The last game of the season is always a game to look forward too especially when the team has little to play for the fans are able to relax and enjoy the football on offer. The visit of Stoke City for the last game of the 2006/07 season brought a bit of added spice. Stoke needed to better Southampton's result to make the playoffs and all week Stoke fans have been bragging on various message board that they would be bringing an army of fans to the game and taking over all three home stands for the day. Of course this turned out to be nonsense and a near full house at Loftus Road was made up mostly of QPR fans with the school end sold out with Stoke fans.

It was an early start for both sets of fans with a 1pm kick off and the pubs were pretty packed by 11am with most QPR fans looking to make it a party atmosphere. I arrived at Loftus Road around 15 minutes before kick off and was lucky enough to bump into Lee Cook in the upper loft, I wished him luck for next season wherever he ends up and shook his hand before realising this meant he wasn't playing which was a blow. At least this week I knew he wasn't playing so didn't waste money on the first goalscorer bet.

The team was a weakened one for Rangers, which was more due to injuries than doing a Liverpool and handing the opposition three vital points. Jake Cole was in goal and the back four saw a return for the injury plagued Dominic Shimmin. This was Dominic's first start since August 2005 and I think this was also his home debut despite being at the club for over two years now. Sampsa Timoska, Marcus Bignot and Damion Stewart made up the rest of the back four. There was no place in the 16 for the soon to be released Steve Lomas so Stefan Bailey started in midfield with Bolder as Smith and Rowlands continued out wide. Dexter Blackstock and Marc Nygaard started up front and on the bench there was a return for Marc Bircham who was all set for an emotional farewell to Loftus Road.

Stoke kicked off backed by their noisy away support but the team looked very nervous and Rangers were able to dominate the early stages of the game. Bailey and Bolder were fierce in the tackle and we were playing some decent football. Rowlands was full of tricks whilst Smith and Bignot combined well on the left to create an early half chance for Nygaard.

We were keeping the ball well and looked full of confidence. A lot of our good football started at the back where Shimmin looked very comfortable on the ball which helped the team keep possession.

It didn't take long for us to break the deadlock, six minutes in fact as Martin Rowlands reached double figures for the season. Adam Bolder ran down the left and ct inside only to be hacked down by Diao to give us a free kick. Martin Rowlands stood over the ball and looked set to whip a ball into the box but instead he spotted a gap and lifted the ball over the wall to the near post and the keeper got down to push a balloon wide of the post as the ball hit the back of the net. An excellent start by Rangers and the Stoke fans were beginning to regret throwing so many white balloons onto the pitch.

The goal seemed to wake Stoke up and they began to put together a few attacks. Lee Hendrie was getting plenty of stick from the home fans when he took two corners but neither of them came to anything and he was soon limping off after a crude tackle from behind by Rowlands. Hendrie was replaced by Lee martin which did Stoke a favour as the young winger was far more dangerous than Hendrie and caused Timoska a few problems.

Stoke had a great chance to draw level after some jittery defending by Rangers. Shimmin and Cole got in a bit of a mess and allowed Fuller to get in behind them and he went round Cole for what looked like an easy tap in but as he rolled the ball into the net he was probably as surprised as the rest of us when Timoska sprinted across and cleared the ball off the line to save the day.

Rangers rallied after this and continued to pass the ball around with great confidence and at times great quality. Some of the flicks from Rowlands were a joy to watch and perhaps a glimpse of what we can look forward to next season. Dexter Blackstock and Marc Nygaard were linking well up front and almost created a second goal between them when Blackstock sent the Big Dane through with a lovely pass and Nygaard looked to go round the keeper but Simonsen managed to get down well and save at Nygaard's feet.

Martin Rowlands curled a free kick straight at Simonsen after a late tackle on Blackstock and it was here that the referee began to lose the plot and get a little card happy. Bailey was rightly booked for a very late tackle on Martin before Shimmin was booked for winning the ball. Fuller looked like he had got away from Shimmin but the youngster recovered well and showed why he was so highly rated by Ian Holloway by executing a perfectly timed slide tackle to win the ball. Fuller reacted by throwing himself to the floor and rolling around, I think a sniper must have got him such was the agony he looked in on the floor.

Amazingly though Fuller was able to get himself to his feet and sprint into the box for the free kick without the need of any medical assistance. It was incredible to witness such a miracle and it got better as we were to witness several more during the course of the game as Fuller made some amazing recoveries from looking like he'd broken his leg and then second later he was up and running as if nothing was wrong with him. Shimmin was booked by the hopeless referee but nothing came of the free kick and our lead was intact.

Lee Martin almost levelled the scores before half time when his shot hit the post although I managed to miss this with a quick dash to the toilet. I was back in time to see the other side of Shimmin as we did our best to gift Stoke an equaliser.

