THE BBC North West Footballer of the Year is set to be unveiled at a glitzy awards night at the Reebok Stadium tonight and if the judges have any sense then there can only be one winner.

In terms of individual brilliance and sheer consistency, Brad Friedel simply has no equal in terms of his contribution during the last 12 months.

It was his man-of-the-match heroics at Cardiff back in February which ensured Blackburn Rovers became the only football team in the North West to win a major domestic trophy last season.

Then at the World Cup this summer, some breathtaking performances between the posts carried the United States all the way to the quarter-finals of the greatest tournament on earth.

But if the judges need any further convincing then a quick glance at the highlights of this contest should settle any arguments once and for all.

For the umpteenth time this season, Friedel was the difference between success and failure after Rovers turned in yet another unconvincing home performance.

And what made his latest feat all the more incredible was the fact he'd undergone minor knee surgery just 13 days previously.

When Gordon Strachan recently remarked that Friedel 'must have got changed in a telephone box' following his stunning performance at Southampton it was meant to be a joke.

But I'm starting to think there might be something in his Superman theory because only Kryptonite looks capable of stopping him right now.

After going seven games without a win, you could sense the anxiety around Ewood.

But it was the man in the gloves rather than the one in the mask who turned out to be his side's superhero.

It was vital that Rovers stopped the rot before it got chance to spread as it did at this point 12 months ago.

And the reason they did was largely down to Friedel -- with a little help from Rufus Brevett!

Dwight Yorke's fourth goal of the season did much to lift the tension in what was an otherwise uninspiring first half.

But Rovers then made every effort to press the self-destruct button after the break as Fulham repeatedly picked holes in a flimsy defence.

Inevitably, their pressure finally told in the 61st minute when Steve Marlet steered home a deserved equaliser.

However, as the jitters set in, Friedel then came into his own and the big American pulled off a string of top saves with the coup de grace being a penalty stop from Marlet.

That was his fourth such save from the last five penalties faced.

But this was arguably the most crucial of the lot.

So what's his secret?

"You watch what the shooter's going to do," explained Friedel. "How he lines up. What his run-up's like? Things of that nature.

"Sometimes they'll do something which leads me to think they'll go to a particular side. But I don't pre-set myself."

Friedel's heroics did much to disguise Rovers inadequacies on a day when their flimsy defence was frequently exposed.

I lost count of the times they played themselves into trouble with a misplaced pass or an unnecessary dribble.

And if Marlet had brought his shooting boots, then the home side would have been dead and buried long before the hapless Brevett diverted the ball into his own net in the 78th minute.

As it was, they kept plugging away and got the points through sheer perseverance in the end.

The first half was something of a slow-burner but when the opening goal arrived in the 35th minute it was well worth the wait.

David Dunn released Damien Duff with a defence-splitting pass and his first-time cross was swept home by a gleeful Yorke for his first league goal on home soil.

The visitors deservedly equalised in the 61st minute when Marlet finished cooly with a low shot after Luis Boa Morte had flicked on Junichi Inamoto's through ball.

However, the real turning point came seven minutes later when Craig Short practically assaulted Boa Morte in the box.

It was a red-card offence which went unpunished and just to rub salt into the wounds, Friedel then magnificently clawed away Marlet's spot-kick with a dive to his left.

That gave the home side new belief and they regained the lead with 12 minutes remaining in calamitous circumstances.

Dunn carved open the defence again for Duff to cross and, though Edwin Van Der Sar blocked Yorke's acrobatic scissor kick, he only succeeded in pushing it against Brevett who deflected it into the net.

Even then, Fulham could have hit back but Friedel denied Marlet with two stunning goal-line blocks as Rovers hung on for their first league win in five outings.

ROVERS 2

Yorke 35, Brevett (og) 78

FULHAM 1

Marlet 61