Olly decided to pitch a couple of trialists into the fray as his search for a keeper and a left back continue apace. Wayne Henderson from Villa was in goal behind Bignot, Shittu, Rose and Jamie Vincent of Derby County fame. The midfield four were Rowlands, Doherty, Santos and Cook. Gallen and Furlong were partnered in attack.

It was clear from the off that even if this Iran side was not made up of their big stars they all had something about them. They all seemed technically sound and very comfortable on the ball. Left winger AliReza Vahedi-Nikbakht in particular had plenty about him and was giving Bignot a going over all afternoon. Bignot’s man of the match award at the end of the game made a mockery of what was a poor showing from him.

The Iranians were pinging shots in from all over the place, Rangers were taking a slightly more reserved approach and Santos had the first shot in anger. Cook tormented the Iran right back and whipped in a dangerous ball that found Georges at the far stick. He failed to keep his shot down though and it sailed high into the upper School End.

Iran forced Henderson into a fine save when a vicious thirty yarder seemed destined for the top corner until the young Villa custodian intervened. The ref was having none of it though and gave a goal kick much to the chagrin of the Iranians. This was just about the only thing the ref hadn’t given to Iran as he turned in an embarrassingly one sided display. I know the Iranian fans were vociferous but intimidating they were not.

Big Dan launched what is becoming a trademark run and wild shot soon after and then it was time for Furs to pitch in and score the opening goal. Lee Cook swung in a corner from the right and the dodgy keeper went walkabout. The ball was flicked into the air and Dan powered a header across goal where Furs was on hand to nod it home at the far post.

As the break came close there was a certain amount of spike coming into the game. Iran were diving all over the show and the referee was doing little to stop them. Some narky challenges were coming in now and Rowly was on the receiving end of one in the centre circle. The fella went straight through the back of him and that curtailed his involvement in the game. He was replaced at half time by Ainsworth.

Shortly after the break Tommy Doherty showed his range of passing with a sublime through ball to pick out the run of Furlong. He tried to round the keeper but the angle became narrow and he was denied. It wasn’t long until the second goal came though and it was courtesy of Ainsworth.

Once again a Lee Cook corner was the key. He swung the ball in from the right and once again the keeper found himself flapping his way through no mans land. Wild Thing met the ball with a firm header back across the goal that went in via the post. Shortly after, Olly rang the changes with Shimmin, Bean, Brown and Moore replacing Rose, Doherty, Cook and Furlong.

There was not long to wait for the third and once again a corner caused pandemonium in the Iran penalty area. This time Santos was the recipient as a Shimmin missed his header and the ball bobbled to the big Frenchman. He made no mistake as he arrowed an unerring left footed drive into the corner. There was time for a couple more changes now as Hislop and Miller replaced Shittu and Santos. This meant that Jamie Vincent was now pushed in field to play centre back after a thus far impressive showing at left back. He had been solid if unspectacular but I don’t have a problem with this. I would rather a full back can defend well and attack a bit rather than the other way round.

With the Iranians well out of it there was little more in the way of goalmouth action to report. Gallen should have scored with a header but failed to hit the target. His finishing all afternoon was poor which was a shame, as his play outside the box was very good. At the end the Iranians were given a rousing send off from their noisy and enthusiastic following many of whom had probably never had the chance to see their national team play before. It was perhaps a shame for them that they did not have people like Ali Daei in show to make things more even.

As for Rangers, Henderson did some good things and some bad things. His kicking seemed a little haphazard and he failed to gather shots cleanly a couple of times. He did make some good saves though and I think he is worth another look. Vincent looked solid and is also worth another game against Charlton. I think a half decent showing and he will be in the bag. Other good displays came from Shittu, Rose, Rowlands, Doherty, Santos, Cook and Furs. Gallen and Bignot will have a could do better over their heads. Bignot in particular was poor; he gave the ball away a lot and rarely supported his wide man. For me Ugo Ukah would start ahead of him at Hull.

In terms of the subs, Ainsworth was all action as usual and Miller showed some nice touches coming on in the last twenty minutes. Shimmin also looked solid and Moore was lively up top.

For the Charlton game I think we will see a very different side with new signing Marc Nygaard getting an hour under his belt, perhaps with Moore partnering him. Vincent and Henderson are likely to play again before Olly makes a final decision and people like Ainsworth, Brown and Miller could well get a longer run out.

simon@qprnet.com