West Brom end Bristol Rovers FA Cup run

Bristol Rovers 1 West Brom 5

Ishmael Miller scored a hat-trick as West Brom emphatically ended Bristol Rovers’ historic FA Cup run at the quarter-final stage with a 5-1 victory at the Memorial Stadium.

Albion, who have reached the semi-finals for the first time in 26 years, looked firmly in control after goals from James Morrison and Miller before the half-hour mark.

But Danny Coles immediately halved Rovers’ deficit to leave the tie delicately poised at the break.

Miller netted a controversial second goal to restore the Baggies’ two-goal advantage midway through the second half before substitute Kevin Phillips put the tie beyond doubt with his 19th goal of the season soon after.

Miller completed his treble and added some gloss to the scoreline with low finish five minutes from time.

The final score was harsh on the League One side who were in the last eight for the first time since 1958.

Cheered on by a partisan home crowd at the Memorial Stadium, Rovers settled quickest and made a solid start.

Rickie Lambert had a goalbound shot from the edge of the area blocked by Paul Robinson in the sixth minute.

West Brom came into the game after that and created several chances to open the scoring.

Miller had a shot deflected wide before Chris Brunt’s excellent low cross in the 11th minute just eluded Roman Bednar who was arriving at pace inside the six-yard box.

Rovers goalkeeper Steve Phillips had to be quick off his line to block Miller’s header just inside the 18-yard box before recovering to thwart Robert Koren’s attempted lob from the rebound.

Albion’s pressure paid off in the 17th minute when Morrison opened the scoring.

Bednar controlled Brunt’s throughball on his thigh before holding off a challenge from a Rovers defender and surging goalwards.

The Czech striker got a low shot away from the edge of the area that Phillips should have done better than to parry into the path of Morrison, who had the simple task of side-footing the ball home from close-range.

Lambert missed a glorious chance to equalise midway through the first half when, unmarked on the edge of the six-yard box, he side-footed a shot straight at Kiely.

The Championship side made their League One opponents pay the ultimate price for that miss when Miller doubled their lead on the half-hour mark.

Miller latched on to a long punt forward and turned his marker on the right-hand side of the penalty area before unleashing a left-foot shot that flew past Phillips with the aid of a slight deflection.

But Rovers were not disheartened and produced an instant reply. Coles ghosted in unmarked at the far post to poke the ball through Kiely’s legs from inside the six-yard box following Stuart Campbell’s corner.

Campbell’s curling shot from 25 yards had Kiely scrambling across his goal just before the break but the ball sailed harmlessly wide.

Miller might have restored West Brom’s two-goal lead on the stroke of half-time when he was one-on-one with Phillips, but after rounding the Rovers goalkeeper and with an open goal at his mercy he slipped at the vital moment and the chance was gone.

Rovers were lucky to escape when Phillips flapped at Morrison’s cross under pressure from Bednar five minutes into the second half.

Miller was presented with another one-on-one opportunity when Koren slipped a lovely reverse ball down the left-hand side of the Rovers defence, but the striker snatched at the chance and blazed his angled shot over the crossbar.

David Pipe volleyed dangerously across the face of Albion’s goal and his cross eluded substitute Lewis Haldane at the near post before Lambert just failed to get a touch sliding in at full stretch at the far post.

Baggies boss Tony Mowbray made a double substitution in the 63rd minute, bringing on top scorer Phillips and Zoltan Gera for Bednar and Brunt.

Miller restored Albion’s two-goal advantage in the 69th minute in controversial circumstances.

Koren headed the ball forward in the direction of Kevin Phillips, with Miller retreating from an offside position.

Rovers defender Craig Hinton flicked the ball on and it broke to Miller who held off a challenge to slide the ball under Steve Phillips from 15 yards out.

Phillips all but settled the tie soon after when another clever reverse ball by Koren put him through on goal with just his namesake to beat, and the Championship player of the season made no mistake as he poked the ball into the bottom corner.

Haldane hit the post in the 81st minute with a right-foot shot from the edge of the area as Rovers looked to get back into the tie.

But it was to no avail as Miller completed his hat-trick and added some gloss to the scoreline in the 85th minute, controlling a low cross before coolly steering the ball into the bottom corner from 15 yards.