| THORPEDO SINKS SPIREITES
Rangers overcame a
shaky spell against a resilient Chesterfield side to run up a
comfortable 3-0 victory at Loftus Road. Holloway's reshuffled side
owed much to the finishing of Tony Thorpe and the agility of Chris
Day for this not turning into Rushden & Diamonds MkII.
Changes were the order of the day once
more as injuries and discipline issues hit the squad hard. When the
team was announced there were plenty of eyebrows raised and even
more when the line up became apparent. Day as usual was in goal but
there was a change to the back four. Carlisle had been dropped for
failing to report for training and Steve Palmer dropped into his
place. The now familiar trio of Rowlands, Shittu and Padula
accompanied him. The midfield was the real talking point though with
a central pairing of Gallen and Williams. Not exactly the tough
tacklers that Holloway favours but two people capable of using the
ball well. Their wide men were Ainsworth and McLeod. Tony Thorpe
partnered the evergreen Paul Furlong in attack.
It was clear from the off that we were
going to see a lot more football than we have become used to over
the past two weeks. Gallen immediately set about stamping his
authority on the midfield and it was clear that he was aiming to
become the problem link between midfield and attack. His first
involvement was a subtle chip to the back stick that Furlong was
only inches away from converting.
Gareth Ainsworth tried to repeat his
Bank Holiday Monday antics soon after with a volley that flew into
the sparsely populated School End. Despite the R's enjoying the
better of the opening exchanges it was clear that Chesterfield boss
Roy McFarland had got his charges playing some decent stuff. Mark
Hudson found himself on the end of a cross and flashed a shot wide
of the right hand post from close range.
Furlong had the next chance and lashed
a wild shot into the top tier of the stand after good work on the
edge of the box. Tony Thorpe's first chance of the game was not long
in coming and was created by a combination of Williams and McLeod.
Williams had started well in the middle and was looking to keep
things simple and use his wide men whenever he could. He released
McLeod down the left and his cross was headed goalward by Thorpe.
Muggleton denied him on this occasion but was not able to repeat the
dose later in the game.
The chances kept on coming. Martin
Rowlands made a characteristic attacking burst from right back and
was unlucky to see his twenty-yard volley dip over the bar. Thorpe
again missed a header from a left wing cross and then minutes later
he gave Rangers the lead with his first goal for the club.
Steve Palmer intercepted a ball in his
own half, looked up, and picked out a sublime left footed pass to
the feet of Furlong. His first time flick was perfect for Thorpe and
he skipped past his marker. He quickly outwitted another
Chesterfield defender before cracking a low shot past Muggleton. It
was no more than Rangers deserved given their early dominance but
things were to change immediately.
Chesterfield had been forced into a
change ten minutes before the goal when Steve Payne was forced off
with a head injury. His replacement Caleb Folan was a giant of a man
and his introduction brought a change in style. The Spireites were
now looking for his head at every chance and whilst challenging for
a header with him, Dan Shittu seemed to turn an ankle. This dented
the big mans confidence and he went from being almost totally
dominant for the first half an hour to be absolutely shocking for
the next thirty minutes.
The half time break didn't seem to
perk Dan up and Rangers could have conceded four times in the first
fifteen minutes of the second half. For one reason or another he
kept charging past balls when he tried to clear them and this was
badly exposing Palmer's lack of pace.
Day was forced into a double save when
Folan managed to break through the back line. Luckily he shot
straight at Day but the big keeper was up sharply to deny Hudson
with the rebound. Hudson then forced Day into another save, this
time conceding a corner. From the kick, Padula cleared Ian Evatt's
header from under the bar.
Still the chances came and went for
Chesterfield. Folan headed wide when it seemed easier to score and
then all of a sudden Big Dan burst back into life. He chased down
Folan on one occasion and clobbered him with a trademark challenge
before doing the same to the more mobile Glynn Hurst. You could
sense the confidence growing again inside Rangers and all of a
sudden the passes started to find their targets again and the flow
of pressure was reversed.
Chesterfield were still a threat
though. Day produced the save of the game when Mark Allott found
space at the far post and planted a firm header goalward. Day flung
himself to his left to beat it away and almost immediately Rangers
charged to the other end and scored the killer second.
Williams, who had been far quieter in
the second half found space in midfield and picked out a sublime
pass to put Thorpe clear. He looked to be borderline offside but he
didn't dwell on it and coolly slotted the ball past Muggleton into
the corner. There was only going to be one winner now as rangers
poured forward looking to add a third.
Marcus Bean had now replaced the
somewhat ineffective Ainsworth and started spraying the ball around
in a manner not normally associated with him. He seemed to kick the
tempo of the game up a notch and the chances flowed. Thorpe had two
chances to claim the match ball but was inches away on both
occasions. His first effort showed strength to hold off his man
before turning sharply to volley past Muggleton and his right hand
post. Soon after yet another Kevin McLeod cross found its target and
Thorpe headed just over at the far post.
With the game reaching its closing
minutes Rangers got their third from the left foot of Paul Furlong.
Having won a freekick twenty-five yards from goal everybody wanted
to take it. Palmer stood over the ball and rolled it into Furlong's
path and he absolutely hammered it past the prone Muggleton for the
goal of the game. It gave the scoreline a deceptive look but nobody
was complaining as the R's secured yet another home victory.
My Man of the Match was Chris Day for
producing a stunning display to deny Chesterfield when it all seemed
to be going wrong. Time and again he thwarted The Spireites when
they had their tails up and he allowed Rangers to build again and
secure such a comfortable winning margin.
The re-jigged team did well
considering that it was probably thrown together at the last minute
given Carlisle's indiscretions. Williams and Gallen, whilst not
involved as much as they could be, certainly gave the team a more
attacking edge in the middle and it was nice to see two people that
wanted to pass and not just smash it fifty yards without thinking.
Palmer looked better at the back than
he does in the midfield and his passing was better as well. I think
this is because he knew he had more options and wasn't obsessed with
hitting Furlong with everything. His lack of pace is a worry and
when Shittu went AWOL for half an hour we were badly exposed. The
centre backs need to operate as a unit and when one plays badly it
will inevitably reflect on the other.
In attack Furlong and Thorpe were
excellent and they have started to link brilliantly. A weeks
training has clearly done Thorpe the power of good and if we can
continue to create this many chances for him he should get plenty
this season. Furs has hit a rich vein of form and also seems to have
cut out the silly bookings just at the right time.
A difficult game at Colchester awaits
now and we will need to tighten up at the back. However, if we can
carry on attacking like this I would back us to outscore most sides
at the moment.
simon@qprnet.com |
