|
CRETIN DOWD
SHOULDN'T BE ALLOWED
What in the blue hell have you got to do to win a game of football
these days? It would seem that battering a team for an hour and
scoring perfectly good goals is not enough any more. That will
certainly be the case if you ever have the misfortunate to encounter
Phil Dowd, one of the worst officials I have ever witnessed.
With this game coming hot on the heels of the draw at home to
Brighton changes were inevitable. I don’t think people would have
been expecting quite so many though! Day was in goal behind a back
four of Bignot, Shittu, Edghill and, rather bizarrely, Kevin McLeod!
In midfield were Rowlands, Bircham, Gallen and Miller with Furlong
partnered in attack by Santos. There was plenty of head scratching
going on as most people weren’t aware that Furlong has appealed and
was given leave to play and even more at the sight of Santos
steaming round up front!
The
game started with Leicester midfielder Lillian Nalis coming up with
one of the worst bits of finishing The Bowl of Crisps has ever seen.
Latching on to a right wing cross he contrived to steer the ball
over the bar from about two feet out. He was offside but it doesn’t
spare his blushes any. At the other end Adam Miller cracked a shot
over from considerably further out before Mr Dowd made the first of
his interventions for the afternoon.
There was a tangle of players outside the box and Connelly and
Shittu seemed to come together on the threshold of the area. As Dan
fell the ball seemed to roll into him and strike his arm, Dowd had
no hesitation in pointing for a pen despite limited appeals from the
Foxes players or there library like supporters. The fact that he
gave it came as no shock, on Saturday in the Pompey/Norwich game he
penalised a Norwich player for heading the ball clear with a spot
kick! Connelly stepped up to take the kick and sent Day the wrong
way to give Leicester an early lead.
Rangers were still struggling to come to grips with the team
reshuffle and Santos seemed to be huffing and puffing away up front
without ever making the ball stick. Dion Dublin was all over him
like a cheap suit, it seems their centre forward playing centre half
was dominating our centre half playing centre forward!
Rangers’ attacks were sporadic. Furlong managed to test on loan
Gooner Stuart Taylor with a snap shot from twenty yards after a
freekick was rolled into his path. At the other end Scowcroft
powered a header over the bar when well placed. Santos was beginning
to warm to his task and was unlucky to see a shot from a Shittu
knock down hit Taylor and go to safety.
Just before the break Rangers seemed to have got back on level
terms. Another ball into the box was challenged for by Shittu and he
steered it into the path of Martin Rowlands. Rowly made no mistake
with a crisp strike past Taylor only to see Dowd whistling like a
demented sheep dog handler for a freekick. What it was for is
anyone’s guess but it was indicative of the luck, or total lack of
it, that Rangers have been getting over the past few weeks. It seems
at the moment that we can’t buy a decision and it doesn’t half make
things difficult.
After the break Rangers were by far the better side and set about
The Foxes with purpose. McLeod was now beginning to roam forward
from left back and started to link well with Rowlands, who by this
point had switched with Miller. He had one effort that looked more
like a sliced cross sail over the bar. At the other end Connelly
managed to evade the limpet like attentions of Edghill to test Day
but this was one of very few sights of goal the Leicester players
would have in a half of almost total one way traffic.
Just after the hour Rowly scored again, or not as the case may be.
This time the ball was worked in from the right and laid back into
the path of Rowlands who crashed it home from twenty yards. Once
again the merry whistle blower was at it again to chalk the goal
off. What for? Good bloody question! It seemed that only one man in
the ground knew the reason, I think he may have been experimenting
with LSD as he seemed to be seeing a lot of things that simply
didn’t exist.
The
pressure was incessant now and Miller forced a fabulous save from
Taylor with a left footed screamer from twenty five yards. The
Leicester fans were biting their fingernails now and thought they
would find some release to the pressure when Connelly once more
found some space. He pulled his shot across the face of goal and
Rangers were quickly back on the attack.
Shittu was next to test Taylor’s mettle when he got on the end of a
right wing cross on the far side of the box. He controlled well,
brushed off the attentions of his marker and belted the ball
goalward. Taylor once again flew through the air, this time to his
near post and turned the ball away.
It
was as if the R’s players were queuing up for a crack at goal now
and when Rangers were awarded a freekick twenty five yards out
everybody looked to Furlong. He wasn’t interested though and Georges
stepped forward. His first effort was blocked by an over keen Danny
Tiatto, the Aussie hatchet man was duly booked and the ball marched
forward to the edge of the box. Santos again had a lash and this
time the ball was deflected wide with Taylor rooted to the spot and
praying to the heavens.
As
the final whistle drew near Rangers had one more chance to get on
level terms. This time a scramble ended with the ball falling to
Shittu on the edge of the box, his first time effort seemed to be
blocked with a hand and the R’s fans appealed. Unfortunately it was
the hand of Leon Best who simply could not get out of the way such
was the velocity of the ball.
At
the final whistle the Rangers players were given a standing ovation
by the noisy travelling army as they could have done no more than
they did. They were robbed of a deserved win by a diabolical series
of refereeing decisions from a man who is supposed to be one of this
country’s top refs. To me he looked like a keen amateur and you
would be severely pissed off if you got decisions like this playing
in the park. It was to their credit that the players didn’t blow
their stack with this idiot as it can’t have been easy trying to
retain your composure in the face of such ineptitude.
This was a good showing from an odd team. Not everything worked;
Santos and Furlong were dominated all afternoon by Keown, Dabizas
and Dublin, but only in the air. When we got the ball on the deck
the veteran trio were all at sea. Gallen and Bircham had the better
of the Leicester trio and I thought the ironic cheers when Gallen
was subbed at the end were a bit strong. I know he has not performed
well in recent weeks but he did ok today, certainly in the second
half. Bircham was much better though and his desire kept the boys
going towards the end.
Shittu did well against Scowcroft, Edghill was exceptional against
Connelly and McLeod seemed to warm to his task as the game wore on.
I don’t think he is the answer to this issue and will probably drop
out as soon as Rose is fit, but it may be worth another look
although I would be worried against a decent winger.
Forest await us in the FA Cup next and that will be another tough
one. Mind you, a little respite from the league may be just what is
needed to pep the chaps up and get them refocused. A win against a
team whose only away victory was at Doncaster in the Carling Cup
could provide a great fillip to our flagging morale.
simon@qprnet.com |
