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Rangers record at Huddersfield
is not the best. In the last few years we have seen our team relegated
from division one at the Mcalpine and beaten almost every time we
enter the stadium. Shame really as it's a nice ground and a good
away trip apart from the inevitable result. With history in mind
as well as it being a midweek game I gave this one a miss and decided
to listen to it live on BBC London live.
So this report will be based
on what I heard on the radio rather than first hand experience.
Listening to the build up got the good news that Chris Day was back
in goal but it's a shame his return has been clouded by an injury
to Nick Culkin, which leaves us without any real cover in goal.
Jake Cole was in the squad but
he is fresh out of the under 19's and we'd be in serious trouble
if we have to call on him. The rest of the team has just one change
with Marcus Bean dropped to the bench and Terrell Forbes came back
in at right back.
Holloway made a tactical change
putting Richard Langley on the right wing and Steve Palmer in central
midfield with Carlisle and Shittu back on the bench together.
As the game kicked off my girlfriend
Carly served up the first of many pancakes for me. Can life get
any better than pancakes being made for you whilst you listen to
QPR taking the lead?
Well life may get better but
it was a great moment. As the syrup was poured Paul Furlong was
busy opening the scoring for Rangers and making Swindon seem a lifetime
ago.
The goal came after good work
by Gallen and Furlong has time to finish his chance well for his
fifth goal in six games. You could hear the Rangers fans signing
on the radio and we sounded like we were on top.
Chris Day found himself under
pressure with some dangerous corners but he managed to punch them
clear and he sounded back to his confident best. One of his punched
clearances was described as being as powerful as a Lennox Lewis
right hand and judging by the state Mike Tyson looked last June,
that's pretty powerful.
Gary O'Reilly was full of praise
for Rangers but felt we needed another gal to make sure and it ended
up coming just before half time. Gallen again had a hand in it heading
back for Danny Shittu to score from close range and get Rangers
back on track in the promotion race.
2-0 away to Huddersfield was
sounding like a superb result. Despite their league position they
still have some good players and a midweek away trip to Huddersfield
is never easy. Lets face it most of us would have taken a point
after the Swindon game.
Half time and the only worry
was the amount of booking being picked up. Carlisle was booked for
kicking the ball away whilst Bircham and Padula were done for late
tackles, which sounded fair enough.
Gary O'Reilly was full of abuse
for the referee who seemed to get very little right and booked Rangers
players for fun whilst Huddersfield were allowed to kick and shirt
pull as much as they liked. No need to moan though as during the
second half Rangers sounded well on top.
A third goal always seemed on
the cards but Ranger seemed happy to just play the game out and
make sure we won the game.
It would have been great to
get a few more goals but three points was far more important and
if we had given one away due to chasing more goals then we may have
thrown it away. We stayed solid though and despite chances for Cook,
Bircham and Gallen we had to wait until the 90th minute to add to
the score.
Good work by Langley on the
right set it up as Paul Furlong struck home his second of the night
and wrapped up a good nights work for Rangers but Langley picked
up a booking for celebrating and like Bircham he is now close to
a one match ban.
Hearing the other results made
it an even better night as Luton, Oldham and Blackpool all lost
whilst Tranmere dropped point. Bristol City won but as they played
Oldham it just means that they are both within catching distance
and as they are our next two opponents it will be an interesting
few weeks ahead for Rangers.
So 36 years to the day since
QPR won the league cup at Wembley, QPR mark the anniversary in the
best way possible with a bloody good away win.
Man of the Match: Paul Furlong
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