Blackburn Rovers News 24/7Writer: Mikey Delap 
Date:Thursday January 21 2010
Time: 9:06AM
UK time is: 23:03:56
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Thoughts from last night
In the end it just wasn't meant to be as Rovers went close, but not close enough to getting to a Wembley final.
Going into the game nobody gave Rovers a shot - in the BBC stuido they were beyond patronising - and given the standard of football we served up in the first leg it was not a suprise that Villa were heavy favourites.
But in line with all of our wishes, Sam sent the side out to play... and PLAY THEY DID.
They scared the life out of Villa with some slick and entertaining football that put Villa right on the back foot from the off.
Niko Kalinic is a star in the making an it is only a combination of bad luck and bad timing that he hasn't scored a Premier League goal - because last night he was in the right place at the right time twice to give Blackburn the perfect start.
In the end it took a foul on Ryan Nelsen for their first goal and a badly judged lunge from Chris Samba to swing it all back in Villa's favour.
Despite all that went on in the second half it was sending off that sealed our fate. Playing a side as good as Villa with eleven can be tough enough but to have a go with ten men is borderline impossible.
But against all better judgement we ploughed on - even at 5-2 down in a classic game we came at them.
Olsson's goal was the goal of the night and a goal of the season winner already. Emerton's had the stench of bad defending but then there was bad defending from both sides.
So when all was said and done it was Villa who went through, they were the better side if you combine the two legs and I wish them well in the final.
But I don't care about them, I care about Blackburn and it is with a head held high that I say that pride is restored.
We should carry that style of play and that level of commitment into every game and we will be better as a result.
Rovers till I die.
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Your Comments
we played well and we pushed them right to the end. with play like that im proud to wear the shirt and cheer for big sams blue and white army. Ryan Nelson asked if we could switch the ref at half time, he cost us for the first goal, but it was a clear penalty
LHrover
It was a foul for the first goal but the sendng off was blatant and cost us. I feel proud to be a Rover after that.
Mikey Delap
you guys can definitely hold your heads high after that, your support was spot-on and you gave us one hell of a game. that was a classic semi-final. well done lads, and all the best for the remainder of the season.
AV-Damo
Hopefully can take the positives out of this game and the formation and take it into the league otherwise would not have been worhtwhile. Olsson though amazing!
roverjoy
yeah, hopefully sam will see how well we played and carry it on in the league, i just hope he doesnt go back to long ball ALL the time
LHrover
It was exhausting watching that game - but I'm proud of the way we played. I was also pi$$ed off with the pundits not giving us a chance - and even their comments on the foul on Nelsen, implying that it was Nelson's fault!! (all pundits except Shearer!)
FreidelNo.1
well put and very magnanimous Mikey, think you guys had much to be proud of last night and BIg Sam certainly had us sussed the first 25 mins.
The Fear
Brilliant game and a shame there had to be a loser.
2fishinatank
Cuellar was there for the taking last night - he was a nervous wreck! If only we gopt that 3rd goal and your first was cancelled... anyway next year I suppose. Good luck in the final!
FreidelNo.1
yeah fair play Blackburn fans - u were a good bunch last night. I think we were the better team over 2 legs and deserved to go through, but u put up a good fight and played us some panic. Sam is wrong to criticise the ref, I didnt hear MON doing it when Gabi was booked for a foul in the pen area and accused of diving!
leelindsay
to be fair though lee... agbonlahor did dive.. so he had no right to complain ;) but still.. i think we didnt do enough at Ewood to warrent going through...but im happy with the performance... if we keep playing like that, hopefully we can be pushing into the top 10
rover23
Awesome game lads, that's what a semi final should be like, good fight. Good luck for the rest of the season.
steff_the_villan
Game of the season me thinks :) and Gabby has no right to moan he was a third of the way to the floor by the time Samba touched him in the first leg!!!
Mikey Delap
I got my wish for offense. Never thought that we could score the first 2, 4 total and still lose.
SoCal Rover
Proud to be a Rovers supporter last night - every player in blue and white worked hard, showed commitment and a decent amount of flair and skill - we can only wonder what might have been if we had 11 men on the pitch in the second half. Well done to Big Sam and the lads! It was a fantastic match and great to see Kallanic and Olsson shine! If the team can play like that in the league, Rovers will shoot up the table - too late to qualify for Europa? Not on that performance methinks!
YORK ROVER
I hazard a guess that if we had a full 11 we would have progressed... just my two cents :)
Mikey Delap
Some of our defending at times were awful, but i was impressed with our overall performance. We went out of the cup with our heads held high, some good stuff here... Continue playing like this, we'll be fine..
metalrover
What a game, so many good points to move forward with especially niki getting 2 goals, shame we didnt play like this at ewood as we may of been in the final, oh well lets keep the momentum going, hold our heads up high and start moving away from that bottom area.
mutts nutts
Imagine if we had of gone at them like this in the first leg? we would have been in a better position me thinks...
Mikey Delap
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