When the fixture list came out in June most eyes wandered to see when we would make our trip to the Stadium of Light, which is probably the best ground outside the Premiership. We didn't have to wait long and around 1,500 QPR fans made the long trip North on Saturday for what looked on paper our toughest test of the season so far and considering we'd just been hammered 3-0 by a team tipped to struggle it was with more hope than expectation that fans travelled to the game.

The long trip up started for my girlfriend and myself with a train from Kings Cross. Due to the ridiculous train fares being charged by GNER the cheapest way to get to this game was to get three trains changing at York and then again at Newcastle. The first leg of the journey was interesting as we sat in a carriage wearing our QPR shirts and found ourselves in the carriage reserved for the London branch of the Sunderland supporters club.

Early boasts by them of an easy win were quickly calmed down when they saw us and talk followed of how tough it will be for them against QPR. Fair play to them though as they were a friendly bunch and even gave us the chance to join in their prediction competition on the train which wasted a few minutes.

After a long delay between Darlington and Newcastle we arrived at Sunderland an hour later than we had planned. We just had enough time for a pre match beer in the town centre before we made the shirt walk to the Stadium of Light. It looked pretty impressive from the outside and even better once we got inside.

Plenty of beer and food on sale as well as space to have a bet and watch the Spurs v Liverpool game on one of the several televisions around the concourse. At around ten to three we made our way to our seats and got ready for what looked like being a long afternoon.

Our seats were quite close to the front but the view was excellent. We missed the warm up but I was told that Dan Shittu took part in the warm up and is now very close to a first team return, which is fantastic news.

The Sunderland Public address system played some classical music to get the home fans going but it was so loud you could hardly hear yourself think let alone get an atmosphere going in the away end. When the music was finally turned off the teams were on the pitch and some good old-fashioned singing from the QPR fans got the atmosphere going.

Rangers were again in the new all blue away kit and Holloway made a few changes. George Santos and Kevin McLeod dropped to the bench whilst Tony Thorpe missed out through injury. Furlong, Bean and Ainsworth returned to give us the same side which drew against Rotherham last weekend.

Jamie Cureton replaced Jake Cole on a very attack minded bench. Rangers won the toss and went for the old trick of changing ends to annoy the home side. Sunderland though have fans at both ends of the ground and the more vocal were at our end anyway so the change was unlikely to do as much damage as it did when teams made us kick towards the Loft last season.

The Sunderland fans were pretty vocal early on cheering their side on but they soon when quiet when they didn't score in the first five minutes. Rangers had a game plan to stop Sunderland and Gareth Ainsworth's job seemed to be to shut down Julio Arca every time he got the ball.

The Argentinean left back looked pure quality when he came forward so Ainsworth had his hands full from the first minute. The whole Rangers team were working far harder than they did on Monday night and the midfield four were closing down the Sunderland players far quicker and more effectively than in our two previous games.

Sunderland were struggling to get any sort of decent service to the front two and when they did get into good positions out wide Padula and Bignot were both strong in trying to prevent crosses. Rose and Gnohere were also much improved getting heads and bodies in the way of the ball and Sunderland were restricted to long range efforts in the early exchanges.

Those who expected Rangers to sit back and play for a draw were very wrong as we looked dangerous on the break. Rowlands was finally showing some confidence and taking on players which got us into some very good positions whilst Gallen looked much more like his old self wanting the ball at every opportunity and using it very effectively.

One good Rowlands run saw him lay it off for Padula and the cross in for Furlong was just beyond the big striker. Furlong brushed the keepers shoulder who went down as if he had been shot rolling on the floor trying to get Furlong booked. This set the tone for Furlongs afternoon who couldn't get within five yards of a defender without having a free kick given against him.

On twelve minutes the Stadium of light was stunned as Rangers tore up the script and rammed it down the critics throat. An excellent tackle by Matthew Rose in his own box fell to Marcus Bean. Bean would have been forgiven if he had just hoofed it clear but instead he showed the improvement he has made in his game by bringing the ball out of his own ball and playing a lovely pass into Paul Furlong.

