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FLOOD LIGHTS UP GAME
Tuesday 22nd July 2008
by Ron Norris
QPR battled to an
unconvincing 2-1 victory over Windsor and Eton on Tuesday evening thanks
to goals from Chris Flood and Lee Brown.
Rangers’ first team coach, Gareth Ainsworth was in charge
for this one and he was given a mixed bag to pick from. The match
featured mostly youth team players but the presence of Chris Barker,
Zesh Rehman and Danny Nardiello can’t say much for their R’s future.
Reece Crowther, fresh from his five minute cameo at
Stevenage, started in goal with the back four made up of recent arrival
Joe Oastler, Rehman, Josh Ford and Barker. Romone Rose and Chris Arthur
were deployed out wide with Danny Maguire and Matt O’Brien the central
midfield pairing whilst Nardiello partnered former Brentford man Flood
up top.
After belting in good finish after good finish in the warm
up it wasn’t long before Flood did similar for real, firing Rangers into
a 9th minute lead after a decent opening period for the
visitors. Windsor struck back shortly after though, levelling things up
with an equally fine strike of their own and all of a sudden Rangers
went to pieces.
For the rest of the half there was little fluidity from the
midfield whilst the defence was nothing short of a shambles.
Young Josh Ford was struggling to contain a typically
aggressive non league attack and frankly should have expected a lot more
help from the two experienced players to his left.
Up front Flood found a similar story with his partner,
Nardiello who only seemed interested in trying to belt in half hearted
twenty yarders.
I can understand these players’ frustrations at being
dumped down to this level but if the watching Iain Dowie was looking for
a positive response from them he will have gone home sorely
disappointed.
The second half proved to be more productive for Rangers as
the midfield duo of O’Brien and Maguire began to get hold of the ball
and Rose started to get at his full back.
Ainsworth chopped and changed, with Rehman being one of
those hooked, and it was one of the substitutes who bagged the winner.
Lee Brown, given a second chance after originally being released last
summer, crashed one home with his right foot that the Royals ‘keeper
will be sorely disappointed with to say the least!
As the game entered the last twenty minutes and the evening
began to darken it took an age to get the floodlights on, when they did
finally light up a car alarm went off that didn’t shut up for the rest
of the game. I reckon the good folk of Windsor were robbing electricity
off some poor sods motor because as the alarm started to struggle for
life the flood lights packed up, leaving the teams playing out the last
few minutes in the dark!
All in all, this was a routine win, made to look much
harder than it should have been and will have done little for any of the
three first team players who were given a chance to impress and failed
miserably. |
