Blackburn Rovers 2 Brentford 0: PETER WHITE reports

THERE was a collective sigh of relief at Ewood last night, as Blackburn Rovers eased their way past Brentford into the third round of the Coca-Cola Cup.

The final margin was perhaps a little surprising, given the relative league performances of the two sides so far this season.

For this tie looked a potential banana skin, especially for a team still seeking its first home victory and clean sheet of the season.

While other Premiership sides faltered, Rovers secured both, along with a safe passage to the next round, partly due to a strange reluctance on Brentford's part to go for broke.

With the half-time brew beckoning and a little frustration and edginess setting in once again on home ground, you suspected that if the visitors had gambled more on attack they might have caused a little panic. Trailing 2-1 from the first leg, their caution was understandable before Kevin Gallacher scored the 44th-minute goal that put Rovers into the comfort zone.

But why they didn't go hell for leather in the second half was surprising.

Only rarely did Brentford get enough men forward quickly to trouble a reshuffled rearguard.

It was almost as if they were playing for a respectable defeat.

These two-legged ties do little or me.

And the fact that Rovers already held an advantage, allied to other factors such as the high cost of watching football and games being televised "live" on the night, meant the attendance of just under 10,000, including a couple of hundred who travelled from London, was quite reasonable.

But they still have to be won and Rovers did enough to achieve that aim, even though their second half efforts certainly did not please the manager.

The performance wasn't the Bees Knees but it was sufficient on the night.

Against better opposition, I would hope that Rovers themselves would be sharper, because they once again proved wasteful in front of goal and, in the Premiership, they won't enjoy as many chances as they did against the Second Division leaders.

On the positive side, Jason Wilcox had the benefit of a full 90 minutes. Considering the amount of work he has had to miss through injury, that can only be of benefit to him and the team as they need him able to build up a full head of steam.

And Gary Croft and Shay Given also tasted competitive senior action at Ewood for the first time.

Croft had one moment of alarm early in the game, when he almost beat his own keeper with a header, but gradually settled into his role, almost created a goal with a great cross, and the fact that Rovers had two natural left-footers out there again helped give some balance to the side.

Given went on for just the last few minutes but was accorded a tremendous reception by the fans.

The young keeper has waited a long time for the moment, even though he has played international football on a regular basis for several months.

For me, the highlight of the night, however, was Rovers' second goal.

It had all the hallmarks of what we became used to seeing before the slump set in at the start of the season.

And it was fitting that Tim Sherwood scored it, as the skipper was an integral part of the reasons why Rovers went through - definitely a Tim-ely intervention.

As the rain swept down to make the surface slick, Rovers looked confident enough and capable of adding to their first-leg advantage. But, again, the chances came and went and Brentford caused the occasional flutter of concern.

The best effort came as early as the fourth minute when Gallacher turned quickly to hit a searing drive which clipped the bar.

Anxiety was clearly creeping in when a move began in classic style, bobbled its way through the middle part and ended with an unusual finish.

Jeff Kenna, much happier in a right back role, played an excellent pass through to Lars Bohinen, who had timed his run well down the right.

From there it became a little muddled, as a defender intervened, the ball went back to the edge of the area, in towards the far post and fell nicely for Gallacher.

His volley, from around eight yards, struck the ground and bounced high into the net.

Both Gallacher and Donis might have added to the lead before the interval but Brentford's Kevin Dearden looks a very capable keeper. In the second half, Rovers fell away somewhat, though Brentford still seemed to lack a little urgency themselves, despite a Robert Taylor volley and saves by Tim Flowers from Marcus Bent and Carl Asaba.

With just over quarter of an hour remaining, the tie was settled by an excellent goal.

Rovers remained patient and knocked the ball around deep in Brentford territory.

Finally, Chris Sutton freed Wilcox on the left, the cross was perfect - just what has been lacking from that flank - and Sherwood made sure the finish was too with a header in off the far post.

Donis might have added a third within a couple of minutes but the tie was over as a contest when Sherwood struck.

It certainly wasn't spectacular but Rovers fans would settle for a few more "ordinary" 2-0 wins in the coming weeks.

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