The moment of brilliance that followed would be replayed on television every 30 seconds for the next six months if Thierry Henry had done it. Furlong turned and ran towards into the Sunderland half with three defenders around him. He kept going as they continued to back off and he used his strength brilliantly to hold off Arca and go past Breen. Gallen made a great run to his left as we all screamed at him to square the ball to Gallen but instead Furlong just smashed it in the top corner from 25 yards to send the 1,500 QPR fans into shock and then wild celebrations. Furlong has scored some excellent goals in his second spell with the club but I doubt he'll ever score a better one than that.

The QPR fans sang "1-0 to the Superhoops" and the Sunderland fans to our right sang something about cockneys but I couldn't really understand what they were saying. As expected Sunderland came at us strong looking for an equaliser and long balls into Kyle caused a few problems as Gnohere and Rose began to struggle against the direct approach. Rose had been pretty comfortable against Kyle so Mick McCarthy switched hi to the right where he had far more joy against Bignot and Gnohere and they began to pin us in our own half.

Ainsworth and Bignot were continuing to work hard closing Arca down at every opportunity but the left back still had enough quality to go on a few excellent runs and whip some crosses in. The battle between Ainsworth and Arca was fascinating to watch as they both gave everything to get the better of each other and probably cancelled each other out.

Sunderland hadn't created too many chances despite all the pressure. Marcus Stewart had more time than he realised in the box and passed instead of turning and shooting and Day was on hand to save from the eventual cross in.

Rangers fell asleep from a free kick and before we knew what had happened it was 1-1. A long diagonal ball into the box had Gnohere flat footed and he never looked capable of clearing the ball as Marcus Steward got in between Arthur and Gino before controlling the ball and shooting past Chris Day. It was a simple goal but one that should have been avoided and more work will be needed on the training ground to cut out these basic defensive errors.

It wasn't all one way traffic though and Rangers went close to a second goal before half time. Rowlands and Padula did well on the left and a ball in found saw a big goal mouth scramble and it fell to Kevin Gallen who swung his leg to shoot from ten yards out but his effort was sliced wide as a defender clearly took Gallen's standing leg from under him. Penalty appeals were waved away as the ref bottled a big decision not for the first time in the afternoon.

We had more chances to take a half time lead. Paul Furlong did well on the left cutting inside away from the woeful Gary Breen but he fired over. Gallen also got the better of Breen but his shot hit the side netting when he should have looked to lay it off to Rowlands or Furlong. Half time and things were looking good for us. It was a much improved performance from QPR and despite being under pressure for long periods of the half we looked more than capable of scoring on the break and going on to win the game.

Sunderland came out for the second half determined to improve and they made us work for everything in a very tough second half. The home side were pushing us back and Rangers struggled to get out of our own half for the early period of the half.

Chances were still few and far between though as despite the homes side possession they couldn't work many openings. Julio Arca hit a good long range shot but Day got his angles right and saved comfortably. The impressive Liam Lawrence came closest to giving his side the lead. A ball to the wide man on the right saw him get a bit of space and hit a looping shot which looked as if it might beat Day before the Rangers keeper got a hand on it to tip it over the bar.

As Rangers fans began to look nervously at the clock we broke away and scored again. Bean again did well to bring the ball from the back and find Furlong. With men around Furlong the options looked limited but he took a touch and played a lovely pass to Rowlands on the left. Last years player of the year ran towards the Sunderland penalty area with no challenges before easily dribbling past Wright and then coolly placing his shot into the roof of the net with his right foot. He made it look so easy and us fans in the away were going mad sensing a first win of the season.

It could have got even better as Sunderland looked lost and their fans began to go home. A ball to the right found Ainsworth and his effort was well saved as we looked for a third goal. From the corner Rangers showed that they do work on these things on the training ground. Johnson came for a short corner taking players out of the box and Rose made a late run to the far post totally unmarked. Padula found him and Rose headed into the side netting when it seemed certain he would score.

Kevin Gallen then sliced a shot wide from inside the area as we piled on the pressure and looked the most likely winners. Sunderland though are no mugs and made sure we worked for the points with plenty of late pressure. Holloway made a change taking off the knackered Gareth Ainsworth as Lee Cook came on. Cook looked bright on the left creating an opening for Furlong but Sunderland cleared the danger.

