Football League Division One
Team: Parkes, Clement, Gillard, Hollins, McLintock, Webb, Thomas, Leach, Masson, Bowles, Givens
Sub: Beck
Attendance: 21,949
On the 28th February 1976, the R’s travelled to Bramall Lane. Alan Hoby later filed the following match report:
‘As the furious charge on the championship continues, Rangers have the same points as Liverpool, but are .080 of a goal behind in second place.
They “blew” their chance of continuing their recent dazzling run of five successive wins by dropping a point against bottom-of-the-table Sheffield United.
This was not a vintage Rangers performance, it lacked the usual blend of fastidious skills and thrusting power.
Rangers missed two goalmouth chances they would normally have gobbled up against a United defence which lacked the services of centre-half Eddie Colquhoun, who had to hobble off after injuring his back.
But Rangers’ manager Dave Sexton summed up the pressures of the season’s nail-biting title challenge when he told me: “I am delighted. It’s a terrific away point. There was a lot of tension and we missed Gerry Francis.”
Sexton added: “We needed the inspiration of a goal.” Rangers skipper Francis had failed a fitness test after aggravating a knee injury in midweek.
Mick Leach, despite one thundering early rocket which United’s keeper Jim Brown saved in a fantastic reflex leap, did not have a happy afternoon.
But then a general malaise seemed to infect this top-and-bottom struggle as both teams made untidy errors.
Rangers usual geometric passing was not apparent. There were far too many careless balls as they fought nervously for their hard-earned point.
It is never easy to play against teams in the cellar because there is often a false air of complacency.
United ran about like hungry gazelles and Tony Currie, their skipper, returning after a groin injury, grafted and toiled to pull his team together.
If Rangers had scored in their almost arrogant opening burst, then I think the game would have been over.
Don Givens lashed the ball over with the goal invitingly open after Leach’s chip had been miskicked by Dave Thomas.
But Rangers continued to spurn chances and the next culprit was full-back Ian Gillard who flicked over from three yards after a marvellous pass from Frank McLintock.
McLintock was a rock. He stamped his authority and skills at the Rangers back and strove to fire their disappointing forwards.
Another Rangers titan was Dave Webb, who despite being booked, played through the first-half with one side of his face caked with blood after an ariel collision.
It was McLintock who jockeyed United’s centre-forward Chris Guthrie just too wide to get in his finishing shot when clean through.
And it was Webb who saved Rangers again right at the end when he forced a corner after Gillard’s mistake had let in the tricky John McGeady.
But let us end on the magic – far too rare on this sunny afternoon – of Don Masson, Rangers’ Scottish midfield general.
He was desperately unlucky right at the start when, after feinting the United defence with a Brazilian hip-wiggle, he cracked a free kick against the bar.
Then right at the end, he gave us a dazzling reminder of the real Rangers when he flowed through the ponderous Sheffield defence in a fluent “one-two” with Stan Bowles and only a final yard of pace prevented Masson from scoring an elegant and deserved goal.
There were four bookings, Gillard, Webb and Thomas for QPR and Calvert for United.’
Rangers went on to win eight of their final nine games, but it wasn’t to be enough to clinch the title.
Steve Russell