ROVERS 2

REAL MALLORCA 0

WHEN Steven Reid joined Blackburn from Millwall two years ago he arrived with a reputation for being a free kick specialist.

But Rovers fans have seen precious little evidence of his explosive shooting power - until last night!

The Republic of Ireland international capped another industrious midfield performance with a ferocious free kick that almost burnt a hole in the back of Miguel Rumbo's net.

It was the kind of stunning finish that used to be Reid's trademark at the New Den, but the goals have since dried up for the 24-year-old, who admits it's high time he started chipping in with a few more from midfield.

"I've been due one of those for a while so hopefully a few more will follow now when it really matters," said Reid.

"To be honest, they put up a pretty bad wall and I've been striking the ball quite cleanly in training over the last week, so I fancied that one and it was good to see it hit the back of the net."

Reid's sensational strike, and a more routine finish from Ryan Nelsen, earned Rovers a richly deserved victory against their La Liga opponents.

Mark Hughes was looking for his players to raise the bar after Saturday's lacklustre 1-1 draw with 1860 Munich and they did exactly that, playing some slick, attacking football at times, to round off their trip to Germany in style.

Rovers kept the ball far better than they did against Munich, and when Mallorca were in possession, they pressed and harried the Spaniards, which meant they were never allowed to settle.

Reid and Tugay, in particular, looked a well balanced partnership in the centre of the park, while Shefki Kuqi and Paul Dickov showed early signs of developing a promising understanding up front in the absence of Craig Bellamy, who sat this one out after picking up a knock at the weekend.

The supply from the flanks was also better, too, particularly from the left where Morten Gamst Pedersen provided a steady stream of silver-service until he ran out of steam in the second half.

Rovers looked menacing from the off and they might have taken the lead inside five minutes, but Kuqi headed narrowly over from Pedersen's left-wing centre.

Six minutes later, however, they did break the deadlock when Reid's 25-yard thunderbolt fairly rocketed past Real keeper Rumbo and exploded into the net.

Rovers visibly grew in confidence after that and Dickov should have done better than shoot tamely wide following neat work by Pedersen and Kuqi.

In a rare moment of danger at the opposite end, Juan Arango, Real's Venezuelan dangerman, failed to hit the target with a free header.

That miss was to prove costly as Nelsen then grabbed Rovers' second on 27 minutes, exploiting Real's vulnerability in the air at set-pieces to nod in Pedersen's inswinging corner from a yard out.

The second half followed a similar pattern to the first.

On one of the rare occasions Real threatened to penetrate a stubborn Rovers rearguard, substitute goalkeeper Peter Enckelman reacted smartly to repel a shot from Luis Garcia Fernandez.

Rovers, meanwhile, always carried a threat going forward and Pedersen went close to getting his name on the scoresheet on two occasions.

Real's frustration grew the longer the game went on and it finally got the better of Sergio Ballesteros, who appeared to slap Dickov on the back of the head following an altercation between the two in the 63rd minute.

The referee, rather sensibly, insisted on both players being substituted to prevent the situation from escalating into something more serious, much to Dickov dissatisfaction.

After that, the inevitable flurry of substitutions disrupted the flow of the game, but Rovers rarely looked in trouble on their way to recording their first win, and clean sheet, of this pre-season campaign.

Rovers (4-4-2): Friedel; Neill, Todd, Nelsen, Matteo; Emerton, Reid, Tugay, Pedersen; Dickov, Kuqi. Subs: Enckelman (for Friedel, 46), Mokoena (for Nelsen, 51), Flitcroft (for Tugay, 58), Gallagher (for Dickov, 63), Gray (for Matteo, 68), Douglas (for Reid, 72), Taylor (for Neill, 77), Harkins (for Kuqi, 78), Derbyshire (for Pedersen, 82), McEveley (for Todd, 86). Not used: Johnson