| DODGY PEN MEANS POINTS DROPPED
AGAIN
Rangers grabbed a point in an entertaining 2-2
draw at Colchester's Layer Road ground. Had it not been for some
profligate finishing on behalf of both sides we could have been
looking at a ten-goal thriller. As it was it took a dubious penalty
to deny the R's all three points.
As usual Holloway wasn't afforded the
luxury of keeping a settled side. Injuries and illness had hit the
squad and changes were enforced. Day started in goal behind a new
look back four of Rowlands, Shittu, new boy Arthur Gnohere and
Williams. Palmer moved back into midfield to partner Gallen with
Ainsworth and McLeod on the wings. Furlong and Thorpe led the
attack.
Rangers didn't exactly fly out of the
blocks. In fact it would be fair to say that they fell over the
blocks, looked up and saw Colchester fifty yards away! As early as
the second minute Williams was forced into a desperate last ditch
clearance to deny Duguid space at the far post. Cheating Wayne
Andrews should have done better when Vine played him in after five
minutes. He shot wide from close range and was probably disappointed
that he wasn't offered the chance to hurl himself to the floor in
theatrical fashion as there wasn't a Rangers defender close enough
to him.
Colchester were bringing pressure to
bear on the Rangers defence and when they won a corner the marking
went to pot. Scott McGleish was left totally unmarked fifteen yards
out and he powered a header over the bar.
After ten minutes Rangers were behind
thanks to some more shocking defending. Izzet burst into the box and
stumbled as he tried to cross. He seemed to handle the ball on the
floor but Rangers protests went ignored and he managed to find
Duguid. The Colchester winger fed the ball across to Vine on the
opposite side and he had all the space he needed to fire a shot past
Day into the far corner. Once again Martin Rowlands' lack of
positional savvy had led to a goal from his side. In our last two
away games three goals have come from this position and if he is to
continue there he needs to do some very hard work. He also needs
more protection from Ainsworth who needs to track his runner more as
Rowlands found himself in a 2 on 1 situation far too often.
As the new look defence got to know
each other better things became more secure. Arthur Gnohere, making
his debut after signing on a month's loan from Burnley, was starting
to look assured and brought some much needed calm. It was refreshing
to see somebody willing to trap the ball rather than just clatter it
back up field without thinking. He was also doing well against the
cheating Andrews although he did commit several "fouls" on him.
Gallen had Rangers' first real chance
of the game when he flashed a drive over the bar from the edge of
the box. Paul Furlong was also starting to impose himself on
proceedings now and Fitzgerald and Chilvers at the heart of the
Colchester defence were starting to find out they were in for a hell
of a battle.
Rangers should have been back on level
terms on the half hour. Williams swung in a deep freekick from the
right and picked out Dan Shittu at the far post. He managed to steer
the ball back across the face of goal but incredibly nobody attacked
it and the chance went begging.
Soon after Furlong hit a rasping
volley from thirty yards, that was beaten away in spectacular
fashion by Simon Brown. At the time I couldn't make up my mind
whether Brown meant it or if it hit him whilst he was taking evasive
action! On the stroke of half time Furlong went close again from the
edge of the area. This time Brown seemed to dive the wrong way as
the on form strikers shot bent agonisingly wide of the opposite top
corner.
Rangers' tails were up now and they
could have been level just after the restart. A cross from Rowlands
was deflected goalward by Fitzgerald. With Brown beaten Colchester
were grateful for a miraculous clearance from Sam Stockley that saw
the ball disappear over the bar. Undeterred Rangers pressed on and
grabbed a deserved equaliser moments later.
Paul Furlong burst into the box and
showed good pace to beat two defenders. His left footed shot from
the angle seemed to be easy for Brown to gather but the ball somehow
hit the net. I say somehow as the away end at Colchester does not
afford a view of the bottom yard of the near goal so I have
absolutely no idea what happened after Furs hit it. Sorry.
Kevin Gallen was next to go close as
he had a short freekick rolled to him on the edge of the area. His
first time strike was tipped over the bar by Brown and Colchester,
were really hanging on now. Andrews tried to relieve some of the
pressure by diving for a penalty during a Shittu challenge but
referee Armstrong wasn't fooled.
Then Rangers hit the front and once
again Furlong was the man on target. Receiving a ball from his right
hand side he flicked the ball up and volleyed it past the helpless
Brown into his top left hand corner. It was like a tracer bullet and
may even have been struck harder than his 70mph freekick last week.
The big fella is in irresistible form at the moment but it is not
just his goals, it is his all round play that is bringing the
plaudits. The amount of high awkward balls that get fired into him
is incredible and he challenges for every single one and more often
than not wins it and brings others into play.
The lead lasted barely ten minutes
before Colchester were awarded a penalty that was dubious to say the
very least. Following a corner Wayne Andrews found himself
surrounded by three R's players. There were a couple of half
challenges but nothing untoward and then all of a sudden the ref
pointed to the spot. No appeals had come from the Colchester players
or fans and everybody in the ground was bemused. The taking of the
kick was delayed as Williams was carried off after apparently being
hit by a ball! The view we had, which was akin to the view prisoners
in the Scrubs have watching a kick about in the exercise yard, meant
that we couldn't see much more than that.
Despite the delay Scott McGleish
stepped up and absolutely creamed the ball into the top corner. A
great penalty if not a little controversial. The game now started to
flow from end to end and both sides had chances to wrap things up.
The R's defence afforded yet more free
headers and Sam Stockley twice headed over whilst unmarked. Thomas
Pinault cracked a volley wide with Day well beaten and at the other
end Gallen flashed a shot inches past the post with Brown once again
groping at thin air.
Rangers' final chance of the game fell
to Furlong and he burst past his marker once again and arrowed an
angled drive past Brown's left hand post. It was shame it didn't fly
in, as he really deserved his hatrick in a blistering Man of the
Match performance.
A draw was probably a fair result but
you cant help wondering what may have happened if Rangers had made
the most of the incredible pressure they had applied to Colchester.
At the moment we look as though we will score every time we go
forward but we still need to do something about the almost
charitable defending at times. Two changes to the back four don't
help matters but I think we need to get a recognised right back in
the line up. Forbes isn't eligible to play again until the away game
at Luton so a short-term fix may be required. As much as I like
Rowlands he would be far better in midfield where his undoubted
ability can be allowed to shine rather than the gloss being taken
off of his performances by his poor positional play.
The midfield was largely anonymous
today. Gallen showed some nice touches but Palmer, McLeod and
Ainsworth were all far too quiet. When Bean and Oli came on they
injected some much needed life into that area and I don't think that
it will be too long before Bean gets a chance to show what he can do
for a full game.
Up front Thorpe was subdued and he
didn't look too clever when he limped off. Lets hope it is not too
serious, as I would like to see him take on Wycombe next week, as
they are hardly watertight at the back. What will be more of a
concern though is the away from and the fact that we are shipping
goals. We will need to be much better when we go to Wrexham, as that
is a bloody long way to drive home whinging about getting beat.
simon@qprnet.com |
