QPR 3 Doncaster 0
I haven't seen many 3-0 wins to go 6 points clear at the top in my football watching history, but I would hazard a guess that, as they go, this wasn't very convincing. Nonetheless Rangers kept their shape, dug in and found a way to win the game even though they weren't allowed to play their passing game.
Perhaps I should say supposed passing game because the only games I have seen were this one and most of the 2-2 at Derby. All the others have been freeflowing extravaganzas according to reports. So maybe I am a bok of sorts, although not enough of one to stop the points from being hauled in.
Anyway, today I arrived late and could only get a ticket for the School End Lower, which is were away fans traditionally sit at Loftus Road. It was a first for me, and it's been quite a while since I saw a game from low down behind the goal. As you would expect, it's more difficult to assess the game from there but it was pretty clear in the first half that most of the action was at the Rangers end. Rovers came within a whisker of taking the lead when Paddy Kenny pushed a free kick onto the bar and James O'Connor seemed certain to score the rebound until someone (it turned out to be Clint Hill) found a way to kick it off the line.
Rangers came out a bit more positively after the break and soon took the lead from a corner, Kaspars Gorkss belting in the rebound after his initial header was blocked. James Coppinger hit the bar again for the visitors after a mistake by Akos Buzsaky (who didn't have a great game), but apart from that Rangers held the Rovers at bay with solid defending from front to back, before adding a very flattering gloss to the scoreline with Adel Taarabt's penalty and another header from Gorkss.
So there you go, clean sheet, set pieces, penalty, gg. It wasn't as pretty as I had hoped but you have to credit Doncaster for that, it's definitely unfair to talk about "the likes of Doncaster" or (one of my particular irritants) call them "a good little side" - they're a good team with good players and look top half at least. Rangers never really got going and had quite a wobble in the first half but Hill and Shaun Derry, two players I was quite sarcastic about on Twitter when they signed, helped keep things together when a lot of the forward players couldn't make it happen. Credit to them, Jamie Mackie who absolutely never stopped running and most of all Gorkss who would probably have been my Man of the Match even without two goals.
On the whole, Rangers look solid, there's no weak spot in defence for opponents to target, and similarly they can't be shut down going forward just by nullifying one player, as often happened in the past. Avoiding injuries might be key (nice to see Martin Rowlands back on the bench though), but if they do, I think they're going to be right up there in what doesn't look a very strong division this year.
Perhaps I should say supposed passing game because the only games I have seen were this one and most of the 2-2 at Derby. All the others have been freeflowing extravaganzas according to reports. So maybe I am a bok of sorts, although not enough of one to stop the points from being hauled in.
Anyway, today I arrived late and could only get a ticket for the School End Lower, which is were away fans traditionally sit at Loftus Road. It was a first for me, and it's been quite a while since I saw a game from low down behind the goal. As you would expect, it's more difficult to assess the game from there but it was pretty clear in the first half that most of the action was at the Rangers end. Rovers came within a whisker of taking the lead when Paddy Kenny pushed a free kick onto the bar and James O'Connor seemed certain to score the rebound until someone (it turned out to be Clint Hill) found a way to kick it off the line.
Rangers came out a bit more positively after the break and soon took the lead from a corner, Kaspars Gorkss belting in the rebound after his initial header was blocked. James Coppinger hit the bar again for the visitors after a mistake by Akos Buzsaky (who didn't have a great game), but apart from that Rangers held the Rovers at bay with solid defending from front to back, before adding a very flattering gloss to the scoreline with Adel Taarabt's penalty and another header from Gorkss.
So there you go, clean sheet, set pieces, penalty, gg. It wasn't as pretty as I had hoped but you have to credit Doncaster for that, it's definitely unfair to talk about "the likes of Doncaster" or (one of my particular irritants) call them "a good little side" - they're a good team with good players and look top half at least. Rangers never really got going and had quite a wobble in the first half but Hill and Shaun Derry, two players I was quite sarcastic about on Twitter when they signed, helped keep things together when a lot of the forward players couldn't make it happen. Credit to them, Jamie Mackie who absolutely never stopped running and most of all Gorkss who would probably have been my Man of the Match even without two goals.
On the whole, Rangers look solid, there's no weak spot in defence for opponents to target, and similarly they can't be shut down going forward just by nullifying one player, as often happened in the past. Avoiding injuries might be key (nice to see Martin Rowlands back on the bench though), but if they do, I think they're going to be right up there in what doesn't look a very strong division this year.
posted by Andy_Ward @ 6:54 PM
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