BENNI McCarthy picked up where he left off last season by firing Blackburn Rovers towards a place in the UEFA Cup.

The South African marksman, who finished last term as Rovers' top scorer with 24 goals, gave another demonstration of his predatory instincts with a typically clinical strike at the quaint Vetra Stadium.

And a first goal in Europe for super sub Matt Derbyshire late in the second half put the seal on a productive evening's work for Mark Hughes' charges.

However, this was not a stroll in the sun for Rovers, who were made to work hard for this first leg advantage by a Vetra team that was clearly pumped up for the occasion.

Spurred on by a record crowd of 5,200 the Lithuanian minnows, who are seasoned participants in the Intertoto Cup, caused several scares before McCarthy finally settled Rovers' nerves with a deadly strike in the 29th minute.

Having avoided a potential banana skin here in the Baltics, Rovers' safe passage into the UEFA Cup should now be a formality with Vetra due at Ewood on Saturday for the second leg.

A satisfied Hughes said: "It's always important that your strikers score early and it was a good finish from Benni.

"I took him off towards the end because he missed three or four days of training last week with a stiff back, so his fitness isn't quite where it should be.

"But I was happy with his performance and particularly his goal."

Just 70 days after last season finished with a 3-3 draw against Reading at Ewood, Rovers returned to action by taking a first step on the long road to next year's UEFA Cup final, which will be held at the City of Manchester Stadium.

The Lithuanian authorities were clearly still nervous after crowd trouble forced the abandonment of Vetra's tie with Legia Warsaw in the previous round, so an army of riot police greeted the 120 or so Rovers fans who made the trip here, but the heightened security wasn't needed as the game passed off without incident.

On the pitch, Vetra carved out the first meaningful chance when their Brazilian striker Severino got in on the left and crossed for Mindaugas Panka, who stabbed a shot wide of the near post.

At the opposite end, Chris Samba was similarly off target with a free header from a well-flighted David Bentley corner, before Rovers then survived a real scare in the 20th minute.

The lively Severino intercepted a sloppy defensive header from Andre Ooijer inside the area, but his attempted lob brushed the side-netting and went wide, much to the relief of the stranded Brad Friedel.

That proved to be a defining moment because nine minutes later Rovers grabbed the lead and the first of two away goals.

Morten Gamst Pedersen curled in a low free-kick from the right, which struck a defender guarding the near post, but the ball was then retrieved by Ooijer, who laid it back to the Norwegian as he burst into the area.

The resulting cross then found its way to McCarthy and the striker guided a perfectly executed volley into the bottom corner from eight yards out: 0-1.

Rovers had further chances to add to their lead before the break, but Samba planted another free header over the crossbar, and a similar effort from Jason Roberts was well held by home keeper Vaidas Zutautas.

Hughes replaced Tugay with Aaron Mokoena at the beginning of the second half and Rovers went off the boil after that.

However, any thoughts of a Vetra comeback were effectively extinguished in the 80th minute when Derbyshire lashed in a shot from 25 yards that deceived the keeper.

Match Stats: Vetra: Zutautas, Botelho, Sasnauskas, Usaciov, Skerla, Bozinovski, Panka, Juska, Butrimavicius, Stankevicius, Severino. Subs: Karcemarskas (for Stankevicius, 62), Azizi (for Butrimavicius, 62), Vezevicious (for Severino, 74) Not used: Kozyrev, Raliukonis, Tselyukh, Grigaitas Rovers: Friedel, Ooijer, Nelsen, Samba, Warnock, Bentley, Tugay, Savage, Pedersen, McCarthy, Roberts. Subs: Mokoena (for Tugay, 46), Derbyshire (for Bentley, 65), Rigters (for McCarthy, 65) Not used: Dunn, Henchoz, Berner, Brown Attendance: 5,200