There was plenty of head scratching when the team sheets went up as there appeared to be four central defenders, two central midfielders, three wingers and a striker in the starting XI! When the teams lined up it seemed to be in a 3-4-3 formation with Royce in goal behind a back three of Mancienne, Cullip and Stewart. Ainsworth, Bolder, Lomas and Timoska were across the middle of the park with Blackstock up top flanked by Rowlands and Cook.  

It was the visitors that created the first chance of the game when Akinbiyi managed to turn the ball into the path of the onrushing Alan Mahon. The Irishman was just about to pull the trigger when Timoska flew in with one of his trademark blockbusters to send the ball spinning to safety and leave Mahon in a heap on the deck.  

Slowly the players started to get to grips with this new formation but there was a certain amount of tripping over each other as they did so. Ainsworth and Rowlands found each other in each others areas a few times and Damion Stewart seemed to be a bit wobbly. Danny Cullip wasted no time in critiquing his display to try and get the big Jamaican to raise his levels of concentration. 

Cullip had shown in the early stages that he was certainly a talker, both to his fellow players and whoever he ended up marking. He was on the wind up with Akinbiyi from the off and the big Burnley man didn’t like it! Rangers took the lead shortly before the quarter hour and it was another new signing, Adam Bolder that created the opportunity. 

Lafferty dallied on the ball in the middle of the park and you don’t need to ask Bolder twice if he wants to have a challenge. He ran through the Burnley man and took the ball from him before slipping a perfectly weighted pass into the path of Lee Cook. Cook carried the ball forward before firing a perfectly placed shot low past Mike Pollitt and just inside the far post. The players ran to congratulate Cookie and Cullip tried to get Stewart and Mancienne to go with them after the two of them hung back. Perhaps this was an effort and engendering some of the team spirit that club captain Gallen had said was missing when he left. 

To their credit Burnley responded well and Royce made a TV special of a save when a Michael Duff header was on target. Royce flew high to his right to pluck the ball out of the air; I am sure those who could see his face would have seen the grin for the cameras as he was doing it. 

He wasn’t able to do anything about the Burnley equaliser minutes later though. Rangers allowed Joey Gudjonsson to swing a ball in from the right flank and Chris McCann burst into the box to send a towering header past Royce to level the scores. It was an excellent goal but one that should have been prevented, I would imagine that the early uncertainty regarding player positioning played a large part. 

As Burnley had done, Rangers didn’t allow themselves to fall away and a tightening of the defence saw Rangers remain largely untroubled for the rest of the half. The same couldn’t be said for Pollitt though who was finding more and more R’s players arriving in has vicinity as they became more accustomed to this new formation.

Rowlands tested the on loan Wigan man with a header that was saved with ease. He then tried a speculative long range effort that was again well fielded by Pollitt as Rangers pressed ever harder. Just before the break Rowlands managed to find some space on the right flank and sent in a cross that both Ainsworth and Timoska attacked, the two pony tailed wingbacks got in each others way though and the chance was gone.  

There was still time for another chance as Cook this time sent in a cross that Blackstock met with his head only to see it deflected behind. The corner came to nothing and when halftime came incredibly a couple of people in the Upper Loft booed! I would venture they had seen a lot worse than this so far this season so it was a bit over the top! 

The second half started much as the first had ended with Rangers the better side. Blackstock was working like ten men up front as per usual and the number of headers he was taking off of Duff and McGreal meant that the Burnley defence wasn’t able to just pump the ball away to safety.  

Ten minutes into the second half Rangers were back in front thanks to leading scorer Dexter Blackstock. Rangers won a left wing corner and Cook sent the ball swinging away to the edge of the six yard box where Blackstock arrived on cue and sent an unstoppable header screaming into the roof of the net. It was no less than he deserved following another hard running display.  

Two minutes later Rangers almost grabbed the third when Blackstock hooked a ball into the path of Cook and he lashed a fierce volley inches over the bar. It really was one way traffic now as Timoska went on a lung busting burst up the left and almost had too much time when he got in the box. He had options all around but instead misplaced a pass to Rowlands when the midfielder was hoping to strike a decent pass first time. 

Steve Cotterill had seen enough and made a treble change throwing on new signing Steven Caldwell plus the returning Andy Gray and Rangers nemesis Steve Jones. It hardly had the desired effect though as within seven minutes the game was over.  

Mike Pollitt made a great save after Blackstock had out muscled the much bigger Caldwell to get a header on target. As Rowlands lined up the right wing corner Lomas and Cullip jockeyed their men for position and as Cullip ran to the near post the space suddenly opened up. Rowlands’ ball in was perfect and Lomas arrived to climb highest and send a downward header past Pollitt to secure the points. 

The game was as good as over now and both teams knew it. Rangers seemed content to play out time with Bolder and Lomas keeping possession and using the ball intelligently. Steve Jones was probably Burnley’s biggest threat given his previous record against Rangers but Ainsworth was playing him like a seasoned full back and he launched into a couple of thunderous tackles on him that left him wishing he was still sat on the bench! 

Simon Royce was a virtual spectator in the closing stages and there was little to cause any panic as Akinbiyi and Gray struggled to make any impact again the tight trio of Mancienne, Cullip and Stewart. The bruising Cullip had marshalled the defence superbly and he is just the sort of organiser the two alongside him needed.  

This was a fine display all round and once the players had gotten a handle on the formation they played some decent stuff. Cook got plenty of the ball thanks to an almost constant supply of passes from the excellent Bolder in the middle of the park. Blackstock ran himself into the ground up front and wide on the left, Timoska, a centre half by trade was up and down the flank all afternoon. It isn’t fair though to single individuals out for praise; they all did their part in what was a fine team display. 

The game at Southend is a massive one and we must take at least a point from it as we got lucky with results yesterday, we were the only team in the bottom eight to take three points. That won’t happen every week and we must take matters into our own hands if we are to be victorious in this long fight for safety. 

Man of the Match – Dexter Blackstock. Dexter just edges it from Bolder for a fine goal and for the fact that he led the line on his own and gave the two Burnley centre backs a torrid afternoon.

simon@qprnet.com