| Saturday February 8th | |
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Northampton 1 |
Queens Park Rangers 1 |
| B.Rahim | P.Furlong |
Northampton away is a fixture no QPR fan looks forward to. It may be easy to get to and the ground is not bad but since relegation to division two Northampton have regularly beaten us no matter how we play. Last season saw his play them off the pitch but still throw away a two-goal lead to come away with just a point. It seems to be written in the stars that we will never beat them so hearing that they haven't won a point at home since beating Port Vale in November didn't fill me with the confidence it should have done. Seeing the teams warm up I noticed that Richard Pacquette wasn't out with the rest of the team which I found a little odd until the team was announced. It turned out that Pacquette was injured in training on Friday and he ended up sitting in the stand along with Richard Langley, Tommy Williams and over a thousand QPR fans. In his place came Paul Furlong partnered by Andy Thomson as the team had a few changes from the winning side of last week. Burgess and Angell also missed out with Wes Daly starting the game on the right wing and Leroy Griffiths getting his first start of the season on the left. Rangers started by attacking towards the Rangers fans and won a corner after just 30 seconds. We looked sharp coming forward and a good move on the left saw Griffiths cross for Thomson who was shoved in the back and he was put off enough to fire his shot at the keeper. It looked a blatant penalty to me and the same push in any other areas of the pitch would have been a free kick. That was shown minutes later when an identical push on the touchline was given as a free kick and Gallen made sure the ref knew he had made a mistake with the penalty. It was a good start by Rangers but we were soon on the back foot after a forced substitution. Wes Daly was caught late by a bad tackle and had to be taken off. This forced a reshuffle as Marcus Bean came on to the unfamiliar role of a right winger. It seemed a wise decsion though as Gallen was doing well in central midfield. More problems followed when we fell a goal behind. A ball down the line seemed to put Asamoah into an offside position but the linesmen kept his flag down. The cross in caught Rangers out and Brent Rahim was unmarked to fire past Culkin from 10 yards out. It was a big blow to Rangers and things were about to get worse. Andy Thomson was next to limp off leaving us having to change the team around again. Chris Plummer came on with Steve Palmer going into midfield and Kevin Gallen up front. Again this seemed the most sensible decsion but personally I would have liked to see Doudou come on and play alongside Furlong up front. For the next ten minutes or so we looked very poor and struggled to come to terms with the re shuffle. Griffiths was very quiet on the left and look a few yards slower than the last time he started a game whilst the midfield was lacking creativity now Gallen had gone up front. We still had a few chances though, a cross from the left saw Furlong head straight at the keeper but most of the half was played with the referee blowing for a free kick every 30 seconds and the game just wasn't allowed to flow. We should have got level though after a ball over the top saw Kevin Gallen race clear. He showed good pace to stay clear of the last defender but his finish went the wrong side of the post. He really should have scored but it gave us hope that we could break their offside trap down and have more joy in the second half. No more changes were made at half time and we didn't start the second half as many of us hoped we would. We were defending deep and relying on long balls to create chances, which just wasn't working. Bean and Gallen began to link well though and when we passed on the floor we created some good chances. Gallen put Furlong clear only for the Northampton keeper to come out and block the ball at the strikers feet. We were creating chances though and looking a bit more of a threat. We still almost fell further behind though after Padula was booked for nothing. Terry Fenwick seems to have his players perfecting the art of diving and it won then several free kicks around the box. From the free kick Chris Plummer almost headed in his own net but Culkin made an excellent reaction save to keep us just a goal behind. Soon after we got level, Gabbiadini did his best to throw himself on the floor and win yet another free kick but this time the referee wasn't conned and Palmer put Paul Furlong through on goal and he cut inside to shoot into the corner of the net and get Rangers level. The Rangers fans celebrated and Nick Culkin looked delighted with the goal running over to the Rangers fans and punched his fist in the air. Danny Shittu had to be held back from Gabbiadni who still lay on the floor. Shittu was disgusted by the strikers dive and Gallen also had a few words to say the Geordie cheat. We were now on top and should have gone ahead. Gallen did well on the right and had a great chance but his shot was blocked by the feet of Glyn Thompson. Gallen had another good chance made by himself after a good strong run into the box and his low shot seemed destined for the bottom corner but Thompson again produced a very good save. We were doing well and finally beginning to play the ball on the floor and we looked a much better side for it. We still almost threw it away though, a cross from the right saw Gabbiadni unmarked and his header was cleared off the line by Marcus Bean. Despite that threat we looked the more likely to score and almost won it in injury time. A corner on the right by Bircham saw Shittu rise high above the defence and his header hit the top of the net whilst many of us was getting ready to celebrate. So the game ended a draw and results elsewhere meant it wasn't a disastrous result. On the way out we waked past Tommy Williams and Richard Langley who seemed happy enough with the point but the players on the pitch were furious at the referee and they had every right to be. The ref and linesmen were truly awful throughout the game never letting it flow and some of the offside decisions were utter madness. One of them saw Marc Bircham knock the ball over a defenders head and run onto it with a great chance to score but he was given offside. It was the first time I've seen a player given offside for passing to himself. So another point gained but if teams below us win their games in hand we are out of the playoffs. We still need to play better than this to gain promotion but the team spirit and will to win is there for all to see and our fate this season is still in our own hands. Man of the Match: Chris Plummer Players Ratings 13. Nick Culkin: Made one excellent save when an own goal seemed certain and he looked much more assured in goal than I have seen him before. He claimed his crosses well and he is getting better with every game. 7/10 2. Terrell Forbes: Defended reasonably well especially when Plummer came on and the defence seemed to settle down. 7/10 3. Gino Padula: Solid defensive display and showed glimpses of skill which have helped make him a crowd favourite. 7/10 4. Steve Palmer: Coped well with Gabbiadini before he was moved in midfield where he was pretty hopeless. He did play a nice ball through for the goal though but his best place is in defence. 6/10 6. Danny Shittu: Defended well and was unlucky not to score in injury time. 7/10 21. Wes Daly: Not on for long but did ok before he got injured. 6/10 8. Marc Bircham: Not his best game. He worked hard and covered a lot of ground chasing for the ball but he can play much better than this. 6/10 10. Kevin Gallen: Looked better when he went up front but he will know he should have done better with 2 of the chances he had. 7/10 23. Leroy Griffiths: Looked like a player who hasn't played for a long time which of course he hasn't. Didn't really show enough to warrant a place in the team when Cook comes back in two weeks. 6/10 29. Paul Furlong: Worked hard and took his chance very well. A shame to hear his name booed again before the game but he offers much more than Angell does and is very good back up for Pacquette if we get injuries. 7/10 27. Andy Thomson: Looked sharp before he got injured which is a big blow for us. Lets hope he is back pretty soon. 7/10 Subs: 12. Doudou: Only touched the ball once but put a delightful ball through for Furlong. 6/10 17. Chris Plummer: His first game for over a year and it looked like he had never been away. A strong performance by Plummer who won everything in the air and he could be a key player in the coming months. 8/10 22. Marcus Bean: Worked hard but struggled on the wing which is not his natural position. He did all that could have been asked of him though. 7/10
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