THE month of December is usually the time when Santa delivers.

But frustratingly for Blackburn Rovers, their Paraguayan hitman Roque Santa Cruz passed up two early Christmas presents on a day that provided little festive cheer.

Santa Cruz has quickly established himself as a cult hero since his summer move from Bayern Munich, scoring six goals in 20 appearances to win the hearts of the Rovers faithful.

However, the 26-year-old may be haunted for some time by the two second half misses that ultimately cost Mark Hughes' side a point, and the chance to close the gap on the sides above them in the table.

Trailing to a 53rd minute strike from the impressive Dean Ashton, Rovers threw everything barring the kitchen sink at West Ham in a desperate search for an equaliser.

That pressure should have paid dividends when two golden opportunities in the space of as many minutes came the way of Santa Cruz, only for the striker to fluff his lines at the crucial moment.

The first, in the 75th minute, came courtesy of a raking Morten Gamst Pedersen cross but Santa Cruz, who was six yards out, steered his header wide of the far post.

Then, barely 90 seconds later, an even better chance fell the Paraguayan's way, thanks to a wonderful piece of improvisation from the irrepressible Tugay.

But, with just keeper Robert Green to beat, Santa Cruz's composure momentarily deserted him and he skied his shot horribly into the Blackburn End - an effort that rather summed up Rovers' application on the day.

In truth, the home side never recovered from a lacklustre first half performance that lacked both energy and invention.

It was only when Hughes introduced Robbie Savage as a half-time replacement for the ineffective Aaron Mokoena, and ditched his 4-2-3-1 formation for a more orthodox 4-4-2, that Rovers began to play with any kind of urgency.

But by then, they had lost the momentum and West Ham took full advantage, pouncing on a couple of individual errors to fashion a winner for Ashton, barely eight minutes after he had entered the fray as a substitute.

It means Rovers have taken just three points from a possible nine at Ewood over the last 12 days, a disappointing haul after such a positive start to the season.

And, like Santa Cruz's chances, Hughes knows this was another missed opportunity.

"We had some good opportunities and some good situations which we didn't take advantage of," mused the Rovers boss.

"But, overall, we are probably disappointed with the level of performance we produced today.

"It was down on what we know we can produce.

"Some credit must go to West Ham - I thought they were strong and powerful.

"We were also missing David Bentley and Ryan Nelsen, who is a big, strong character on and off the field for us and maybe that affected us.

"But I just felt we needed to show more than we did, certainly in the first half.

"If we start well then, invariably, we play well for the rest of the game.

"But if we have a slow start then it's very difficult to pick it up again."

Missing the quality and drive of Bentley, Rovers were flat in the first half and there was a lack of genuine width and tempo to their play.

With David Dunn and Morten Gamst Pedersen tucked inside, the midfield became too congested and West Ham, who got men behind the ball in numbers, had few problems in cutting off the supply to Santa Cruz and Benni McCarthy.

The latter, in particular, spent too much time outside the box, which left Santa Cruz cutting an isolated figure up front.

Even when the chances did start coming after the break, Rovers' finishing let them down, and it won't be lost on Hughes that his team have now failed to score in four of their last six Premier League matches.

In fact, neither of Hughes' two main strikers - Santa Cruz and McCarthy - have found the net in the last half dozen games, which perhaps explains a story in one of yesterday's tabloids linking Rovers with a January move for Bolton's Nicolas Anelka.

Also worrying is the form of Pedersen, who currently looks a pale shadow of his former self.

The Norwegian has been off-colour all season and he failed to impress again here on his 100th Premier League start for the club, his final ball regularly letting him down.

But he was not alone in failing to produce his best on a day when Rovers collectively mis-fired.

The afternoon had started in predictable fashion, Lucas Neill receiving a hostile reception on his return to Ewood Park.

Booed every time he touched the ball, the Aussie seemed to be driven to distraction, certainly in the first half, because some of his play was anything but assured.

In fact, Rovers' first real shooting chance came courtesy of Neill after he was dispossessed in midfield, but Dunn's snap-shot flashed just over the angle of post and crossbar.

Tugay then unleashed one of his long-range specials, which looked destined for the top corner until it snaked wide of the post.

In contrast, little was seen of the Hammers as an attacking force, apart from one Carlton Cole header that sailed tamely wide, and a speculative strike from Scott Parker that dipped just wide of Brad Friedel's right-hand post.

Nolberto Solano also blazed high into the Blackburn End following a rare error from Stephen Warnock.

Rovers' best chance of the half fell to Pedersen four minutes before the break, but his angled drive was beaten away by Green at his near post.

The arrival of Savage after the interval lifted the home fans, but Rovers were then sliced open by a slick counterattack.

Nolberto Solano and George McCartney exploited the space behind Brett Emerton on the left and Ashton polished off the resulting cross.

Rovers had several chances to equalise but Pedersen and Santa Cruz (twice) were both guilty of missing the target from inviting positions.

Then with three minutes left, Tugay met a corner with a thumping volley that screamed through the air but somehow Green readjusted and managed to turn it aside.

It was another one of those days.