For the second time this season we made the trip to the Sixfields stadium and once again we saw problems with tickets. Before the game kicked off QPR fans were having to be moved from home areas of the ground and seeing the ground was not a sell out it makes it an even stranger decision not to give QPR more tickets and earn Northampton some more money.

Among those fans being moved was Clarke Carlisle who made his walk with several other fans in front of the QPR end to a standing ovation with a chorus of "Carlisle is a Genius" which seemed to amuse Clarke as he looked for a seat.

Clarke ended up sitting almost right behind me and was nice enough during the game signing autographs and chatting to fans about his injury and got right behind the team offering words of encouragement throughout the game.

The teams came out it was surprising to see no Doudou in the team as Ian Holloway made a few changes. Danny Murphy was dropped to the bench and Marcus Bignot was back at left back. Gavin Peacock was in midfield whilst Richard Langley started on the right wing. Karl Connolly started up front alongside Kevin Gallen in a new forward partnership.

We started slowly with Northampton looking the more dangerous coming forward. Our defence was solid though and despite some poor play, which saw Sam Parkin have a half chance, we didn't look in to much trouble.

Our first decent attack saw us take the lead. A ball through to Connolly saw him in one on one with the keeper but as he prepared to shoot he was brought down for a clear penalty. The referee had no choice but to send Hunter off for the professional foul but the home fans seemed to be outraged by the decision.

After a few minutes delay Karl Connolly put the ball on the spot and his coolly taken penalty was straight down the middle and Rangers had the lead. Connolly and his teammates looked delighted and celebrated together by running towards the bench which again seemed to upset the home fans.

After that it was all Rangers. We played the ball around brilliantly in midfield with Langley looking a class apart and we should have added more quickly as we got into some great positions on the right but the final ball wasn't as good as it should have been.

We did add a second soon afterwards with another very good passing move. It started on the left and a ball in to the middle found Gallen who spread the play to the right where Langley and Forbes combined to put Peacock in and his cross found Karl Connolly who headed in his second of the afternoon.

Northampton tried to come back in the game and had a few half chances when Forrester hit a shot which was saved by Day and Mcgregor went down as if he had been shot and claimed a penalty but Shittu and Forbes seemed to see the ball out of play fairly enough.

The majority of the half though was in the Northampton half we carved them open time after time. Some of our football was excellent and Gallen had one good shot saved whilst Rose hit one effort just wide and Leroy got himself into some good positions but failed to find the target.

Richard Langley got better as the game wore on and one excellent run inside saw him beat two men and shoot just inches wide of the post. It was a good day at the office so far for Rangers and Connolly was denied his hat trick by a late offside flag after he had tapped the ball past the keeper.

It seemed only a matter of time before a third was added and at the back the pace of Shittu against Parkin was embarrassing at times. We fully deserved the two goal lead at half time and the fans were enjoying a good day out. The second half saw us attack towards the QPR fans and we continued with some great attacking play.

Gallen hit an early shot which was well saved and the movement of the front two was causing chaos in the Northampton defence. Connolly and Gallen linked so well and both of them had several chances to add a third but Keith Welch was in outstanding form in the Northampton goal.

Leroy was doing well on the left and one move involving him saw him beat his man with ease and pull it back for Gallen who flicked the ball towards the top corner only for Welch to produce a brilliant save. Gallen should have had another penalty when he knocked the ball past the defender but was clearly held back by the defender. The referee gave a free kick to Northampton for some strange reason.

Langley was looking superb on the right and at one point he got the ball and did a drag back which had the defender going one way as he ran towards the penalty area to the cheers of the QPR fans but his cross was missed by the on rushing forwards. Leroy had a few shots, which were also well saved, and the longer it went on you began to wonder if we'd regret not getting this third goal.

In all honesty though I couldn't see Northampton coming back into the game and judging by the number of home fans leaving early they didn't seem to confident either.

The game seemed to change when Leroy ran through knocking the ball past his man for a free run on goal but the Northampton defender appeared to throw an elbow at Leroy and both players fell to the ground holding their faces. Leroy was taken off to be replaced by Doudou but no cards were shown to the Northampton defender and a drop ball was given much to the amazement of the players.

With Leroy off we lost out shape a bit and we soon went into panic mode when the sub Asamoah ran at the QPR defence. We backed off him and allowed him the chance to run past three men and score a stunning goal but we should have just stood up to him and forced him wide rather than just invite the bloke to shoot.

The home fans were well up for this now and our defenders looked a shambles for the last ten minutes. We continued to try and pass the ball in midfield but the defence had gone back to hoofing and Connolly was having no impact now he had gone to the left and Doudou wasn't having much joy up front.

With time running out the unthinkable that we might throw away two points looked more and more inevitable and a free kick on the right saw more laughable defending and Sam Parkin nipped in to level the scores. The home fans were understandably going mad and the QPR players and fans were just in shock.

We had four minutes to save ourselves and get the win we deserved and from a corner Richard Langley headed just wide and that was our last chance. It could have been sop much worse though as the lively Asamoah ran at us again and the defence left a huge gap for him to run into, he found himself clean through with only Digby to beat and me along with most QPR fans had out head in our hands at this point as it looked like we'd go home with nothing. Thankfully he sliced his shit wide and after dominating virtually the entire game we left with just a point.

The result was so disappointing after the way we'd played and it felt like we had lost it. "2-0 and you fu***d it up" was the song from the home fans and we didn't need telling to be honest. We knew the game was ours to be one and somehow we pressed the self-destruct button and blew our chances of staying in touch with the playoffs. So despite one of our best away performances of the season ten minutes of madness cost us two points which will probably be the difference between us being in division two and one next season.

Man of the Match: Karl Connolly

Players Ratings

30. Fraser Digby: Hardly had anything to do all game until the last ten minutes. Should have saved the second goal in my opinion. 7/10

17. Terrell Forbes: Defended well and got forward when needed until the end when the entire defence went to pot. 7/10

11. Marcus Bignot: Looks our best bet at left back on this evidence and will allow Murphy some more time to improve in the reserves. 7/10

4. Steve Palmer: We needed his experience to clam things down near the end and for once our captain let us down. 6/10

31. Danny Shittu: Had Parkin in his pocket and was excellent until the end when Asamoah ran at him and Shittu looked nervous and those nerves helped to cost us the game. 7/10

12. Matthew Rose; Did an Ok job in midfield keeping the ball moving but not his best game and he gave the ball away to often when we were under pressure. 6/10

8. Gavin Peacock: When we were on top he looked his old self playing very well but like so many others when the going got tough he went missing. 6/10

14. Leroy Griffiths: Always gave us something to aim for which is important against ten men, you need to spread the play and make the opposition worked and Leroy stayed wide and caused the defence loads of problems. If only the fans would give him some more support. 8/10

9. Richard Langley: I still don't know why we played him on the right wing and he wasn't as involved as he should have been but when he did get the ball something happened and he is looking better and better with each game he plays. 8/10

10. Karl Connolly: Signed as a forward and finally played as one he gave his best performance yet in a QPR Shirt. He linked well with Gallen, took his chances well and was excellent until moved back to the left wing where he looked like the Connolly who is slow and never gets involved. 9/10

18. Kevin Gallen: He did so well up front looking back to his best and he was unlucky not to score. His work outside the box was excellent and he always looks for the simple pass rather than trying something different and give the ball away. 8/10

Subs:

29. Doudou: He wasn't really involved to much and can play a lot better than that. 6/10