Curtis embarrassment

Curtis's calamatous own goal on the stroke of half time was a classic contender for Auntie's Sporting Bloomers, as jubilant Gillingham were handed three vital points on a plate.

But the former Manchester United ace -- who so far this season has been Rovers' Mr Consistent -- refused to duck the flak at the end of an afternoon he will fast want to erase from his memory banks.

Barely a minute had elapsed after Gills boss Andy Hessenthaler had cancelled out Mark Hughes' 12th minute opener when Curtis suddenly had a rush of blood and hit a blind backpass beyond the advancing Brad Friedel.

Before the American international could react, the ball had tantalisingly trickled over the line to puncture Rovers' hopes of closing the gap on the leaders.

It was pantomine stuff on a par with the bust-nudging antics of the late Les Dawson.

And it left a red-faced Curtis to face the music.

"It was a silly individual error," said the England Under 21 international.

"The ball came across, I heard 'keeper', and I sidefooted it back towards Brad, who I thought was in the goal but he'd come rushing out to get it.

"So it was all a bit of a misunderstanding.

"But I apologise now to all the fans and all the players.

"I've never scored an own goal at senior level before -- only in A team games in the Lancashire League and stuff.

"But we can come back from this.

"I thought we absolutely battered them -- particularly in the second half."

In fairness to Curtis, he wasn't the only one who had an off-day.

Several of his team-mates also looked off-colour once Gillingham had survived a fierce opening tirade which had threatened to sink them without trace.

But Rovers boss Graeme Souness stopped short of throwing himself in the River Darwen. "It was a bad day at the office. We had too many people who didn't perform and, coupled with the mistakes, it cost us dearly," said Souness.

"But it's a little reminder. In football, when you think everything's going right, that can happen to you.

"This game is extremely competitive -- it's never been any different.

"The team you're playing against want to beat you and I think we had three or four people who weren't 100 per cent concentrated.

"But the one thing you're guaranteed with football is knocks.

"And it's all about how you handle those knocks.

"I would like to think we will learn from this and come back stronger."

It had all started so brightly as Rovers' exciting brand of free-flowing football cut the Gills to shreds in the opening 20 minutes. With Damien Duff and David Dunn mesmerising opponents down the flanks and Craig Hignett pulling the strings in the centre, a Blackburn goal-blitz looked a real possibility.

But how many times will a visiting keeper be made to look like Superman as Rovers once again failed to show the killer instincts necessary to finish teams off?

Veteran stopper Vince Bartram pulled off a host of blinding saves to deny Dunn, Hignett and Garry Flitcroft as some slick approach play carved out nine golden chances in the opening 18 minutes alone.

Crucially, however, only one was made to count.

Curtis fed Matt Jansen down the right whose neat flick released Dunn and a dazzling diagonal run took him past a posse of defenders before he threaded a ball through for Hughes to squeeze home his fourth goal in a Rovers shirt at the far post.

Gillingham's response was immediate as former Burnley loan striker Paul Shaw escaped the clutches of Henning Berg but dragged his shot wide of the far post.

Their 42nd minute equaliser came like a bolt out of the blue, however, as Shaw's cushioned lay-off found Hessenthaler in space just inside the box and he arrowed a right-foot shot into the far corner.

If that was bad enough then disaster struck two minutes later as Curtis, under pressure from Marlon King, neatly tucked a right foot cross past Friedel.

And Rovers could have been left with further egg on their face in first half stoppage time but Jeff Kenna saved the day with a goal-line clearance to deny Shaw.

Clearly shellshocked, Souness went for broke after the break, throwing on Christian Dailly then new-boy Marcus Bent as he switched first to a 3-5-2 formation, then to a 3-4-3. But it failed to have the desired effect and the fans' frustrations finally came to a head when referee Mark Warren -- who didn't look fit to run a bath never mind a football match at times -- finally lost the plot in the 69th minute.

Dunn, who had already been booked in the first half, was clearly fouled by Paul Smith as he contested a ball out on the right.

Warren, however, completely missed it and then rubbed salt into the wounds by over-reacting when the players clashed again seconds later -- harshly flashing a second yellow in Dunn's direction.

After setting such a dangerous precedent, he was then left with no option but to do the same again to Shaw a minute later after a late challenge on Duff.

Rovers then had one final chance to redeem themselves when Jansen wriggled free on the edge of the box but he fired straight at Bartram to sum-up a miserable day.