EDDIE Howe was the Cherries hero as Sean O'Driscoll's battling side took a magnificent Carling Cup scalp with a famous penalty shoot-out win at Blackburn Rovers. (Sept 22)

The on-loan Portsmouth defender blasted home the decisive spot-kick in an incredible tie to send his team-mates and travelling Cherries supporters into ecstasy.

It appeared as if Cherries had been denied a superb victory in injury time as Morten Gamst Pedersen's last-gasp equaliser had dragged the game into extra-time.

Karl Broadhurst's towering header just eight minutes from time had set Sean O'Driscoll's side up for victory after Brett Emerton's early strike had been quickly cancelled out by Garreth O'Connor's crisp volley.

Just moments after the start of the extra period, Blackburn were apparently on course for a third-round home clash with Cardiff City as Paul Gallagher raced through a static Cherries rearguard to hammer his shot past Neil Moss.

But O'Driscoll's battlers gave the Premiership giants a taste of their own medicine when John Spicer glanced home the equaliser five minutes from the end of extra-time to send the tie into the drama of a penalty shoot-out.

Although Derek Holmes' spot-kick was saved by Blackburn keeper Peter Enckelman, both Jonathan Stead and Tugay ballooned their efforts over the bar.

That left Howe, who was outstanding throughout the game, to stroll up and batter his effort home to send the Cherries players into delirium.

It all seemed so different in just the eighth minute when Aussie midfielder Emerton opened the scoring.

Javier De Pedro drove forward from midfield and slipped a neat through-ball to the rejuvenated Matt Jansen.

The ex-England under-21 man hit a crisp angled shot at goal, which Moss could only parry, allowing Emerton to tap home the simplest of chances from barely a yard out.

A hardy bunch of around 300 Cherries fans made the long trek north but a disappointing crowd of just over 7,000 turned out on a miserably wet night in Lancashire as the possibility of a rout akin to Manchester City's 7-1 drubbing of Barnsley momentarily reared its head.

But that possibility was vanquished as O'Driscoll's troops hit back in the 12th minute as O'Connor's sweet volley levelled the scores.

Wade Elliott's cross from the right flank skipped past a couple of Rovers defenders to find the Irishman unmarked in the box and his tremendous low rocket flew past Peter Enckelman's left hand into the bottom corner.

As the half wore on, Blackburn, as expected, gained the upper hand as they came close to restoring their lead three times in quick succession. First Jansen wasted a glorious opportunity as he mishit his volley as he arrived unmarked at the far post from Emerton's cross.

And five minutes later, Cherries enjoyed a huge slice of fortune in a hectic double escape as Warren Cummings blocked Emerton's header on the goal-line before Lorenzo Amoruso thudded the crossbar with a piledriver from the follow-up.

O'Driscoll's men survived another couple of close calls late in the half as Moss spilled Lucas Neill's slippery shot past the post and Jay Bothroyd volleyed just wide as Shaun Maher's poor header failed to clear the danger from the resultant corner.

After the interval, it was again Rovers doing the majority of the attacking but Cherries looking dangerously capable of nicking a goal on the break.

The powerful Emerton was popping up all over the pitch while the awkward Bothroyd was in the action winning several important headers in threatening areas.

Jansen went close in the 54th minute when he capitalised on Maher's slip to curl a shot goalwards which Moss happily watched drift past his far post but the striker's pace was a constant source of danger for the disciplined back-line.

With Cherries struggling to make any impression at the other end, the Blackburn defenders were able to join in with wave after wave of attack.

Even the right-back Neill popped up unmarked in the penalty area on 58 minutes but he failed to make decent contact with a free header when he really should have scored.

But with the game nearing extra-time, Cherries began to find a firm footing and pressed on in search of a remarkable winner.

First O'Connor was denied a second when his blast was deflected over the bar and then the busy midfielder went down in the box under Neill's challenge looking for a penalty.

With just eight minutes left, O'Connor again made inroads down the left to loop over a cross to which Broadhurst majestically rose to plant a superb header past the Rovers keeper to send the travelling fans wild.

Indeed, a famous win was on the cards for O'Driscoll's heroes only for Pedersen's late intervention as Cherries failed to clear and allowed the Norwegian's shot to arrow into the bottom corner past a despairing Moss.

If that was hard to take, it was even worse just moments after the start of extra-time as Gallagher's close-range hammer flew past Moss high into the net.

As brave a challenge as Cherries had put up, it seemed that their luck had run out until Spicer hauled the Dean Court outfit back into the game from nowhere with only five minutes of extra-time remaining to set up the shoot-out.

Elliott's high cross to the far post picked out substitute Derek Holmes whose knock-back found Spicer stealing in late who stooped to nod home the equaliser.

While Warren Cummings, O'Connor, Alan Connell, Elliott all converted from the spot, Holmes saw his effort saved.

But Stead's wild thrash saw penalties into sudden death.

Shaun Maher and John Spicer then scored but when Turkish international Tugay blasted high into the Blackburn fans, Howe stepped up and crashed his shot straight down the middle to cue the incredible scenes of jubilation as Cherries booked their place in round three and ensured they were the talk of the nation.