RAY HOUGHTON continued the new Aston Villa 'rule' last night miss a penalty and score a goal!

Houghton atoned for his penalty miss by scoring Villa's third, but it was Dean Saunders, whose missed penalty in the first game resulted in this third round replay at Twerton Park, who wrecked Bristol Rovers boss Malcolm Allison's FA Cup glory bid.

Rovers' chief boldly forecast a 3-0 win for his team but Saunders reversed that with two far-post headers.

The £2 million Liverpool 'reject' gave Rovers no second reprieve as Saunders rammed Allison's words back down his throat.

Rovers' goalkeeper Gavin Kelly pulled off a string of fine saves with none better than his fourth minute block from a Dwight Yorke effort after he had been put through by Earl Barrett.

Marcus Browning should have done better with a sixth minute header for the underdogs but his effort from a Richard Evans cross lacked power and was easily held by Nigel Spink.

With little to choose between the teams, it was Saunders who broke the deadlock after 25 minutes in classic dead-ball fashion.

A Steve Staunton corner was flicked on by Yorke and Saunders was there at the far post to head home.

Four minutes later, Villa were laying siege to the Rovers goal when Richardson had a shot blocked.

The ball rebounded to Barrett whose drive beat Kelly but defender Billy Clark pulled off a save of which any goalkeeper would have been proud.

The consequences were two-fold. Cornish referee Martin Bodenham immediately awarded a penalty and then brandished the red card at Clark.

At this stage, Houghton stepped up to take his first spot-kick for Villa but Kelly dived to his right to save. After the match.

Villa manager Ron Atkinson had words of praise for Paul McGrath:

"We looked comfortable all the way through and didn't give Rovers anything. Our centre halves were impassable. McGrath was phenomenal and Teale superb."

Rovers worked hard to cover their deficiency and were helped by Yorke and Saunders who frequently moved too quickly for Garry Parker's precision passes to be caught offside.

As Rovers began to tire, Kelly came to their rescue once more with a marvellous left-handed save after Saunders had met a Yorke cross with a powerful header.

But Villa finally brought a true reflection to the scoreline in the final 15 minutes. Saunders headed in a Staunton corner from an acute angle and, with seven minutes left, Neil Cox's through pass set up Houghton to clinch a home tie for Villa against Wimbledon in round four.

Atkinson and Allison called a halt to their verbal 'feud' after the game.

Following the original tie at Villa Park. Atkinson refused to shake hands with Allison who had described him as 'Fat Ron.'

But Villa's 3-0 win ended with a handshake Allison said: "I went to shake hands with Ron and he put his left hand out to me."

Yet 65-year-old Allison could still not resist a dig at Atkinson. He added: "I think Ron's put on some more weight since the first match. I said it would be 3-0 tonight but I didn't say to which team. I said well done to Ron."