Rangers made it three league wins on the bounce with a resolute showing at Brighton & Hove Albion. In a game that swung to and fro Rangers were reliant on an old warhorse at the top of his game and an unlikely hero to snatch all three points from beneath the Seagulls beaks.

Holloway would have dearly loved to have kept faith with the starting XI from the Crewe game but a thigh injury to Marcus Bean put paid to that. Day remained in goal behind the usual back four of Bignot, Rose, Santos and Padula. Rowlands, Bircham, Gallen and Cook were in midfield with Cureton partnering Furlong in attack. There was a welcome return to the bench for Dan Shittu and a place in the travelling squad for teenage prodigy Scott Donnelly. The youngster took part in the warm up to give him a taste of being around the squad, one in he will be a fixture of in the not to distant future.

The teams exchanged headed chances in the opening stages. The diminutive Cureton rose well to head a Bignot cross over the bar (oh for it to have fallen to Furs) and at the other end centre back-cum-right back-cum-striker Adam Virgo also nodded over when well placed. Just after the quarter hour Rangers took the lead after seizing on a horrendous ricket from Danny Cullip.

A tame ball into the box from Cook seemed to present little danger as the big centre half broke off from his wrestling match with Furlong to clear. He only succeeded in smashing the ball into one of his fellow defenders though and the ball fell to Gallen who curled a well placed effort inside the left hand post of fragile keeper Michel Kuipers.

Not long after taking the lead Furlong cracked an effort wide from distance and Adam Virgo did the same at the other end. Brighton would not have to wait long though before some shoddy defending gifted them an equaliser. A hopeful ball was pumped down the Rangers right and Rose came across to meet it. He was indecisive though and in allowing the ball to bounce he handed Chris McPhee the advantage. The burly striker took the ball and played in an angled cross that was met at the far post by Adam Hinshelwood and rifled into the roof of the net. It was poor defending from Rose for not dealing with the danger, Santos could have had a bash at intercepting the cross and Gino was left all at sea with two men to mark. It won’t make for pretty viewing on the video.

Referee Curson was having a poor game and seemed far more intent on punishing the niggling incidents and letting the major fouls go. Two such miniscule offences led to Brighton having two direct free kicks in a matter of minutes. Former Wycombe winger and alleged Rangers target Darren Currie took both. The first one was tipped onto the bar by Day, the second beat Day all ends up and gave Brighton the lead. It was a decent strike but Day seemed to be poorly positioned and far too close to the right hand post, this left Currie with a huge target and his strike was unerring.

Rangers must have been on the receiving end of some harsh words at the break as from ending the first period sluggishly they started the second at a much higher tempo. Bircham had two excellent chances to put Rangers back on terms but he does not exactly possess a cool head in front of goal. His first effort went a mile wide and then when Lee Cook delivered a beautiful cross he only had to hit the target and a goal was guaranteed. From twelve yards out the ball seemed to hit the top of his head and once again went wide of the post.

It was seemingly all Rangers now with Cookie in particular starting to have a real influence on things. He and impressive Brighton full back Adam El-Abd (is everyone in Brighton called Adam by the way) were having a great tussle. The same could not be said for Cullip and Furlong however, they were having a tussle that would not have looked out of place in a pub car park! Cullip was constantly grabbing hold of Furlong in clear view of the referee and lino but without getting any help. In the end he decided to fight fire with fire and gave some back as these two enjoyed a rare old ding dong. Neither of them complained and just got on with it, the same could not be said of keeper Kuipers.

The Dutchman came from his goal to clear a ball and in his follow through clearly aimed a boot at Furlong. They became entangled and as Furlong freed himself Kuipers threw himself to the ground. Not even last seasons diving champ Kenny Salad Cream was impressed and he, Cullip and Furlong just walked away without giving it a second thought. Kuipers is apparently a former Dutch Marine! If that is the case then I think we should consider invading The Netherlands as their armed forces don’t seem up to much.

Holloway needed to change things and he threw on Edghill and McLeod to replace the less than impressive Rowlands and Padula. Macca is becoming something of a game breaker these days and his pace was just the ticket to liven Rangers up once again. Within five minutes of him coming on the scores were level.

Matthew Rose knocked a long ball up to Furlong who angled his header into the path of Cureton. Curo had been starved of decent possession for most of the game but he made this count. Furs had spun off after the initial header and Curo’s perfectly timed through ball broke the offside trap. Furs was now one-on-one with Kuipers and he coolly slotted the ball under him to send the R’s fans barmy. What made the goal even more satisfying was the fact that it silenced some Brighton numpty in his two bob gold sunglasses (bearing in mind the sun hadn’t even been out) who had been giving the R’s fans plenty since they took the lead.

Olly looked to be settling for the point when with fifteen minutes to play he threw Big Dan on for Cookie to try and shore things up. Dan was immense and must have won at least ten headers as Brighton resorted to the long ball to try and get back into the game. Things were becoming stretched and the ball was pinging from one end to the other. Furs came close again but Kuipers denied him before Rangers conjured an injury time winner.

Rangers knocked a corner into the box and it seemed to have come to nothing as the ball was cleared. It somehow arrived back though and the ball was laid into the path of Matthew Rose just inside the D. He took one touch to steady himself before unleashing a fizzing curler with his left foot that flew past Kuipers to bulge the Brighton net for the third time.

It could even have been four just moments later when Furlongs flick fell into the path of Cureton and he lifted an early shot past Kuipers but it fell inches wide of his right hand post. The final whistle wasn’t long in coming and the R’s fans hailed their players for a hard fought three points.

This was a terrific win but it was not a fluid display by any means, they rarely are away from home though. Day played well apart from being poorly positioned for Currie’s goal. Bignot was solid considering he got little help from Rowlands, Santos played fairly well and Rose picked up second half after a very poor first. Cook was a threat all afternoon and Bircham and Gallen seemed to grow as a partnership as the game progressed. The front pair of Furlong and Cureton did well, they are both clever players and this was perfectly illustrated by an excellent goal from Furs. In terms of the subs Big Dan and Macca were both excellent when they came on.

The cup game at Villa in the week will give Olly the chance to try a few things out. It is a no lose situation for us as nobody will expect us to win so why not give people like Macca, Shittu and maybe even Donnelly a start to see what they can do. We would all like to win this one but it’s not the priority so if we can get some people prepared for the rigours of the league then I think we should.

simon@qprnet.com