Rangers 1
Salenko 40
Aberdeen 1Jess 28Attendance: 45,427IT WAS the sort of game which makes winter seem a worthwhile idea. Midfielders, bitten by the cold, chased to and fro in eager attack, passes skidded with speed across sodden grass and the gusting wind provided enough mischief to allow plenty of openings at each end.The result was a vivid, warming draw, Eoin Jess’s barn- storming opener being balanced by Oleg Salenko’s point-blank header before half time.The scoreline confirmed Rangers’ best ever start to a Premier season but also the growing threat they face from the north, seen in the way the visitors short passing game overwhelmed them for long periods in midfield.Despite the settled nature of the Aberdeen line-up which has brought cohesion to that area, amateurism and brilliance continues to provide a curious blend in their defence Both qualities were evident at the outset. Twice within five minutes Salenko advanced up the corridor which Gary Smith and John Inglis leave between each other. Twice the Russian was foiled by dashing recovery tackles by each centre-back.With Andy Goram injured, Rangers had their own nerves to contend with at the back.
Minutes after Jess had bent a shot round Billy Thomson’s post the keeper fluffed a clearance which struck Scott Booth’s back. Paul Bernard patiently returned the ball to the box and Stephen Glass forced a corner.If Bernard’s reaction to the error had been mannered, Jess’s was murderous when the keeper repeated his mistake. Thomson’s lame clearance dropped to the midfielder inside the centre circle and the speed and control with which he drove forward took his opponents’ breath. His finish, a straight drive from 30 yards, was winding.With Paul Gascoigne thrown forward, Rangers’ creative options were diminished and it was a more artisan midfielder who redressed the scoreline. A sweeping centre from Gordan Petric found Stuart McCall straining forward to force a reflex block from Theo Snelders. McCall’s drive was undiminished, and a minute later he sprinted from deep to turn an Alexi Mikhailitchenko out-swinger back across goal. Salenko fretted little over McCall’s apparently off-side position and nodded the equaliser.With Aberdeen exchanging short passes, McCall’s colleagues in defence appeared to tire.
Joe Miller advanced and hit a long shot over the bar before Scott Booth wriggled inside the box to give Brian Grant space to have a shot deflected wide. Though the count of chances was even, Jess continued to throw the game’s emphasis the way of Aberdeen. He popped forward to exchange brisk one-twos with the forwards on several occasions but was unable to produce the opening which would change the outcome.. WHEN the first Test match gets under way at Centurion Park on Thursday, the seal will finally be set on South Africa’s long journey back to the international stage. Strangely, this will be their first five-match series since their sudden return in 1991. But if South Africans in general are looking forward to an enthralling series against their oldest foe, it is one of their exiles, Robin Smith, for whom the homecoming means the most.
It was 10 years ago that Smith, having played his last game for Natal, qualified for England. At the time he felt South Africa were nowhere near a return to international sport, a yardstick the fledgling Smith craved to be measured against. Fifty-six Tests for his adopted country later, Smith is desperate to show those in South Africa who remember him as an impetuous and supremely talented youngster that the decision was the right one and that he has not wasted such precocity by throwing in his lot with England.
“I was very disappointed to miss out against South Africa in England, especially the historic occasion at Lord’s in 1994,”Smith said in Kimberley. “So I really want to play against them, especially in Durban at Kingsmead, a ground that is very special to me and where I played a lot of my early cricket. I just hope the selectors give me the opportunity of playing in the big games because I know I’ll succeed.”Ray Illingworth confirmed here yesterday that Smith had done enough in an encouraging knock of 48 to convince him that he was ready for the Test arena again. Smith’s words were typically passionate talk from a man whose poor start to the tour had put him under pressure to regain the place he was forced to vacate last summer after Ian Bishop fractured his cheekbone at the Old Trafford Test. Three years ago, the anxiety over such a barren run of form would have bitten deep, and Smith, a sensitive soul, would have been fretting morning, noon and night.
