Rangers finally grabbed their first win and first clean sheet of the season at the ninth time of asking with an impressive 1-0 home win over Norwich City. In truth it was one of the more one sided 1-0’s you will ever see and had it not been for some fine keeping and poor refereeing we could have been off the bottom of the table. 

After shipping another four goals at Colchester, Harford certainly didn’t mess about and made a raft of changes. Camp was in goal behind a back four of Rowlands, Stewart, Cranie and Barker. Ainsworth, Bolder, Leigertwood and Ephraim were in midfield with Sahar and Vine up top.  

Much of Rangers’ game plan in the opening exchanges involved the right boot of Camp and the forehead of Ainsworth. Rather than being mere hoofball I think it was more of an attempt to get the ball forward quickly and then play our football up there. It didn’t really come off for most of the night though and the better stuff was certainly played through midfield and the impressive Leigertwood in particular. 

In fact it was Leigertwood that almost opened the scoring when Vine won the ball on the right and cut it back to the edge of the box. Leigertwood walked onto it and struck it sweetly with the inside of his right foot only to see it whistle a foot wide with keeper Marshall well beaten. 

In Sahar and Vine Rangers were playing two strikers with good movement and a good touch and you could see that from the balls that were getting fizzed into them. The ball was getting away from them a little too often in the first period though and Dublin and Shackell were able to intervene. 

Sahar saw a shot blocked away by the ever impressive Dublin and from the corner Ainsworth shot straight at Marshall. Sahar should have been awarded a penalty shortly afterwards as his pace took him past the leaden footed Shackell and the Norwich skipper grabbed a handful of shirt. The young Israeli hit the deck but referee Walton failed to award the penalty but that was hardly a surprise as he tends to referee games with his head up his arse. 

Norwich to this point had been poor going forward. Martin and Huckerby up front were getting no change whatsoever from Stewart and composed debutant Martin Cranie and out wide the massive headed Lee Croft couldn’t find a way past Barker. This was certainly Barker’s best game for Rangers and whilst not up against much competition, it was a step in the right direction. 

When The Canaries did finally get a shot on goal it was more like a back pass. Right back Jon Otsemobor managed to force his way in but his shot carried no power at all and Camp gathered easily. At the other end Ephraim showed how to really ping one when he cut inside and forced Marshall to beat away his fierce twenty yarder. 

As the half drew to a close Dion Dublin headed a Huckerby corner into the crowd. He was taken off at the break and I can only assume he was injured as he had been far better than Shackell alongside him. Perhaps the fact he had already been booked (insert gratuitous two footed tackle gag here) meant that they could risk him against the quick feet of Vine and Sahar? Ian Murray replaced him. 

Rangers started the second half in fine style with Rowlands striding forward from right back like W12’s answer to Cafu! He burst through the Norwich midfield before cracking a fine right footed shot against the base of the post. It would have been a tremendous goal, but even though it didn’t go in, it certainly set the tempo for the rest of the game. 

Five minutes into the half it was time for referee Walton to show his lack of understanding (or downright incompetence, you decide) when he denied Rangers their second stonewall penalty of the evening. Once again the lumbering Shackell was involved, this time Vine robbed him of the ball and burst into the box. Shackell had a handful of Vine’s shorts and then kicked him for good measure. Somehow Walton waved away the appeals despite the fact that it may have been the most blatant penalty of all time! 

Rowly was trying his luck again soon after when Rangers won a free kick some thirty yards from goal. He stepped up and whipped the ball over the wall and it seemed simple for Marshall but such was the power it forced his hands away and he was lucky to fumble the ball somewhere other than the net. 

Then, finally, Walton came to the party and did his bloody job! Vine seized on a bouncing ball in the box and nudged it away from Norwich sub Ian Murray. As he did so Murray had a swing at the ball, missed it, and proceeded to kick Vine straight in the chest. Having seen the ref miss two other pens he made sure with this one and went to ground and Walton gave it.  

Rowlands resumed his spot kick duties from last season and stepped up to smash an unstoppable right footed shot into the side netting leaving Marshall with no chance at all. The lead was no less than Rangers deserved; they had been well on top for the majority of the game. 

Rangers were rocking now and they began to lay siege to the Norwich goal. First to try his luck was Ainsworth. A ball into the Norwich box was cleared, but it went up more than out. As the ball dropped, Ainsworth steadied himself and caught it sweetly on the volley only to see Drury nod it out for a corner. 

From Ephraim’s resulting corner Stewart attacked the ball at the far post and Marshall was able to comfortably flip it over the bar. Rowlands came across to take the kick from the other side and this time another half clearance fell to Vine and he caught the ball sweetly on the volley and Marshall once again had to intervene to palm the ball away. 

Norwich were offering nothing and they finally managed to have a strike on goal with just under twenty minute to play. Former Stoke man Darel Russell tried a long range speculator but in truth Camp could have thrown his cap on it.  

Moore had been sent on for the tiring Sahar now and he went to the left with Ephraim pushed up front. With Ephraim now playing centrally he passed up a great chance to score after some beautiful interplay with Leigertwood. Legs had been using that big ol’ booty to protect the ball near the corner but suddenly wriggled clear and slipped a pass to Ephraim who saw his shot well blocked by Marshall’s legs. 

Norwich did manage another shot but it was so far off target as not to warrant discussion! Rangers were content to wind the clock down now and were somewhat surprised to see five minute injury time added. I can’t say I was that surprised as some of our time wasting was chronic!  

The final whistle brought a well deserved ovation for the players. They had turned in easily their best display of the season and on another day could have won the game at a canter. Norwich were shocking and I can’t see it being long before they are looking up at Rangers rather than the other way round. 

There were lots of good displays. Cranie seemed to bring out the good side of Stewart; the young Pompey man was assurance personified and was cooler than The Fonz at the back. Rowlands at right back was up and down the line all night and on another night could have bagged a hat-trick from defence! 

In midfield Leigertwood was immense and Ephraim a real pain in the arse all night. Bolder was better but he still looks well short of last season and I wonder whether alleviating him of the burden of the captaincy might help him. Chuck the armband to Rowly for a while and see how it fits. Up top Vine was top class and having seen him for two games I would suggest that a call to Karren Brady which she can then spout off about in The Sun is in order. 

All in all this was much better. This was almost certainly Harford’s last game as caretaker and he will be delighted with the players’ efforts. The international break will allow Flavio and Bernie to bring their new man in and give him time to get acquainted with the squad. There is now a platform on which to build. Use it wisely. 

Man of the Match – Mikele Leigertwood. Legs was superb in the middle of the park. For a big lump he really gets about, he won the ball back well and more importantly used it properly when he got it.

simon@qprnet.com