Midweek away games are never
easy on football fans. A Tuesday night in Wrexham meant days booked
off work, an expensive coach trip and based on the current away
form I was expecting the night to probably end in a defeat or
a dull draw.
Still it was a new ground for me so I wanted to make the trip
and it proved to be a good one. Going on the official supporters
coach is always an experience and four hours watching a GPS system
on a flat screen television was something new for me.
We arrived at Wrexham at about 6pm giving us enough time for a
few drinks and something to eat in the local Wetherspoons. We
managed to get into the ground just a few minutes before kick
off. The facilities in the away end are basic to say the least
but the view and acoustics in the seats are excellent and made
for an enjoyable evening.
Around 6-700 QPR fans had made the trip and we were in good voice
as the teams came out. The old tradition of singing each players
name greeted the warm up with Gallen, Shittu, Furlong, Ainsworth,
Rowlands, Day and Padula given a boost by the QPR fans.
The team was unchanged from the weekends draw with Wycombe after
Ainsworth passed a fitness test. In recent weeks Ian Holloway
has complained about getting the balance right in midfield. He
feels that away from home we are too attacking with our wingers
and get outnumbered in midfield.
I was unsure how he could
change this with the players he had but he made a tactical switch
to play 4-5-1 with Gallen in midfield for this game and it worked
very well.
We won an early corner as we went on the attack but were caught
on the counter attack and could easily have found ourselves a
goal down.
It was a real battle in midfield but we were coping well with
it and a free kick 30 yards out. Rowlands stood over it and we
waited for a shot but surprisingly Rowlands tapped it wide to
Shittu to blast a shot from 25 yards out. Shittu’s effort was
blocked and Furlong struggled to get onto the rebound before it
came out to Marcus Bean just inside the area and the youngster
fired his effort into the top corner for his first goal for QPR.
Bean looked a bit confused as to how to celebrate and was mobbed
by his team mates as the QPR fans celebrated at the far end of
the stadium. It was a great start by Rangers and we took control
of the game playing some good stuff.
The biggest improvement on previous away games was the work rate
of the players. Not that they haven’t worked hard in previous
games but in this one whenever a Wrexham player had the ball the
Rangers players surrounded and pressured him into a mistake and
we made it very hard for them to play from the back.
The referee though totally lost the plot and seemed desperate
to send someone off. First he booked Carey and Furlong for an
off the ball incident. Not sure what it was for but both players
looked confused. McLeod then went into the book for jumping for
a header and clashing heads.
The ref was not issuing warnings
just booking people and seemed eager to send Furlong off but the
big forward wasn’t committing any fouls so the ref had to keep
his red card away for now.
Wrexham had chances in the first half but we were having the better
of it. A good run and shot by Rowlands was saved by Dibble and
from Gallen’s corner Ainsworth got a header past the keeper but
it was cleared off the line.
We had more chances after good work by Rowlands and Gallen saw
the forward get in the box and lay it off for Ainsworth who took
a little to long over his shot and placed it over the bar. Ainsworth
was having a quiet game and didn’t look fit but went close again
to extending our lead with a trademark long range effort, which
went wide.
McLeod also went close towards the end of the half after good
work by Gallen but the winger took to long over his shot and the
chance was gone. So at half time it was a job well done with the
team looking solid and hard to break down and we were creating
good chances at the other end. The only worry was what would happen
when we inevitably went down to ten men because it was pretty
clear the ref was going to send someone off.
Rangers made one change at half time as Richard Edghill replaced
Paul Furlong. This was good management by Holloway to take off
Furlong at half time and avoid getting a second yellow, which
he looked certain to get and the referee even told Holloway he
was going to send Furlong off if he fouled again. Quite incredible
really.
Edgehill slotted into right back with Rowlands in midfield and
Gallen up front. It worked well with Rowlands providing some guile
in midfield and Gallen continued his impressive performance by
continually getting the better of Carey. He disposed the defender
and from a narrow angle went for goal when a pass to Ainsworth
seemed a better option.
Rowlands had a good chance to kill the game after a good one two
with Gallen but his shot was straight at Dibble and he easily
saved it.
The Rangers fans were in good voice and we had to sit through
plenty of desperate defending. Edgehill slotted into defence well
but we still gifted them chances. Our offside trap was beaten
and Chris Day had to come out and make a save with his feet to
deny them an equaliser.
The warning signs were there for us but we continued to fight
for every ball and restricted them to long range efforts. The
two wide players for Wrexham looked very lively but our full backs
were in top form and we looked strong.
We still should have wrapped the game up. Gallen did well to beat
Carey again and was strong enough to hold off the defence despite
Carey clearly pulling Gallen’s shirt back. The referee played
on and Gallen’s shot was blocked and he looked furious a penalty
wasn’t given.
He argued with the referee
and as the corner came in he was once against held by Carey. Gnohere
headed wide and Gallen complained again to the referee this time
being booked. If Furlong was going to be sent off for persistent
fouling then Gallen was being booking for being constantly fouled.
Wrexham continued to have chances. Edwards fired just over after
being given far too much space and Chris Day had to be at his
best on several occasions to claim crosses in an excellent performance.
Ainsworth was then taken off with Eric Sabin coming on. Rowlands
moved onto the right with Gallen dropping back in midfield.
Padula was then hacked down for a free kick with the Wrexham player
booked. The Wrexham fans went mad claiming Padula dived as the
defender received treatment. This obviously affected the referee
as minutes later Padula was blatantly elbowed in the face on the
half way line. Padula hit the deck holding his face but the ref
ignored it as the fans cried cheat.
