When teams get relegated they usually point to some pretty bad luck along the way. Well QPR have had more than our share of bad luck this season and that was summed up in last nights draw with Crewe.

Just going into the game you could be forgiven for having given up this season. When you lose your two best players to crutiate ligament injuries within ten minutes of a local derby you have to wonder if you’ve done something to upset lady luck. Other injuries have ruined this season along with some pretty poor management and abysmal on field displays by the players. It’s not all down to luck but last night at Crewe was typical of our season.

With several players missing through injury we started well and looked by far the better side. Not that I got to see the game, due to lack of trains running back to London I sat reading the QPR.org message board and watching Sky Sports. It was all very nice to as Rangers were playing well and soon the messages popped up to say 1-0 and Sky were quick to tell me about the goal.

Peter Crouch got it with a shot and he ran to the away end pointing to his foot, perhaps a not so subtle message to those (including me) who have criticised his role in recent weeks. Crouch then set one up for Andy Thomson to get his first goal for QPR and at 2-0 we looked to be heading for three precious points and perhaps give us a chance to stay up.

Watching the rest of the game on the net was a nightmare. Minutes seemed to drag on and nothing was happening. Still no news was good news and even we couldn’t let a 2-0 lead against an out of form Crewe slip, could we?

Well that’s where Lady Luck pops in. A free kick for Crewe kicked straight at Crouch and big Rodney trotter gets sent off for not going back ten yards. What a load of rubbish and a great way to ruin a football match. Was Crouch stopping the free kick being taken? I mean if this bloke was not good enough to bend the ball around a man who looks like a matchstick (nothing personal Crouchy I’m sticking up for you here) then he does not belong on a football pitch. Perhaps a bit harsh on him but it seems to me the player made sure Crouch got his second booking and gave Crewe a chance to come back.

Soon after another red card as Sky were busy babbling about Spurs struggling to beat Bradford with that absolute arse of a man Gary Stevens sounding as dull as ever. This time the red was for Crewes Colin Little. According to those at the game this was also harsh. He went for an elbow on Ready but some say it was a blatant elbow and he had to go whilst others saw nothing wrong. Having not seen the incident (they only showed the QPR sendings off on TV last night) I won’t pass much comment on this.

We sounded like we were still in control before luck went against us again. With no fit strikers on the bench we lost Andy Thomson who’s contact lenses fell out. I’ve heard it all now, we’ve seen broken legs, damaged knee ligaments, ankle injuries, groin injuries and many more in matches but now we lose a player through his contact lenses falling out. It’s the sort of story you just couldn’t make up and seems to fit in with the shambles that QPR has become this season.

On came Kiwomya with his damaged hip before Michel Ngonge came on with both ankles strapped. As you can imagine they did not exactly improve the team but Holloway had no other options available to him. Back on the message board and it was all looking over, a nice easy win until someone said the following: “We have not conceded a goal on a Tuesday night this year”.

Despite being a pretty poor stat considering we had only played once on a Tuesday and how Gillingham didn’t hit double figures against us that night is a mystery that Miss Marple would have trouble solving, the fact is you never ever say something like that when QPR are playing even if we do only have ten minutes left.

Cue youngster Dean Ashton to pull one back with four minutes left and a collective “Oh Shit” was shouted and typed by R’s fans around the world. They couldn’t throw it away could they? Well you got the feeling we would, as Sky went off for some adverts I clicked on refersh and saw messages reading “Penalty” and “Oh No”. I put my head in my hands, I couldn’t watch, this was it our last chance of survival gone. How could we go from being on such a high to sheer depression within minutes?

I suddenly thought of those poor supporters who had gone to the game and how they must be feeling. I looked up and saw the score line in front of me. 2-2, a Shaun Smith free kick and Karl Ready had been sent off for a professional foul. Lady Luck was pissing herself laughing at QPR fans last night.

So what next? Well we are virtually relegated now and even an optimistic like myself has to concede it will be second division football unless we see a miracle at Loftus Road in the coming weeks.