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QPRnet.com
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FLYING FRASER
CLIPS MAGPIES WINGS
This was in many respects the classic away victory. Stern resistance
from the away teams defence, an incredible goalkeeping display and a
deadly striker doing the business at the other end. Anybody just
looking at the result may assume that this was a comfortable victory
for Rangers. This could not be further from the truth.
Fraser Digby lined up for his debut in place of broken leg victim
Chris Day. Fernando De Ornelas was handed a full debut on the right
flank and Mark Perry returned to the starting line up. The players
to miss out were Alex Bonnot through injury and Ollie Burgess for
reasons unknown. This didn't seem to effect the team as we began to
play some football from the kick off, something that is virtually
unheard of this season.
You could see that Connolly and De Ornelas had been given
instructions to get as wide as possible in order to open up the
field for the more central players. Mark Perry should have exploited
this space when Mildenhall easily saved his tame shot. This they did
and both saw plenty of the ball in the opening half. Connolly in
particular looked a constant threat and I think that this was due
partly to a half decent performance from Paul Bruce. It seems that
the reason Connolly has been so ineffective this season is that he
has been forced to protect one of our hapless left backs. Normally
Bruce has less co-ordination than a harlequin's jacket and is
constantly pulled out of position. Not today however. A couple of
good early challenges seemed to settle him and he and Connolly
combined well on a number of occasions.
Up front Doudou and Andy Thomson were combining to good effect and
it looks like Holloway may have found his first choice partnership.
Doudou's pace and direct running were simply too much for the County
back four and this uncertainty was creating space for others. It was
a shame that in the first period we could not do anything with it.
In contrast, Notts County seemed to be creating chances at will.
In the first half alone Digby was forced into four world class
saves. The back four seemed to be having a little trouble getting to
grips with the offside rule. Darren Caskey, Danny Allsopp and former
Leeds United yobbo Tony Hackworth (he was the one that got away with
allegedly doing the riverdance on THAT night in Leeds) were all
foiled with only the veteran keeper to beat. Truth be told we were
lucky not to be three or four goals down at the break. It was one of
those games when we seemed to have all of the possession and they
had all of the chances.
A half time substitution changed the game in Rangers favour. Stuart
Wardley replaced De Ornelas, who will take a few games to bed in.
Perry moved from the centre to the right wing and Wardley assumed
his more familiar role as an attacking midfielder. All of a sudden,
we looked like we might nick a goal. We now had a threat from deep
and the space that was being created by the wide men could finally
be exploited. Holloway had obviously had a word with the back four
as the offside trap finally kicked into gear. The linesman must have
had an arm like Hulk Hogan after the game as County strayed offside
on at least eight occasions.
With just under twenty minutes left to play Thomson delivered his
two-goal salvo. The first owed more to luck than judgement. Notts
County gave away a silly freekick on the edge of their box. When the
ball was swung in a fascinating pinball game ensued. Bignot had a
shot blocked and the ball finally sat up in the County six-yard box.
It looked like they tried to play offside but somebody must have
stepped out late as we had the goal at out mercy and a choice of
four players to tap the ball home. Luckily it fell to Thomson and he
made no mistake.
Whilst the massed ranks of Rangers fans were still celebrating
Thomson scored again, with a bloody header! Almost straight from
kick off Rangers won the ball back and carved the County defence to
pieces. Karl Connolly delivered a left wing cross and Thomson leapt
like a gazelle to direct a fine header past the despairing
Mildenhall. It was a great goal but the picture in the box told a
story. As Connolly looked up to deliver the ball he had a choice of
three players, Perry, Wardley and Thomson to aim for. It was nice to
see players trying to get into the box to meet a ball. All too often
our midfield choose to sit in the centre circle and watch the
strikers try to score. If they keep doing this then one of them
might actually chip in with a few goals this term.
Thomson very nearly claimed his second hat-trick of the season
minutes later. He nutmegged a County defender on the edge of the box
and as he tried to drag the ball round the keeper it just got away
from him. He could probably have slotted the ball home without the
tricks but who doesn't love a bit of showboating.
With a couple of minutes left Doudou was replaced by Leroy
Griffiths, both players receiving noisy accolades from the crowd.
Griffiths nearly scored but was foiled by the quick reactions of
Mildenhall. He rushed to the edge of his box to deliver a fine
challenge. If Leroy had been on for a couple of minutes more he may
have taken the chance. The final whistle was met with delirious
celebrations from players and fans alike. They needed to win to get
the season back on track and they had delivered in fine style.
It is not often you can say that everybody performed but today they
did. In the second half, Palmer and Rose were outstanding, as was
the much-maligned Wardley. The real plaudits however have to go to
Fraser Digby. His display was nothing short of spectacular. I saw
him in the reserves a couple of weeks ago and I wasn't impressed. At
Meadow Lane, he was a different keeper. His late save from Allsopp's
header was as good as you will see this season. If he can improve
his kicking he is definitely the man to cover until Day's return.
We need to build on this result and try a string an unbeaten run
together. If we can go for five or six games without a defeat we
will be right back in the mix and we can try and cement a play-off
place that this squad should be more than capable of. |
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