YOU'VE got to ask questions about people who leave Wanderers games five minutes before the end writes Neil Bonnar

I mean, it's not as it they haven't been warned.

Five of the last six Premiership matches at the Reebok have been settled by last minute goals, the other one producing a relatively early equaliser for Wanderers 10 minutes from time.

Yet on Saturday the ritualistic outpouring of supporters desperate to beat the car park rush began 10 minutes before the final whistle blew.

Is it really more important to miss the big action just to get home half an hour earlier?

Some might say they had the right idea because nobody in their right mind would want to suffer the agony of seeing their team lose two points in such agonising circumstances.

Referee Neale Barry should have some explaining to do for allowing Blackburn time to equalise. He indicated four minutes of added on time would be played but with more than five minutes having elapsed, with no stoppages to speak of during that period, Rovers raced from one end of the field to the other and Craig Short of all people popped up to head his first league goal for two seasons.

The Wanderers players also have some explaining to do after throwing away a game they should have had in the bag long before.

Jay Jay Okocha gave them the perfect foundation on which to build a confidence boosting performance and a derby victory when he lashed in his first Reebok goal after Henrik Pedersen nodded down Per Frandsen's delving cross with just eight minutes gone.

Wanderers capitalised on the goal with an encouraging display in which they were the better team in the first half and good enough to win the game against an improved Rovers in the second.

But that all counts for nothing when you switch off in the last second and it costs you two points.

This was Wanderers' fifth successive 1-1 draw at home in the Premiership and they should have won three of them at least.

That they didn't is down to a combination of inability to score and keep a clean sheet. But certainly nobody can moan that you don't get a big finish at the Reebok.

Short follows Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink for Chelsea, Per Frandsen against West Brom, Youri Djorkaeff against Southampton and Emile Heskey for Liverpool as last gasp goalscorers at the Reebok recently. When you add Michael Ricketts' and Henrik Pedersen's 88th and 92nd minute goals at Leeds, Simon Davies' 89th minute strike at White Hart Lane in Spurs' 3-1 victory and Kanu's 93rd minute winner at Arsenal it is clear that when you pay for 90 minutes of action with Wanderers you get 90 minutes of action - or 95 and a half minutes in Saturday's case.

Needless to say the Wanderers camp was disconsolate.

"We feel like we've lost 4-0, not drawn 1-1," said Sam Allardyce. "I'm absolutely distraught but that's the Premiership for you. You will be punished if you switch off.

"We could have been sitting here with three wins from our last four games and we're not.

"It is a very difficult one to take and a great shame because it would have been a magnificent win for us.

"Just a hopeful punt down the middle and some bad defending and we've lost two points."

The finger pointed at Djorkaeff as the chief waster of chances to seal victory but it would be harsh to pick out the French play-maker for negative reasons.

Like a butterfly he caresses every inch of the pitch, flitting through tackles and making Wanderers tick. Take him out of the side and Wanderers would lose most of their creative force.

But the team also needs him to be goal taker as well as maker when the opportunities come his way and let's hope his spurning of three glorious chances is just one bad day at the office.

It started after just four minutes when the ball dropped perfectly on to his left foot and he hit it wildly over from eight yards.

It got worse in the second half when he fluffed his shot completely from six yards and with the goal at his mercy after a wonderful turn and pull back from the by-line by the back in sorts Kevin Nolan.

And you knew it just wasn't going to be his day on 88 minutes when Michael Ricketts found him with time and space to spare only for him to give Brad Friedel the chance to make a fine low save when he should have buried it.

That apart Djorkaeff was class on a stick and it was almost like a competition between him and Jay Jay Okocha as to who could produce the most mesmerising skill.

With these two in the side Wanderers have goal threat and flair. With Per Frandsen and Paul Warhurst alongside them they have people who can choke the creative life out of the opposition.

Warhurst broke up much of Rovers' play before limping off after 50 minutes. Frandsen was heavily involved for every one of the 95 and a half minutes, working tirelessly at the less fashionable but equally vital jobs like winning and passing the ball, prompting attacks, making the killer cross for the goal and defending. And all the time sweating for the cause.

It was tough on Frandsen to finish on what seemed like the losing side but wasn't. As it was on Ricardo Gardner who revelled in his attacking duties in a new 4-3-3 formation.

Another non-stop performer, he was a constant threat to the Rovers' defence with pace which seemed even more devastating than usual and skill which matched the best of Djorkaeff and Okocha when he pulled off the unusual feat of a double nutmeg which brought the Reebok to its feet and red faces for the baffled Damien Duff and Martin Taylor.

Wanderers' defence deserved the rap for another last minute goal but they could hardly have stood more firmly before that in the face of a some testing Rovers' second half pressure.

Gudni Bergsson returned with his customary efficiency, driving Yorke and Cole crazy with his meticulous tidying up at the back which left few scraps for the Rovers strikeforce to feed on while Simon Charlton and Anthony Barness were solid and neat on the flanks.

Ivan Campo showed his many and varied defensive talents which are often neglected by some who prefer to focus on his more Maverick acts.

Campo is a big player at the back as well as fine entertainment value.

He mirrors Wanderers in that respect. For they, too, looked to be a decent team as well as fine entertainment.