Rovers were on a hiding to nothing for the final hour, Fulham already two goals to the good when they gained a man advantage following a moment of madness from Jan Paul van Hecke.

That hiding ended up being by an embarrassing SEVEN goals, a huge gulf between the sides as the game became a glorified training session by the end.

This was only short of their record league defeat, scores of 8-0 against Arsenal and Lincoln City in 1933 and 1953 respectively.

A crowd of only 9,326 watched on as Fulham flexed their parachute payment muscle, Rovers finishing the game with six Academy graduates and a shell of a side who were picked apart at will.

The game should have been a chance for Rovers, on the back of successive wins and having lost just once in 10 Ewood matches, to test themselves against high-flying, and free-scoring, Fulham. Even with 11 men however, they were well off the pace, gifting soft goals through a series of errors before losing van Hecke after a rush of blood to the head.

The second half was a mess as they were picked apart at will, Fulham adding four more to their tally, and it could easily have been more.

Whatever the context, being beaten by seven goals at home, the first time ever in the club's history, is unexcusable.

Rovers appeared caught between pushing high up the pitch and trying to force the issue, or sitting off, in the closing stages having gone with another midfield option as Ryan Nyambe replaced the injured Sam Gallagher allowing John Buckley to move forward from right back to accommodate the Namibian’s return.

Yet there was a nervousness on the ball, a string of misplaced passes that they could ill-afford against a free-scoring Fulham side. And they felt the visitors’ full force inside the opening quarter, giving them a helping hand along the way.

Only six minutes were on the watch when Joe Rothwell was punished first for giving the ball away, and then not stopping Bobby Decordova-Reid in his tracks as he cut the ball back from the byline for Neeskens Kebano who got inbetween Ryan Nyambe and Bradley Johnson to fire home.

Aleksandar Mitrovic had shown his confidence, coming into the game on the back of eight goals in his last four games, by trying to catch Thomas Kaminski off his line from inside his own half.

While that didn’t trouble the Belgian, the striker scored his 19th of the season from much closer in. Mitrovic was too strong for Nyambe at the near post to meet a left wing corner and divert the ball beyond Kaminski.

Rovers, so used to a 2-0 lead themselves, had to launch a fightback of their own, and there were moments, Tyrhys Dolan showing neat footwork before shooting straight at Marek Rodak, the Fulham keeper then watching a Ben Brereton shot wide of his near post.

Any hopes of a possible comeback were over by the half hour mark when a rush of blood to the head from Jan Paul van Hecke saw him fly into a needless challenge on halfway, pole-axing Harry Wilson and earning him a straight red card. He could have no complaints and it left his team-mates with an unenviable task.

Gaps were opening up with regularity, Fulham exploiting their man advantage, with the sting all but disappeared from the match.

Kaminski made two smart saves before the break, first keeping out former Rovers loanee Harrison Reed whose shot from a Wilson cut-back looked destined for the top corner before Kaminski’s intervention.

He then denied Mitrovic, this a more straightforward save, from a shot from the edge of the box as Rovers were caught short of numbers at the back.

The second half was never likely to be much more than an exercise in trying to keep down the score.

Kaminski would have a big part to play in that, and six minutes after the re-start he kept the score to just two, getting his body in the way of a Decordova-Reid shot after he was played clean through by Mitrovic.

Poor finishing kept the score at 2-0, Antonee Robinson forward from left back to collect a Kebano pass, but the visitors didn’t have to wait long for their third to arrive.

Wilson had acres of space on the right, and shown down the outside by Tayo Edun, he did just that before rolling the ball under the legs of Kaminski. No sooner had Wilson got his first, and Fulham’s third, he added their fourth. Again found in acres of space, he had the time to pick his spot, and find the corner.

This was all by the hour mark, Rovers then handing run-outs to Dan Butterworth and Joe Rankin-Costello, who at the least would benefit from the minutes.

Fulham then brought off main man Mitrovic. A sign that they were happy with their night’s work you hoped.

Yet that proved wrong, Kebano getting his second of the night as his shot deflected beyond Kaminski, before substitute Rodrigo Muniz turned home a right wing cross as things got really embarrassing.

Muniz added a final nail to the coffin, his header from a left wing cross making it seven.

Those who stayed until the final whistle did only to vent their anger at the manner of the performance on a night that will live long in the memory for all the wrong reasons.