You have to go back to 1997 for Rangers last decent cup run when 12,000 fans travelled to Wimbledon to see us bow out of the cup in the 5th round. Since then we’ve gone out at the first hurdle six times and on the two occasions we jumped the first hurdles we were soon knocked out by Charlton and later Arsenal in the fourth round.

So hopes were not exactly high of Rangers pulling off a shock as we travelled to Premiership Blackburn on Saturday. Still around 3,000 fans made the journey to get behind the team and hope for a cup shock.

Ian Holloway sprung a surprise with his line up as Blackburn fan Gareth Ainsworth was dropped to the bench and Georges Santos started the game. Santos starting was not much of a shock as Rangers were always going to need a holding player in midfield but many expected Ainsworth to start the game over Lee Cook after their respective performances against Burnley. The rest of the side was unchanged and were facing a strong Blackburn side in front of a silent home crowd.

The game kicked off with the QPR fans right behind the team. The game plan seemed to be to keep things tight and that’s what we were doing as we closed them down quickly and defended in numbers.

We had an early scare when the impressive Peter on the wing got past Milanese and was brought down inside the box. It looked a penalty to me but a free kick was given outside the box so a lucky early escape and the resulting free kick came to nothing.

Rangers then settled down and looked quite comfortable. The movement f the Blackburn front two looked like it would cause us problems but early on in the game they weren’t being picked out by the Blackburn midfield.

Rangers had the first chances of the game as we looked for our first away goals in the FA Cup for six years. A long punt by Dan Shittu wrong footed Andy Todd and Furlong got behind his man to strike first time but Friedal made a comfortable save to his right. Furlong was involved again in setting up a Baidoo with a neat ball on the halfway ling. The youngster sprinted clear of the Rovers defence and bore down on goal but the angle was difficult for Baidoo and his show was well saved by the keeper at the near post.

The Rangers fans were now in great voice urging the team on and from the corner Shittu rose at the far post but couldn’t connect to give us the lead.

Just as we were starting to dream of a shock Blackburn took the lead. It came from a corner on the right which was swung into the back post. Shittu stood and watched as Andy Todd was unmarked and had the simpler task of placing his header past Royce. It was a poor goal to give away and once again our inability to defend a simple set piece had cost us.

Blackburn were full of confidence now and were knocking the ball about well whilst Rangers looked second best. Lee Cook was looking a waste of space out wide never once wanting to take on Lucas Neil and I think if he had gone near him a growl from Neil would have seen Cook run away. Rowlands and Langley were also out of sorts and not really getting into the game as the Blackburn players knocked the ball around us and had a few half chances to extend the lead. The best of these fell to Craig Bellamy who got away from Rose and Shittu but shot wide.

The atmosphere in the away end was turning to one of doom as we feared a hammering and those fears were heightened when Bellamy made it 2-0. It came after another poor decision by the free to give Blackburn a soft free kick but after that the move carved us apart. Peter again was involved playing a lovely ball into Bellamy whose finish was sublime with left footed volley.

Half time couldn’t come quickly enough now as we looked to avoid a hammering. Holloway badly needed to make some changes with Ainsworth for Cook looking the most obvious. At half time many of the 3,000 QPR fans were quite happy to stay and watch Soccer Saturday and have a beer rather than go back and watch the second half but when we did go back to our seats we were treated to an improved performance.

Blackburn had by now well and truly taken their foot off the pedal but Rangers began to get control of the game and play much of the game in the Blackburn half. Shabazz Badioo was working hard and his persistence won Rangers a free kick on the edge of the box. Furlong stood over the ball and his shot was on target but took a deflection from a defender and flew wide of the post.

Holloway then made his first change of the day taking off Santos to give Gareth Ainsworth a run. Ainsworth looked well up for the game and it wasn’t long before he was beating Matteo in the air and having a right go at getting us back in the game. He was beating his man on several occasions and getting crosses in, his arrival completely changed the attitude of the team and we at last looked like we might get a goal back. Ainsworth went close to getting on the score sheet when he smashed in a volley from the edge of the box which Friedal did very well to parry around the post. A real shame he couldn’t get on the score sheet against his home town club.

Blackburn were still reasonably comfortable until Holloway made two more changes when Stefan Moore and Scott Donnelly replaced Cook and Furlong. Donnelly was straight into the action with a hugely impressive 15 minutes.

His first contribution was a brilliant corner on the right which was headed over by Langley from 10 yards out and Langley really should have hit the target. Donnelly was a breath of fresh air and ran at the Rovers defence before slotting a lovely through ball for Baidoo. The young striker held off his man but his shot was off target. This was far better though from Rangers.

Donnelly was the star at this stage and produced one of the best passes of the match before the end. He got the ball on the halfway line and curled a wonderful ball cutting the Rovers defence open and it fell right on the onrushing Stefan Moore’s foot. Unfortunately Moore’s control was as bad as ever and he managed to completely cock up one of the most perfect passes seen all afternoon. Donnelly wasn’t finished yet and curled in another quality free kick right on Moore’s head but the former premiership striker managed to head over an open goal from five yards out. Moore looked more than little relieved to see the offside flag go up.

Blackburn were always a threat on the break though and before the end they got a third goal. Peter again was the provider and Bellamy sped past Shittu as if he wasn’t there to show his quality and grab his second goal of the game. 3-0 was a little harsh on Rangers but the end results had never been in doubt since Andy Todd gave Blackburn the lead.

The team were clapped off at the end by the noisy support and the singing continued for most of the journey home

I wasn't too disappointed with the performance. I expected us to get beat and at times they looked a lot better than us but we didn't let our heads drop and second half we were much better.

I thought Holloway made a mistake dropping Ainsworth for the game, it seemed obvious to me that Cook would bottle out of the battle with Lucas Neil and I might as well have played on the left wing for all the good Cook was doing, I felt a bit sorry for Milanese who absolutely no protection at all from Cook. When Ainsworth came on we looked a different team.

Thing is Championship sides can deal with the diagonal ball to Ainsworth as they know it's coming but Matteo never dealt with it once and we looked like we might get a goal back when he came on.

Playing Santos was fair enough as we needed a defensive midfield player and I thought he played pretty well, I honestly think we'd have been hammered if Rowlands had started alongside Langley. Blackburn had well taken their foot off the pedal by the time those two went into the middle.

Positives of the game for me were the performances of Rose who did well, Baidoo got better as the game wore on and most pleasing of all was Scott Donnelly. I thought he was sensational when he came on.

His delivery from free kicks was brilliant and set up an open goal for Moore which he headed over and created a simple chance for Langley which he also missed.

Donnelly has to be close to starting a game now, he was so much better than Langley and Cook it was embarrassing. Our support was excellent both in terms of numbers.

The downsides were the performances of Shittu, Rowlands, Langley and Cook who can all do better but looked a little in awe of the Premiership side. Langley did some very good things but too often gave the ball away by taking too much time on the ball.

So the cup dream is over for another year and some are already saying the season if already over for Rangers. But the emergence of Donnelly and Baidoo as first team regulars should make the last few months of the season far more entertaining as we look to build a tea, that can one day match the likes of Blackburn in the Premiership.

Man of the Match: Gareth Ainsworth

Players Ratings: Royce 7, Bignot 6, Milanese 6, Shittu 6, Rose 7, Rowlands 6, Santos 7 (Ainsworth 8), Langley 6, Cook 5 (Donnelly 8), Baidoo 7, Furlong 6 (Moore 5)