Match reports written several weeks after the game took place are never particularly easy to write and it's made even more difficult when the writer is on the other side of the world when the game was played.

Still thanks to the wonders of QPR world and after reading the reports on other sites I feel as though I was there when of course I wasn't.

Whilst many QPR fans braved the cold and boredom of a home game with Barnsley I was sitting by a pool in Florida wondering what the score was. If we were a Premiership club I'd have no such problem with every Premiership game being shown in full on the Fox soccer channel so I was able to laugh hysterically at Chelsea's performances over Christmas but had no idea how Rangers were getting on until my Dad kindly send me a text message with the results on.

So back to the first of the Christmas game and Barnsley were in town for one of those relegation six pointers which.

After an awful run of five defeats in a row it was a welcome boost to have Lee Cook back in the side along with Steve Lomas and also Damion Stewart. John Gregory went back to the 4-4-2 system, which had worked so well until Lee Cook's injury.

Rangers started brightly against a woeful Barnsley side who needed the points just as badly as us. We had the best of the opening half as a free kick from our own half was knocked down by Blackstock for Ray Jones to smash in a thunderous shot which the keeper did well to block.

Martin Rowlands was next to go close cutting inside the box and shooting low to the keepers right but he got down well to save it before he handed us the lead and in the end all three points.

Cook did the work on the left bringing the ball from the edge of his own box into the Barnsley half and then finding Rowlands with a pass, the Rangers winger cut inside and hit a tame shot towards the keeper and after making two good saves it was third time lucky as Colgan in the Barnsley goal let the shot go through his hands and legs and squirm into the back of the net. Rowlands looked almost embarrassed to celebrate at first but was soon mobbed by his team mates and we had our first goal of December.

Rangers had chances to kill the game off but Blackstock and Cook were denied by better goalkeeping from Colgan in the Barnsley goal.

The visitors began to come back into the game as Rangers grew a little nervous with the slender lead.

Actor Gary Coleman now playing the role of a footballer called Leon knight had a chance after being put clean through and before he could say "what'chu talkin' 'bout, Willis?" he had Damion Stewart sprinting in behind him to take the ball off his foot and with his second effort Stewart was on the line to boot it away to safety. The only real surprise was that the pantomime villan didn't fall over looking for a penalty.

So at half time Rangers were in front looking the better side but with our defence it wasn't exactly comfortable.

Ray Jones and Lee Cook had chances after the break to kill it off but Barnsley had chances on the break as Knight missed another decent chance at the far post.

Rangers looked the more likely to score though in a scrappy second half. Lee Cook provided a few moments of quality, one of them coming after a mazy run through the middle saw him dribble past two defenders and then play it wide to Blackstock whose shot was well saved by the keeper.

Blackstock did everything but score and was twice denied late on by the keeper who made up for his earlier cock up.

Barnsley's best hope came when Zesh Rehmann came on for Milanese and the visitors began to cause problems down the left but lacked any real cutting edge to make the chances pay.

Paul Furlong came on late on and was involved as Rowlands looked to kill the game off, he turned and shot inside the box but his effort was just wide of the post.

The final whistle brought much relief around the stadium. It wasn't exactly pretty but a much needed three points for Rangers and a bit of breathing space at the bottom of the table.

Man of the Match: Dexter Blackstock