| LATE GALLEN GOAL COULD COST
STAGS DEER
Rangers failed to
beat a resolute, if not niggly, Mansfield side in a tempestuous
encounter at Loftus Road. Just how dearly the two dropped points
will cost us in the end of season run in is anybodies guess. I have
a feeling we may look back on this game with heavy hearts come May.
Following the 4-0 hammering handed to
Port Vale last week Holloway stuck with the same side despite having
a couple of players fit following injury. Culkin was in goal behind
the back four of Forbes, Shittu, Palmer and Padula. The midfield
four was Bean, Langley, Bircham and Griffiths with Gallen and
Furlong in attack. Clarke Carlisle and Denis Oli had recovered
sufficiently to make the bench at the expense of Doudou and
Fitzgerald.
Things started well and Rangers could
have been a couple of goals up within the first ten minutes. Paul
Furlong poked an effort wide with his left foot; he may have hit the
target if he had used his right. Minutes later and Furlong was in
the thick of the action again. This time he was shown the yellow
card for a lunge at keeper Welch. It seemed harsh as the ball was
there to be won but the referee seemed to have taken an instant
dislike to the Rangers front man.
Furlong was soon trying for goal again
when he sent a thumping header wide following a Marc Bircham cross.
He tried to get onto another cross moments later but found himself
thrown to the ground by footballs most loathsome individual, Keith
Curle. Referee Robinson ignored his claims and only seemed to want
to penalise the attackers of both sides for any confrontation with
defenders.
Kevin Gallen tested Welch's reflexes
with a shot that needed a good save but Rangers hit the front a few
minutes later. Leroy Griffiths picked the ball up wide and fed a
neat pass to Gallen. His slide rule ball split the Stags defence and
Furlong fired confidently past Welch. This was Furlongs fourth goal
in four games and he really seems to be in form at the moment.
Rangers should have used this goal as a platform to win the game but
instead found themselves pegged back moments later.
Mansfield attacked the Rangers right
and a ball was swung toward the near post. Junior Mendes jumped with
Culkin and got there well before the Rangers keeper. His header came
back off the bar and fell to Iyseden Christie for a simple finish to
equalise. It was a shocking piece of keeping from Culkin who,
despite conceding very few, seems to inspire little confidence in
the Rangers faithful. It often seems as if he is tethered to his
goal or held in a Perspex cage such is his reluctance to leave his
line. When he does it causes palpitations amongst players and fans
alike. Maybe now is the time for Chris Day to make his return?
Rangers had dominated for long periods
and were handed an even bigger advantage when Mansfield sub Andy
Jones was sent off. Having come on in the 26th minute for
Wayne Corden he found himself booked for a swinging arm on Bircham
after 27 minutes. Then, eight minutes later and without a touch of
the ball to his name he felled Langley with a wild lunge and left
the ref no option. Disley and Langley were also booked in the
resulting melee as the ref looked as though he would lose control.
In truth Bircham was lucky to escape censure for his involvement, as
was rent-a-gob Curle.
Still the pattern of play continued,
Rangers piling forward and Mansfield repelling all boarders. Welch
produces a stunning save from a Gino piledriver and a combination of
Shittu and Furlong managed to rattle the bar in the resulting
scramble. 1-1 at half time was not a true reflection of the Rangers
dominance but the only people to blame for that were the Rangers
players.
Mansfield went ahead straight after
the break following some shocking defending from the whole Rangers
defence. Langley, admittedly having a stinking game, tried, once
again, to be too clever in midfield. He served to give the ball away
in a dangerous area and leave the back four exposed. The through
ball caught them square and Christie was left with a clear sight of
goal and made no mistake, firing home via the post. Christie had
been the pick of the Mansfield players and had shown a real
willingness to work hard in and out of the box, you can't hide the
fact though that he had been given two chances and taken them both.
The lifeline was thrown out by Keith
Curle almost immediately as he gave away a penalty. Curle was
involved in his usual wrestling match with Furlong and for the
second time, threw the Rangers striker to the ground. This time the
ref gave a spot kick and Gallen quickly picked up the ball. Curle
now started his histrionics and time wasting in an effort to
distract Gallen. He spent a couple of minutes moaning at the ref and
then tried to get in Gallen's face as he tried to keep his
composure. The ref didn't help the situation with his week handling
of it and in the end he booked Curle. Three minutes had now elapsed
since the award and everybody knew what was coming next. Gallen
tried to place the ball to Welch's right, but his kick was weak and
easily saved.
Mansfield could easily have had a
penalty of their own when Culkin seemed to take Christie's legs from
under him. It looked nailed on from where I was but the ref didn't
agree and Rangers had got away with another one.
Paul Furlong spurned a great chance
when a ball fizzed in from the right was deflected though his legs
by the slightest touch from Curle. On another day Furlong may have
claimed a hatrick but everybody seemed to know that Rangers were
having one of those days. Unfortunately, those days come all too
often against teams we should easily beat.
Still the chances came and went for
Rangers as the tried to get themselves back into a game they were
somehow losing. Griffiths brought a good save from Welch from the
left and Gallen showed no composure at all when smashing the follow
up into the side netting. Griffiths found himself with an identical
chance minutes later but this time sent his effort into the crowd
when a cool head was needed to find the target.
With the disheartened Rangers fans
streaming from the ground in droves Kevin Gallen showed his class
with a stunning finish for the latest of equalisers. A long punt up
field caused pandemonium in the Mansfield defence with keeper and
defender both going for the ball. The defenders touch was poor and
Welch found himself in no mans land. The ball fell to Gallen and in
one fluid movement with his back to goal; he swivelled to send a
lobbed volley over the stranded Curle and in. It was a sublime
finish from Gallen and no more than Rangers deserved given the
balance of chances.
Make no bones about it this was a poor
result against a team that should have been well beaten by the
break. In the shake up the difference between a play off place will
be as little as one or two points. These two dropped points added to
the two dropped points at Northampton a couple of weeks ago could be
extremely costly. Rangers seem to have an ingrained problem in
beating teams that are clearly worse than them and an even bigger
problem against depleted opposition. Add the fact that we cannot
take a penalty to save our lives, a showboating midfielder and a
keeper that makes everybody nervous and the next couple of months
could be nerve-racking to say the least.
simon@qprnet.com |
