Souness sizzles over 'Barbecue'

Incandescent Graeme Souness was not alone in condemning the refereeing performance that ensured Worthington Cup finalists Blackburn Rovers could forget thoughts of a return journey to Cardiff in May.

True, nobody came close to the furious reaction that saw Blackburn's manager guided down the Middlesbrough tunnel by an alert policeman as the match officials left the scene of their FA Cup crime.

But Graham Barber - dubbed Graham Barbecue by his fellow referees - was well and truly roasted in the aftermath of a 1-0 Rovers defeat that revolved around the controversial dismissal of Lucas Neill for a foul on Robbie Stockdale.

That they should also be skewered by a Ugo Ehiogu goal from a disputed freekick - substitute striker Matt Jansen conceding a crucial 10 yards for dissent after arguing, justifiably, that he had been fouled - in this fifth-round tie was enough to prompt Rovers midfielder Craig Hignett to say: 'It was the worst refereeing display I've ever seen'.

But Neill's shock 72nd-minute red card also bemused millions of Match of the Day viewers. As TV replays strongly suggested, Stockdale was offside before Neill's intervention was flagged by a linesman and pundit Alan Hansen insisted: 'There was nothing in it. It's not a yellow card - it's not even a foul. It's a very bad decision.'

So bad that Souness challenged the FIFA referee from Tring at least to rescind Neill's red card as Blackburn now look to Sunday's Millennium Stadium showdown with Tottenham. He said: 'We'll appeal against the sending-off. If the referee has any honesty about him, he'll admit he's got it wrong. I used to think he was a halfdecent referee, one of the better ones.'

While Neill's dismissal from the dullest of games spared everyone a replay, Ehiogu's intriguing late bid for World Cup consideration - he played in Sven Goran Eriksson's first match against Spain, and scored - would otherwise have been the talking point.