QPR were given their stiffest test of their pre-season preparations so far against a lively Wycombe Wanderers side at Adams Park. In front of a crowd of 2,362 at the picturesque Buckinghamshire ground Rangers maintained their unbeaten pre-season campaign with a solid, if unspectacularperformance.

The Second Division side started much the brighter and took the lead after just five minutes when Maurice Harkin cut inside Ian Baraclough and curled the ball past Lee Harper in the Rangers goal.

Rangers' response was almost immediate and it was player-coach Iain Dowie, making a rare start in the side, who popped up to grab the equaliser two minutes later when he headed home after Karl Ready nodded Baraclough's corner onto the bar.

Wycombe's neat and precise football asked plenty of questions of Rangers in the early period of play with the lively Jermaine McSporran and Dannie Bulman in particular looking sharp. Lawrie Sanchez's side should have gone 2-1 up when the on-loan Steve Jones intercepted Clarke Carlisle's weak backpass but with just Harper to beat he shot wide.

Rangers' equaliser did settle the nerves somewhat and with Karl Connolly and Gavin Peacock linking well on the left-hand side we took the lead in emphatic fashion through Stuart Wardley's overhead kick from six yards. Looking, for the first time in the game looking fully in control, Rangers relinquished their lead a minute before the interval when Harkin released Jones, who looked to be offside and he forced Karl Ready into sliding the ball into his own net.

Gerry Francis introduced Jermaine Darlington for the second half, which was delayed for five minutes after a floodlight failure, and he made his presence known with a series of surging runs into the Wycombe half and a pinpoint cross from the former Aylesbury man was headed just over from Matthew Rose three minutes after his introduction.

A series of substitutions followed from both sides and subsequently the game failed to flow in the same manner as the first.Despite this, a pleasing aspect for the 1,000 or so Rangers fans who made the journey was the display from Langley who was outstanding in the middle of midfield along with Darlington who tormented the Wycombe defence on numerous occasions with his searing pace.

It was Langley who produced the best moment of a sterile second half when he audaciously killed the ball on his instep before firing a magnificent shot on the turn just over the bar from 25 yards out. Clarke Carlisle also looked quite impressive after a shaky start in the centre of defence and looks like he will be an excellent signing.

Leon Jeanne, and Mark Graham formed a youthful Rangers forward line in the latter part of the second half and despite some lively moments from the Welshman the game petered out somewhat until a melee in the final minute involving Langley and Jones which forced referee Dermot Gallagher into bringing proceedings to an abrupt halt.