FA Youth Cup: Blackburn Rovers 1 West Ham United 4

TWO years ago Blackburn Rovers crushed West Ham 4-1 on their way to the final of the Times FA Youth Cup.

Last night the scoreline remained the same but the result was entirely different as the latest crop of young Hammers exacted perfect revenge on behalf of their predecessors.

Rovers never got out of first gear once Richard Garcia opened the scoring with a 12th minute free kick which squirmed past keeper Keiron Renton.

And after Garcia added a second midway through the second half, precocious teenager Jermaine Defoe bagged a late double as the Londoners romped to an easy victory to cruise through to round five.

Rovers boss Rob Kelly was bitterly disappointed afterwards, especially after appearing to do the hard work in the original tie at Upton Park.

But he now must raise his troops quickly with an Academy doubleheader against Manchester United looming fast on the horizon.

"We are all bitterly disappointed - the players more than anyone," said Kelly.

"They're only young kids, their mums and dads were there last night and they'll feel they haven't done themselves justice.

"But what you find in football is the next game comes around quite quickly and, when it's Manchester United away, you can't feel sorry for yourself for too long. "So we've got to dust ourselves off and get back behind the wheel today."

Both sides took time to settle in a tense start.

But the visitors were gifted a soft opener on 12 minutes when skipper Stuart Howson was harshly penalised for a foul on the edge of the box and Garcia's free kick bounced in front of Renton but somehow found the net.

Rovers best chance of the half came from a Ben Burgess free kick but his effort flew inches wide of the right hand post.

But apart from the odd flashes of genius from the dangerous Neil Danns, it was West Ham who looked the sharper side.

Kelly introduced last week's hero Liam Blakeman after the break, hoping he could lift the home side.

And minutes later Rovers should have equalised when a Danns corner got flicked on but Marc Richards somehow missed the target with a free header at the far post.

That miss was to prove costly as Ezomo Irekpen then burst through middle before slipping a ball through for Garcia to race clear and slide a shot under Renton. And DeFoe all but killed off the tie with 11 minutes left when he finished clinically after clever play from impressive midfielder Leon Britton.

With the Rovers defence now in tatters, DeFoe twisted past a couple of challenges before adding a fourth on 86 minutes.

And, though Burgess pulled one back in injury time from the edge of the box, it proved to be little consolation for the home side.

Rovers: Renton, Chamberlain, Murray, Douglas, Howson, Taylor, Danns, Flitcroft, Richards, Burgess, Hardy. Subs: Blakeman (for Flitcroft, 55), Foster (for Chamberlain, 67), Doyle (for Ricahrds, 81) Not used: Nutter, Hind (gk).

Converted for the new archive on 14 July 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.