Fulham far from comfortable as Bristol Rovers force replay

The travelling army of blue and white Bristolians, crammed behind one goal in a stadium with three sparsely populated stands, lifted their team to within 15 minutes of yet another third-round upset.

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League One teams Huddersfield and Oldham had already claimed the scalps of Birmingham and Everton on Saturday and at times Fulham, with confidence critically low, seemed determined to follow them out of the FA Cup.

Danny Coles fired the visitors ahead in the third minute, a goal Fulham manager Roy Hodgson compared to a 'cold shower' for his team who have won just three of their 24 games this season.

David Healy levelled but Craig Hinton headed Rovers back into the lead before Murphy booked a replay at the Memorial Ground a week tomorrow by rifling a 20-yarder into the top corner.

"I'm very proud," said Rovers boss Paul Trollope, a Fulham midfielder in the Kevin Keegan era. "But there is a little sense of disappointment. When you take the lead against Premier League teams, you hope to finish it off. We didn't do that but we showed good mentality after the second equaliser. A lot of players would have caved in."

Hodgson resisted the temptation to rest first team regulars in favour of the relegation battle, deciding Fulham must learn how to win — even if it is against a team from two tiers down football's pyramid. The plan almost backfired but the manager was upbeat at the end of his first full week in charge.

"Nobody at Fulham — players, staff, supporters — can say they're happy, but sometimes you have to look beyond results, see what happened on the field, compare it with what went before and remember the players are low on confidence," he said.

"I told them they had no reason to be ashamed of that performance. We did well to come back twice. The work rate, attitude and desire to want the ball, to turn and pass it, is what we want to build upon."

Hodgson has inherited a small team, vulnerable from set pieces, and Rovers opened the scoring when Fulham failed to deal with a long throw. The ball spilled kindly for Coles and he drove the loose ball past Antti Niemi with the help of a meaty deflection.

Rovers keeper Steve Phillips had not made a save when Healy was given space to head into the corner from a cross by Moritz Volz six minutes before the break.

Suddenly, Fulham's passes zipped to feet and for 10 minutes either side of half-time the Rovers goal came under attack. Phillips made a string of excellent saves, the best a double from Healy and Chris Baird. With Murphy taking control, Rovers looked about to be overwhelmed, but their fans summoned them back into the game. Chris Lines delivered a free-kick from the right and Hinton rose to score.

Trollope said: "Our fans were immense, not only in numbers but in the noise they made. We've always had a fantastic following but they're not usually bunched up in one stand like that."

Despite seeing victory snatched away, they stood to cheer their team from the pitch and must believe the giantkilling act can be completed in Bristol next week.

Trollope said: "The pressure's still on Fulham. We'll play our football and hope for a cup shock."

Fulham: Niemi, Volz, Bocanegra, Stefanovic, Konchesky, Davies, Smertin, Murphy, Bouazza, Healy, Dempsey. Subs: Ricardo Batista, Ki-Hyeon, Davis, Baird, Leijer.

Bristol Rovers: Phillips, Lescott, Hinton, Elliott, Jacobson, Pipe, Coles, Lines, Igoe, Williams, Lambert. Subs: Walker, Carruthers, Mike Green, Rigg, Reece.

Referee: Keith Stroud (Hampshire)