Delight for Vratty as he celebrates his first goal for Rovers

A GOAL from the most unlikely but most welcome of sources won Rovers this tense struggle with David Pleat's Spurs as Vratislav Gresko's 78th minute long-range shot deflected wickedly off Carr and dropped into the far corner.

Rovers boss Graeme Souness has often had cause to bemoan his side's luck this season but there will be no one in Lancashire smiling more than him tonight, despite being sent from the touchline early in the second half by referee Graham Poll.

The performance of full debutant Paul Gallagher again caught the eye for Rovers as he troubled the Tottenham backline all afternoon but it was in the back four where this victory was ground out with Andy Todd and Craig Short performing magnificently to secure Rovers first clean sheet of the season.

Souness had rewarded second half substitutes last week Nils-Eric Johansson and Gallagher with calls into his starting line-up. Skipper Garry Flitcroft was ruled out thanks to a slight injury so back came Tugay into the heart of midfield.

It was the home side that started the brighter in a largely uneventful first half. A good Rovers passing move resulted in a dangerous Brett Emerton cross which Dwight Yorke headed straight at Keller.

Todd could have opened the scoring on 16 minutes when Emerton's excellent corner picked him out but he jumped too early and could not get a clean connection.

There was little else to excite either set of supporters in the first 45 minutes as the two sides toiled and sweated with no real end product.

Spurs' Stephane Dalmat could have made better usage of a shooting opportunity on the edge of the box from Robbie Keane's knock-down but he scuffed wide.

When presented with another chance shortly after, the Frenchman caught the ball sweetly but was denied by an excellent Emerton block.

At half-time Souness threw on Steven Reid for the ineffective Johansson in the hope of stretching the visitors down the flanks.

However, straight after the break, Spurs striker Helder Postiga missed two excellent openings to finally break his Premiership duck but was offside when Friedel superbly stopped his first header before heading another chance past the post.

Sandwiched in between came Souness' dismissal from the dugouts after comments made to Poll. This moment ignited the game into life.

Reid burst into the box after good work with Gallagher only to be stopped by a rugged Dean Richards challenge and at the other end Keane threatened to create something before the outstanding Todd intervened.

From a Gallagher cross on 57 minutes, Emerton arrived on the blindside of the defence but headed into the side netting. For a short time it appeared Rovers had Spurs on the rack with a stream of corners but they could not make their pressure count.

Indeed, the whole of the stadium thought Yorke had opened the scoring when a clever Tugay pass created space for Emerton to send in a low dangerous cross. Yorke slid in with a defender in front of Keller and touched goalwards but, with most of the fans joyously celebrating, the ball was somehow scrambled away before crossing the line.

At the other end, Keane spurned Tottenham's best chance, flashing a shot wildly over the top after good approach play by Steven Carr.

On 71 minutes, Gallagher cut away from Carr and delivered a swirling cross that just evaded both Yorke and Short and beat the far post by inches.

And then the same player sent in another tremendous centre that was met well by Yorke but Keller was down quickly to turn his header round the post.

It did not matter with Rovers still pushing forward dangerously. Gresko won the ball, advanced into Spurs territory and unleashed a speculative shot that looped up crazily off Carr's body and curled away from Keller into the far corner.

Tottenham continued to pump balls into the Rovers box, searching for the likes of Bobby Zamora but with Short and Todd in such imperious form it yielded nothing.

Even when Tugay gave away a crazy free kick on the edge of his own area for handball, Darren Anderton's shot finished high up in the crowd.

Therefore, a crucial three points for Rovers as luck finally smiled upon them.  Souness said afterwards; "We've had absolutely no luck whatsoever this season so it was nice to get a bit of luck today. We were the best team in the second half and deserved to win."

Two seemingly daunting away trips to Birmingham and Arsenal do not look quite so scary any longer.

Rovers: Friedel, Babbel, Short, Todd, Gresko, Emerton, Ferguson, Tugay, Johansson (Reid 46), Gallagher (Jansen 83), Yorke. Subs not used: Enckelman, Taylor, Baggio.

Tottenham: Keller, Carr, Taricco, Anderton, Postiga (Zamora 65), Keane, Dalmat (Mabizela 65), Konchesky (Ricketts 82), King, Gardner, Richards. Subs not used: Birch, Doherty.

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