two-goal hero Rhodes up front, with the immense Grant Hanley and the magnificent Corry Evans in between, Rovers were the true definition of a team.

Did they play brilliantly? No. Was luck on their side? Arguably, yes.

But do you think the 14,500 home fans in the biggest Ewood crowd of the campaign cared? Not a jot.

And it has to be said it was their side who did most of the attacking from first minute until last.

Their final ball, however, was lacking, and, after Cairney sent a left-footed curler on to the bar and Ben Marshall brought a save out of Silvestri, Leeds went in front in the 33rd minute with a goal Rovers will be disappointed with.

Moments earlier Jason Steele had made a stunning stop to deny Brazilian midfielder Adryan from 25 yards.

But there was little the ever-improving goalkeeper could do to prevent Souleymane Doukara from turning the ball home after Adryan’s corner had hit Rhodes on the chest and fell to him.

Rovers, initially, struggled to respond.

But inspired by the impassioned support and revived by Bowyer’s perfectly timed substitutions, they started to raise their intensity levels and Silvestri had to turn a well-struck effort from Rhodes around the post.

The Italian keeper had changed his kit at half-time as it appeared to clash with his team’s black outfield strip.

But in the 71st minute Silvestri failed to see his centre-back Liam Cooper coming, the pair comically colliding to allow Rhodes to walk the ball into the empty net.

Steele showed his opposite number how to do it when he made a crucial save from Mirco Antenucci in the 79th minute, turning the striker’s shot on to the post after he bore down on goal.

Three minutes later and Cairney, up against his boyhood club, was given his marching orders for a foul on Cooper that earned him a second caution.

At that stage if you were going to pick a winner then it would have been Leeds, backed by the largest away following in the Championship so far this season.

But for the second year running the Whites fans who had taken over the Darwen End made the trip back across the Pennines with their tails between firmly between their legs.

Thanks to the mental strength shown by Rhodes and shared by his team-mates.