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Rangers continued their pre season
campaign at Sixfields on Wednesday
evening with a 1-0 victory over
Northampton Town. It made a pleasant
change to leave a ground that has
been something of a Rangers
graveyard in recent years with a
win. The margin of victory should
probably have been greater against a
Cobblers side that lacked ideas in
the final third.
Dowie changed things up after the
Stevenage game. Camp remained in
goal in the continuing absence of
Cerny; in front of him were
Connolly, Hall, Stewart and Delaney.
Alberti, Rowlands, Mahon and Ledesma
lined up in midfield with Blackstock
and Agyemang up top.
It was noticeable from the off that
despite being selected on the left
wing, young Argentine Ledesma had
been given licence to go looking for
the ball. At times this did mean
that Delaney was left to do the
attacking running himself down that
side but he’s not exactly backward
in coming forward.
Ledesma slipped a neat ball into the
path of Agyemang early on and the
strikers pace carried him clear but
his finish was wild. Rowlands and
Mahon were seeing plenty of the ball
in the middle of the park and again
looking to use the wide men whenever
possible as had been the case at
Stevenage. Alberti was getting
plenty of joy on his side; he was
far more at home hugging the
touchline than his counterpart on
the other side.
That’s not to say that the home side
weren’t a threat, the diminutive
Jackman was getting forward from the
middle of the park whenever he
could, he was involved in the move
that saw right back Jason Crowe have
a shot well blocked away by the
sliding Delaney.
The play was gradually becoming more
and more one way as Rangers
dominated the game for long periods.
Alberti seemed to be going past
former Rangers trialist Gabor Gyepes
at will on the right flank and with
a bit more quality on the final ball
the home side could easily have been
in real strife.
Ledesma drifted into space and
drilled a low shot wide before he
made the only goal of the game.
Rangers won a right wing corner but
Ledesma’s delivery wasn’t good and
the ball was easily cleared but only
to Alberti. The Italian fed it back
to the corner taker and he took his
time before measuring a fierce in
swinging cross into the six yard box
that Blackstock guided home in front
of Bunn.
Ledesma was in the box seat now and
pulling the strings. He crossed for
Agyemang to head wide before he went
up for a high ball himself and
looked to be eased under the flight
of it in the box. Probably one of
those that gets given if you have a
home crowd baying for a pen but not
in front of a pre season crowd
rattling about in a third full
ground.
Agyemang should have scored on the
stroke of halftime after he turned
onto another good Ledesma ball and
burst away from two Cobblers
defenders. His shot was well placed
and pulled a good save from Bunn who
managed to deflect it away for a
corner.
It was so far so good at the break
with the back four looking a far
more secure unit than they had in
the first half on Saturday. Stewart
benefits from having a leader next
to him and Hall is certainly that.
Delaney was solid and Connolly was
excellent, getting up to support
Alberti whenever he could.
There were no changes at the break
as Dowie cranked up the minutes on
the pitch. Northampton missed a
great chance to get level after a
terrific passing move that ended
Jackman firing a great ball into the
box and former Rangers youth team
player Giles Coke arriving but only
managing to slice wide when well
placed.
The game took on a pattern of both
sides having plenty of the ball but
the respective defensive units
providing a solid barrier. Ledesma
was operating from the right flank
at times now as he continued to
drift wherever he could find space
to use the ball. It was noticeable
also that there were no amateur
dramatics from the youngster;
perhaps a word in his shell like on
Saturday has already had the desired
effect.
Ainsworth was sent on for Alberti
with just over an hour played and
then with twenty minutes left Dowie
starting to make wholesale changes
with Bolder and Walton sent on for
Rowlands and Hall. Five minutes
later Delaney, Ledesma, Blackstock
and Agyemang were replaced by
Rehman, Ephraim, Di Carmine and
Balanta. The changes just seemed to
unsettle Rangers a touch and Stewart
and Walton got caught horribly
square against a ball over the top
and Leon Constantine was in. The
former Vale and Leeds man got there
before Camp and lifted the ball over
him and thankfully straight into the
stand.
That perked Rangers up for the last
ten minutes and they played the
better football in the closing
stages. Di Carmine showed some
beautiful skill to mug two defenders
on the touchline before delivering
into the box. Bolder tried to twist
and volley home but his shot was
deflected wide. Balanta then forced
Bunn into a decent low save after
dribbling into the box and working
an opening on his left foot.
This was a decent showing against a
side that was appreciably better
than Saturday’s opponents.
Northampton tried to get it down and
play and caused a few headaches but
nothing that the defence couldn’t
cope with. Pre season moves to
Scotland now for games against
Falkirk and Kilmarnock as the
opposition gets that little bit
better again.
simon@qprnet.com |
