QPR 2 Hull 0

It's difficult to know how much to read into this result because it all has to be taken with the consideration that Hull were a bit crap. Gregory certainly rang a few changes, Milanese was nowhere to be seen, Stefan Bailey made a surprise start in midfield, Bircham wore the armband and, most importantly, Rowlands and Blackstock returned from injury. The first half featured much huffage and puffage from both sides, Myhill saved from Rowlands and er that was about it. Obviously Danny Mills is a cut above most of the fullbacks Lee Cook tortures on a weekly basis, and with Rangers' main outlet shut down, it was difficult to see where a goal was coming from.

After the break, Hull had their best spell of the match and Jones made a fine save for Rangers from a close range header. However, Rangers broke the deadlock (I can fire these cliches out all day) from a free kick, Stewart's towering header was knocked in by Ray Jones from about 3 inches. From this point, there was a definite improvement in how Rangers defended their lead. I can think of at least 4 games already this season where Rangers have scored first and failed to win. This time they kept the ball, forced the game into the opposition half and finished off with an excellent second goal, Cook finally finding some space to send in a fine cross which Blackstock headed home.

So John Gregory sees his charges climb out of the bottom three, to be replaced at the foot of the table by Hull who, as I said, offered very little creatively but competed physically throughout. I think the gap between top and bottom in this division is wider than usual this season, and there will be much tougher tests ahead for Rangers, but this was a welcome step forward. Perhaps it's just good luck for me to borrow The Camel's season ticket. A few more poetry festivals and Rangers will shoot up the table.