The home side were running out of ideas as plenty of fans headed for the exit. We sat back deep and struggled to get out of our own half with the ref giving them plenty of free kicks and chances to get bodies in the box. The only way I could see them scoring was from a set piece and after Bignot was booked for a foul on Lawrence it was no surprise to see two more changes.

It was late in the day but the added height of Forbes and Santos for Johnson and Bignot made sense. A last minute corner was given away as Furlong and Kyle went down in a heap. Kyle tried to con the referee by staying down but was told to get off the pitch as he had asked for treatment. Kyle argued with the ref but this was one of the few decisions the man in the middle got right.

A corner to the far post should have been dealt with by Day had his shirt held and then failed to get up and claim the cross and Caldwell rose above Santos to head into the back of the net. Heartbreak for Rangers and another cruel lesson on how not to defend a set piece.

Four minutes of injury time were shown on the board as the home fans dreamt of a winner. They almost got one too when a good ball into the box looked as if it would find Kyle but Santos did brilliantly to hook the ball away and make sure we left with something.

Rangers almost nicked a winner though as Gallen did well and played a lovely ball to Rowlands. The Rangers winger was clean through with no defender near him but the ref called it back and gave us a free kick for a foul on Gallen. The advantage rule meant nothing to this prick and Gallen's protests were in vain.

The final whistle then went and we had to settle for a point when we were so close to all three. The disappointment in the player's faces was obvious to see but it had been a much better performance from Rangers and I expect Sunderland would have felt hard done by to go home with nothing from the game. The passion, work rate and skill on show was better than anything we'd seen in the previous two games and must give us hope for the rest of the season. If we can keep playing like that then we'll soon move up the table but we will need to keep improving as games don't get easier in this division and as was seen in this game every mistake we are making is being punished at the moment.

Still the journey home was a lot better than we had expected as QPR fans were in good spirits on the train back and the Sunderland fans on the same train seemed genuine in their compliments of the Rangers team. Sunderland was well worth the visit. The stadium was superb and the locals were pretty friendly expect for a few idiots causing trouble and some fat bloke who was shouting to his mate loads of racists abuse to describe his feelings for Jeff Whitley which seemed uncalled for.

Rangers face Derby next in what should be a tough game and Furlong may need another wonder goal to get past former QPR loan stare Lee Camp in the Derby goal.

Man of the Match: Marcus Bignot

Players Ratings

1. Chris Day: Made a few excellent saves but continues to look dodgy on crosses and should have done better for the second goal. 7/10

2. Marcus Bignot: Another impressive performance. He used the ball well, got forward and defended brilliantly. 9/10

3. Gino Padula: A mixed performance from Gino. He defended very well in the first half but seemed to be carrying a knock in the 2nd half and struggled towards the end. 7/10

22. Arthur Gnohere: A better performance from Big Arthur but he still makes sloppy mistakes which is costing us goal at the moment. 6/10

7. Matthew Rose: Looked comfortable in defence and had a strong game clearing danger when crosses came in and passing the ball well from the back. 7/10

6. Richard Johnson: A big improvement on the Watford game which wasn't difficult but he still drifts out of the game for long periods which we can't afford at this level. 7/10

16. Marcus Bean: Worked so hard in the middle of the park closing people down and using the ball well. It's in games like this where he really stands out for the defensive side of his game. 8/10

14. Martin Rowlands: A much better day from Rowlands as he looked to take players on again and scored a brilliant goal. 7/10

11. Gareth Ainsworth: Didn't stop running from the first minute till he was taken off. He gave everything in a tough battle with Arca and showed how much we missed him on Monday night. 8/10

29. Paul Furlong: A goal of the season contender and a vintage Furlong display. He held the ball up, passed it well and caused plenty of problems despite having a free kicks given against him every 2 minutes. 8/10

10. Kevin Gallen: His best display of the season so far. Worked hard and used the ball well but still plenty more to come from him. 7/10

Subs.

17. Lee Cook: Looked exciting when he got the ball and ran at players but didn't get many chances to show what he can do. 7/10

19. Terrell Forbes: His first game back since March and he didn't let anybody down. 7/10

23. George Santos: Made one brilliant interception during injury time but he'll be disappointed to be so easily beaten at a set piece for the second goal. 7/10