Ainsworth elected not to pick himself for one last run out against his old club. Instead he brought in Delaney for the injured Stewart whilst Ramage replaced Miller and Ephraim and Vine came in for Cook and Helguson. The game may have had an end of season feel for Rangers but Preston had it all to play knowing a win could put them in the top six. Rangers were in a new away kit with a return to the Dennis the menace red and black hoops. We won't be the only side in West London in hoops next year as Chelsea has decided to have hoops on their third kit which is enough to make you feel sick. Rangers gifted the home side a goal midway through the first half after a mix up between Gorkks and Cerny. The Rangers keeper threw it out to Gorkss who miss controlled it allowing John Parkin to nip in and take the ball past Cerny and roll into the net. A poor goal from our point of view and left us with a mountain to climb if we were going to get anything from the game.
Preston pushed forward for a second goal but we stood firm going in just a goal down at half time before a far better second half performance. Vine and Agyemang began to combine and we created chances to equalise. Rangers finally got back into the match with a blast from the past. Vine got the ball and rolled it through the defence to Agyemang who spun away from his man and used his pace to burst clear before finishing well past the keeper. It was very similar to the goals he scored for QPR when he first joined and gives hope that the Vine/Agyemang partnership may bring more success next season. It was very close now but Preston forced a winner late on which would ultimately earn them a playoff place of goals scored. A ball into the box was not dealt with the QPR defence as Cerny flapped at it and the ball broke loose to St. Ledger to tap home from close range. The Preston fans went wild and could sense the playoffs were in sight. To Rangers credit we pushed for an equaliser and almost got one when a last minuet corner was met by Connolly and his header was cleared off the line for the final action of the game and the season for QPR. It wasn't the worst performance we've given this season and Rangers did at least have a go at winning the game but just as with the season as a whole we fell a little short of the quality needed to get the required result. Man of the Match: Hogan Ephraim
Rangers last home game of the season and it was quite fitting that a disappointing season at home went out with a whimper as Rangers struggled to a 0-0 draw with relegation threatened Plymouth. Ainsworth made changes opting for Leigterwood at right back whilst giving a chance to Liam Miller in midfield with Patrick Agyemang returning from injury up front. The game though was dire with neither side showing much attacking ambition. "Absolutely crap" was the verdict of my dad on the phone after the game and little I've read since seems to disagree with that. Here are some reports from the QPR Yahoo Mailing List Tracy Stent What the hell was all that about today? I cannot put into words just how bad that was this afternoon. The game was so boring I wished I had taken the book I'm currently reading with me. The players in general looked totally disinterested (bar Routledge and Balanta when he came on).. The atmosphere was very poor and afterwards was just plain embarrassing. Hardly anyone in south africa road stayed to watch the players come out for the lap of honour. The paddocks were almost as bad which just left the loft and ellerslie, which themselves were three quarters empty. I have never known such a drab end of season lap in all the years I have been gong to Rangers, even when we have been deep in the mire. The message to the club was clear. My oh my. What a contrast to this time last year at the WBA game when we were being promised a new era. Just thinking about it all is enough to make my blood boil. The poor souls at the player of the year event who paid substantial amounts for their tickets face the prospect tonight of the club's top scorer not being there because we loaned him out to a fellow championship club that are currently scrapping for their survival in this league, with said club having played at Blackpool today so doubtful he'll be able to make it back in time. And to make it worse, said player scoring again for his loan club (now on 15 goals this season, but hey, he's not good enough apparently). Oh, and no manager for the fans at the event tonight to talk to either about our prospects for next season. And the hierachy wonder why some of us are refusing to renew our extortionate priced season tickets! Looking forward to Preston however (even though
they now have it all to play for next Sunday after they beat Brum
this evening), as away games are better away from all the nonsense
at LR. Tony Johnson Quite right Trace, an abysmal game between
two abysmal sides, of which we were the worst. The Plymouth keeper
never made one save as far as I can remember. It was so bad that
the referee was booed when he made us endure a further four minutes
of injury time. I will certainly not be renewing my season ticket
until I see some evidence that the board are prepared to improve
the quality of the attacking part of our team. And I certainly won't
even bother to attend if matches next year continue to be as abysmal
as today's game - a complete waste of time which I could have easily
found better things to do with. Peter Gridneff Grim doesn't do today justice No aptitude I left at the final whistle first time I have ever done that on the final home game. Struggled to get out as everyone else was leaving as well. I am suprised to hear there was even a quarter of the loft still there for the lap of honour. Strangely just before the non streaking girl ran on I had drifted back in time I was looking at a young chap in the front of the lower loft and remembering how I felt 33 years ago almost to the day when I had stood in the same place almost crushed to oblivion and inching my way into position I'm readiness for that crazy surge onto the pitch at the final whistle against Leeds I was 14 and excited beyond reason with the very real likelyhood that we had won the league. The lad I saw today appeared bored stiff and who can blame him.