Carey then kept up his fouling rate but shoving McLeod over but
once again the ref saw nothing wrong. McLeod looked furious and
charged after Carey by the corner flag. Carey calmly cleared the
ball as McLeod slid it to get the ball but the challenge was a
crude one, which missed both the ball and the man and made the
wide man look a little silly. The ref though quickly blew as McLeod
had clearly broken three strands of grass and he was sent off
for intending to kick the defender.
Perhaps a word to calm McLeod down would have been more sensible
but the referee was delighted to whip out the red card whilst
Padula lay on the floor holding his face 20 yards away. After
the ref had his moment in the spotlight he finally let Prav on
to treat Gino, as it was a head injury it’s good to see the referee
taking swift action to make sure the player was ok.
Good job Gino Hadn’t swallowed
his tongue really. The elbow on Gino (although unintentional)
went without punishment. Clearly if you intend to kick someone
but don’t that’s a red card but if you don’t intend to elbow someone
in the face but do that’s ok.
So down to ten men Gallen moved to the left wing and we played
a 4-4-1 formation looking to hang on to what we had. It wouldn’t
be easy though as the referee gave everything to the home side
including a thrown in which was hilarious. The Wrexham winger
got past Edgehill and over ran it, he tried a nice bit of skill
to keep the ball in play but the linesmen flagged that it had
gone out. The ref quickly waved a throw in for Wrexham despite
the linesmen flagging the other way and we were almost caught
as the defence stood wondering what the hell was going on.
Wrexham piled forward but we continued to close them down so well
allowing them very little time on the ball. They did get chances
though but poor finishing kept us in front before their best chance
came in the last ten minutes and really should have made the scores
level.
Gino was beaten on the left
by a nice dummy and the cross saw the defence ball watching and
Hector Sam was totally unmarked and as it seemed a certain goal
Chris Day ran across and produced a truly magnificent save to
tip it over the bar. Incredible stuff and Day was really earning
his wages this week.
This proved to be a wake up call but the Rangers fans began to
get very upset with Sabin who just never closed down defenders
and allowed them to get to the half way line without a problem
and launch balls at us where they can cause problems.
Sabin did look a threat when he had the ball through and one good
turn of pace saw him shoot straight at Dibble.
Six minutes of injury time was added and it was a nervous time
for us.
The team fought for every
ball expect for Sabin who looked knackered despite not actually
doing anything. Clearances were launched into row Z and we hung
on for our lives before Rowlands got in a good tackle on the half
way line and sprinted forward.
Sabin was totally unmarked
and as I screamed square it the forward just stopped and watched
leaving Rowlands with only one option. Rowlands didn’t need Sabin
though and as three defenders came across he dribbled past one
before cutting away from the other and firing into the bottom
corner to send the away end into mass hysteria.
The players went mad all storming over to celebrate for what felt
like a good few minutes. Rowlands had his shirt off pointing out
what his name was and Palmer had a quiet word with the ref to
say please don’t book anyone for this.
The final whistle came seconds later and a first away league win
of the season. It was thoroughly deserved as the team worked so
hard for it and just never gave Wrexham the time on the ball to
hurt us enough and when they did have chances Chris Day was in
stunning form.
The players and fans celebrated together and it’s nice to see
our efforts appreciated by the players.
The journey home was going to be a good one but you can’t have
everything I suppose.
A coach driver who decided
for some reason to drive round 300 roundabouts in the middle of
nowhere towards Crewe before re joining the M6 was a little strange
and made Carly feel travel sick to the point where I was almost
covered in the chips she’s had before the game.
One massive traffic jam later we got into bed at half three in
the morning with Carly off to work just three hours later. But
was it all worth it? Of course it was, three more points and two
more excellent goals. Now onto Luton which promises to be an interesting
afternoon.
Man of the Match: Martin Rowlands
Players Ratings
1. Chris Day: Made an unbelievable save and was excellent throughout
dominating his penalty area and claiming every cross with authority.
8/10
14. Martin Rowlands: Played at right back, central midfield and
then on the right wing and was excellent in all positions. He
gets forward so well and caused Wrexham plenty of problems whilst
his energy and skill for his goal just got him the man of the
match award. 9/10
3. Gino Padula: A much improved performance and was only really
beaten once down the wing against a team which bases it's game
on quality player down the flanks. 8/10
6. Danny Shittu: Another player showing signs of improvement especially
his organizational skills as he is constantly trying to sort out
the back four. Another solid game. 8/10
24. Arthur Gnohere: Perhaps should take him time a bit more on
the ball but did his job and defended well throughout 8/10
4. Steve Palmer: Looked lost for most of
the game as he chased shadows and never really got involved. He
improved when McLeod got sent off though as he closed down players
and played a few good balls forward to Sabin and Gallen. 6/10
11. Gareth Ainsworth: Doesn't look fit
but still went close to scoring. Wouldn't be surprised to see
him left out at the weekend. 6/10
17. Marcus Bean: Another good performance
from the 18 year old. Got his first goal and worked very hard
to win the ball in midfield. 8/10
22. Kevin McLeod: Caused problems on the
left and worked hard in front of his watching friend Francis Jeffers
and was unlucky to be sent off. 7/10
29. Paul Furlong: Was playing well before the ref forced us to
take him off. 7/10
10. Kevin Gallen: Like Rowlands played
in three different positions on the night and was excellent in
all of them. Worked so hard for the team and his vision and inelegance
are vital to us. 8/10
Subs
23. Richard Edghill: Very impressive. He
defended well and passed the ball out of defence showing all of
his experience. 8/10
12. Eric Sabin: Looked dangerous with is
pace but didn't appear to be too bothered when he didn't have
it and if he doesn't work harder his career at QPR will be short
lived under Holloway. 6/10
