After several years living in the shadow of our London neighbours Saturday October 16th finally gave us the chance to play one of the bigger London sides again.

The last few years have seen Wimbledon and Brentford as our London Derby opponents and with all due respect to those clubs they were hardly games to get you excited. But West Ham coming to town was a big game and with the teams starting in 4th and 5th place the game had an extra edge to it than previous derby matches.

Carlys dad happens to be a West Ham fan so this was also a fixture we looked out for and we managed to get him tickets in the West Ham end as we just hopped the team would put up the performance they are capable of and get a sixth straight win. After several beers before the game we headed off to the ground and the excitement was building.

The team news was good for us. QPR were unchanged but West Ham were without Teddy Sherringham who could be 107 but would still score against us as he always does. They still had plenty of quality in the side though with England under 21 star Nigel Reo Coker an impressive talent and Harewood, Zamora, Rebrov and Chadwick are not bad back up players to have when a few injuries hit the squad.

The game started with a cracking atmosphere in the stadium and both sides were going all out for the win. Bircham had Rangers first chance with a shot from the edge of the area, which was comfortably saved by the keeper.

Cook and Rose were linking well on the left with Rose always looking for the overlap and he did well to expose West Hams shortcomings in that area of the pitch to win us a corner from which Rowlands which he volleyed straight at the keeper. West Ham were looking dangerous as well. Harewood easily beat Bignot for pace and ran into the box to shoot just wide of Chris Days far post.

Reo Coker also had a good chance with a swift West Ham counter attack. He made a late run into the box after a good move but his shot was wide of the post when he should have hit the target. Rangers then took the lead in somewhat controversial circumstances.

Furlong pushed a West Ham player over and he fell into the Paddock, which the ref seemed to miss. Rangers played on and Gallen fouled Cook who played a lovely ball into the overlapping Rose and he stroked the ball past Bywater to give Rangers the lead. The ref then booked Furlong for the shove, which was bizarre as if he saw it, surely he should have given a free kick to West Ham?

Still the lead was no more than we deserved after a bright start and this continued with Cook giving Hayden Mullins a torrid time on the left and he dribbled past three defenders before crossing into the danger area where the Hammers just managed to get the ball away.

Half time couldn't come quick enough for West Ham who didn't look up for a battle and Zamora was spending most of his time either fouling Shittu or falling over. Tottenham must be pissing themselves laughing to have swapped him for Jermaine Defoe.

Second half saw West Ham keep the ball far better than they had done in the first half and they began to look more dangerous. Chances were still few and far between though as every ball into the box was belted clear by the immense Danny Shittu and Georges Santos. Santos though was lucky not to give away a penalty after appearing to throw Zamora to the floor but the strikers diving in the first half probably counted against him and made the ref ignore the penalty pleas.

We were looking dangerous on the break with Rowlands having a decent game on the right.

A good move involving Santos Rowlands and Gallen ended with a cross to Santos at the far post and his header across goal was clearly punched away by Mullins but the ref played on and the penalty appeals were in vain.

It was all bit scrappy now with Zamora again falling over to try and win a penalty and how he never got booked for diving is unbelievable, he could at least make one of them look convincing. It was back to the walls stuff for Rangers and the bookings started to rack up. Rowlands and Bircham were both cautioned after some bad tackles one of which gave Rebrov the chance from a free kick.

The former Tottenham man curled towards the top corner but he had no pace on the shot and Day easily saved it. Another Rebrov set piece hit the side netting as they pushed for an equaliser. It never looked like coming though as the final ball from West Ham was dire to say the least and they never seemed to have the heart or bottle to want to win the game as much as we did.

Injuries then hit Rangers as Shittu limped off despite ignoring pleas from Prav and playing on for another ten minutes. Cureton and Bircham also limped off with Cureton looking like he did his hamstring and he'll be out for a few weeks. Rangers battled and held on for the last few minutes as Harewood volleys West Hams best chance over the bar and we had three points to win the East v West derby.

It was a great feeling to get the win against a side expected to win the division this year and we get bragging rights over our neighbours for a few weeks at least. It was a good performance by Rangers although we can play better.

The real test for us will come in the next few weeks. It looks like Cureton Shittu will miss a few games with injury and Furlong has a suspension coming up soon after 5 bookings so this strength of the squad will be tested. But we have points in the bag now, which will give us plenty of breathing space when we get a few bad results.

I was talking to a few West Ham fans after the game and they think we'll make the playoffs this season if we keep Shittu and Furlong fit. I think we'll finish up mid table but if we can keep this run going then anything is possible.

Man of the Match: Dan Shittu

Players Ratings

1. Chris Day: Didn't have many saves to make but had a good game overall. 7/10

2. Marcus Bignot: Another excellent performance, he made some quality tackles and his passing was top quality again. 7/10

7. Matthew Rose: Did really well getting forward in the first half and took his goal really well. 8/10

5. Dan Shittu: Brilliant again from Shittu who found time to take Zamora out of his pocket and put him in Matthew Roses before he went off. 9/10

23. George Santos: Another impressive display with some good passing at times and some top defending. 7/10

17. Lee Cook: A bright first half and moments of skill in the second which almost got us that killer second goal. 7/10

8. Marc Bircham: Another all action display. He was everywhere winning tackles, passing the ball and being a nuisance to the opposition. We're so much better when he's in this kind of form. 8/10

10. Kevin Gallen: Again looked quality in central midfield. His range of passing continues to impress although he struggled a little in the second half when we didn't have the ball. 7/10

14. Martin Rowlands: Worked hard on the right and created a few openings but still not quite at his best yet. 7/10

15. Jamie Cureton: Didn't get much joy out of the West Ham defence but kept working hard and did a good job for the team 6/10

29. Paul Furlong: Worked hard again and held the ball up for us when we needed him to. Not quite as sharp as he has looked in previous games though. 7/10

Subs

18 Kevin McLeod: Replaced Cureton and went up front but didn't have time to make an impact. 6/10

3. Gino Padula: Good to see him back in the team and he did nothing wrong in his brief appearance. 7/10

19. Serge Branco: Worked hard but like the others didn't get much time. 7/10