Why did Rovers go three up in the closing minutes of their (truly excellent) game at the City of Manchester stadium against Manchester City on Saturday?

There are two explanations.

The first is that young Matt Derbyshire spotted a wonderfully opportunistic chance, slipped Stephen Jordan, then beat goalkeeper Nicky Weaver to round off a thoroughly enjoyable afternoon.

The other explanation is more convoluted and complicated, but equally true - up to a point.

In front of me in the away end were two very respectable ladies - lifelong supporters they told me - who first got into conversation with me because they gently complained that I had not written about Rovers recently in this column.

Then, rather sheepishly, one of the ladies made the following confession -just after Morten Gamst Pedersen had scored his brilliant second goal.

"Mr Straw" she said, "I'd like us to win by an even greater margin, but I've this problem.

"I've got some money on a 2-1 win. If we get another goal, I've no chance of collecting". I asked her what her stake had been - £2.

I had to leave a bit early. As I got up I was pondering this lady's profound moral dilemma - and then resolved it.

I gave her £2 to cover her stake, and told her a third goal would make her feel far better than a win at the bookies.

Hey presto! Derbyshire scores. There is someone watching up there after all.

This story is true, though its connection with that third goal is limited.

But it goes to show how involved we all become in the fortunes of the club.

We can't score goals - though players will tell you that the atmosphere and commitment of the fans does make a real difference.

We'd do even better if more were willing to swap their armchair support for the far better experience of the Ewood stadium.

The person who is making a big difference to Rovers is manager Mark Hughes. We are very lucky that he came to Ewood Park, and stayed.

He played for the club only at the end of his career to help dig us out of the Championship. His home is not in the area.

But he's put his heart and soul into getting the best out of a squad which cannot compete financially with Arsenal Manchester United and Chelsea.

On top of that is his own exceptional commitment to the town and the whole of East Lancashire.

"Fridays are busy days for football managers," said Mr Hughes last Friday.

It's an obvious point; of all the days in the week you'd think that the last one that a manager could manage to get away from the training ground would be a Friday.

But he did - as I've often seen him do - perform a civic duty, in this case opening the new Hancock Street Children's Centre in the Griffin area of the town.

He made the day for many supporters, from very young to much older, and made some key points in his remarks about the importance of the new centre.

Mr Hughes was an exceptional player - for Manchester United, Chelsea and other clubs. I'm really grateful he is now with us.

And if his record carries on, those ladies in front can hedge their bets a little less.