Blythe Spartans 0 Blackburn Rovers 1: Sam Allardyce's sides have never played pretty but have usually been effective and Blackburn Rovers got the job done tonight, though they were made to work against minnows Blythe Spartans in the FA Cup third round.
In the face of a spirited performance by their hosts, Rovers failed to put the game to bed early on and had to rely on a moment of class from Carlos Villanueva to earn the right to meet Sunderland in the fourth round.
The 59th minute free-kick was one of the few memorable moments for Rovers fans but Blythe's Andrew Wright will never forget the chance he had to force a replay at Ewood Park.
Ten yards from goal and without a defender in sight the substitute guided his volley narrowly past the upright with five minutes remaining.
The homeside were to be gifted another chance, however, but it too was spurned by Alex Gildea when he headed wastefully over the bar from a free-kick on the right hand side.
While Spartans keeper Mark Bell was comfortably the busier of the two, it was opposite number Mark Bunn who had cause to look on with the greatest concern when he found himself all at sea 26 minutes into a compelling contest.
The home side had not threatened the Blackburn goal at all until Bunn, for reasons best known to himself, came from his line to confront a posse of players converging on a loose ball and was beaten to it by Aaron Mokoena.
The defender's mishit clearance arrived invitingly at the feet of Jed Dalton, the man whose last-gasp strike against Bournemouth in the last round had booked his side their big night.
But with Bunn scrambling desperately back towards his line, he missed the target from distance and the men from the top flight breathed a huge sigh of relief.
They had enjoyed the better of what had gone before with Irish midfielder Keith Treacy forcing a good 11th-minute save from Bell, but his clean sheet was in danger on several more occasions before referee Andre Marriner signalled the end of the first 45 minutes.
Rovers had the ball in the net 12 minutes before the break when the lively Matt Derbyshire finished acrobatically, via a deflection, after latching on to a looping ball, but an offside flag quickly halted his celebrations.
But the visitors almost took the lead legally six minutes later when Vince Grella, making just his fifth appearance for the club he joined from Torino during the summer, sent in a firm volley which thumped into defender Richard Pell's chest on the line and was hacked away.
Allardyce knew there was face-saving to be done after the break, while opposite number Harry Dunn could not have asked for much more from his Blue Square North battlers.
There was a real sense of expectation inside the packed ground as the second half got under way with Rovers struggling to make their greater pedigree count.
However, Spartans were reminded of the challenge they faced within six minutes of the restart when Villanueva worked his way into a promising position 25 yards out and curled a left-foot shot just wide of the post with Bell anxiously trying to get across to his post.
But the Chilean made no mistake when presented with a second opportunity with 59 minutes gone.
Villanueva had been barged to the ground by Chris McCabe, and took full revenge when he curled the resulting free-kick high into Bell's top-left corner to ease his side in front.
It proved to be his last touch as Allardyce instantly introduced Jason Roberts and Dubliner Keith Andrews, and the latter might have made his mark immediately had he not miskicked in front of goal.
Blackburn would have been home and dry had Treacy's 61st-minute shot crept over, rather than on to, the bar after flicking off full-back Kenny Boyle with the visitors finally flexing their muscles.
But as time ran down, Spartans threw everything they had left at the visitors, and came agonisingly close to snatching a replay.
Wright fired inches wide of the post with Bunn beaten with five minutes remaining and an unmarked Gildea headed over two minutes later as the Premier League side rode their luck.
