MAC GALLIENNE’S first game in charge of Rovers ended in defeat at the hands of his old club, Rangers, last night at the Track.
Nevertheless, he was a happy man afterwards.
‘I’m very pleased,’ said Gallienne.
‘It was the first time I’ve seen them play and it was the first time they’ve played together.
‘We knew it was going to be a tough game and we knew you’ve got a chance of conceding goals when you come up against Ross Allen, but I was pleasantly surprised and pleasantly pleased.
‘I had three 16 and 17-year-olds out there. There were a lot of pluses.
‘Hopefully Rangers went off at the end thinking that was a tough game.’
One of the things that delighted Gallienne was the performance of his new signing, goalkeeper Richard Davey.
The former North man pulled off a number of blinding saves, especially during the first half, and the defeat would have been far greater than 3-0, had he not been playing.
Davey had kept Rangers at bay until just past the half-hour mark when referee Pete Davison pointed to the penalty spot after a Rovers defender had inconspicuously pushed Allen in the area.
The keeper parried Allen’s penalty with a fine dive to his left, but there was nothing he could do keep out Dale Garland’s close range effort.