Harchester United are still at the top of the Premier League after hammering Blackburn Rovers 5-0 for the second time this season.
The Dragons controlled the game from start to finish despite a few scares at a very wintery Ewood Park this afternoon.
The home side found themselves without captain Christopher Samba following his recent issues surrounding his future despite being match fit.
Harchester United meanwhile were without striker Jay Marney following the arm injury he picked up against Sunderland in midweek. The club are still awaiting further results to discover the full extent of his injury so Luiz Costa took his place in an otherwise unchanged side.
The game started with a yellow card being dished out after just 4 minutes
Johnny Carlisle made a rash challenge on Rovers stand-in captain David Dunn and the Dragons defender was booked for his actions.
Amazingly, this went on to be the only yellow card of the game despite altercations between Marcos Rosteen and Yakubu, and Liam Mackay and Radosav Petrovic later in the first half.
The opening goal of the game came from the away side's top scorer Reijmond Van Den Bergh who broke free of the Blackburn defence to strike a shot from the edge of the box, past Paul Robinson to make it 1-0 to the Dragons.
This was Van Den Bergh's 18th League Goal of the season, and it wouldn't be his last before the afternoon was out.
In the 19th minute, Andrei Kirovski gave away a free kick on the edge of the box. The resulting effort was taken by David Dunn who would have equalised but for a fantastic save from Thomas Heikkinen who tipped over the bar.
From the resulting corner, Harchester United cleared their lines courtesy of Kirvoski and the ball was picked up by Van Den Bergh inside his own half...
The Dragons striker just ran and ran until he struck a shot from 25 yards that sped into the back of the net at some real pace to make it 2-0.
Blackburn didn't give up despite being 2-0 down, David Goodwillie and Yakubu tried their hardest to break down the Dragons defence but to no avail.
In the 36th minute, Luiz Costa found himself through on the Blacburn goal with a chance to make it 3-0. But a fantastic recovery from Scott Dann saw the Rovers defender get in and clear the ball.
On the edge of half time, Blackburn had a chance to pull a goal back but were stopped in the efforts by only the crossbar.
A cross from Petrovic was met by the heads of Yakubu, Anton Young and the hands of Heikkinen in goal - Yakubu won the battle but could only hit the bar with his effort.
The Nigerian striker then suffered an injury for his efforts as he fell awkwardly on his shoulder and had to be replaced at half time by new loan signing Anthony Modeste.
SECOND HALF...
The second half started with Scott Dann once again keeping Luiz Costa quiet, but also saw Blackburn creating some more chances of their own.
David Dunn skipped past Kirovski to create a fantastic chance for Rovers in the 57th minute. His cross was met by the head of Goodwillie, but the Scot could only head wide.
In the 62nd minute, Reijmond Van Den Bergh attempted to complete his hat-trick as he struck a sweet curling shot from the edge of the box - but a fine save by Robinson kept the score at 2-0.
Rovers continued to attempt to get back into the game, but the Dragons were desperate to keep their 2 goal lead with some fine defending. Marcos Rosteen also dropped back to strengthen the defence.
In the 71st minute Harchester United had a corner. Patrice Blanc's sweet curler was met by the strong head of Johnny Carlisle who headed into the back of the net to make it 3-0 and score his 2nd goal of the season.
4 miniutes later and Reijmond Van Den Bergh completed his hat-trick and made it 4-0 with a wonderfully hit shot from the edge of the box heading straight into the top corner.
This was Van Den Bergh's 22nd goal of the season in all competitions and the second hat-trick he'd scored within the past 2 months.
The Dutch striker was then rested as he and the tiring captain Liam Mackay was replaced by Kieron Hartson and Julian Moore in the 78th minute.
Rovers though, despite being 4-0 down, continued to try and create something. Simon Vukcevic had a great chance to pull a goal back in a one-on-one situation with Heikkinen, but the Dragons keeper came out on top to keep it at 4-0.
In the 84th minute, substitute Kieron Hartson settled the scoring as he got clear of Gael Givet to slot the ball past Rovers keeper Paul Robinson to make it 5-0.
A positive performance to keep the Dragons top and give them further confidence following a minor scare against Sunderland this past midweek.
Final Score: Blackburn Rovers - 0... Harchester United - 5
Next Up: Notts County (Home) in the FA Cup 4th Round Replay
Harchester.TV - 4th February 2012 |
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FA Barclays Premier League
BLACKBURN ROVERS - 0
....
HARCHESTER UNITED - 5
Van Den Bergh 10, 21, 75
Carlisle 71
Hartson 84
....
Att: 20,212
Blackburn Rovers: Robinson, Olsson, Givet, Dann, Hanley, Pederson, Petrovic, N'Zonzi, Dunn, Goodwillie (Vukcevic 70), Yakubu (Modeste 45)
Subs: Bunn, Orr, Formica, Vukcevic, Rochina, Hoilett, Modeste
Harchester United: Heikknnen, Young, Carlisle, Kirovski, Misimovic, Naysmith, Mackay (Moore 78), Rosteen, Blanc, Costa, Van Den Bergh (Hartson 78)
Subs: Fuentes, Tyson, Evans, Moore, Rojas, Porter, Hartson |
