Jon Veron gets a shot away at Port Soif on Saturday. (Picture by Adrian Miller, 0560418)
Rovers 0, Rangers 3
JON VERON has given Steve Ogier a timely reminder ahead of the Muratti.
The pacy Rangers forward banged in a hat-trick at Rovers on Saturday to stake a claim to be included in the island boss’s team for the big match against Jersey on Monday 5 May.
‘Obviously I’m hoping to [be picked], but it’s not up to me,’ said the 23-year-old Veron. ‘Everyone wants to play. I’ve been on the bench the last few seasons. Even when you’re on the bench, it’s nice to be involved.’
Veron’s coach at Rangers Mac Gallienne says his striker, along with teammate Ross Allen, deserves to be in the Guernsey side.
Veron and Allen were the outstanding players in a match that certainly did not get the juices flowing.
‘I thought it was a poor game of football, but I’m pleased for Jonny,’ said Gallienne.
‘He’s had a good season for us. He deserved to finish it off with a hat-trick.
‘It’d be nice for him and Ross to be chosen for the Muratti. I think they should be involved.’
In beautiful sunshine at Port Soif, Rangers nearly took an early lead within the first 10 minutes but forward Ryan Gontier’s header was well saved by a diving John Le Cheminant.
The veteran shot stopper, who is into his 40s, was a late replacement for regular keeper Jason Oliveria.
Rangers, playing in a 4-3-3 formation, were having the run of the play.
They had another golden chance just before the half-hour mark when Shane Billien was found in time and space, but the attacker totally mucked up his volley.
A minute later Veron had a shot go just wide, but he did not miss the target shortly afterwards to put the red-and-blacks ahead. It was a good finish.
Allen went on to display some lovely skill as he jinxed into the box but his shot from a tight angle came to nothing.
At half-time, Rovers’ Ryan Tippett came off with a tight hamstring. Not much had been seen of the former island striker as he had had a lack of service from the midfield. Junior Alex Masterton replaced him.
Just before the hour mark, Rovers had their first real chance when attacker Dave Darlington beat the Rangers offside trap, but his shot failed to trouble keeper Chris Parrott.
Allen offered up some more top-notch skill as he drove into the area and the only thing that stopped his strike was Martin Jehan – who had a good game in the centre of the Rovers’ defence – as the ball smacked him right in the face.
Now totally Rangers, Veron got their second with 15 minutes to go with an edge-of-the-area effort.
Rovers came back right at the death as Parrott had to dive at the feet of Darlington to deny the Rovers man and Masterton had two chances go begging.
But to rub salt into the wound, Veron wrapped up his hat-trick in the third minute of added time when he brought the ball into the area before putting it past Le Cheminant.
The win sees Rangers stay in fifth place in the table with 28 points while Rovers are stuck to the bottom with four.
‘I’m disappointed with the result,’ said Rovers boss Garry Stevenson.
‘We had some good performances and we created a lot of pressure but we couldn’t capitalise on that.
‘When you’re up against a player like Jon Veron, he’ll put nine out of 10 chances into the back of the net. I thought it was even apart from one player.’
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