KEMAR IS A DREAM CATCHER
Roofe’s vision comes true as he scores in first start in 16 months
KEMAR ROOFE hallmarked his first start of 16 months by firing Rangers in front in Dingwall after dreaming of a fairytale comeback.
The Jamaican forward now has PSV Eindhoven in his sights in midweek ahead of Rangers’ second huge game in the space of a week when they face Celtic at Ibrox on Saturday.
Roofe described his full comeback following hip surgery as ‘massive’ before declaring: ‘This is why I play football, to score goals and win games.
‘I can’t put into words how tough it’s been, but I’m not here for sympathy or to complain. It’s part of the game but hopefully that will be the last of it.
‘Last night I went to bed dreaming of scoring and us winning and I came off the pitch feeling good. But there is still a lot of work to do.’
Blues skipper James Tavernier added a second goal to earn Rangers a reasonably straightforward victory in the Highlands.
But it was by no means a walk in the park once County had tightened up at the back in the second half.
However, with Champions League stakes so high, victory in Dingwall was paramount ahead of Rangers’ midweek trip to Holland to face PSV with the tie balanced at 2-2.
There was enough for manager Michael Beale to feel satisfied about his team’s overall performance, not least Roofe’s contribution and that of Tom Lawrence when he made a second-half appearance.
The sight of Lawrence on the bench after a year out with the knee injury he suffered in the corresponding fixture 12 months ago was also a welcome one for the fans.
While the result was clearly not to County’s liking there was sufficient encouragement over the piece to suggest they will emerge a stronger team this season.
An average of three goals a game prior to yesterday and the fact that they have not been at all disgraced in their two matches against the Old Firm — they lost 4-2 at Parkhead on the opening day — certainly offers plenty of hope.
For the first 20 minutes or so it was frenetic rather than fancy with Rangers enjoying the lion’s share of possession while County felt their way carefully into the game.
But everything changed in the course of five minutes when Roofe scored his first goal since February and Tavernier soon followed with a second to make County’s already difficult task a whole lot tougher.
Up to that point there had not been a great deal to stir the emotions of a near sell-out crowd. Indeed it took fully 10 minutes before there was any notable goalmouth action.
Roofe did some good work to set up a chance for Cyriel Dessers whose header was saved by Ross Laidlaw.
After County skipper Jack Baldwin had been cautioned for a challenge on Todd Cantwell, Simon Murray created an opening for himself at the other end but shot tamely at Jack Butland.
Even if Murray had punished slack defending it wouldn’t have counted as the referee spotted an infringement in the build-up and awarded Rangers a free-kick.
Just when it seemed that the home side might make a game of it Rangers disabused them of the notion in emphatic fashion.
Roofe pounced on Borna Barisic’s cross and emerged from a tussle with full-back James Brown at the back post with the ball seven or eight yards from goal.
Despite seeming to fall over as he executed his finish, Roofe managed to hook the ball into the net for what was a fairly spectacular improvised finish with 22 minutes on the clock.
The County players were still dusting themselves down when Rangers struck again four minutes later, this time through their captain.
Tavernier (below) carried the ball into the County half, evaded a couple of challenges, and completed a terrific finish with a blistering shot from 25 yards.
County appeared in danger of suffering a complete collapse when Laidlaw was then called on to deny Dessers a third Rangers goal in the 27th minute.
But they regrouped sufficiently to keep it to two goals at the interval, albeit Laidlaw had to turn away a shot from Sam Lammers almost on the stroke of half-time.
While it was far from being an entirely lost cause, County could not afford any profligacy of the type perpetrated by Jordan White who squandered a genuine chance when he headed wide of the target within 90 seconds of the restart.
Victor Loturi became the second County player to earn a yellow card when he was punished for pulling back Nicolas Raskin. A switch to three at the back with the introduction of Will Nightingale in place of Harmon immediately following the interval gave County a more solid look in defence and there was not nearly so much between the sides as there had been in the first 45 minutes.
That said, Rangers maintained a grip on the general play and were not unduly troubled by the opposition.
The arrival of Rabbi Matondo after 59 minutes, in place of Roofe, gave Rangers fresh attacking options and the substitute quickly posed a potent threat.
Forced to rely on hopefully catching Rangers on the break, there seemed little prospect of County mounting a comeback, a feeling that grew when substitute Abdallah Sima tested Laidlaw from close range with a powerful header after Barisic had done the spadework.
But there was a glimmer of hope for the hosts when Josh Sims exploded into life in the 71st minute to offer Rangers a reminder that they were not quite home and dry.
Gathering a pass from Connor Randall, Sims weaved this way and that before shooting just over.
ROSS COUNTY (4-4-2): Laidlaw; Brown, Baldwin, Leak (Reid 65), Harmon (Nightingale 46); Dhanda, Randall, Loturi (Turner 56), Sims; White, Murray (Brophy 70).
Subs (not used): Munro, Henderson, Tillson, Samuel, Smith. Booked: Baldwin, Loturi, Turner.
RANGERS (4-3-3): Butland; Tavernier, Goldson, Souttar, Barisic; Raskin (Jack 83), Lundstram, Cantwell (Lawrence 72); Lammers (Sima 59), Dessers (Danilo 72), Roofe (Matondo 59). Subs (not used): McCrorie, Cifuentes, Sterling, Balogun. Booked: Lundstram. Referee: David Munro. Attendance: 6,540.