Plymouth Argyle should always remember one-hit wonder that gave Bristol City nightmares: View | OneFootball

Rab Douglas played a blinder at Ashton Gate, before never being seen again

In most scenarios, to play just one league match for a club isn’t a good sign, but the 90 minutes Rab Douglas had in a Plymouth Argyle shirt will forever be remembered.

The Scottish sensation was drafted in on an emergency loan deal in the 07/08 season, with the Greens harbouring Championship play-off ambitions heading into the final two months of the season.

With Luke McCormick seeing red at Scunthorpe United just days before, Paul Sturrock needed someone to count on to keep the momentum in his side’s favour as they travelled to Bristol City, in a West Country encounter that is never for the faint-hearted.

With over 100 matches for Celtic under his belt before moving to Leicester City, the Scot proved to be the man for the biggest occasion at Ashton Gate, and wrote himself into Argyle folklore in the process.

Cometh the hour, cometh the Rab for Plymouth

By his own accord, Douglas wasn’t expecting to feature again for the rest of the season after brief stints at Millwall and Wycombe Wanderers during the 07/08 campaign, while his time with the Foxes continued to flounder.

But after McCormick’s midweek misdemeanours left the Pilgrims in peril, Sturrock called upon his compatriot to help him out when he needed it most, with Argyle in the hunt for a play-off spot at the time.

Such are the parameters when you support a club in the south west. The trip to Ashton Gate was as close as it got to a derby for Argyle fans at the time, and they needed a man who could stand up to the cauldron of noise anticipated in the Robins’ nest, with both teams in and around the play-off picture.

Step forward, Rab Douglas, who, despite having not played for the previous two months, and barely meeting his teammates before kickoff, produced one of the all-time great Argyle goalkeeping performances for a side he had no association with whatsoever.

With a Rory Fallon brace putting the visitors two goals to the good, Argyle faced a deluge of attacks from City as they clung on to their advantage in front of the 2,000 travelling members of the Green Army, with Douglas on hand to repel wave after wave.

Flinging himself left and right, as well as smothering any balls into the penalty area, Douglas continued to keep his adopted side’s lead intact, with eight heroic saves throughout the night.

It took a Lee Trundle spot kick to eventually beat the Scot, and even as the pressure continued to mount in the final minutes, the then-35-year-old used all his experience to keep the hosts at bay.

Within the space of 90 minutes, Douglas was an Argyle hero, with the most unlikely of results achieved by the most unlikely of protagonists, before the two never crossed paths again.

The goalkeeper would soon return north of the border to play another eight seasons, and with over 500 matches in his career, it will always be that one at Ashton Gate that resonates with Argyle fans the most.

Paul Sturrock praises Rab Douglas after Bristol City heroics

After borrowing the goalkeeper from former Argyle boss Ian Holloway at Leicester, Sturrock couldn’t speak highly enough of his makeshift goalkeeper, who kept the club’s play-off ambitions burning for just that little bit longer.

"Our season was hinging on today; we had really put ourselves in a predicament after losing the last two games," the Argyle boss said.

"I could probably have picked up one of a couple of young Premier League goalkeepers, but this is a cauldron, a place where you don't bring that type of player, and Rab's played at a high standard all his career."

And with that, Douglas was back on the motorway to the Midlands, never to be seen again, having earned the Greens three points without even stepping foot in Home Park.