| RANGERS TOPPLE ELEVEN AND A
HALF MAN CHESTERFIELD
First match, first
win, first diabolical refereeing performance. Its good to be back!
Rangers had to battle against a poor performance from themselves and
midget ref Olivier to grab all three points against a Chesterfield
side that were as negative as expected.
The starting line up would have come
as a surprise to those who don't spend all day looking at the
internet. Langley was dumped on the bench through a combination of
poor form, fitness and ill-advised comments. Wes Daly lined up on
the right in his place. Kevin Gallen played in the hole behind
Thomson and Connolly in a less than rapid front three.
The first half of the game was a
barely memorable affair. Chesterfield showed more attacking
intentions than they did last year but it still didn't amount to
much. Culkin had to be sharp to turn away a miss hit freekick and he
also spilled another stinging effort from Glyn Hurst.
At the other end the clever interplay
of Connolly and Gallen was providing Thomson with plenty of
opportunity to open his account this year. He screwed a right footed
effort wide when well placed and another close range effort was
smothered by the keeper. Indeed this challenge with Carl Muggleton
would ultimately lead to his premature exit from the game with a
knock.
Rangers were managing to force a
succession of corners but without Carlisle in the side our attacking
of them was left wanting. The blue haired Bircham also tried his
luck with a couple of long-range efforts but they were well off
target. Just before the stroke of half time Thomson limped off to be
replaced by loan signing Paul Furlong.
Half time was met with the usual round
of booing from some of the less intelligent members of the Loftus
Road crowd and the second half couldn't have really got off to a
worse start. Chesterfield were on the attack and as a ball to the
right was attempted Wes Daly slid in to block. The ball was kicked
at the prone Daly and Olivier, The Smallest Ref in the World pointed
to the spot. Nobody saw the offence apart from the ref but then
nobody else had his view of it!
Marcus Ebdon stepped up and smashed
the spot kick past Culkin's left hand. So, one nil down to a team
that couldn't really be arsed with attacking any more. Almost
immediately Rangers switched to 4-4-2 from 3-4-1-2 and started the
mission to claw themselves back into the game. For quarter of an
hour Rangers huffed and puffed over breaking down the eight-man
Chesterfield rearguard. Furlong had a header deflected onto the bar
and Shittu headed over from six yards when he should have scored.
The moment that turned the game on its
head was a double substitution after 67 minutes. Richard Langley and
another new loanee, Tommy Williams, replaced Wes Daly and Danny
Murphy. They lit up the field with tricks and incisive passing and
you could sense that it was now only a matter of time before Rangers
were back on terms.
The equaliser when it came was
courtesy of Furlong. A corner was initially cleared and turned back
into the box by Matthew Rose. Furlong spun on it and smashed it low
into the corner of the net. The ground erupted and you could see
Chesterfield visibly wilt.
Loftus Road was now rocking and
Williams was starting to go through the full repertoire of tricks.
He nutmegged one Chesterfield man on the edge of his own box that
brought the ground to its feet. He reminded me of Mark Kennedy and
his style will play well amongst the R's faithful.
The second goal came with only two
minutes left on the clock. Langley had drifted in field and when the
ball rolled into his path twenty-five yards from goal he walked onto
it and cracked it goalward. Muggleton looked to have it covered
until it hit Kevin Dawson on the arse and took the slightest
deflection. It was enough though and Langley launched himself at The
Loft waiving his shirt round his head.
Better was to come as Rangers added a
third in injury time. Rangers won a corner on the right and Bircham
and Langley presided over it. It was played short and as two
Chesterfield defenders closed in Bircham bundled them out of the way
to release Langley. He crossed for Gallen to strike across the
keeper from the near post.
The final whistle soon followed and an
unconvincing but ultimately deserved victory was secured. By
dropping Langley Ian Holloway had managed to get exactly the
reaction he wanted. Even the staunchest supporter of Langley must
admit that he had been out of sorts in pre-season and his comments
on his website were probably not what was needed. However he was
given his chance and he grasped it with both hands, he has now made
Holloway think twice about dropping him again.
Both of the loan players impressed.
Furlong led the line well and he gobbled up his goal. Another day he
could have had a hatrick. Tommy Williams looks like a terrific
player and I cant wait to see him get at a team for ninety minutes.
Marc Bircham was workmanlike if unspectacular in midfield and his
hair brought a smile to many faces before the game had even started.
Three points gained against eleven and
a half men is no mean feat. To score three goals and not play well
is an achievement in itself and it is a habit we must learn to get
into if we want to challenge this year. There will be times when we
play teams off the park and there will be times when, like Saturday,
we cant break teams down for long periods. The fans must not get on
the teams back at half time and must continue the vociferous backing
they got in this game. It truly sent a shiver down the spine.
A tough trip to Stockport awaits and
following their opening day defeat they will be keen to get their
season underway. A point will be fine but we will have to raise our
game a couple of notches to get it. Confidence will now be high and
I am sure they have the ability to do it.
simon@qprnet.com |
