| DEAD EYED DICK STAGGERS DAGGERS
Rangers finally
hit the patch of pre-season form we have all been waiting for
yesterday with a comfortable 3-0 victory against Dagenham &
Redbridge at the Glyn Hopkin Stadium. Had it not been for some good
saves and some weak finishing, it could have been a cricket score.
The starting eleven had a makeshift
look about it and I wouldn't think this will even be close to them
team that kicks off against Blackpool. Nevertheless, the guys that
might be expected to make way will certainly have done their chances
of getting into Olly's plans no harm at all.
The opening ten minutes of the game
saw an end-to-end pattern emerging. Rangers were trying to get the
ball wide to Oli on the right and Rowlands on the left whenever
possible. When it broke down The Daggers looked for the flicks off
Braithwaite toward former R's striker Mark Stein. The diminutive
front man was caught offside about 5 times in the opening exchanges
when a player with his experience really should know better.
Richard Pacquette notched his first
pre-season goal with a cool finish after just ten minutes. Richard
Langley, playing in his preferred centre midfield role, picked out
Pacquette with a perfectly weighted ball. The burly striker held off
a challenge before coolly slotting the ball past James Pullen. It
was refreshing to see him take his time rather than giving it the
obligatory lash and an equally cool head during the season may bring
its rewards for both player and team.
At the other end Nick Culkin was
called into action to thwart Stein with a stunning double save.
After finally beating the offside trap he smashed two fierce efforts
that the often-maligned R's stopper responded to brilliantly.
Rangers could have been home and hosed
by the break had some better finishing been displayed by Langley and
Sabin. Langers had a couple of efforts from distance easily saved
whilst Sabin missed a gilt edged one on one chance. Rather than
acting as Pacquette had done earlier in the game and firing across
goal, he tried to nuts the keeper with the outside of his right
foot, with sadly predictable results.
The break saw the withdrawal of
Langley and Forbes and the introduction of trial players John Bailey
from Preston North End and Christopher Kanu, younger brother of the
unfortunately named Nwankwo. In order to accommodate Bailey, Martin
Rowlands moved to centre midfield and began to take the game by the
scruff of the neck.
The second goal came courtesy of
another superb finish from Pacquette. Reminiscent of his strike at
Home Park, Plymouth last season, he allowed a ball into the box to
bounce in front of him before striking a volley across Pullen into
the far corner. By now his confidence was riding high and he clearly
relished the role of senior striker. This was showed at no better
time than after Sabin had pulled an effort wide and lay on his back
feeling sorry for himself. He soon found Pacquette hollering at him
to get up and get back involved, it was nice to see that his often
laid back attitude is changing into a more purposeful one.
Trialist Kanu was starting to link up
well with Dennis Oli on the right and both of them looked to surge
forward whenever they could. Oli tricked his way into the box and
fired wide and later dragged another effort past the post as he
continued to search for that elusive goal.
The challenges were starting to fly in
now. Clarke Carlisle clobbered a couple of Daggers' strikers and was
unsurprisingly taken off by Kenny Jackett before he got in further
bother. Pacquette also went in for a challenge with keeper Pullen
that made the Dagenham man unleash a scream that Penelope Pitstop
would have been proud of. Had he actually hit him hard I shudder to
think what sort of outburst we would have been treated to. As it
turned out he clipped his arm as he arrived a nanosecond after the
keeper grabbed the ball, Pullen showed no ill effects as he
continued to deny the Rangers attack time and again.
Gallen and Furlong had now replaced
Sabin and Pacquette and both of them could have walked away with two
or three to their name. Gallen in particular missed four good
chances, the last of which saw Pullen deny him with a great touch to
turn the ball onto the post. Furs had already missed one chance when
he grabbed the final goal of the afternoon.
Latching onto an excellent through
ball from Bean he bore down on goal before lifting the ball over the
diving keeper. It was a great finish to a deserved victory and one
that will no doubt boost confidence ahead of the big kick off next
week.
I was impressed with Ifura who seemed
to link well with Carlisle to snuff out any danger through the
middle. Steve Palmer turned in a solid performance at left back and
looked much more at home in a defensive rather than midfield
position. Marcus Bean and Martin Rowlands were both excellent.
Rowlands really came into his own in the second half after moving
into the middle and will have surely secured his place in the
starting eleven.
Up front Pacquette was a constant
threat and Sabin, whilst better than when he has been stuck on the
left side, was again disappointing. I can't see him getting a start
ahead of Gallen, Furlong or Pacquette at the moment. Of the
trialists, I thought they both slotted in very well. Kanu looks like
a real handful going forward although I would like to see him tested
more going the other way before we take a chance on him. Paul Bruce
barely tested his defensive mettle, not that anybody expected him
to. Bailey looks like he could be a real handful going the other way
and I think we should snap him up while we can.
simon@qprnet.com |
