Rovers manager Gary Bowyer was left a happy man after his Blackburn side ran Premier League giants Manchester City to the wire in Saturday lunchtime’s 1-1 draw at Ewood Park.
The FA Cup third round tie was originally thought of as little more than an inconvenience for the free scoring Manchester club but City looked off colour in the main and the home side were magnificent in their application, fully meriting a draw on the balance of play and perhaps even should have nicked a winner at the end.
Alvaro Negredo’s first half opener was cancelled out by a pouncing Scott Dann ten minutes after the restart and although City saw the bulk of possession Rovers were manfully strong in defence and countered with gusto – with the strings being pulled by the expressive Tom Cairney coming out of midfield.
Although Rovers will now find it extra difficult with a replay at the Etihad now confirmed, the boys deserved their day in the spotlight and the manager certainly appeared to concur.
‘It might be a bit greedy but we could have nicked it at the end,’ Bowyer told Radio Rovers.
‘I have nothing but praise and pride for this group, it was a terrific performance against a world class team.
‘The players are a joy to the football club at the moment. They’ve really restored some pride, the supporters can go away happy with that.
‘We are pleased with how we went about it and how the players responded to going behind. The ages of some of them, it is terrific for them to play in that environment, hopefully it is a motivation for them.
‘The fans pay their money and what they want to see is people having a go and working hard and they certainly saw that today from them.’
The replay has now been scheduled for Wednesday January 15th and the winner of the tie will face the winner of Bristol City and Watford at home in the 4th round.
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