Rangers came away from SE16 wondering just how they failed to win a passionate, if scrappy encounter against Millwall. You can pinpoint two main reasons, the first was profligate finishing and the second was referee Phil Crossley who can be best described as a bottle job.

Having won the previous two it was no surprise that Holloway kept faith with the same XI. Royce was in goal behind Edghill, Shittu, Davies and Padula. Ainsworth, Santos, Gallen and Cook lined up in midfield with Cureton and Furlong in attack. Olly even had the luxury of naming an unchanged subs bench with Day, Bignot, Rose, Thorpe and Rowlands ready to be called upon.

Rangers almost made the perfect start when Georges Santos made a typically powerful burst from midfield. Seizing on a slack pass he powered forward before slipping Furlong in. Furs bore down on goal but was denied when Andy Marshall bravely saved as the veteran hitman was set to pounce.

At the other end Santos’ midfield partner had to be alert to deny David Livermore a clear sight at goal. The ball somehow found its way to the former Arsenal youngster but Gallen was on hand to nip the ball away from him and clear the danger. The battle on the Rangers right was starting to hot up now with Ainsworth and Muscat banging heads whenever they came close to each other. Hatchet man Muscat made his mark with a disgraceful two footed lunge on Ainsworth that met with only a strong word from Crossley.

Moments later Santos and Livermore tangled in midfield and the Millwall man ended up on his back. Crossley deemed this challenge worse than the horror show from Muscat and showed Santos a yellow card. It was farcical in the extreme and just about summed up his lack of bottle all afternoon. In an interview with him in the programme he had said that he had never reffed at Millwall before as it is too local to him. I bet they will want him back every week after this!

After the break Rangers stepped it up a gear as they went in search of a second successive win on the road. The half had barely begun when Furlong had a ball played into him and his firm shot on the turn was deflected over the bar by Ward’s outstretched leg. From Gallen’s corner the ball fell to Shittu and he hammered a shot that seemed destined for the net before the equine money grabber Dichio intervened. He knew little about it as the ball cannoned of his head and flew to safety.

Rangers had a scare at the other end when Dichio and Hayles combined to free Alan Dunne in the box with plenty of time and space. With the memory of a cracker at Forest fresh in his mind he conspired to shank this one horrendously wide leaving Royce untroubled.

Furlong was starting to become a real influence now and one driving run saw him find space twenty yards from goal. He fizzed in a shot that had Marshall beaten and the ball ruffled the net but from the wrong side. Given Furlong’s prowess from distance it was a surprise that he didn’t make this one count.

Olly had changed things up by now with Ainsworth and Cureton making way for Rowlands and Thorpe. Things had picked up a notch again as both subs looked lively and as if they had a point to prove the man in charge. Thorpe in particular was pulling Ward and Lawrence all over the place with his movement. He is a clever player and I think he carries more of a threat than Cureton. Combine this with his link up play and I would have him as Furlong’s partner whenever he is fit.

Thorpey should have given Rangers the lead with almost his first touch. Hesitant defending saw him played in and once again it was Marshall to the rescue as he bravely turned the ball away. If it had been anything other than his first touch I think he would have lifted the ball over him.

Cook was starting to get into the game after a fairly quiet first hour. Maybe he was conserving his energy and waiting for his marker to tire but he was soon giving Mark Phillips a torrid time. He jinked past him to deliver a near post cross that Marshall plunged to gather before Thorpe could poke it home.

Furlong missed a gilt edged chance with the game entering the final ten minutes after great work from Rowlands on the right. He skipped his way past sub left back Josh Simpson and his ball was perfect for Furlong. He only had the keeper to beat but he somehow managed to side foot the ball wide of the post with Marshall rooted to the spot.

It could all have been academic though with a little over three minutes left on the clock. Cook set off on another run and played a neat one-two with Thorpe and was through one on one. As he went to shoot Phillips took both of his legs away and managed to knock one of his boots off in the process. Crossley waived away the appeals and was seemingly the only person in the ground who didn’t think it was a pen. In short he shit himself. If this had happened midway through the half he would have given it but as it was, he didn’t want to upset the applecart and upset some of the more salty characters the New Den has to offer. You would like to think referees would have the courage of their convictions; unfortunately this bloke had no courage at all.

Thorpe was taken off with a minute to go and Rose came on in his place. Gallen moved up front which makes me think it was an injury rather than tactical. I hope it is nothing serious as I would have wanted him to start ahead of Cureton against Preston next week.

You can never be unhappy with coming to a place like this and getting a share of the spoils but it could have been so different. If we had taken just one of the clear cut chances we created or if the referee had any bottle then we would have been celebrating another excellent away display. The back four were as tight as a drum and they got able assistance from the midfielders in front of them.

Royce had nothing to do all afternoon as Shittu and Davies comfortably contained any threat that Hayles and the Hammersmith Horse could muster. Davies in particular was magnificent in what is likely to be the final game of his loan spell. Olly will be desperate to extend it as this lad is class.

The full backs were both good defensively but their distribution left a lot to be desired. Edghill in particular was giving away throw ins for fun. I think we miss something going forward when Biggy is left out and I would like to see him back in next week. Ainsworth was quiet as he is sometime prone to be. He worked hard but with little end product, Cook on the other side grew as the game went on. Rowly looked the part when he came on and I think he will start against Preston. The middle pair of Gallen and Santos played well again and I think Bircham will struggle to get back into this side when he is fit.

Cureton had yet another nothing game for me and a lot of the time it was as though Furlong was ploughing a lone furrow. This all changed when Thorpe replaced him and the level of threat was greatly increased.

A tough game against Preston is next up and they are unbeaten in eight in the league. If we can get at them I think we can do them some damage, we played well at their place and were undone by the ref. I for one think that we will only get stronger in the next few weeks if we can keep players fit and it could be an exciting couple of months.

simon@qprnet.com