Every year I try to get to at least one pre season game and this year the home game against Crystal Palace proved to be my one venture into seeing how the team is shaping up for the new season.

Surprisingly the lower loft was sold out for the game so we took our seats in the upper loft ready for what I expected would be a defeat against newly promoted Crystal Palace.

As expected Ian Holloway had a pretty strong side out but found room for a few experiments. Youth team keeper Jake Cole got his first start at Loftus Road replacing Chris Day. Cole is hoping to be the number two keeper this year after the move to sign Lee Camp finally collapsed this week.

Bignot, Padula, Forbes and Gnohere made up the back four with Rowlands starting on the left and fit again Richard Johnson partnered Bean and Ainsworth in midfield. Kevin Gallen and Tony Thorpe started up front with both looking keen to cement their place in the first team when the real stuff starts next Saturday.

Rangers started brightly knocking the ball around well against a strong Crystal Palace side. The Premiership side showed a few nice touches but never looked too threatening and only the long ball over the top to Andy Johnson caused us to break a sweat at the back.

Martin Rowlands started the game brightly on the left. A nice bit of skill saw him step over the ball and drag if past two bewildered looking defenders before his cross shot was blocked for a corner.

Marcus Bean was like a terrier in midfield getting stuck in and winning the ball for Rangers and his passing seems to have improved as he set the team going several times from the middle of the park. Rangers were well up for this with Ainsworth, Thorpe and Gallen all throwing themselves into tackles, which would have produced yellow cards if this had been a league game.

Palace were looking very ordinary and Richard Johnson almost gave us the lead after a neat build up saw the former Watford man hit a shot from the edge of the box which was well saved by the keeper. Speroni in the Palace goal looked very dodgy on crosses and flapped at a couple of corners, which doesn’t bode well for Palace this season.

Some good football involving Gallen and Thorpe created a chance for Rowlands but the player of the year couldn’t get to the ball quickly enough and his shot was blocked for a corner.

This spell of pressure seemed to wake the visitors up and a nice ball through the middle cut Rangers apart. Andy Johnson went round Jake Cole and seemed set to roll the ball into the net but was brought down by the keeper for a blatant penalty. To our delight the ref waved play on and we had got away with it.

Padula almost gave Rangers the lead from a corner. A typical Gino delivery curled towards the far post and seemed to hit the post and come out but two unmarked Rangers players got in each other’s way and wasted the rebound.

Tony Thorpe should have made it 1-0 when a low ball across goal found him unmarked from two yards out but he ballooned his shot into the school end. At the other end Jake Cole had to come off his line to head a long ball over the top clear and the youngster was impressing.

This was the first time I’d seen him in action and he looks like he won’t let the team down if called upon this season. He only really had one save to make as Palace played some nice football to create a chance on the right for Andy Johnson but Cole saved well with his feet and conceded the corner.

With half time approaching we took a deserved lead. Once again it was Marcus Bean in the thick of things cutting out a Boyce clearance and he slotted in a lovely pass for Tony Thorpe who waltzed round the keeper and calmly stroked the ball home for 1-0.

Palace came back at us looking for an equaliser but despite getting in some space in the box Freedman couldn’t get a shot on target.

Half time saw several changes to the Rangers side. Jake Cole was replaced by Chris Day which I thought was a shame and it would have been nice to see Cole get 90 minutes under his belt. Lewis Hamilton got once last chance to impress replacing Bignot at right back whilst Edghill came on for Padula to give him some much needed match fitness.

Kevin Gallen switched to central midfield as Cureton, who went up front, replaced Johnson. Furlong came on for Tony Thorpe and McLeod replaced Gareth Ainsworth with Rowlands switching to the right wing.

With all those changes you’d expect Palace to take control but they didn’t. Rangers looked far sharper to the ball than the visitors and at times you had to wonder which team was heading for the Premiership. Jamie Cureton looked lively up front and linked well with Gallen who was getting forward well from deep. Kevin McLeod seemed well up for the game and showed good skill on the left to beat his full back but a defender cut out his cross.

We soon got a second and fully deserved goal. Speroni again looked like he would rather be on a beach as he stood around his box day dreaming. Furlong cut out a lazy defensive pass and chested it down before volleying into the top corner from 35 yards out. He made it look so easy and the Palace keeper just stood looking like a bit of a wally.

Cries of we want six were chanted from the Loft as memories of the great Kevin Millers performance in 1999 came flooding back.

Jamie Cureton then went off with a torn thigh muscle, which will rule him out of the start of the season. Wes Daly came on with Gallen moving back up front. Daly was looking to impress and did well in midfield spraying some lovely passes around and getting stuck in along with Bean.

Palace were looking a shambles and Rowlands shot from the edge of the box flew just wide as the scoreline threatened to get embarrassing.

