After Monday nights disappointing defeat at Brighton it was a changed line up to face Bournemouth at Loftus Road. Terrell Forbes was out injured so Martin Rowlands switched to right back and Gareth Ainsworth returned on the right wing.

Eric Sabin was dropped in favour of new signing Tony Thorpe whilst Kevin McLeod replaced Tommy Williams on the left wing. Rangers started brightly with McLeod looking full of running on the left and Ainsworth got in a few decent crosses early on.

The front two looked lively and were causing one or two problems with Thorpe almost winning a penalty early on.

The game changed though with a booking. Furlong closed down a defender and threw himself into a tackle catching the defender late and went straight into the book. It was a silly tackle for Furlong to make but his game now had to change and his contribution was limited. Instead of seeing him close players down he looked tentative and allowed Bournemouth time and space to build attacks from the back leaving us defending far deeper than we usually like to.

Bournemouth made full use of this by playing long balls from nearer the halfway line with the big forwards going wide and having plenty of joy beating Gino and Rowlands on the wings. Winning those first headers gave them a chance to play in our final third and they looked very dangerous.

A slip by Gino saw a half chance as a volley was fired just wide of Chris Days goal. Our midfield just weren't in the game as we lost possession far to easily and allowed Bournemouth to dominate. One crisp move cut us apart down the right as Gino was beaten and a pull back saw a forward in far to much space and his shot thundered against the bar and went over. A real let off for Rangers.

The only plus points of the first half an hour were the performances of Rowlands and McLeod. Rowlands was defending well and had the confidence to dribble his way out of trouble on more than on occasion and was using the ball very well. Sadly his team mates couldn't do the same as Bircham and Palmer continued to give the ball away and we struggled badly to have any kind of possession.

The front two were working hard but Furlong was one tackle away from another red card and Thorpe was working hard but not having much joy. McLeod was looking very sharp on the left tearing his full back apart with direct runs and as the half wore on he began to get more and more confident.

With a few minutes of the half left he hit a volley from the edge of the box which flew just wide and that seemed to wake the team up as we finished the half strongly. Another good run by McLeod saw him push the ball past the full back and easily beat them for pace. His cross was superb but not one forward anticipated it and the ball flew across the goal with the keeper stranded at the near post.

It was becoming very frustrating but McLeod again worked some magic, which should have given us the lead. Another good run and cross saw the ball turned into his own net by Broadhurst but as McLeod ran away to celebrate the linesmen flagged for offside. A quite amazing decision considering it was an own goal.

Apparently Tony Thorpe was flagged offside despite being ten yards away from Broadhurst and not interfering with play. Still, as the ref was Danson wasn't surprised. This referee is dire and it is so annoying to see shit referees banned from the Premiership and thrown to us in division two to ruin our afternoons. He continued to stop the game for stupid fouls when the attacking team had the advantage, which really ruined the flow of the game.

At half time the crowd booed the referee off and we knew we needed a much better second half if we were to win the game. They started the brighter of the two sides and had a shot fly just wide almost straight from kick off. Rangers managed to get on top though despite a poor performance from the two central midfield players.

Martin Rowlands and Ainsworth were linking well on the right and Rowlands went close with a cracking shot from 30 yards out but the keeper did well to hold on to the ball with Thorpe running in for the rebound. That signalled a good spell for Rangers with McLeod running at the defence and beating two defenders before dragging his shot just wide.

We were also winning some corners one of which was taken by Steve Palmer after no one else ran over to take it. Remember lads, Langley has gone now so someone else has to take the corners. The crowd began singing for the introduction of Kevin Gallen, as the front two were not having much joy especially Furlong who was having a very quiet game. But then just as I began to think about Furlong going off he came up with the winning goal.

Once again it was McLeod who pushed the ball past his full back and ran onto it. It's such a simple move but outwitted them every time and his brilliant cross found Furlong to head home from eight yards out. The crowd went mad with joy and relief and we looked asset for another win.

