Full Match Report from www.qprnet.com ARBY'S STAR TURN AS WINNER TAKES ALL Rangers made it two wins from two in the Neil Warnock era as they comfortably despatched a Plymouth Argyle side that look absolutely nailed on for relegation. This wasn’t a fluent performance by any means but it was solid and hard working and it resulted in the first clean sheet Rangers have managed since October 17th, some 25 games ago in all competitions. This was my first look at the Warnock vintage having missed the West Brom game on Saturday and he selected the same XI that had seen off the promotion chasing Baggies in fine style. Ikeme continued in goal behind Connolly, Stewart, Gorkss and Hill. Priskin, Leigertwood, Faurlin and Ephraim were in midfield with Taarabt playing behind Simpson. Cook returned to the bench after missing the weekend’s game with a runny nose. The opening exchanges were pretty quiet in truth with neither side managing to assert any dominance over the other. Rangers certainly appeared to be enjoying the lions share of the possession and it was clear that Taarabt was in the mood to put on a show as he began ghosting past players almost immediately. It was from a decent challenge from Taarabt that Rangers’ first genuine effort at goal came. Plymouth looked to have broken up an attack on the left before the Moroccan put his foot in to win the ball back; Ephraim moved inside his man and shot only for Stockdale to take the ball comfortably. Taarabt created the next chance also, this time for Simpson. A run in midfield ended with a through ball that sliced through the heart of the Plymouth defence, Simpson charged onto the ball and shot but failed to hit the target. Rangers had taken hold of the game now and the visitors showed little to suggest that they had the faintest idea of how to wrestle it back. This is easily the poorest Plymouth side I have seen against Rangers in the years we have been doing battle with them. From the Division 2 days to last season they were always a committed side even if they weren’t playing well, there seemed little evidence of that commitment from this set of players. Connolly was next to try his luck in his new role as the rampaging, goal scoring right back. The calm finish of Saturday was nowhere to be seen, this time he put his foot through it after carrying the ball to the edge of the box but he cleared the bar with Stockdale untroubled. Plymouth’s only route into the game looked to be from free kicks. Rangers conceded a couple wide on the Plymouth right flank and Judge sent a couple of dangerous balls in, one of these was nodded over Ikeme’s bar by Fletcher that was about as close as they came. Taarabt managed to extricate himself from a seemingly impossible position on the edge of the Plymouth box, he looked to be hemmed in but the dancing feet kicked into gear and he was suddenly free but could only fire wide of the target. The opening goal wasn’t long in coming though and it came from the penalty spot. Connolly fired in an excellent cross from the right and Priskin moved in to try and attack it, as he did so Arnason seemed to grip him up and the Hungarian, who doesn’t need much invitation to go down, hit the deck. It looked like a pen but it also looked like Priskin made sure it looked like a pen! Taarabt stepped up and as Stockdale went one way he smashed the ball into the opposite corner. Rangers could have sewn the game up by half time as they created and missed two excellent chances. Firstly Ephraim, who grew as the game wore on, beat his man and fired in a great cross that just eluded Simpson. Next up the outstanding Faurlin took a set piece and sent an excellent flat delivery in that was glanced on by Gorkss and headed over the bar from close range by Stewart. Whatever Paul Marriner told his troops at half time didn’t seem to make much odds. From the off they were unable to get to grips with Taarabt as he breezed through their midfield at will. Duguid dumped him on the deck with a crude challenge for which he was rightly carded. Taarabt himself stepped up to take the kick and he sent a wicked ball bending in toward Stockdale’s goal. The keeper didn’t take charge of the situation and nor did his defenders and Damion Stewart was on hand to nod home unmolested for the second. With the game all but over Faurlin set about a personal mission to try and open his account for the club. First he cracked a shot over the top after Taarabt picked him out and minutes later the two combined again with a training ground routine that saw a disguised free kick pulled to Faurlin but he could only pick out Stockdale. There will be no more popular goal when he does finally get one as he is a player that has really captured the imagination of the R’s fans. It was one way traffic toward The Loft as Taarabt went looking for his second but failed to hit the target from range. Simpson was next to send one wide after Leigertwood powered his way past two Plymouth men before dragging a wild shot into the box that would have gone off fifteen yards up the far touchline had Simpson not turned it into a cross. Such was the ferocity of the strike the centre forward wasn’t able to adjust his feet quick enough to steer it on target. The game was starting to peter out now and Warnock began to ring the changes with Taarabt making way for Buzsaky and Ephraim for Cook. It was a quiet period of the game now but there was one final chance for Rangers after Stockdale came steaming out of his box to try and clear and managed to crash into Sawyer allowing Simpson to nip in and take the ball. With the keeper out of position he should have squared it for Buzsaky to tap into a gaping net but instead he elected to shoot and missed the target once more. Simpson himself made way shortly before the end with Vine getting a quick trot out as the game ran down. The thing that I noticed more than anything about the performance, having missed the game at the weekend, was the level of intensity about the players. They were quick to close the ball down, quick to attack it when it was free and quick to use it when they were in possession. The lacklustre approach that has dogged the last few months seems to have been blown out of the water by Warnock and not before time. Everyone knows that he will not suffer fools and any play giving less than the maximum effort will likely not last very long in his side.
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