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ROWLY THE
MILLER KILLER
Rangers made it four points collected away from home this week with
a hard fought win against relegation bound Rotherham United. The
standard of opposition couldn’t have been more different from the
Derby game as we faced a side that were more than content to try and
out kick us rather than out play us.
Holloway went back to a more attacking line up for this game and was
clearly going to go for it. Royce remained in goal behind Bignot,
Shittu, Davies and Rose. Ainsworth was back on the right with
Rowlands in the middle alongside Bircham. Cook was again on the left
with Gallen and Furlong up front. Olly even picked three strikers on
the bench with Sturridge sitting alongside Thorpe and Cureton. Rossi
and Santos made Olly’s final two options.
Rangers started brightly and should have taken the lead within the
first five minutes. Rotherham gave away the first of over twenty
freekicks. Cook sent the ball dipping into the area and Furlong
turned the ball just over the bar. Had he had the luxury of a couple
of sighters then I am sure he would have tucked it away.
With twelve minutes gone Ainsworth was forced from the game
following a horrendous challenge that saw his right leg get caught
under his assailant. Having tried to battle on manfully he was
forced from the field and Cureton replaced him and took up station
in the right wing berth.
The
Rotherham game plan was clear for all to see and it also seemed
obvious why they find themselves rock bottom of the league. Football
is not really an option. They get the ball forward quickly and try
to win throw ins and freekicks round the box. Paul Warne in
particular was a spiky character who was doing a great job of
leaving his foot in on every player that cleared the ball. Mind you,
at least he showed he had a bit of fight about him unlike most of
his colleagues.
From a long throw The Millers almost took the lead. The ball was
hurled in from the right touchline and Royce came to try and claim.
He got nowhere near the ball and John Mullin was on hand but could
only nod wide of the target. It was a rare error from Royce who had
been so commanding under the crossed ball on Wednesday night.
Rotherham had managed to bring the game down to their level and
Rangers were getting drawn into a war. Having survived a couple more
scares, including Furlong producing a brilliant headed clearance
from under his own bar, it all kicked off. Bircham and Keane went in
for a challenge and the on loan Hull City man clearly stamped on
Bircham as he was on the deck. Players from both sides piled in as
an ugly game got even uglier. Mr Bates should have sent Keane off
but only booked him and then decided to book Shittu as well. I am
not sure how being involved in a handbag session carries the same
punishment as stamping. Mind you, given this refs display in our
game at Watford earlier in the season his level of incompetence came
as no shock.
The
game had now descended into a war and the tackles were flying in.
Rotherham had the final chance of the half when Davies dallied on
the ball and John Mullin robbed him and bore down on goal. Luckily
Shittu was on hand to come across and boom the ball into the stands.
It
was noticeable that there were no subs mucking about on the pitch
for Rangers at half time as Holloway was clearly taking what little
paint there was left on the Millmoor dressing room walls off! He had
to get the message across to the players that if they tried to play
football against this poor outfit then they would run out
comfortable winners. The message seemed to have gotten across and
things improved almost immediately.
The
half started though with Mr Bates throwing his cards about. Rowlands
was booked for a crude lung on halfway and then Furlong was booked
for persistent fouling. This in itself was a joke as Warne of
Rotherham had given away twice as many yet received no censure.
Just a minute later Rangers took the lead thanks to Martin Rowlands’
third of the season. Gallen and Cureton linked up on the edge of the
box before Rowlands was played in. His first touch seemed to get
away from him though and it looked as though Mike Pollitt was going
to gather easily. Rowly was having none of it though and slid in to
challenge the keeper and found the ball back at his feet. He calmly
turned away from an onrushing defender before slotting the ball left
footed into the unguarded net.
It
was all Rangers now and minutes later Furlong was piling toward goal
when he was felled. He managed to steer the ball into the path of
Gallen as he fell and Kev got his shot away. It seemed destined for
the corner until Martin McIntosh snaked out a leg and blocked it
away for a corner. Rowly had another crack soon after when he
crashed a twenty five yard freekick at goal only to see Pollitt
slowly get down to turn it away.
With just under twenty five minutes left Olly decided the time was
right to give Dean Sturridge his Rangers bow. He came on for Cook
with Cureton switching to the left wing, Rowly switching to the
right and Gallen moving into centre midfield. He showed us a glimpse
of his pace early on as he galloped down the left leaving Rotherham
defenders trailing in his wake.
Furlong twice went close to doubling the Rangers advantage within
the space of a couple of minutes. Firstly he went round his man
before firing a right footed shot into Pollitt’s midriff. From
almost the next attack Furlong found himself in space at the far
post only to see his well placed header headed off the line by
Millers skipper Phil Gilchrist.
Rowlands was wreaking havoc wherever he went and seemed to be going
past players at will. It didn’t matter whether he was wide on the
right, coming through the middle or on the left having taken a
corner; nobody was exempt from getting mugged off. Cureton had also
started to come into the game and he managed to find Rowlands twice
with a couple of sumptuous cross-field balls.
Furlong and Sturridge managed to get in each others way with Pollitt
grounded as they fought to take the game beyond The Millers.
Rotherham showed though that they still had some fight left in them.
Having won a freekick on the right the ball was pumped into the box
and McIntosh headed straight at Royce. This was getting on for
Royce’s only involvement of the half such was Rangers’ dominance.
Southampton loanee Leandré Griffit also went close after a surging
run into the box but good pressure from Bignot forced him to fire
wide.
With five minutes to play Rangers won a freekick fully thirty yards
from goal and were setting up to knock it into the box. Furlong had
other ideas though and trotted out to have a strike. He thundered
the ball goalward and Pollitt pulled off a magnificent save to turn
the ball behind.
The
final few minutes of the game were played out with Rotherham
desperately trying to get the ball forward. Santos had come on for
the injured Bircham and he, along with Shittu and Davies were
clearing ling balls for fun. When the final whistle came it
signalled the end of an excellent weeks work for the team.
This was a million miles away from being a classic and the hen party
that was amongst the R’s fans must have been delighted! It was a
battling affair though and it showed that if teams want to mix it
against us then they will be getting plenty back. We have the
advantage though of having players that can back it up with ability,
something that Rotherham are clearly lacking. They look a shadow of
the well organised side that held us for a 1-1 on the opening day.
There is now a two week break before leaders Sunderland visit Loftus
Road for a game which promises to be much easier on the eye than
this one. We should go into this game with a fully fit squad and
maybe with some more personnel, if we have any play off aspirations
we must ensure that we do not lose. Winning away is no good if you
lose at home and this is sure to be one of the toughest tests of the
season.
simon@qprnet.com |
