It’s been twenty-eight months since QPR last won a cup time. No matter whom we have faced in the cup we have lost. Arsenal beat us 6-0 under Gerry Francis before Ian Holloway’s awful cup run started with a 2-1 League cup defeat at Northampton. Since then, Rangers have been stuffed 3-0 by Yeovil in the LDV, 4-0 by Swansea in the FA Cup and suffered a narrow 3-2 defeat to Leyton Orient also in the League cup.

Last season also saw Rangers lose on penalties to Bristol City in the LDV and we bravely took Vauxhall Motors to penalties after a replay but they too knocked us out.

So it was seventh time lucky for Ian Holloway tonight and in all seriousness it was a massive game for QPR. A cup run is vital to the clubs finances and another first round exit may just hasten the departure of some of the current first team.

Ian Holloway had a good start to the night with the news that Clarke Carlisle and Kevin Gallen were fit to play and both started the game in an unchanged team.

I couldn’t make the game tonight but listened into the QPR World commentary. I decided to miss the first few minutes as I had my dinner and as I logged on I was gutted to see on the .org board we were 1-0 down already.

Five minutes in Grant McCan hit an unstoppable shot from 125 yards out to beat Chris Day. Here we go again, another cup tie against lower league opposition and things go wrong.

Thing is with this team though is even when we go 1-0 down I don’t get to disheartened. I thought we’d fight back and probably get back in the game and listening to the commentary that’s how it sounded.

Ainsworth was causing problems on the right but Cheltenham had chances to double their lead. The commentary then went a bit mad as it stopped and started and whilst I listened to Billy Rise raving about Ainsworth, Carly ran in to tell me we’d scored. What! How had we scored, this was live commentary and we weren’t even close. I quickly logged out and in again to QPR world and now QPR had a free kick. Knowing we were going to score made listening to it even sweater.

The ref seemed to have trouble pushing the wall back ten yards and as Furlong argued over this he was booked for taking to long over the free kick. 15 minutes in, 1-0 down and Furlong is booked for time wasting. Sad to hear that the common sense shown by Saturdays referee isn’t shown by all at this level. Still he’ll get top marks from his assessor and annoy the hell out of Premiership fans soon so it’s not all bad.

Where was I? Oh yeah, free kick. Furlong hit it and the keeper parried the shot for Gareth Ainsworth to come in unmarked and tap into the net. A third goal in two games for Ainsworth and we were back in the game.

The delay on the commentary though became very frustrating as SI went to share my joy with qpr.org only to see that Furlong had been sent off. I was five minutes away from this disaster.

It turns out Furlong got a second yellow for a foul which deserved a talking to at most but the refs have obviously been told they haven’t sent enough people off yet this season and Furlong became the first of 20 to be sent off in England tonight.

So ten men against a 3rd division team in the cup. Might as well give up now. Well not with this team. Rangers switched to a 4-3-2 as Ainsworth went up front and QPR continued to have the better of the half and the better chances.

Ainsworth flashed a 25 yard volley just over before Langley hit a great shot from a Padula corner but the keeper made an excellent save. It sounded like we were on top and Marc Bircham went very close to giving us the lead with a similar effort to his goal at Brentford apparently but this time he fired just wide.

So half time and the commentary had at last caught up with itself so I didn’t have to rely on the message board for the second half.

It sounded like we started the second half well but neither team seemed to be really on top. For us the hard work of Gallen, Bircham and Palmer sounded like it may be giving us the edge but after a tough game on Saturday and with only ten men you had to worry that the lads may not be able to keep it going for the full 90 minutes.

Langley came close to giving us the lead as the Cheltenham keeper produced another magnificent save to keep him out.

At the other end Cheltenham had a few efforts from around the box but Chris Day held firm and stopped anything thrown at him. A series of corners caused a few worries but we managed to defend well and kept he scores level.

We continued to create things at the other end with Ainsworth still causing problems whilst Gallen and Bircham had efforts fly over as we searched for a winner.

Extra time sounded like it was coming before our cup nightmare ended. Gallen held the ball up as only he can and laid it off to Langley and the brilliant midfielder hit a stunning strike into the back of the net from 25 yards out for a typical Richard Langley goal of the season contender. Richard celebrated calmly showing good maturity after being booked minutes before and with this ref he would probably have been sent off if he showed any emotion.

Rangers then just had a few minutes to hang on as Cheltenham poured forward. A corner saw the Cheltenham keeper come forward much to the groans of Billy Rice in the QPR World commentary position. Thankfully though we cleared the danger and without me knowing my commentary had slipped to a few minutes behind again and looking at the .org board I noticed in real time the game was actually over.

It was great to hear the commentary team sound nervous as we hung on as I sat safe in the knowledge that we had won.

So a cup win at last and for the first time this century we have got past the first round of the League Cup. Who will we get in the next round? Who cares, as long as it’s a home tie the club can make some much needed funds and get some prize money which no matter how small it is will be badly needed by the club.

Match ratings Based on listening to the game so won't be as accurate as ratings from people at the game obviously.

Man of the Match: Gareth Ainsworth

Players Ratings

1. Chris Day: Made a few saves and sounded like he had no chance with the goal. 7/10

2. Terrell Forbes: Took a few dangerous corners in the first half and as usual was strong defensively. 7/10

3. Gino Padula: Strong again at the back but his delivery from set pieces didn't sound as good as at the weekend. 7/10

5. Clarke Carlisle: Like the other defenders sounded like he performed well against a direct side. 7/10

6. Danny Shittu: Made a few errors but makes up for it with his non nonsense defending. 7/10

4. Steve Palmer: Sounded like he had another good game. At 2-1 he covered back as Shittu went forward and intercepted a through ball which could have cut us open. 7/10

8. Marc Bircham: As usual gives his all for the team and sounded like he played well and was unlucky not to score. 7/10

9. Richard Langley: Can't wait to see his goal on QPR world and by the sounds of it he was unlucky not to add a few more. 7/10

11. Gareth Ainsworth: Scored again and by the sounds of it was a threat all night and gets my man of the match. 8/10

10. Kevin Gallen: I would have probably given kev the man of the match if I had been at the game but I'm sure he'll win a few soon. By the sounds of it he led the line brilliantly and was just excellent. 8/10

29. Paul Furlong: Very disappointing to hear he was sent off especially as it was for such petty offences. Lets hope the ref changes his mind. 7/10

Subs

12. Eric Sabin: By the time I heard him came on the .org board had announced that QPR had won so I didn't take much notice if he did anything. 7/10 for turning up