Ton that got away
Tav’s gutted he failed to bring up century in Fir Park triumph
JAMES TAVERNIER’S membership to Rangers’ 100 club is in the post.
But the Ibrox skipper is kicking himself he didn’t manage an express delivery at Fir Park on Saturday.
The remarkable right-back is now just two goals away from clocking up a century of goals for the Light Blues.
A month on from being inducted into Gers’ Hall of fame, Tavernier now hopes to finalise his application to join another of the club’s most exclusive cliques after notching his 98th goal on his 392nd appearance.
He swept home a sweet set-piece to cancel out Kevin van Veen’s early opener for Motherwell.
But the frustrated Rangers captain felt he should have moved onto three figures after being presented with a couple of late chances to extend his sensational scoring record.
Another free-kick landed on the roof of Liam Kelly’s net before Tavernier scooped a stoppage-time opportunity over the bar after opting to go with his usually trusty right foot when a swinger with his left might have done the job.
However, it’s surely only a matter of time before Tavernier becomes just the 19th post-war player to bring up his Rangers ton.
“I should have hit the 100 mark on Saturday,” groaned the Englishman. “I was disappointed not to do better with the chances I had and finished them better.
“I got some stick for the last one where I should have gone with my left foot.
“But I enjoyed getting the win, contributing and helping the lads. I’m really proud of that record. I’ve always loved scoring goals since I was young.
“The tendency has been to move further and further back the pitch so it’s obviously been a bit harder to get those goals.
“But I enjoy scoring goals – I just wish I’d got a couple more at Fir Park.”
Scotland goalkeeping contender Liam Kelly didn’t exactly do his hopes of getting the nod to start in sticks for this week’s clashes with Cyprus and Spain much good as he failed to keep out Tavernier’s first-half equaliser.
But in fairness to the Steelmen stopper, he was left in two minds over which way to dive as the Gers ace stepped up.
Tavernier has scored twice from similar range in two separate clashes with Livingston this season, whipping his first into the postage-stamp corner on the opening day of the season before curling another exquisite effort into the opposite side during last month’s Tony Macaroni visit.
This time he went near post again, using team-mates Ryan Jack and Connor Goldson to block Kelly’s view as he clipped another pin-point set-piece over the wall.
That brought up goal No.15 of the campaign but he felt he should have repeated the trick later on.
“I do like that side,” grinned the Ibrox ace. “You have just got to try and hit the target and I managed it with the first one not the second free-kick I had.
“I just have to keep working at them and obviously it helps.
“It is important that the two lads block the view of Liam and I have just got to hit it on target.
“The second free-kick, I felt, was easier but I got too much on it and I am raging at that to be honest.
“Yeah, keep working at it and hopefully they all go in.
“Was I aiming for Ryan’s head? No, not really! It is a big
The tendency has been to move further and further back the pitch so it has been a bit harder to score JAMES TAVERNIER
wall and I told him to duck if it gets close to him.
“It is a big wall and close to the goal and you just have to try and get it up and down. I managed it with that one, the second one I didn’t.”
Tavernier also got his angles right as he threw over a perfect cross for Fashion Sakala to put Michael Beale’s side in front 60 seconds after half time.
But it wasn’t a flawless display from the captain, who was red faced after a fresh-air swipe and amid a mix-up with Antonio Colak paved the way for Bevis Mugabi to hit back and level at 2-2.
Goals from Todd Cantwell and Malik Tillman eventually broke Well’s resistance but Tavernier reckons Rangers should have run up a bigger winning margin than the final 4-2 scoreline.
He said: “We conceded a sloppy goal but we dominated large parts of the first half.
“We were loose on the ball a little bit so we were unhappy when we came in at half-time.
“We spoke with one another and came out for the second much better.
“We came and got the goals that we needed to but we could have scored more. For both of their goals we’ve made multiple mistakes.”
Gers have a clutch of first-team figures heading off on international duty this week, with Jack one of just two SPFL outfielders in Steve Clarke’s Scots squad. Borna Barisic will join up with
Croatia once he’s done his bedside duties with expectant wife Anja – who is due to deliver the couple’s first child day now – while Glen Kamara, Fashion Sakala and Nico Raskin have also flown home to meet up with their own respective national teams.
Bradford-born Tavernier would love to be looking forward to something similar with England but with Gareth Southgate’s Three Lions squad out of reach he’ll just enjoy a well-earned rest.
“Yeah, it’s definitely a time to recharge,” he said. “We will have programmes when we are away.
“Recharge and spend some family time and set ourselves up for the next run of games.”