| MARCO DIVES, FURLONG THRIVES
BUT THOMPSON DENIES
A patched up
Rangers side battled back for a well earned point against bogey team
Northampton Town. Had it not been for an inspired goalkeeping
performance and some dubious work by the linesman all three points
could have ended up back at Loftus Road.
Holloway wasn't afforded the luxury of
being able to keep the side that had won convincingly against
Chesterfield last week. The keeper and back four remained unchanged,
so it was Culkin behind Forbes, Shittu, Palmer and Padula. Wes Daly
replaced Burgess on the right and Griffiths was in for the injured
Walshe on the left. Gallen and Bircham were again paired together in
the middle after a fine showing last week.
It was all change up front due to
injuries and lack of form. Pacquette had pulled his hamstring in
training and Brett Angell has the look of a man who will never score
again. Both the goalscoring subs from last week, Thomson and
Furlong, were given the chance to shine from the start.
Rangers flew out of the traps and
forced a corner after only twenty seconds. After five minutes Thommo
latched onto a Furlong cross and seemed to be shoved as he shot at
goal. His effort was comfortably gathered by Glyn Thompson. On
another day it might have been a penalty but the ref was blind to a
number of incidents throughout the game.
Northampton hit the front after
fifteen minutes and it came as little surprise to the Rangers fans.
The Cobblers had lost their last six at home and failed to score in
any of them. With our traditional role of bad run breakers to the
fore slack defending was to blame. Gabbiadini broke through the
Rangers lines from a suspiciously offside looking position. He
managed to get his fat legs moving quick enough to get some space
and pick out Brent Rahim to volley past Culkin.
Furlong had a chance to equalise
shortly after when Leroy managed to create space for a cross.
Furlong was eighteen yards out when the ball arrived and his header
was easy for Thompson to claim. The young keeper, on loan from
Fulham, had already saved bravely at Furlongs feet and it looked as
though he was destined for one of those games.
Kevin Gallen should have restored
parity just after the half hour. He latched onto an excellent
through ball/aimless hoof (delete as applicable) from Forbes and
bore down on goal. He flicked at the ball with the outside of his
foot and the ball beat Thompson as well as his left hand post.
By this time Gallen had moved into a
more accustomed centre forward role due to yet more injuries.
Thomson had pulled his hamstring and Daly took a blow to the knee
and both had been subbed before twenty minutes had passed. We now
had Chris Plummer at the back, Palmer in midfield and young Marcus
Bean playing wide right. Beano may be a lot of things but a winger
he aint. It goes to show how little trust Holloway must have in
Doudou to do a job for the team.
Before the break we had been treated
to a taste of things to come from the cheating Gabbiadini. Having
felled Palmer minutes earlier without punishment he went up against
him for a header. Palmer bumped into him and the conniving striker
hit the deck and Palmer was booked. The ref was fooled a good few
times by Gabbiadini and it amazes me that nobody has wised up to his
antics.
Paul Furlong had a great chance to
equalise after the break but again found himself thwarted by another
brave save from Thompson. He was to gain his revenge minutes later
with the equalising goal.
Steve Palmer and Furlong challenged
Gabbiadini and when the fat fella realised he had lost the ball he
threw himself to the floor to get the freekick. This time his
fraudulent claim was to fail as Palmer sent Furlong through on goal.
He took a touch to steady himself before steering the ball past
Thompson and in. It was a terrific finish from a player that is now
performing at the level we know he is capable of. A few more
performances like this and the fickle fans will have forgotten what
all the fuss was about.
Rangers now had their tails up and
Furlong and Gallen were a constant threat. Furlong had another
effort saved by Thompson and Gallen tested the youngster from a
tight angle. If Kev has looked up he would have seen three players
in the box begging for a cross, his lack of recent goals must weigh
heavy on his mind.
At the other end Culkin had to be
alert when Plummer nearly scored an o.g. Rahim crossed from the
right and ball eluded everybody only to smash Plummer in the face
and fly goalward. Culkin flung up his arms to turn the ball away. It
would have been a travesty if it had gone in as Plummer had been
outstanding and stood up well to the disgusting antics of
Flabbiadini.
Gallen tested Thompson again with a
twenty yarder that seemed destined for the bottom corner before his
intervention. At the other end Bean headed a Gabbiadini effort off
the line with Culkin beaten. As the game drew to a close Kevin
Gallen was the victim of one of the worst decisions I have ever
seen. He took a ball outside the box, flicked it over an opponents
head and ran on to have a strike at goal. All of a sudden he was
halted by the flag of Mr Meads! He had been flagged offside for
running onto his own flick, what a joke. This was a decision that
would have met with howls of derision on a Sunday morning and has no
place in a professional game.
Deep into injury time Rangers almost
won it. Bircham floated in a right wing corner and Shittu rose
majestically at the back post to meet the ball with a downward
header that landed on the roof of the net! I have never seen a man
outside the NBA jump as high as this.
Given our shaky record against
Northampton I was relatively pleased with a point but we had more
than enough chances to win the game easily. On another day, with
another keeper and a different lino it could have been a wholly
different outcome.
simon@qprnet.com |
