JUSTICE

Ewood celebrated in a manner which hadn't been seen for two years - since Newcastle were beaten and the championship was within reach on another emotional May night back in '95.

No matter how survival has been achieved, Rovers fans - who responded gloriously to Colin Hendry's pre-match battle cry - woke up this morning, looked at the League table and, no doubt, allowed themselves the first smile of the summer.

It has been hard-earned and never more difficult than in a game against relegation rivals Middlesbrough which could be summed up by three separate incidents - all of which went Rovers' way.

Mikkel Beck's early header which went wide when it should, at the very least, have been on target, a penalty claim by Juninho for Colin Hendry's lunging tackle and, finally, a world-class save by Tim Flowers from the Brazilian with just minutes remaining said it all.

Three steps to heaven, you could say, as far as Blackburn Rovers were concerned.

For Middlesbrough the trapdoor now seems to be opening but they got precious little sympathy at Ewood and should not have expected any.

The two clubs might, understandably, have been diplomatic on the surface but the fans wanted Middlesbrough to be suitably punished for the unforgivable crime of not turning up on the original date in December.

In the end, justice has been done, and seen to be done. And if this result puts Boro down, many will say it was poetic justice.

Anyone who turned up at Ewood expecting a classic shouldn't have bothered. This was always going to be about nerve, tension and bottle and Rovers had enough of the right sort of qualities to see them through, but only just.

They also had a bit of luck when it was needed and, surely, no-one would deny them that at the end of this emotional season.

That a game of very few genuine chances finished deadlocked was caused as much by what people didn't do as what they did.

Rovers, with their injury problems up front, were punchless again, despite Kevin Gallacher's willingness to run his socks off with little support from his partner Paul Warhurst.

What a difference there was when Stuart Ripley, who did exceptionally well, and Graham Fenton went on.

Boro, strangely, lacked the sort of urgency, until the later stages, you might have expected from a team desperately needing a win.

But they were always being hustled by a Rovers midfield where Billy McKinlay won more tackles than celebratory pints were downed by the fans last night, if that's possible.

Tim Sherwood and Garry Flitcroft also clearly knew their duty at a time when the performance meant nothing, the result everything.

At the back, Hendry anchored the defence as he has done all season. What a rock he has been, his only blemish coming when, with 25 minutes left, he lunged in on Juninho.

Whether it was or it wasn't a penalty is now immaterial. Some referees would have given it, this one didn't and, to their credit, Boro made no fuss about it afterwards.

Rovers were the more threatening side in a poor first half, though Beck had that great chance to score in the 10th minute and wasted it.

After the break, Boro were on the back foot for 15 minutes but then looked as though they might take control as the pace quickened.

Craig Hignett shot wide when he might have done better, so did Juninho after a slip-up by the otherwise consistent Henning Berg.

But Rovers' substitutions livened them up again and victory seemed there for the taking, apart from the lack of genuine goal threat.

Flitcroft came closest to breaking the deadlock until three minutes from time.

Time stood still for a few seconds as Juninho hit a tremendous free kick from 25 yards, the ball looked to have beaten Flowers but the keeper then showed why you invest so much money in class performers.

Quite how he saved Boro's sole on-target shot of the game no-one really knew but the fans recognised that this, at last, was to be Rovers' night and celebrated accordingly.

The whistle saw Hendry sink to his knees and Rovers, "relegated" in October, had proved that sometimes it can be - Mission: Possible.

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