di Santo's early present was sent down the chimney, then he listened for the applause, but eavesdroppers seldom hear good of themselves & Yves Ma-Kalambay could match him in the fancy names competition, as well as being able to save hard headers from less than a yard away.

Yeah, I know, it's a long weird sentence, but it was 0-0 against Hibs last night, so I have to work with what I have. Rovers were dominant, it was only a friendly, Benni McCarthey was out with a twisted ankle, and Franco linked up with Jason Roberts as if they knew each other.

Yves Makabu-Makalambay, born 31 January 1986, is Belgian with parents from the Congo, and had to use his near two meter height to keep out Pedersen's shot in the first two minutes. Morten Gamst Pedersen also brings a fine name from Norway, and his dipping free-kick into the top corner brought a no-way José acrobatic save from Yves to set the scene for an absorbing battle, friendly or not. Franco couldn't connect with the resulting corner, and when he hit his hard header soon after, Yves was up for it.

This was the full work-out before the first game with Man City: Robinson Jacobsen Samba Khizanishvili (sub Nelsen 63) Olsson Gallagher (sub van Heerden 83) Nzonzi Andrews (sub Doran 68) Pedersen Di Santo (sub Hoilett 63) Roberts attended by 5,563 loyal Rovers fans.

Speaking of great names meeting each other, this was not quite the bar scene in Star Wars, but Hibs' best player was Moroccan Merouane Zemmama born October 7, 1983, whose first club was Raja Casablanca. A lovely run from him was stopped in its tracks by Rovers' Zurab Khizanishvili (Georgian: ზურაბ ხიზანიშვილი; born 6 October 1981. Ian Murray should have scored from Zemmama's corner, but headed wide.

Rovers kept up the pressure to the end with shots from play, shots from corners, even a gift shot for Jason Roberts from Hoilett after a poor Yves Makabu-Makalambay clearance, but French-Ivorian Souleymane "Sol" Bamba - born 13 January 1985 - managed a sliding clearance. There's another Scottish friendly on Sat'dy, awa' up to Dundee. You can get your granite brick to celebrate their centenary if you get up to Tannadice Park, Tannadice Street, Clepington, Dundee, where the team's known as The Terrors, the supporters, The Arabs: the ArabTrust holds the second highest shareholding. Dundee United played their first game on August 18th 1909 as Dundee Hibernian, becoming Dundee United in 1923.

Arabs? Terrors? Rovers? Juliet? Juliet:
"What's in a name? That which we call a rose
By any other name would smell as sweet."

Rabbie Burns, can you do better, given the Blackburn rose as your theme?

O my Luve's like a red, red rose,
That's newly sprung in June;
O my Luve's like the melodie
That's sweetly play'd in tune.

As fair art thou, my bonie lass,
So deep in luve am I;
And I will luve thee still, my Dear,
Till a' the seas gang dry.

Till a' the seas gang dry, my Dear,
And the rocks melt wi' the sun;
I will luve thee still my Dear,
While the sands o' life shall run.

And fare thee weel, my only Luve,
And fare the weel, a while!
And I will come again, my Luve,
Tho' it ware ten thousand mile!