We had chances to add to the goal. Martin Rowlands curled a free kick over the wall but it was well saved by the keeper before the introduction of Gallen to a standing ovation. He replaced Thorpe who had a decent debut considering he hasn't trained with the players yet.

Gallen had an immediate impact looking sharp and hungry to do well. A good run across the pitch saw him hold off three challenges before firing just wide. Gallen immediately linked up well with Ainsworth and the winger began to get in the game more. His pace and direct running won us some more corners and we looked pretty comfortable.

Gallen again almost gave us another goal with a good break. He ran towards goal but Ainsworth made a superb run into the middle in space. Gallen went for glory though and missed the target with Ainsworth looking a little upset with his team mate.

Bircham looked like he was hobbling in the middle and silly foul almost saw him in trouble. He pushed a Bournemouth player over as they both tried to get up and luckily the ref didn't see it. Gallen and Furlong both had some strong words to say to Bircham as they urged him to calm down, another red card was the last thing we needed. Bircham was soon taken off as bean came on for his first appearance at Loftus Road since February.

Bournemouth finished the game the stronger side and were unlucky not to grab a point. Marcus Browning found himself in pace at the edge of the box and hit a stunning powerful shot into the top corner but Day reacted brilliantly to tip the ball onto the bar.

They continued to pile the pressure on as we defended far to deep and looked to hang on for a 1-0 win. As injury time arrived a great cross in on the left saw two Bournemouth strikers unmarked but both couldn't get a head on the ball for a certain goal. It was a real let off and within a minute the ref blew for the final whistle and we had hung on for a good three points.

So not a great performance but some encouraging signs. Rowlands was outstanding at right back but McLeod just beat him to man of the match with an excellent display. The downsides were that Palmer and Bircham were poor in midfield and we allowed a team who won't be up near the top of the table to cut us apart time and time again.

We'll need to play a lot better to beat Rushden though but at the end of the day we won the game and that's all that matters really and Bournemouth look like the sort of team that will upset plenty of our promotion rivals this season.

Man of the Match: Kevin McLeod

Players Ratings

1. Chris Day: Another match winning save towards the end to help us win three points. 7/10

14. Marin Rowlands: A very impressive performance by Rowlands. He defended well and got forward with the style and skill you'd expect from the creative midfield player that he is. Seemed to tire towards the end and made a few mistakes but overall a very good full home debut. 8/10

3. Gino Padula: Looked a little bit dodgy at times in the first half as Bournemouth pumped long balls towards him but after a tactical switch at half time he looked far more comfortable. 7/10

5. Clarke Carlisle: Possibly his last game at Loftu Road if you beleive the rumours. Another solid performance though and I really hope he stays. 7/10

6. Danny Shittu: He is improving all the time and was very strong against tough opposition. 7/10

4. Steve Palmer: Gave the ball away far to often and needed McLeod to come across and cover for him far to often in the first half leaving Gino isolated on the left. 5/10

8. Marc Bircham: Another disapointing game from Bircham. His passing was well below par and and he looked to be carrying a knock in the second half. 5/10

11. Gareth Ainsworth: A quiet game from Gareth but he continued to get stuck in and fight to win the ball and when he did get a chance to run at his full back he had Loftus Road on it's feet in admiration. 7/10

22. Kevin McLeod: A superb game from Kevin. He tormented his full back all afternoon with a performance of pace, strength and great crossing. A quality ball for the goal and if the forwards had been awake in the first half he would have had a few more assists to his name. 9/10

9. Tony Thorpe: Looked lively at times and worked hard but didn't really get much of a chance to impress with so few chances created from midfield. 7/10

29. Paul Furlong: Glad to see him get off the mark but he can play much better than this. I honestly think the booking affected him though and he just wasn't the same after that. 7/10

Subs

17. Marcus Bean: Worked hard but didn't really have to do much. 7/10

10. Kevin Gallen: Looked very sharp and came close to killing the game off with some good runs and shots. 7/10