"There was a lot of arrogance from them ... They were very vocal and disrespectful even when they were three-nil down.
"Our lads just played on [despite] all the swipes so it was pretty embarrassing for them, really."
It seems a confrontational platform was laid out when Suburbs reverted to wearing their red-and-blue strips after a decade of white as well as black-and-red ones.
That meant the Rovers had to find alternative white strips because their blue and away red ones were going to clash against Suburbs.
That perennial allergy aside between the Rovers and any Declan Edge-coached side, the visitors drew first blood in just the fourth minute from league golden-boot leader Angus Kilkolly who headed in the ball from the back post after a well-timed cross from the left flank from centre-mid Tom Biss.
It was 2-0 in the 20th minute when another golden-boot contender, midfielder Ryan Tinsley, latched on to a Saul Halpin cross to find the net in almost the same fashion as the first goal.
The third goal came in the 85th minute from striker Stephen Hoyle, who took on goalkeeper Mitchell Stewart-Hill following a deft square ball from Halpin.
Blues coach Bill Robertson said they went in with a specific script and adhered to it to create numerous chances so it was satisfying to convert three of them into goals.
"We deserve to be in the semifinals," said Robertson, revealing showers punctuated a windy park so playing into it in the second half didn't make it easy to score more goals.
"The grass pitch was great, though. It was the best we've played away at this season."
Robertson sang the anthem of "a cup home game will be nice" to negate the factors of travel and financial strain on the club.
While the Blues will be playing relatively unknown quantities in the semifinal, he preferred to think their prospective rivals to the road to national knockout final would be doing their homework on a Napier side at the cusp of claiming a double.
"Teams around New Zealand will be watching our record and will be trying to avoid us."
Said a laughing Wilson: "We'd prefer a home semifinal but it'll probably be another normal day - hashtag AWA [always win away]."
