| GALLEN MAKES CITY PAY THE
PENALTY
Rangers completed
the league double over promotion rivals Bristol City courtesy of a
Kevin Gallen penalty. All too often this season we have seen the
team lose their bottle at the vital moment but this was different.
This performance will have instilled
hope in the R's faithful that we have what it takes to battle all
the way. Following the 3-0 thumping of Huddersfield during the week
Holloway kept as much of the side as he could. Only suspension would
force a change. Day started his second game in goal with Forbes,
Carlisle and Shittu ahead of him. With Gino suspended Williams came
in at left back for his first start since the ankle injury. Langley,
Palmer, Bircham and Cook were in midfield behind the in form duo of
Gallen and Furlong.
The game got off to a pulsating start
and it looked from the early exchanges that there were some
communication issues in defence, mostly centring around Clarke
Carlisle. He whipped the ball away from Day despite their being a
call that could be heard at the back of the Upper Loft and then got
in Shittu's way as he tried to affect a clearance. After a bit of a
barney involving all three parties they seemed to sort themselves
out and got on with the job of repelling all of City's advances.
At the other end Paul Furlong set off
on a driving run from deep in midfield. He managed to pull away from
Doherty and send in a low left footer that was skimming wide but
still forced Phillips into the save. Bircham tried his luck next
after being set up by Langley. His shot from eighteen yards went
wide when he really should have been testing the keeper.
The only goal of the game came in
mysterious circumstances. Kevin Gallen chased a Williams ball into
the box. There seemed little danger as the ball looked to be running
behind before Matt Hill inexplicably handled. Referee Rejer had no
hesitation in pointing to the spot, the question now was who would
step up. Following his miss against Mansfield I had wondered whether
Gallen would relinquish penalty duties but no. He stepped up and
confidently placed the ball to Phillips left with the City keeper
diving away to his right.
The game now really exploded into life
as Dan Shittu was on the end of two challenges that may have brought
red cards on another day. Firstly he cleared the ball on the right
touchline and was cleaned out by Tommy Doherty. We know that Doherty
is, shall we say, competitive from the LDV game in which he
instigated a spat that led to Langley's red card. This was an awful
lunge and a smaller player may have found himself in the crowd. He
was only cautioned when a red card would surely have been
appropriate.
Next it was Peacock's turn to rough up
Shittu in the very next passage of play. Both men challenged for a
high ball and Shittu was caught with a blatant elbow to the head.
Again, this should have been a straight red but once again the ref
chose only to show a yellow. Things would surely have been easier
against nine men but as it turned out it didn't matter as the R's
battled for every ball.
Langley, who had been subdued in
recent weeks suddenly sprang into action and could have had a couple
of goals against his name. He sent a stinging drive past Phillips
post with the keeper rooted to the spot. He then smashed one
straight at Phillips which he made a real meal of. Only minutes
later he was at it again as he latched onto Gallen's pass and tried
to chip Phillips. The City keeper responded with a fantastic save
that just forced the ball wide.
Bristol City could have equalised
early in the second half but were thwarted by the sharp reflexes of
Chris Day. City forged an opening on the left and Murray fired over
a cross that eluded the throng of players in the box and fell to
Doherty. The City skipper crashed a volley goalward and Chris Day
plunged low to his right and deflected the ball away with his knee.
It was just the sort of save he needed after being out for so long
and then so under worked in his comeback game.
Both Cook and Langley went close with
headers from Gallen crosses before Doherty forced another excellent
save from day with a shot that seemed destined for the far corner.
Day rose highest and palmed the effort to safety.
Bristol City by this time were
bringing a massive amount of pressure to bear on the Rangers
defence. Mark Robins had been replaced by Roberts and with Peter
Beadle also on the field City went for a three pronged attack. The
midfield runs of Murray were also causing problems and Williams did
well to keep him under control. Indeed one challenge from Williams
denied Murray an almost certain goal as he surged toward Chris Day.
It seemed that most of the possession
that Rangers were winning was going through, and ultimately being
wasted by Richard Langley. I think Langley knows he is the most
talented player at the club and I also think he feels pressurised to
show it at every opportunity. He won't pass the ball unless he has
done a trick and then when the trick goes wrong he gets frustrated
and wont chase back. Time and again Forbes found space outside
Langley only for the ball to be wasted. Holloway needs to sit
Langley down and get him doing the basics well again before he
starts trying too many tricks and flicks.
As the game drew to a close Brian
Tinnion was involved in an ugly incident in front of the Ellerslie
Road stand. City won a throw and the Rangers fans wouldn't give the
ball back. Tinnion went mental and had to be restrained by the
linesman; all the while the ref stood by and took no action.
Somebody of Tinnion's experience should know better than to get
involved like that and it showed that the promotion pressure is
getting to our rivals as much as it is getting to us.
This was a fine performance and
deserved victory against a very good Bristol City side. Although we
are still sixth we are now only two points off of City and with all
of the teams around us to play it is very much in our own hands.
simon@qprnet.com |
