THE clock had ticked over to the 20th minute when Gary Bowyer joined the 6,000 Rovers fans applauding in memory of Jack Walker. This was a day about dreams, old and new.

Many of those Rovers supporters were returning to the very same stand they had occupied in 1995, when an emotional Walker watched on from the directors’ box as Rovers clinched the Premiership title.

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It was a day Rovers will never forget, arguably the greatest moment in the club’s 140-year history.

This one will be remembered fondly too. Few backed Bowyer’s men to stop Liverpool in their tracks yesterday, but stop them they did.

Walker passed away in 2000 but others were back at Anfield 20 years on – Chris Sutton as a television pundit, title-winning manager Kenny Dalglish now a Liverpool director.

There were chants for Dalglish from the Kop, then calls of ‘Kenny, give us a wave’ from the Rovers fans not long after the minute’s applause for Walker, to mark the 20-year anniversary.

Bowyer stood on the touchline applauding throughout the 60 seconds.

He has always embraced Rovers’ history, adorning the Ewood Park tunnel with pictures of 1995 soon after his appointment as manager.

They are designed to inspire the current generation of Rovers players, and they gave absolutely everything at Anfield yesterday.

Just as the applause for Walker was going on, Matt Kilgallon made a crucial tackle to deny Adam Lallana a golden opportunity. It epitomised Rovers’ effort on an afternoon not just about defending.

Rovers’ players stood focused, determined not to be distracted, as Liverpool fans sung You’ll Never Walk Alone before kick-off.

The first whistle blew and inside two minutes Rudy Gestede had flattened Martin Skrtel, before the Liverpool defender departed on a stretcher.

Gestede was looking every inch a Premier League quality player as he consistently out-jumped the defence, with Rovers threatening constantly in attack before the interval.

Much has changed in the last 20 years.

Liverpool celebrate an anniversary of their own this year, the 10th anniversary of their remarkable fifth European Cup triumph.

Their talisman that day, Steven Gerrard, remained sidelined through injury but the Reds’ quality going forward is undeniable.

Sturridge, Sterling, Coutinho, Lallana – even substitute Balotelli.

But those attacking talents were being frustrated, and the cheers from the travelling support were deafening when Balotelli lashed a 35-yard shot embarrassingly high and wide with 20 minutes left.

Rovers already have a million reasons to feel very happy about this FA Cup run.

The combination of prize money, television fees and their percentage of the gate receipts from a 43,820 sell-out crowd at Anfield should see their earnings from this season’s competition top £1m.

Another £2m is likely to be on offer for the winners of the replay at Ewood Park, which would set up an FA Cup semi final at Wembley.

All still depends on that replay, and nothing was achieved yesterday.

But the chants for Jack Walker continued until the final whistle.

Uncle Jack would have been proud.