FOOTBALL: CARIBBEATEN

JAMAICAN Richard Langley's reggae dance of joy left Cardiff cursing as their bid for automatic promotion floundered in the sunshine.

And it was Langley who stunned the Welsh side with a dramatic last- gasp winner.

Just seconds were left when he moved between two defenders to meet Gino Padula's cross with a fierce volley.

It was no more than rampant Rangers deserved on a day when Cardiff were blown away by the power and pace of their visitors.

The Welsh club now find themselves still trailing second-placed Crewe by four points, with just one game in hand.

And they now face three tricky away fixtures at Wycombe on Tuesday, Chesterfield and Peterborough. The spectre of the play-offs looms large - and thousands of their supporters still recall those nightmare memories of their defeat by Stoke at that stage 11 months ago.

Rangers, eagerly searching for points themselves to bolster their play-off ambitions, opened in such blockbusting style that they came close to snatching the lead three times inside the opening 10 minutes.

Kevin Gallen cut the ball back for Paul Furlong, but he could only scoop his shot high.

Then Rangers captain Steve Palmer had stand-in goalkeeper Martyn Margetson scrambling to clear his 30-yard drive.

Minutes later, Margetson dived bravely at the feet of Gallen to push the ball away. Cardiff finally began to haul themselves back into the game, and it needed some alert keeping by Rangers' Chris Day to smother Robert Earnshaw's shot.

But the Cardiff defence were still struggling to cope with the power of Gallen. And it seemed he had fired the Londoners into a deserved lead after 22 minutes, when he hustled his way past Spencer Prior to cleverly loft his shot over Margetson.

But referee Paul Armstrong disallowed the goal after speaking to his linesman.

The scare seemed to wake up Cardiff and Peter Thorne missed a great chance to put them ahead three minutes into the second half when he was clear at the far post to meet Graham Kavanagh's cross.

But he headed the ball into the ground, and as it looped goalwards, Day was able to push it over the bar. Margetson reacted brilliantly to foil Gallen yet again, beating out his ferocious drive.

Instead, it was his partner Furlong who finally put the visitors ahead after 64 minutes.

The big striker was unnecessarily fouled by Chris Barker. And he rose above everyone in a crowded penalty area to head in Padula's free-kick.

Cardiff roused themselves again for a stirring finale. And it was Thorne who headed them level after 76 minutes when he was at the far post to meet substitute Andy Legg's corner.

Suddenly, Rangers were forced to battle for their lives against Cardiff's blistering late assault.

But Day kept them level with a splendid save from Cardiff's other substitute Gavin Gordon.

And then, with those seconds ticking away, came Langley's golden moment - and despair for most of the big crowd.

Copyright 2003 MGN LTD
Provided by ProQuest Information and Learning Company. All rights Reserved.