Blackburn Rovers 3 Swansea City 1

Among the weekend's Cup shocks, the exit of Premier League Swansea City to the one-time title winners Blackburn Rovers may not rank among the biggest surprises, yet the Championship side are not the force they once were in Football, when local steel baron Jack Walker's money springboarded them ahead of Manchester United to the summit of English football in 1995. Relegation from the top flight in 2012 and no subsequent promotion back, has left them like many other former Premier League teams in the competitive second-tier, trying to hold on to their top players but also not to end up in a financial quagmire.

So the welcome victory over their Welsh opposition on Saturday will have helped to appease the expectant fans who yearn for their days back in the limelight, when the likes of Alan Shearer and Chris Sutton spearheaded the dreaded 'SAS' at Ewood Park.

The management at Blackburn has found some consistency in recent times, after a spell following their latest relegation (they also departed the top league in 1999, before being promoted back two years later) during which three managers left through the swing door in six months. When current manager Gary Bowyer took over after Michael Appleton left in March 2013, he followed the earlier departures of Steve Kean and Henning Berg. Under Bowyer they currently lie tenth in the Championship, eleven points off the play-offs.

Boasting a proud Cup pedigree down the years, the home side had won the FA Cup six times previously, but the last success was before most current fans can recollect in 1928. So a good Cup run this time around would be welcome.

Their game against the Swans began promisingly as far as they were concerned, as an early red card for Kyle Bartley after a foul on Josh King reduced the visitors to ten men after only six minutes.

Bartley prevented the pacey King from running on to a through ball and as last man had to go. Yet the classy top division side demonstrated their ability even a man short by taking the lead on 21 minutes, when Gylfi Sigurdsson scored with a powerful right-foot strike. Home fans' hope returned two minutes later when Chris Taylor brought the sides level.

Having the home crowd's support and the numerical advantage in their favour, Rovers pushed on in the second -half and were rewarded when substitute Rudy Gestede prodded home at the second attempt on 78 minutes. That lead was stretched to 3-1 when a Craig Conway shot was allowed to creep under his body by Swans' goalkeeper Lukasz Fabianski in the final two minutes.

The away side's misery was complete in injury time, when Sigurdsson's late challenge on Taylor resulted in another dismissal, and they finished the game with just nine men and well beaten in addition. A major disappointment for the home team was the pitiful attendance of less than 6,000 fans, despite the marvellous result on the pitch.

The post-match analysis hinted at Swansea's demise perhaps being exacerbated by Garry Monk's decision to make five changes for the game, but the early red card was probably the defining moment.