Palace made a host of substitutions to try and change the game with Iain Dowie looking furious on the Palace bench. I wouldn’t have liked to be a Palace player in that dressing room after the game.

Darren Powell then lost the plot, as a bit of shirt pulling turned nasty. He went head to head with Gallen as both players were pulled apart by team mates and they both ended up in the book.

It was all too easy for Rangers though as we comfortably stayed in control of the game. Lewis Hamilton was shining at right back with some great touches and he looked to get forward at every opportunity showing some good passing and skills. On this evidence he is well worth signing up and he looks like he could easily cope in the first division/championship this season.

The goals hadn’t finished though as Wes Daly played a nice ball wide to McLeod and the scouse winger stormed down the left and put in a perfect cross for Gallen to volley past the keeper for number three. It was great work by McLeod and hopefully he can continue this form into the new season.

The last few minutes saw Rangers take their foot off the pedal and Palace got round the back of the Rangers defence a little to easily. They still failed to create any decent chances and the final whilst was greeted with cheers from the QPR end for a very satisfying afternoons work.

Palace looked a very poor side on this showing and Dowie has a lot of work to do before the start of the season. If Thorpe and Gallen can out pace their defence then god help them when they play against the likes of Henry and Rooney next season. Still I’m sure Dowie will sort them out before the start of the season.

As for us though we are looking in very good form ahead of the new season. Pre season results rarely matter too much but the level of fitness and performance shown by Rangers is very promising. We have very good competition for places with all four strikers looking in great form and in defence it’s going to be interesting to see who gets to start out of Rose, Gnohere, Forbes and Santos next weekend.

If we can continue with this sort of performance I think we’ll be fine this season and I hope a few of the fans who continually moan about Rangers style of play were at this game to see some of the excellent football on show from us.

Man of the Match: Marucs Bean

Players Ratings

13. Jake Cole: A very good debut for the youngster. He came off his line with great confidence and made an excellent save from Johnson. 8/10

2. Marcus Bignot: A solid game from the full back as he went about his job well. Some nice passes and never looked in trouble defensively. 7/10

3. Gino Padula: Not his best game but was very unlucky not to score direct from a corner. 6/10

19. Terrell Forbes: Good to see him get a full 90 minutes under his belt. He kept things simple at the back and his pace was important against Andy Johnson. 7/10

22. Arthur Gnohere: A better game than the last time I saw him at Hillsborough, He still makes the odd clanger but he worked hard and looks likely to be first choice for next weekend's opener against Rotherham. 7/10

11. Gareth Ainsworth: Gareth always gives it all he has and he worked really hard on the right putting in some dangerous crosses but didn't quite look 100% fit to me. 7/10

6. Richard Johnson: Showed glimpses of what he is capable of with some nice passes and one good long range shot but he can and will need to play better than this. 6/10

16. Marcus Bean: Before the game he sounded like he had been the star of pre season and once again he worked his socks off in the middle of the park and showed great improvement on last season. His tackling, passing and positional awareness have all improved and I think he'll be a key player for us this season. 9/10

14. Martin Rowlands: Started the game well leaving his full back for dead on more than one occasion but was quiet after that and only really improved late in the second half. 7/10

9. Tony Thorpe: He started pre-season as fourth choice striker but ended it top scorer with three goals in three starts and have given Holloway real headache over who to pick for the new season. His movement and work rate was excellent and he looks as sharp as he did when he was on top of his game in the first half of last season. 8/10

10. Kevin Gallen: Worked hard and showed plenty of class with some neat passing and skill. Took his goal well and he really should prove this season what a top player he is. 8/10

Subs.

1. Chris Day: Had nothing to do but he did throw it out a few times to his full back which was good to see. 6/10

30. Lewis Hamilton: Very impressive display at right back. I'd love to see us sign up. He was comfortable on the ball, a good passer and a solid defender with good positional sense. 8/10

23. Richard Edghill: Didn't look fit which is not a shock as he has just come back from injury but the 45 minute run out will have helped him. 7/10

18. Kevin McLeod: A Much better display than he showed towards the end of last season. he was hungry and got the ball down the line and whipped crosses in. If he can provide crosses like the one he did for the third goal 0on a regular basis then Lee Cook may struggle to get in the side when he gets back from injury. 8/10

15. Jamie Cureton: Looked lively but a real shame he got injured and he looks set to miss the first few games of the season. 7/10

20. Wes Daly: Again he looked good when he came off the bench. Good passing and hard work in midfield and with a bit more time on the ball in this division, Wes may begin to fulfil the potential he has shown for the reserves in recent years. 7/10

29. Paul Furlong: Held the ball up well and scored a stunning goal, which I doubt he'll score a better one than all season. 8/10 .