FOOTBALL Live

Monday January 5, 2009 Finished

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Blyth Spartans

Blackburn Rovers

  • Villanueva 59’
  1. Solid Blackburn down brave Blyth

    Solid Blackburn down brave Blyth

    Premier League side Blackburn Rovers avoided an FA Cup third round shock as they won 1-0 at non-league side Blyth Spartans. More

  • Live Commentary

    Time:90'
    • Blyth Spartans
    • Blackburn Rovers
    • FT Blyth continue to press until the end but they run out of time. Blackburn move on to face Sunderland.
    • 90' Three more minutes for Blackburn to hang on for - and to be fair - they are having to do a bit of hanging on too.
    • 87' Ohhh and now Alex Gildea gets his head on a free kick but it goes over the bar. Good pressing from the hosts.
    • 85' OH THERE IS THE CHANCE FOR BLYTH - they have been waiting for that all match - superb ball from the left by Alex Gildea finds Andy Wright at the back post but he side-foots his volley just wide!
    • 84' Final change for Blackburn as Derbyshire goes off and Hodge comes on.
    • 83' Reay with a great strike from distance but Khizanishvili is there to block.
    • 82' Another chance for Blackburn to end the match but Khizanishvili heads over from six yards out when it looked easier to score.
    • 80' Roberts finds a bit of space for himself in the box but then blazes wide from a tight angle.
    • 78' The ball drops to Gildea on the edge of the box but he can't keep his shot down. Blyth at least getting into the Blackburn half now though.
    • 76' Mokoena has to make a late tackle to clear after it looked for a moment like Reay could be in.
    • 75' Great chance for Andrews to wrap it up from close range but he blazes over after a great run and check back from Judge.
    • 74' First booking of the night as Mokoena gives away a silly free kick on the left but again Blackburn defend it.
    • 72' Williams bounces a free kick into the box but Bunn gets down to save. Pretty poor free-kick that was a chance to put in a good delivery.
    • 71' Another change for Blyth as they look to get things going. Dalton off and on comes Andrew Wright.
    • 66' Blackburn defend a dangerous set-play from Blyth. You feel that might be the only way the hosts can score but Blackburn look pretty comfortable.
    • 64' Blyth make their first change with Simon Todd on for Alex White.
    • 61' Treacy with a dipping half volley from the edge of the area. It clips the crossbar and goes just over.
    • 60' Blackburn make two changes straight after the goal with the goalscorer Villanueva and Grella both going off with first team regulars Jason Roberts and Keith Andrews coming on.
    • 59' BLACKBURN HAVE THE LEAD - A gem of a free-kick from Carlos Villanueva with his left foot from outside of the box as curls it over the wall and into the corner of the net.
    • 57' Mokoena waits for Bunn to come and gather a ball before deciding he better clear as the home side enjoy their best little spell.
    • 56' Exciting moments as Blyth get a couple of balls in the box that Blackburn struggle to clear but Bunn is not called into a save.
    • 51' Villanueva twists and turns on the edge of the area and tries to curl a shot on target but it goes just wide.
    • 49' Blyth again doing ok in these opening stages of the second-half as Blackburn press without a cutting edge.
    • 46' And we are back underway - no changes at the break.
    • HT And there is the half-time whistle - Blyth are still alive in this tie - no goals at break.
    • 45' Great claim from Mark Bell after Treacy ran into the box before chipping a nice looking ball to the back post.
    • 43' Reay gets a sniff of a chance as the ball falls to him in the box but the experienced Khizanishvili is able to just shepherd him away.
    • 40' OFF THE LINE FROM PELL - another great corner whipped in. The ball drops to Grella who smashes a volley towards goal from close range - but Pell gets his head on it to clear. Blyth had about four players on the line.
    • 38' Back into a pattern of Blackburn having all the pressure without creating much.
    • 35' Alan Judge chips a great ball over the Blyth defence - Derbyshire makes a great run and looks set to volley home but he barely connects when the ball falls for him and Blackburn's best chance so far is wasted.
    • 34' A deflected shot falls for Matt Derbyshire - he tries a bicycle kick that goes off Andrew Leeson's head and into the net but Derbyshire came from an offside position. NO GOAL.
    • 33' Great corner whipped in by Treacy - like the ones Andy Hincliffe used to be famous for but Dale just gets his head on to clear it.
    • 30' So half-an-hour gone: Blackburn look the better side as you would expect but Blyth are slowly getting into the game.
    • 28' Blyth now have a corner after Olsson struggles to clear but Blackburn defend it. Treacy got a little knock when clearing but he seems to be ok.
    • 26' First half-chance for Blyth - Mokoena with a terrible clearance and Bunn had come off his line - but 18-year-old Ged Dalton made a mess of the chance as he screwed it well wide.
    • 24' Simpson storms into the box from the right but he crowded out. Blyth continuing to defend well under intense pressure.
    • 21' Little spell for Blyth in the Blackburn half - they had a free and a throw in a decent area but Blackburn defended with ease.
    • 19' Good run from Alan Judge - who is making his Blackburn debut tonight - but then a poor low shot lets him down.
    • 18' Blyth doing more defending - they manage to clear the danger after a Blackburn corner but it is all one way traffic at the moment.
    • 15' Another shot on target for Blackburn - again it was Treacy with a left foot effort but it was straight at Bell.
    • 14' Bell comes out well to gather a cross from Olsson. Blyth though are defending very deep and it is hard to see them hanging on like this for 90 minutes.
    • 12 Superb save now from Mark Bell. Good build up play from Blackburn saw Villanueva check the ball back to Treacy just inside the D and the young Irishman's low effort looked like it was heading for the bottom corner until Bell batted it away.
    • 11' BRILLIANT from Kenny Boyle as he gets in just ahead of Matt Derbyshire who just for a moment looked like he was going to tap home after a mis-hit effort from Villaneuva.
    • 9' Villanueva off to a lively start. The Chile international cut in from the right but again put his shot well wide. Blackburn, as you would expect, starting to get on top but they would really like an early goal to calm the nerves.
    • 7' Villanueva sees the keeper off his line and tries to lob him from just inside the Blyth half but that goes well over.
    • 6' Keith Tracey drags a shot well wide and Blyth are doing ok in these early stages. Blackburn on top but the home side are getting lots of tackles in.
    • 3' Blyth have to defend an early free but Richard Pell gets up well to head clear.
    • 1' And we are underway - Blackburn making 11 changes from last weekend so let us see how they cope.
    • - Great noise inside little Croft Park as the players come out.
    • - Blackburn: Bunn, Simpson, Mokoena, Khizanishvili, Olsson, Vogel, Grella, Treacy, Judge, Villanueva, Derbyshire. Subs: Brown, Andrews, Roberts, Hodge, Gunning, Doran, Haworth.
    • - Team News: Blyth Spartans: Mark Bell, Boyle, Pell, Leeson, White, Reay, McCabe, Williams, Gildea, Dale, Dalton. Subs: Farman, Brown, Hume, Poole, Todd, Wright, Watson.
    • - Welcome Cup fans to this third round tie between non-league Blyth Spartans v Blackburn. Do you smell an upset? Well, me neither but you never know! This is the FA Cup after all.

