Akinbyi made a bit of a meal of it though and tried to get the penalty. Stoke's players went mad at the ref and Noel Williams found himself booked for his protests. I've seen those appeals given before but it would have been a harsh penalty and the reaction of the Stoke players led to chaos minutes later.

A free kick was given to Rangers on the halfway line. Gerry Taggart picked up the ball to have a moan and as Bircham does every week he tried to grab the ball back for a quick free kick. Taggart was having none of it and caught Bircham in the face and the Rangers midfielder went down holding his face. I don’t think Taggart meant to hit Bircham but if you raise your hands then you are off and he was soon given a red card. Bircham was then dragged off the floor by Akinbyi as he lost the plot and Russell had a good kick and a swing at Bircham as well as he got very lucky and was only booked. The Stoke players and fans had lost it as Taggart refused to leave the pitch and charged over to have another go at Bircham who tried to point out his fat lip as Stoke players accused him of cheating.

After five minutes of chaos play resumed and it wasn't the nicest of atmospheres after that. Bignot fouled a Stoke player on the wing and stewards had to hold fans back from attacking Bignot as bottles of beer were thrown on the pitch. Stoke were like men possessed now and Rangers needed to keep cool and make sure we ended the game with eleven men.

We almost didn't as a late Furlong tackle was met with calls for a red and Stoke players surrounded the ref appealing for a card. Ed De Goey came running out to have a pop at Furlong who deserved a yellow card but not the nonsense that followed. Half time couldn't come quick enough to calm Stoke down but they still made sure they tried to have a fight with QPR players in the tunnel in scenes you'd expect on a Sunday Morning football match rather than a Championship game. Stoke made two changes at half time to add to the one they made after the red card. Surprisingly Giften Noel Williams was taken off who I thought had looked a threat early on. His replacement Carl Asaba did look good though and caused us problems from the start of the second half.

Holloway changed things to play a 4-5-1 and try and dominate the midfield with Cureton going wide and Rowlands into the middle. Every touch by Bircham was booed though as the home crowd and players tried to rattle Bircham into doing something stupid. Birch though showed remarkable composure and just played his own game, which seemed to piss the home side off even more.

Stoke had started the second half the better side though with Asaba causing problems on the left. Rowlands inability to track back left Bignot exposed. Karl Henry hit a cracking shot from distance, which Chris Day did very well to save. Stoke had several corners as the pressure was on but Rangers held on and then began to frustrate the home side by keeping possession.

It was here that I feel Stoke really did lose it as they failed to close us down and allowed us to pass it around and take all the momentum away from the home side. Chances were few and far between for us as Cureton headed over the bar and a Santos free kick was blocked but with around twenty minutes left we looked in control of the game.

It was hard to see where a goal would come from until Kevin Gallen popped up with a cracker. Paul Furlong did well running at the home defence and holding off several challenges. His pass found Gallen on the edge of the box and as Ed Goey positioned himself to expect a pass to Rowlands, Gallen shifted the ball onto his other foot and fired into the bottom corner giving the Chelsea reject no chance.

Stoke were devastated as Gallen celebrated with his teammates and a sixth win in a row looked in the bag. Stoke had no answer as they continued to sulk over the sending off. We kept the ball with ease as Gallen controlled the midfield under absolutely no pressure from the home side.

Holloway decided to make a chance with just over ten minutes left. The disappointing Rowlands and Cook came off for Bean and Branco to add some bite and urgency into midfield and it was no surprise to see Marc Bircham also taken off with Kevin Mcleod coming on. Bircham left the field to an expected chorus of boos but that wasn't enough for Stoke. Akinbyi sprinted 70 yards to have his say, it was the quickest he'd moved all afternoon. He got in Bircham's face screaming at him and Bircham did well to ignore it and just walk off. Akinbyi was booked and probably should have been sent off minutes later for a terrible tackle on George Santos but the ref wanted to get out alive at this stage so let it go.

The home fans had also lost it. Stewards had to hold fans back from attacking George Santos as bottles, coins and spit rained down on the big defender. The police then decided that Bircham should be taken away from the dug out as the abuse being aimed at him went over the top. Once again beer bottles and coins were thrown at Bircham in some disgraceful scenes, thankfully Bircham didn't react and just walked down the tunnel.

Rangers held on comfortably for the last 15 minutes, as Stoke seemed more interested in getting our players sent off or injured than in getting an equaliser. The final whistle was greeted with much joy from the QPR end as we racked up a sixth win in a row, our best sequence of results in the league since 1984.