Lancastria.net Yea Blackburn!

While non league hosts Cambridge United never looked capable of fully testing Allardyce’s men, the 4-0 win at the RCostings Abbey Stadium was an impressive first outing for a squad with a lot to prove.

Debutants Lars Jacobsen and Steven N’zonzi fitted in well, without ever really needing to play at full throttle, as it became ‘so far so good’ for Rovers’ season preparations.

Keith Andrews’ precise 29th minute free kick fired Rovers into a first half lead, as the ball curled into the top right hand corner, in a game played at a decent tempo for a summer opener.

El-Hadji Diouf doubled the lead on 37, slotting home after some calamitous defending from three of the hosts’ defenders, before 10 changes were made for the second half.

Substitute Jason Roberts made it 3-0 on 57 minutes, volleying home from close range after Stephen Warnock’s run and cross on the left, before scoring his second on 78 after a sublime one-two between Alan Judge and Benni McCarthy.

Jason Roberts

El-Hadji Diouf

Keith Andrews

ROVERS FIRST HALF: Bunn, Marrow, Gunning, Grella, Nelsen, Givet, Doran, Andrews, Gallagher, Diouf, Blackman.

ROVERS SECOND HALF: Bunn, Jacobsen, Samba, Khizanishvili, Warnock, Judge, Dunn, Nzonzi, Treacy (Brown 79), Roberts, McCarthy.

Cambridge: Potter, Gleeson, Coakley, Coulson, Hatswell, Parkinson, Willmott, Reason, Farrell, Crowe, Phillips SUBS: Beesley, Holdroyd, McAuley, Ives, Jordan, Marriott, Hudson, Wright.