  • Summary

    • 87' Ohhh and now Alex Gildea gets his head on a free kick but it goes over the bar. Good pressing from the hosts.
    • 85' OH THERE IS THE CHANCE FOR BLYTH - they have been waiting for that all match - superb ball from the left by Alex Gildea finds Andy Wright at the back post but he side-foots his volley just wide!
    • 82' Another chance for Blackburn to end the match but Khizanishvili heads over from six yards out when it looked easier to score.
    • 75' Great chance for Andrews to wrap it up from close range but he blazes over after a great run and check back from Judge.
    • 61' Treacy with a dipping half volley from the edge of the area. It clips the crossbar and goes just over.
    • 59' BLACKBURN HAVE THE LEAD - A gem of a free-kick from Carlos Villanueva with his left foot from outside of the box as curls it over the wall and into the corner of the net.
    • 51' Villanueva twists and turns on the edge of the area and tries to curl a shot on target but it goes just wide.
    • 40' OFF THE LINE FROM PELL - another great corner whipped in. The ball drops to Grella who smashes a volley towards goal from close range - but Pell gets his head on it to clear. Blyth had about four players on the line.
    • 35' Alan Judge chips a great ball over the Blyth defence - Derbyshire makes a great run and looks set to volley home but he barely connects when the ball falls for him and Blackburn's best chance so far is wasted.
    • 34' A deflected shot falls for Matt Derbyshire - he tries a bicycle kick that goes off Andrew Leeson's head and into the net but Derbyshire came from an offside position. NO GOAL.
    • 12 Superb save now from Mark Bell. Good build up play from Blackburn saw Villanueva check the ball back to Treacy just inside the D and the young Irishman's low effort looked like it was heading for the bottom corner until Bell batted it away.
    • 11' BRILLIANT from Kenny Boyle as he gets in just ahead of Matt Derbyshire who just for a moment looked like he was going to tap home after a mis-hit effort from Villaneuva.

Live Team Line-Up

  • Referee: Andre Marriner

  • Blyth Spartans

    Manager: Harry Dunn

    Starting line-up

    • M. Bell
    • K. Boyle
    • R. Pell
    • A. Leeson
    • A. White Substitution Out (64′)
    • G. Williams
    • S. Reay
    • C. McCabe
    • -. Gildea
    • R. Dale
    • G. Dalton Substitution Out (71′)

    Subs

    • P. Watson
    • A. Wright Substitution In71′
    • J. Poole
    • A. Hume
    • P. Farman
    • G. Brown
    • S. Todd Substitution In64′

    Injured

    None

    Suspended

    None

  • Blackburn Rovers

    Manager: Sam Allardyce

    Starting line-up

    • M. Bunn
    • D. Simpson
    • A. Mokoena Yellow Card
    • Z. Khizanishvili
    • M. Olsson
    • J. Vogel
    • V. Grella Substitution Out (60′)
    • K. Treacy
    • A. Judge
    • C. Villanueva Goal Substitution Out (60′)
    • M. Derbyshire Substitution Out (84′)

    Subs

    • J. Roberts Substitution In60′
    • K. Andrews Substitution In60′
    • J. Brown
    • B. Hodge Substitution In84′
    • A. Haworth
    • G. Gunning
    • D. Aaron

    Injured

    • R. Santa Cruz
    • D. Dunn

    Suspended

    • A. Ooijer
    • R. Nelsen