| SABIN NETS CATCH OF THE DAY
Rangers showed
their resilience once again yesterday with a fantastic victory
against Grimsby Town in what officially must be the coldest place on
God's green Earth!
This was the sort of game that you
need to win if you want to be in with a shout come May, not a
classic performance but the heart and character of the team was
there for all to see.
As usual there was a reshuffle of
personnel but this time it was caused by suspension only. Day was in
goal behind a back four reshuffled for the fifth consecutive game,
the cause this time being the suspension of Gnohere. Rowlands moved
to right back and Forbes into the middle to team up with Palmer and
Padula. Gallen dropped into the left sided berth with Bean and
Bircham inside and Ainsworth on the right. The returning Paul
Furlong partnered Tony Thorpe in attack.
Rangers were by the far the brighter
team in the opening exchanges and Kevin Gallen was looking to link
up with his front men whenever he could. It was clear to see that he
instinctively drifts into the middle and it must be incredibly
difficult for a player who is predominantly right sided to play a
disciplined role on the left flank.
Gallen had a chance to lob keeper
Davidson early in the game following the Grimsby stoppers weak
punch. Gallen had time but could only lob the ball back into the
keeper's grateful arms. Gallen was soon at it again this time
cracking in a low effort from wide on the left. The shot was off
target but arrived at the feet of Furlong but the in form front man
couldn't adjust quickly enough to turn it into a meaningful chance.
Once again Davidson was grateful to see the shot come straight at
him.
Tony Thorpe soon warmed Davidson's
hands with a volley that was once again directed straight down his
throat. The effort was from close range and if it had been anywhere
else in the goal it would have been a certain opener and it would
have been richly deserved on the balance of the early exchanges. The
Mariners only had a couple of half chances to speak of but Rangers
had to be grateful to the diligence of Palmer to turn away one that
came dangerously close.
Grimsby were awarded a freekick to the
right of the Rangers box. Tony Thorpe began to line the wall up and
incredibly found himself booked by referee Kaye for doing so. He
wasn't preventing the taking of a quick kick and the Grimsby players
were clearly not ready to get on with it so I fail to see what the
refs issue was. When Darren Barnard finally took the kick it looped
up off the wall and seemed to beat Day only to find Palmer on the
line to get up and flick the ball away for a corner.
This was indicative of the skipper's
performance, which was much improved on recent weeks. I think he is
far less exposed by his lack of touch away from home where nobody
minds of the ball is cleared quickly up field. He found himself
exposed by the pace of Michael Boulding a couple of times but the
fleet footed Forbes was always on hand to help his partner out.
As the half drew to a close Chris Day
produced the first of three magnificent stops to prevent Grimsby
talking the lead. A cross from the left was aimed at the far post
and Tony Crane managed to evade the attentions of Furlong to get a
free header on target. He made good contact and Day plunged low to
his left to turn the ball away and preserve the half time status
quo. Some would say that we should have been in front at this point,
and you can say whatever you want, this was still a decent first
half showing from an injury-ravaged side.
Rangers came out just as bright after
the break and Marc Bircham came within a hairs breadth of scoring
just minutes into the second half. He collected the ball to the left
of goal and sent a swerving effort part Davidson's left hand upright
with the keeper helpless to do anything about it.
Grimsby were still showing signs that
had Rangers worried but they were struggling to carve out meaningful
chances to test Day. It was a different story at the other end where
Davidson pulled off what I think was a terrific double save to deny
the R's. Ainsworth was felled outside the box and Furlong hammered
the ball goalward. Davidson got down to block the first effort only
to see Thorpe steaming in. His shot seemed to be touched by Davidson
and it then clipped to top of the bar and went over. It looked like
a nailed on corner to me but once again Kaye and his linesman
contrived to award Grimsby the goal kick. This pair would soon be on
hand to make an even more scandalous decision.
The Mariners were now building
pressure and they soon clicked into a sustained twenty-minute spell
that called on every ounce of resilience the R's had in them. Palmer
and Forbes were now working overtime in the middle as Boulding and
Onuora started to cause all sorts of problems. Forbes was on hand to
deny Boulding after he had rounded Day, and then Day was on hand to
tip Onoura's shot away for corner after he had managed to find space
inside the box.
In an effort to stop the supply from
the left Holloway moved to bring on veteran right back Warren
Barton. He replaced Thorpe and the reshuffle saw Rowlands, now
carrying a caution, move to the left and Galen move forward to
partner Furlong in attack. Still though Grimsby continued to press
and Day produced yet another magnificent save to deny Boulding. The
lightening quick striker managed to break clear and his shot looked
to have beaten Day only for the big keeper to somehow throw out a
hand and deflect the ball away for a corner.
Rangers were still a threat on the
break and just as the game was entering three minutes of injury time
they were denied one of the most cast iron, stonewall, nailed on
penalties ever seen in professional football. Chris Day pumped a
huge wind assisted clearance toward Furlong and the big man muscled
his way past Edwards to get a sight of goal. As he prepared to shoot
Edwards rugby tackled him and the crowd and players screamed for a
penalty. Referee Kaye who was some fifty yards back up field, so
much for keeping up with play, looked to his linesman for help. The
linesman, who had a fantastic view of the whole thing absolutely
bottled it. It was a disgraceful decision and I have no doubt in my
mind that of the same thing had happened after an hour he would have
given it but as it was the closing stages he didn't fancy having the
abuse of the Grimsby fans hurled at him.
Just as everybody had started to calm
down and settle for the point Rangers launched a final lightening
raid. Martin Rowlands cut in from the left and released Gallen with
a sublime back heel. Gallen cut inside his man and scuffed a shot
that bobbled past Davidson only to come back off the post and roll
across goal. The much-maligned Eric Sabin pounced to ram the ball
home and send the raucous travelling army wild. Even in the midst of
the celebrations Kaye managed to book somebody for celebrating, I
have no idea who though as both Bean and Furlong seemed to be in the
vicinity.
A win for Rangers is a touch harsh on
Grimsby who gave as good as they got for the majority of the game.
It would be fair to say that we dominated the first half and they
the second but the scandalous penalty decision made Sabin's late,
late strike all the sweeter.
The performances of Palmer, Forbes,
Bean and Bircham were all excellent today. All four battled hard in
the middle to keep things level. Furlong and Gallen were their usual
threatening selves going the other way and Warren Barton did very
well to steady the ship following his introduction.
Man of the Match for me though was
Chris Day. He came and caught anything he could and if he couldn't
catch it he punched it. Add onto to that three stunning stops and he
was the man that gave Sabin the chance to pinch all three points at
the death.
With Brentford crying off of next
weeks game it gives Rangers the chance to get some injury worries
cleared up and give the players a much needed rest after a hectic
couple of weeks. The Kidderminster game will be a good chance to
give people like Pacquette and Daly a run out and it should be used
as such. People need to put themselves in the manager's thoughts for
what is certain to be a tricky couple of away games against
Peterborough and early pace setters Port Vale.
simon@qprnet.com |
