ROVERS youth coach Rob Kelly today saluted his Academy heroes after they booked a place in the final of the FA Youth Cup last night following a dramatic penalty shootout victory over Liverpool at Ewood.

Kelly's young guns fought back from a nightmare start to force their semi-final second leg into extra time after hot-shot striker Jonathan Walters had levelled the scores at 1-1 and 2-2 on aggregate.

Then Cumbrian-born keeper Ryan Robinson became the hero with two penalty saves as Rovers won a nailbiting shoot-out 4-3 to set up a mouthwatering meeting with Arsenal in a two-legged final.

That result capped a brilliant evening for the club after a crowd of 13,000 had seen Graeme Souness's promotion heroes presented with their Division One runners-up medals prior to kick off.

In a fitting tribute to the late Jack Walker, Mr Walker's sons -- Ross and Howard -- were among the presentation party who had out the silverware to Souness and his charges.

And Kelly was delighted with the way his own players then passed a huge test of nerve to ensure the promotion party finished with a bang.

"We've shown character throughout this run and we did it again last night," said Kelly.

"We went behind at Coventry, we were behind at Anfield and we went behind last night.

"But we've shown the spirit to dig out a result on each occasion and I was really proud of them.

"Obviously, the most important thing was the promotion celebrations but for us to go through was the icing on the cake.

"We could have been 2-0 down inside the opening five minutes but Liverpool are a good side, let's not forget that.

"Their first team will be playing in the Champions League next season so they're no mugs.

"But our kids have done themselves, their families and the club proud.

"They've never played in front of a crowd like that before and it took them 15 to 20 minutes to settle down.

"But, once they did that, they did okay."

Neil Danns, Jon Walters, Alan Morgan and Michael Cole all successfully converted their spot-kicks for Rovers whilst Robinson saved from both Neil Mellor and John Welsh.

But Kelly insisted their penalty success was all a result of careful preparation.

"We're well aware that games, particularly at this level, are always going to be tight so we always practice penalties," said Kelly.

"Obviously, it's different practising them down at the Academy with no-one watching but we try and recreate the situation as much as possible by making them walk from the centre circle and giving them a bit of stick along the way.

"And that seems to have paid off."

Kelly also paid tribute to the fans for staying on after the promotion party to get behind his charges.

"They were terrific for us and that didn't half make a difference," said Kelly.

"We fell behind early on but they kept singing and chanting and, when it came to penalties, they were great.

"So I'd like to say a big thank-you to them for their support -- we really appreciated it."

Now Arsenal are next up as the club's season has been extended by another week and Kelly is anticipating another tough test.

"It's going to be a difficult final because I believe it's Arsenal, we've played them a couple of times and they look a very good team.

"But let's enjoy this win first before we start thinking about that."