Travelling up to Oldham on a freezing cold day was not the most appealing thought but it was a trip me and Carly decided to make especially after the recent good form of the QPR team. A long old coach journey awaited us which was not ideal after a work Christmas party the night before.

After about four hours on the coach we arrived at Boundary Park just before 2pm and decided to brave the elements and walk to the Old Grey Mare pub but after walking part of the way we decided we couldn't be bothered to walk all that way and went for a burger in the ground instead.

Watching the teams warm up was worrying. No Clarke Carlisle and no Martin Rowlands so we feared one of both had been sold late on Friday. Thankfully it turned out injury and illness had ruled them out and a flu bug meant that we only had four subs after Richard Edghill was left at home feeling unwell.

Gallen, Bircham and McLeod had recovered from flu but the freezing cold weather meant this wasn't the ideal place to play after spending a few days in bed with flu.

Still we were confident of a win and the PA man was nice enough to play pig bag before the game started.

As the teams came out to start the game we finally worked out the starting line up. Chris Day was back in place of Culkin. Whilst Rose and McLeod replaced Rowlands and Carlisle.

Rangers begun the game attacking towards the Oldham fans and we got off to a good start. An early corner from Padula saw the ball fly around the box before Gallen fired it in and it took a desperate clearance int he line to claw it away. Kevin McLeod fired a long range shot just over as Thorpe and Ainsworth also had shots in the first five minutes to test the Oldham backline. At this early stage it seemed only a matter of time before we scored and we stayed on top for most of the half.

Oldham looked a bit shell-shocked from the news that Iain Dowie had walked out on them and going forward they had little to offer. on loan forward Zola looked a threat but Rose did well against him and the well drilled off side trap had the home fans screaming for blood as they were caught offside time and time again.

Palmer almost continued his recent scoring form from a Padula corner. The club captain rose at the far post but his header hit the post and went wide. McLeod was next to have a go doing well to make space int he box but fired over with his weaker right foot. McLeod was obviously under instructions to follow Rowlands lead and come inside to help the central midfield out.

With Rangers looking conformable we almost cocked it up with some bad defending. We played the offside trap but Johnson beat it and had a one on one with Chris Day. A goal looked certain but Day made a brilliant save with his feet to keep him out.

That was the wake up call we needed and we soon took the lead. Ainsworth was causing them problems on the right and did well to get down the line and cross for the unmarked Thorpe to tap in from close range for his eight goal of the season in QPR colours. The frozen QPR fans celebrated in a bid to warm up and in truth we should have been celebrating even more a few minutes later.

A similar move to the first saw Thorpe turn provider and play Gallen into an almost identical position to Thorpes goal. Gallen tried to be too clever though and life it over the keepers diving legs and Poglicomi did well to keep him out.

Chances were raining in from us as Bean surged forward to give it to Gallen and a neat lay off saw Bean unmarked from ten yards out but his shot was weak and easily saved. Thorpe was next to go close as he broke through a static defence but shot just wide and then the best chance fell to Gallen. A good breakaway saw McLeod play a perfect ball to Gallen and clean through he shot wide when he really should have scored.

At half time it was all too easy for Rangers and the three points looked in the bag if we continued playing like this in the second half.

As the second half begun the wind picked up and Boundary Park became even colder then usual. I don't think I've ever been as cold at a ground since we played Oldham before Christmas in 1996. The fans were frozen to their seats and sadly the team froze as well.

Oldham came out a different side closing us down all over the pitch and seemed very hungry for victory and revenge for that playoff defeat.

The back four were all over the place as Johnson's pace caused all sorts of problems but luckily the forward was woeful in front of goal and dragged several great chances wide or over. We were all over the place and had stopped creating anything. Ainsworth was the only one looked anything like himself but the rest seemed in utter disarray.

We were then treated to another controversial moment at Boundary Park. Bean went up for a header and seemed to be elbowed by the midfielder Cooksie. Bean reacted and called for the ref (standing two yards away) to react and then went head to head with Cookise who collapsed to the floor with a pathetic dive trying to get the youngster sent off. The Rangers players went mad screaming at the cheat on the floor. It was all reminiscent of Langleys red card last season but thankfully the ref saw some common sense and just warned both players when he could easily have booked both or sent Bean off if he hadn't seen through the blatant cheating.

Beans game then totally changed as he appeared scared to tackle and get booked which led to us defending deeper and deeper. Oldham were taking full advantage of the conditions and a goal was well on the way. It came after a total cock up in the Rangers defence. Day came out to clear a ball over the top and managed to kick it against Shittu's backside and a corner was given away. This lifted the home crowd and a good corner in saw Cookise given a free header from six yards out to equalise for the home side.

We were all over the place now and the introduction of Bircham for Palmer made little difference. You could sense a winner coming for the home side and most Rangers fans were desperate for us to hang on for a point.

With just a few minutes left the winner came. Johnson got behind the defence again after Bircham lost the ball. Day did well to save his effort but John Eyre had the simple task of burying the rebound into the empty net. Oldham went mad, even the keeper raced up the pitch to join in. I think they wanted this a little bit after a terrible week.

We pushed forward for an equaliser but it never looked like coming. Thorpe shot wide and then Gallen had a goal disallowed for pushing. It was hard to see from my seat if he did or not but no one really complained so I assume he must have fouled someone.

The final whistle was greeted with a few moans from the away fans as we clapped the team off. It was a desperately disappointing second half performance and to come away with nothing after having so many chances is a harsh lesson for the players to learn. But learn it they must as Oldham deserved the win and we'll need to improve on this if we want to get back to the top of the league.

On the positive side though we go into Christmas four points clear of third place and unbeaten at home so no need to worry too much at the moment.

Man of the Match: Gareth Ainsworth

Players Ratings:

1. Chris Day: Made an excellent save in the first half but his kicking was poor after the break against a strong wind. 7/10

2. Terrell Forbes: Poor afternoon for Terrell who struggled for most of the game without Carlisle. 6/10

3. Gino Padula: A couple of good corners but not at his best. 7/10

12. Matthew Rose: Did well int he first half but like so many he badly struggled in the second. 7/10

6. Danny Shittu: Nowhere near the dominant force he can be and looked a shadow of the player he can be. 6/10

11. Gareth Ainsworth: A very good display from Aisnworth who worked his nuts off closing people down and created some excellent chances. 8/10

17. Marcus Bean: Not a great game from Beano. He worked hard and got stuck in but struggled when put under pressure in the second half. 6/10

4. Steve Palmer: Struggled again as they dominated the midfield battle in the second half 6/10

22. Kevin McLeod: Looked a real threat in the first half but like the rest faded in the second half 6/10

9. Tony Thorpe: Scored again and was unlucky not to get more. 7/10

10. Kevin Gallen: Looked sharp at the start but after missing a few chances he was poor after the break. 6/10

Subs

8. Marc Bircham: Didn't do much and didn't really look fot. 6/10