Capital One Cup 1st Round
Team: Green, Perch, Onuoha, Hall, Kpekawa, Doughty, Gobern (Hoilett), Phillips (Blackwood), Emmanuel-Thomas, Gladwin (Henry), Polter.
Subs Not Used: Lumley, Konchesky, Chery, Luongo
Attendance: 4,058 (including 1,101 R’s fans)
A travelling band of around 1,000 R’s fans made the effort in a crowd of 4,058. Yeovil put up a valiant effort, but the game is all about money and the Glovers have none.
Despite a spirited second-half performance from the home side, Rangers were never in danger of losing this. Hall looked solid and Polter worked his socks off. Cole Kpekawa, our left-back, is a better option than Yun Suk-Young or Paul Konchesky in my opinion.
All in all, a very satisfactory performance, but we must remember that it was Yeovil and there will not be an easier game this season.
rousdonhoop
Good, professional performance last night. No messing about and nearly everyone was switched on.
For the first 10 minutes, Yeovil sat back, letting us knock it around at the back and in midfield but we couldn’t find a way through. A few hopeful balls but nothing of quality.
Then Yeovil threatened down the left a few times with a tricky little winger who James Perch struggled to contain. He ended up whacking him a few times and receiving a yellow card.
This brought Yeovil out which left a gap for Polter to be played in and thankfully he put it away with our first shot at goal. Soon after, Emmanuel-Thomas got a bollocking from Ramsey. I think it was something to do with his defensive duties?
Seconds later, Cole Kpekawa did really well getting to the goal-line and then put in a great cross which Emmanuel-Thomas got on the end of. That was game over.
For the rest of the first-half we played some good football, knocking it around well. Polter nearly scored with a great header from a Phillips corner.
Yeovil made two substitutions for the second-half. The home side came at us for 5 to 10 minutes, but the defence held out and Rob Green made a couple of good saves.
Then Ned scored from a corner to put the Yeovil revival to a halt. And we created a few other chances; Polter was played through again, he beat one man but a second stopped him and Hoilett blasted one over the bar from range. Rob Green made a full-stretch diving save late on:
Green: Didn’t have much to do, but when called upon he made a couple of good saves. He seemed to be talking well to the players in front of him.
Perch: Was a bit exposed early on against their tricky winger, resulting in a couple of cynical tackles and was happy to take a booking. Luckily we got on top soon after.
Onuoha: Very solid at the back, getting in where it hurts. He played the ball off nice and easy. Also stuck the ball in the net nicely for his goal.
Hall: Very impressed with him! He won the ball well, laid it off well, also talked well and came to win the ball. Twice the player Caulker was last season. Happy with this signing and hope he can do it in the Championship as well.
Kpekawa: No secret that I like this lad. Always looking to get forward, great cross for the second goal. Numerous good passes and has speed. He lost a challenge once but was quick enough to chase back and win it the second time. Positional wise, needs a little looking after, but Hall and Ramsey kept an eye on him and he will only get better!
Doughty: Very solid in the midfield and not afraid to get in where it hurts. Made some neat lay-offs, 100% effort and always on the go.
Gobern: Did ok and played his part, but nothing outstanding.
Phillips: Did he play first-half? Never in the match, his only contributions were the corners. It seemed like he didn’t want to get hurt and stayed out the way of trouble. He turned away from a couple of 50-50’s, so make of that what you will? Having said that, he was on the left-wing and all his best games have been on the right.
Emmanuel-Thomas: I thought he did ok. I see that someone has criticised him, but I think he is what he is. Has good feet at times and can create but loses the ball on other occasions. He made good ground to score his goal and obviously could read what was going to happen.
Gladwin: He may not on the face of it seem to have done much, but believe me he did. Covered loads of ground and was everywhere. He’s a big lad but no slouch, good feet for the most part.
Polter: Without doubt he was MOTM for me. I would hate to mark him. He fouls his defender most times but seems to get away with it. Never shirks a challenge and he’s another one who gets in where it hurts. He took his goal well, which may have been deflected.
On one occasion late in the game, he sprinted back from the half-way line to help out the defence. We won the ball back and then broke away on the counter-attack. He then sprinted the whole length of the pitch to get in their box. We failed to deliver the ball in the box and Ramsey did his nut!
The subs didn’t really get to do very much. Hoilett blasted one over the bar from range and ran up his own arse on another occasion by trying to beat too many players and over-running the ball!
Overall, a good performance even if it was only against Yeovil. I was very happy with Hall, Kpekawa and Polter.
Nick Vining
There were 6 people at an otherwise deserted Yeovil Junction Station waiting for the 10.57 to Exeter. All of them Rangers fans! it was one of those classic late night after an away game railway station scenes. No idea what the back-stories were for my fellow travelling R’s supporters.
I ended up with a 30 minute walk along country roads having got off the train at Axminster at 11.30pm to a chorus of UuuRrrr’ss.
There was a good humoured picnic atmosphere at the ground and a fantastic sunset.
On the pitch we seemed to play neat football with everyone seemingly knowing what we were trying to do. Very hard though from behind the goal to assess so many new players especially when my powers of identification lack match practice.
But there is no mistaking Sebastian Polter. Contrary to some reports I thought he looked fit and reasonably mobile, putting in a good shift right to the end of the game. He seems the type that centre halves will have real difficulty with – very strong and clever in the way he uses his body to hold off opponents, and certainly prepared to put his body on the line when it matters.
Apart from his goal which he seemed to take well, he was unlucky with a strong header which was pushed over the bar and he then won a flick-on which led to Onuoha’s goal.
On the down side he seems prone to embarrassingly clumsy moments – one overhit cross-field pass and a lumpy heavy poke at the ball after he had worked himself into a good position down the right were the worst. He also should have done better when running clear after being found in space by a through ball. I’m staying positive on him – and backing what must obviously be Les’s hunch that he will be an effective performer in the Championship.
All over the pitch there seemed to be bright performances – or was it just the relaxed feeling, county air and nice sunset. At least we won a game and scored three goals!
One other positive note – our Dutch ace was warming up down the side of the pitch and seemed to enjoy the attention he got – and it seems like we could be in for some nice Chery songs! One success measure for the season ahead could be the number of times we hear them!
I do suspect the majority of the 1100 travelling Rangers fans lived nearer to Huish Park than Loftus Road. Anyone who travelled by train I salute you. Like you Paul, Axminster is now my nearest station and you would have seen 3 of us departing there most Saturdays following the r’s last season. With the amount of mid-week games I’ve decided to not renew this season but I’ll be up and down to Waterloo most Saturdays again this season. It does surprise me how many there are of us from Lyme/Rousdon/Seaton that actually follow the hoops, long may it continue