Blackburn Rovers Youth 3 Derby County Youth 1: Teenage striker Jamie Clarke fired Blackburn Rovers into the fifth round of the FA Youth Cup last night.

The 17-year-old forward struck twice in the space of a minute early in the second half as Rovers overpowered the Rams at a rain-soaked Ewood Park.

But Gary Bowyer's side were made to work hard for their victory by determined opponents who mounted a spirited fight-back in the final 20 minutes.

Rovers now face a home tie against Brighton and Hove Albion, the surprise conquerors of Chelsea, in the last 16.

Both sides struggled to master the slippery conditions in a first half that was short on clear-cut scoring chances.

Home striker Joe Garner might have done better with an early header that flew wide of the post, and a free kick from Bryan Hodge sailed narrowly over the crossbar.

County keeper, Steven Cann, then came to his side's rescue shortly before the interval, brilliantly saving Ryan Woods' free kick before recovering to block Garner's follow-up.

In contrast, Derby made little headway going forward, their best chance of the half falling to Miles Addison, but the athletic defender failed to get enough purchase on Mitchell Booth's header to steer it past keeper Frank Fielding.

Rovers moved up a gear after the break and they finally broke the deadlock in the 53rd minute.

A flowing move involving Alan Judge, Jonathan Bateson and Kevin Pezzoni ended with Jamie Clarke picking up possession on the edge of the box and the live-wire striker then outwitted a defender before drilling a low shot inside Cann's right-hand post.

Sixty seconds later, Clarke then scored his - and Rovers' - second when his shot from 16 yards squirmed through Cann's grasp and crept inside the same post.

Derby looked down and out at that point, but Terry Westley's men refused to go quietly and Giles Barnes gave them a glimmer of hope when he beat Fielding with a brilliant 25-yard half volley in the 69th minute.

The visitors pushed for an equaliser in a tense finale but, despite some late pressure, they failed to force the tie into extra time.

Rovers' coach, Gary Bowyer, said: "We had to dig deep because we didn't play particularly well in the first half, but we spoke at half-time about getting the ball down and making passes and the lads responded in the second half.

"I'm very pleased to get through in the circumstances because the conditions made it difficult for both sides."

Rovers (4-4-2): Fielding, Bateson, Winnard, Hodge, Thomson, Nolan, Judge, Pezzoni, Clarke, Garner, Woods. Subs (not used): De Vita, Somodi, O'Keefe, Dadson, Ahmed.

Derby (4-4-2): Cann, Hanson, Meredith, Cumberworth, Addison, Young, Ashton, Booth, Ainsworth, Barnes, Richards. Subs: Simmons (for Ainsworth, 61), Streete (for Cumberworth, 78) Not used: Atkins, Beardsley, Arnold

Attendance: 613