Daylight robbery

According to eye-witness reports, the SAS-style raid took place at around 4.46pm on Saturday just as Gordon Strachan and his staff were ready to pack up for the day.

The gang -- made up of 11 men dressed in blue and white -- are believed to have headed north in their getaway vehicle, possibly a coach.

Police, together with the Southampton defence, have issued descriptions of the suspects and they are particularly keen to speak to two men about their movements on the afternoon in question.

The first is described as a midfield genius, small in stature but deadly in aim, who spoke with a Turkish accent and shoots on sight.

The second, who arrived on the scene sometime after the rest, is believed to be a cheeky scouser blessed with a uncanny knack of arriving in the right place at the right time.

Anyone with any information is asked to contact Southampton police immediately...

The above account may sound fanciful but don't be surprised if you see footage of this victory over the Saints featured on Crimewatch next month.

For there's daylight robbery, and then there's what Rovers got away with by the Solent!

Southampton -- still searching for their first victory in their new home -- had made all the running in an uninspiring contest.

But within seconds of nearly conjuring up a dramatic winner of their own, Craig Hignett then penned the most dramatic ending possible to leave Strachan and Co scratching their heads in disbelief.

Ewood chief Graeme Souness, however, showed no signs of remorse afterwards and why should he?

Twice already this season, Rovers have found themselves victims of similar injustices at Pride Park and the Stadium of Light.

So this was pay-back time for those fruitless trips as they chalked up their first away win of the season with arguably their poorest away performance to date.

"We have to be honest and say we were lucky," confessed Souness, when pricked by his conscience.

"Southampton put us under a great deal of pressure and played very well, I felt.

"We never got going in the first half although we got slightly better after the break.

"But we've gone to Sunderland and Derby this year and enjoyed no luck -- they were two games we should have won we feel.

"Here, however, we rode our luck. We didn't play well but we worked hard, held our nerve when the going got tough, and Brad made some good saves which enabled us to the nick the points.

"It's hard on them but that's life at the top. It was just our day."

As far as smash and grab raids go, this was executed to perfection.

Historically, Rovers have never travelled well to Southampton, winning just once on their previous 18 visits, back in December 1938.

Of all those meetings, the Saints had also scored at least once in every one of them.

So when Marian Pahars, the man dubbed the Latvian 'Michael Owen,' clinically fired them into a first half lead, the omens once again looked bad.

Thankfully, however, Tugay thought differently and smashed home a brilliant equaliser just seconds before the break.

Then, with impeccable timing, Rovers' answer to Ole Gunar Solskjaer grabbed the swag with virtually the very last kick to leave Saints fans shattered.

"We got three points and that's very encouraging when you can come away and win without being anywhere near your best," mused Souness.

How Strachan must wish he could say the same but, when you are down at the bottom, football has a nasty habit of kicking you in the teeth.

Since quitting the Dell in the summer, the Saints have yet to christen their plush new home with a Premiership win in five attempts.

And unless the flame-haired Scot can make some home improvements soon, the south coast club could be heading for the First Division abyss.

There was little wrong with their approach play in a spirited and sometimes enterprising performance in which the bald head of Chris Marsden shone out in particular.

But they came up against an inspired Brad Friedel, who rescued his defence on numerous occasions with a series of top-drawer saves.

Rovers, in contrast, appeared to be suffering a hangover from last Monday's bore-draw against Leicester and never imposed themselves in the engine room.

Often guilty of giving the ball away cheaply, the visitors spent most of the first half on the back foot with Marsden and Matthew Oakley given too much time and space in midfield.

And that gave Ewood old-boy James Beattie the platform to cause havoc upfront with his ability in the air.

Marsden sent a message of intent with a 10th minute header which skidded wide before he was denied again by a brilliant block from Friedel.

And the big American then eclipsed that with a spectacular tip-over to keep out a volley from Pahars after the dangerous Beattie had ripped past two defenders on the right.

It was only a matter of time before the Saints scored and the opener duly arrived in the 36th minute.

Beattie, inevitably, towered above Nils Johansson to flick a Paul Jones clearance into the path of Pahars who strode purposefully into the box before thumping a shot past Friedel which flicked off the leg of Henning Berg.

However, Rovers' response was as devastating as it was spectacular.

David Dunn and Garry Flitcroft traded passes in an intricate move before the former fed Tugay 25 yards.

In one brief, brilliant blur the ball then whistled past Jones before exploding into his top right-hand corner.

Unfortunately, that failed to inspire either side in a sterile second half.

Rovers improved but it was Southampton who carved out the lion's share of the clear-cut chances.

With eight minutes left, Pahars sprung the offside trap and latched onto a Beattie header only to see his point-blank shot expertly saved by Friedel.

Then when Beattie did find a way past the former Liverpool keeper, his header from Paul Telfer's free-kick cannoned back off the post in the 88th minute.

By now Strachan looked fit to explode, having spent the afternoon frantically pacing about the technical area like a clockwork mouse.

But he was powerless to prevent his side shipping a winner a minute into injury time.

Marcus Bent cleverly delayed his pass before picking out the run of fellow substitute Hignett who tamed the ball with his first touch before deftly flicking the cutest of chips beyond Jones with his second.

It was the ultimate sucker punch.

SOUTHAMPTON 1 ROVERS 2

Pahars 36 Tugay 45, Hignett 90

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