Just over a week ago we had an almost fully ft squad and a selection headache for Ian Holloway. Going into the Barnsley game a late fitness test for Marc Bircham had Holloway scratching his head again as we had to look to the youth team to fill the subs bench.

Fortunately Bircham was OK but Rangers were without Edghill, Shittu, Carlisle, McLeod and Furlong for this must win game against Barnsley. So Ollie made the necessary changes switching Forbes to right back and Palmer came back into the team in defence. Rowlands started on the left wing ( a position he impressed in against Charlton during pre season) and Ainsworth on the right. Tony Thorpe returned up front for his first home game in September.

Barnsley had come for a draw and lined up with an ultra defensive 5-4-1 formation so the entertainment level was as low as Design Wars. One long ball followed another as we struggled to get any sort of rhythm into our play. Barnsley rarely ventured out of their own half leaving us with a difficult task to break them down. Rowlands regularly cut inside to run at them through the middle but his two long range efforts rolled wide of the post.

Ainsworth was trying some tricks on the right and had the beating of his full back but not the extra full back they had put on just to make sure they defensive enough. Ainsworth tried another spectacular effort but it was miss hit and sliced well wide.

Martin Rowlands then drifted to the Right and volleyed over before Ainsworth's cross was headed straight at the keeper by Gallen. That header was the first time the keeper was made to work during a dreadful first half.

Our best chances came when the offside flag was raised. Twice we were caught offside. The first saw Bircham through and his shot was saved before he saw the flag and another offside flag saved Gallen's blushes as he lobbed over when unmarked from eight yards when he really should have scored.

The one big problem though was a lack of width of the left. Rowlands was doing well cutting inside and getting involved but when the defence had the ball all they had in front of them was either a long ball to Gallen or Thorpe or a ball wide to Ainsworth (who had two men on him). Rowlands was usually in central midfield trying to get the ball so when it was played into him they just surrounded him and we lost possession.

Rangers tried to change things by switching Palmer to right back and trying to play out from the back but most moves ended up going back to Chris Day in one of the worst halves of football I have ever seen.

QPR fans began to get impatient with shouts of "On the Floor" but it didn't matter if we played it on the floor or in the air Barnsley had so many men behind the ball it was impossible to break them down.

Half time saw the team go off to a few boos which I thought was pretty harsh. Holloway made a slight tactical switch at half time though which brought instant rewards.

Rowlands stayed on the left wing and that stretched Barnsley meaning they couldn't just restrict us to the middle of the pitch and we began to create chances as gaps started to appear. Almost straight away Thorpe found himself clean through after the re start but his shot was saved by Illic. The rebound came to Gallen and his lob was headed in by Thorpe but the linesman ruled it out for offside.

Barnsley continued to sit back and hope for a 0-0 which must have been awful for the Barnsley fans who made the long trip. What a waste of time and money to come and watch this rubbish. We were not a great deal better but at least we were trying to score.

The QPR fans then did all we could to turn the game around. A ten minute chant of Kevin Gallens magic seemed to lift the Rangers striker and and he looked desperate to score against his old club.

With an hour gone the breakthrough finally came. A clever pass by Thorpe found Gallen inside the box with three men around him. Gallen turned nicely and fired a quality strike into the top corner and the ground erupted and Gallen ran to the P, Q and R blocks to salute those fans singing his name for the last ten minutes.

Barnsleys game plan was now ruined and they totally fell apart.

Straight from kick off we won possession and Ainsworth and Gallen linked well down the right. A ball back to Bircham saw the midfielder look for his first goal at the Loft End but his shot was weak and straight at the keeper. Amazingly though Illic parried it rather than catching it and Rowlands ran in from the right for a simple tap in. Two goals in two minutes and the game was won.

It was about to get better though as Ainsworth ran down the right and won a corner. The Loft was buzzing and after struggling to stay awake for 60 minutes the game had turned on it's head in three amazing minutes. Padula ran over to take the corner and whipped it in for Gareth Ainsworth who stood unmarked and headed his sixth goal of the season past Illic and it was becoming a rout.

It was no more than Barnsley deserved. they had come with no interest in winning the game and thankfully they were going home getting well and truly stuffed. Three goals in three minutes had made the previous 60 minutes a distant memory. It was party time now as Rowlands and Ainsworth started showing a few tricks and Bircham had another long range effort to try and break his duck at the Loft End. Gallen went for his second with a good run and low shot but Illic did well to keep it out.

A fourth goal was inevitable and it came with about fifteen minutes left. Gallen turned provider this time playing a brilliant pass through the defence which cut them apart. Thorpe ran onto it and touched it rund the keeper before stroking into the back of the net for goal number four. It was well deserved for Thorpe who had looked a threat in the second half and was beginning to combine well with Gallen.

We had more chance to add to the scoreline. Rowlands broke down the right and with Gallen and Thorpe screaming for the ball he tried to be clever and beat his man again but ended up playing it back to Bean whose cross was to high for the forwards to get onto.

Holloway then made a change with Bircham coming off to a standing ovation and young Wes Daly coming on for his first appearance of the season. Daly sprinted back to defend a corner which was easily cleared. In the last ten minutes Barnsley went a bit mad and put four up front and for the first time caused a few problems but not enough to force Chris Day into any meaningful work.

When the final whistle went the boos that greeted half time were gone and the team were given a great ovation off the pitch. It wasn't the best performance by Rangers but against a team with no interest in attacking it was always going to be difficult to break down. The way we stepped up a gear after the first goal was very impressive and it was clinical finishing by Rangers to win by such a big margin.

The fans also deserve a pat on the back. The noise made through the Kevin Gallen song and the support shown to the team after half time really helped the players and pushed us onto victory.

Rangers now face three away league games in a row which should see us needing to defend more than we had to tonight but if we continue to show the same desire to win games then we shouldn't fear anyone in this division.

Man of the Match: Martin Rowlands

Players Ratings

1. Chris Day: Hardly had anything to do all night but dealt with the rare attacks well. 7/10

2. Terrell Forbes: Had a solid game at the back and passed the ball well. Went for a few long balls early on which were wasted but after that he kept things simple and had a good game. 7/10

3. Gino Padula: like Forbes had nothing to do defensively but picked up a silly booking in the last minute. Nice corner for the goal and whipped in a few dangerous free kicks. 7/10

4. Steve Palmer: A good game back in defence. From early on he was trying to support the midfield and add an extra body in the middle when required. 7/10

24. Arthur Gnohere: Again didn't have much to do but dealt with rare attacks well and looks to be improving. 7/10

11. Gareth Ainsworth; Tried a few flashy skills in the first half running at players and looked far sharper than he has for a few weeks. Nice to also see him back on the scoresheet. 7/10

17. Marcus Bean: Quiet game but didn't really have to close people down and get stuck in as they weren't interested in attacking. 7/10

8. Marc Bircham: Very impressive in midfield working hard and after a disappointing first half he passed the ball very well in the second half. 7/10

14. Martin Rowlands: Roamed inside during the first half and was our only threat in the opening 45 minutes. After the break he stayed outside on the left to help the balance of the side but after his goal he was everywhere and a real threat throughout. 9/10

9. Tony Thorpe: Showed some nice touches around the box and looked a real threat inside the box. Scored one and was unlucky not to get more. 8/10

10. Kevin Gallen: The crowd really helped him and another excellent all round display was capped with a brilliant goal. His pass for Thorpe's goal showed outstanding vision and after his goal the confidence came flooding back. 8/10

Subs

16. Wes Daly: Great to see him get a chance and ran his heart out in the short time he was on. 7/10