Rangers lost at Wolves as the home side
won promotion back to the Premiership. Ainsworth gave Lopez a start in midfield with Vine and Helguson providing the forward partnership and it was a close game. A mistake by Stewart gave Ebanks-Blake the chance to score the winner but we had chances to draw level, Vine going closest hitting the bar from the edge of the box. Here are some reports from the QPR Yahoo Mailing List Tracy Stent Before the game, we'd have happily taken 1-0 and as the game proved. Wolves were much superior than us in so many ways I am very proud of the way our players kept it to just the one goal this afternoon. As we were moved to the section behind the goal in the Jack Harris Stand from where we were originally allocated, it meant that we viewed the game from behind the goal which I always personally prefer anyway. The sunshine was out in force, and as the crowd started filling up around us in the other areas you could feel the excitement in the air around the ground. Just before the players came out the home fans held up gold cards so the ground was a sea of gold for their players to run out, and just prior to kick off they sang their own rendition of that old song (this is my world I think it's called, honda use it recently for their advert on tv). As the players came out of the tunnel they were greeted by not only the sea of gold, but also a noise that quite possibly could have rivalled the decibels that blasted Emma's and Sarah's ears last night at the Prodigy concert they went to. To be fair to Ains, he started with an attacking side with Vine and Helga up front but for the first 20 minutes or so we couldn't get the ball out of our area. The home side, as you would have expected, started off as if their pants were on fire. Their players were fired up and our back four were pushed to their limits. Ramage I thought did exceptionally well in the first half, whilst Connolly in the middle was a calm influence. Cerny made an excellent save with around 30 minutes having gone on the clock when he was called upon to push the ball to safety just as it looked as though it were going into the net by the near post. We had a couple of flurries ourselves in that first half and were saying if we could start to frustrate them we might even have a chance ourselves. As the half progressed the home side did run out of steam which is when we had a couple of attacks down the other end but nothing to really shout home about. At half time we were just grateful to be 0-0 and with the pa aannouncer there calling for fans not to run on the pitch at the end of the game, we kind of thought such presumptious words might be a tad premature as they hadn't won the game at the point. However, with 57 seconds having gone on the clock at the re-start, we found ourselves a goal down. It happened so quickly we weren't even sure what happened, all we knew is that it looked like we got caught on the hop, and with no one apparently marking him, who was there on hand to poke the ball into the back, but the championship's current top scorer. The home fans around us quite rightly went crazy and the whole of the City of Wolverhampton must have been aware when Ebanks Blake scored that goal. To be fair to our players, they didn't let their heads drop ala Southampton when they played them a couple of weeks ago, and with Vine hitting the bar after a lovely little ball had been played through to him from Routledge, there was still hope for us yet. Shortly after this, Helguson had the best of the chance of the game for us after he found himself suddenly clear with just their keeper to beat. All he needed to do was go round him but he opted to shoot and ended up attempting a lame shot straight at the keeper. Ainsworth then decided to shake things up a bit by taking off Vine and bringing on Taraabat and also at the same time replacing Cook with Ephraim. It was a positive substitution though personally I would have taken Helguson off and kept Vine on (assuming he wasn't struggling with fitness). Taraabat showed a couple of nice touches but he obviously needs to learn more about being a team player, and Ephraim took a free kick of us quite late on which went sailing quite wide over the bar proving how much we miss the likes of Rowlands and Buz at such times. Matthew Connolly tried his luck late on with a decent shot but it was all to prove to no avail as the home side also kept us on our toes down the other end with Marlon Harewood going close for them. There were four minutes of injury time added on and as the goldrange stewards stood in front of the home stands, our one little section seemed to be the one surrounded by police. Charming. As the final whistle went the pleas for not going on the pitch were all to no avail as hundreds and hundreds of the Wolves fans streamed onto the pitch. I tell you what you've never seen our players run so quick as they made their way to the tunnel :-) We watched the jubilous scenes for a while, with
the girls saying enviously how they would love that to be us. On
the way out to the concourse bit they once again played that old
song which was quite emotional really followed by the wonder of
you. Whilst waiting for the girls to come out of the ladies I watched
the scenes on the tv in the concourse area showing the Wolves dressing
room with Mick McCarthy and his players showering themselves with
champagne. Whilst watching all the celebrations it reminded me that
those Wolves fans that have purchased season tickets for next season
will be able to watch premiership football from anything between
£370 - £490 next season. Good luck to them I say and it's a shame that there's a grand prix on this weekend because Mr Biatore and co would not have been there today to witness what we saw and maybe, just maybe had they been, they could have had a chat with the Wanderers heirachy about listening and learning. For those interested in a catering sentence or two, on the way out the girls got one of the £1.50 burgers each from one of the vans just outside the stadium that sell really cheap takeaway food (must be quite gutting for the club really) which they said were fine. We should have some photos from the afternoon to show a bit later. And as for man of the match then I'd say it was between Ramage and Connoly with Connolly just shading it. Off to relax with a drink now whilst watching some telly. Oh yeah, on the way out I said to Dave Thomas that next year this will be us. Haha, I say that every year and never learn. Bring on Plymouth next week.
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