Shimmin was under pressure on the left and rather than just boot it out for a throw in he looked to play his way out of trouble which is good to see but not always the best course of action at this level, he ended up turning back and playing a woeful back pass which was short and saw Martin in on goal before Jake Cole rushed out and just managed to get to the ball before the Stoke midfielder and clear for a corner. I half expected the idiot referee to give a penalty but thankfully he didn't and Shimmin was given a right rollicking by a few of his team mates. He is very young though and making a mistake like that may well help him in the future if he can learn from his mistakes.

At half time the team got a standing ovation off the pitch by the QPR fans, it had been a good performance so far and once again we were showing that on our day we are far better than our league position suggests.

The second half was never going to be as easy though and Stoke came out fired up and were probably told if they were going to miss out on the playoffs they should miss out fighting rather than throwing in the towel. They certainly came out fighting in the second half and spent most of it on the attack as we looked to hold on to what we had.

Stoke should have been level within two minutes of the second half. A corner was won on the right and Rangers looked all over the place as the ball came in and fell to Matteo just two yards out but he somehow put it over the bar rather than into the empty net.

Stoke fans were urging their team on and they were giving it a good go now getting the ball out wide and smashing crosses in to their big forwards but Shimmin and Stewart were equal to everything heading it away from danger.

Stoke were not creating any clear cut chances despite dominating possession and Gregory must have been happy with the way his side were defending. A well drilled offside trap worked to perfection as the whole QPR team ran out on cue to play Higgingbottom offside as he headed past Cole. The Stoke players all ran to the linesmen to protest but I don't think you'll see a more clear offside this season.

Rangers were not offering much of an attacking threat it was just a case of hanging on to what we had and that was made more difficult when the referee was conned by a blatant dive. Martin Got away from Timoska who hung a leg out and rather than just going down he dived over it flying through the air like Superman. He must have leaped forward about six yards and then did a little roll for comic effect. The ref fell for it though and gave Timoska has second yellow card of the game and we were down to ten men.

Gregory switched things around moving Smith to the right, Rowlands to middle, Blackstock to the left and Bailey to right back in a 4-4-1 formation. Bailey was also on a yellow and was a little lucky to escape being sent off for the second time this season when his foul saw the ref reach for his pocket but booked Bolder instead.

The sending off put us even more on the back foot and we looked very uneasy at the back for the next few minutes as Stoke began to get in behind us. It took and excellent save by Jake Cole from a strong Griffin shot to keep us ahead.

The atmosphere was still good in the home end and news was coming through that this game no longer mattered with all the sides above Stoke winning which I think actually helped relax the visitors and they began to play some decent football.

Rangers then made a change which brought a huge ovation. In 2002 Paul Furlong came off the bench against Cardiff and was booed by the home fans, now in his last ever appearance in a hoped shirt he replaced Blackstock and every QPR fans in the stadium, and I expect some at home listening on the internet, stood to give the great man a standing ovation as he entered the field of play. It was an emotional moment as we got to say goodbye to a true QPR legend. The pattern of the game didn't change too much as Stoke continued a dominate but in truth they didn't really create any clear cut chances with crosses and corners into the box being dealt with well by Stewart and Shimmin.

John Gregory then made another change, which gave the fans a chance to see Marc Bircham for the last time. Bircham came on to a standing ovation replacing the excellent Adam Bolder. Bircham didn't even get a chance to tough the ball before Stoke finally equalised. A ball down the right saw Fuller get behind the back four and cut the ball across for Sidibie and he had a simple tap in to lever the scores which in all fairness was what Stoke deserved.

Rangers now had six minutes to hold onto a point and Stoke threw everything at us but we were still defending well and denying them any real clear-cut chances.

The referee then completely lost the plot going yellow card crazy. First he booked Furlong for kicking the ball away when the offside flag went up and Furs put the ball into the back of the net, Furlong ran away laughing and was booked. Jake Cole was then booked when we won a free kick near the halfway line. Bailey left it to the keeper to take and the ref seemed to want to book bailey to time wasting but booked Cole instead who had run 50 yards to try and take the free kick. I think Jake needed to break the Olympic sprinting record to avoid a booking, the ref must have had a few quid on the away win. Jimmy Smith was next to get booked for not going back ten yards quickly enough all this despite the same offence going unpunished when the visitors did this.

Stoke then got a free kick in injury time, which Simonsen ran out to take (he managed to avoid being booked despite taking longer than Jake Cole) but it came to nothing.

Then we almost had the dream ending to the season. Stoke attacked but Bircham won the ball and the counter attack was on. We were two against one and Bircham found Furlong. The script was written for him to sign off with a winning goal but Furlong's shot was saved by the keeper and as Rowlands looked to convert the rebound he handled it and gave a free kick away.

After over four minutes of injury time the season came to an end as the referee blew his whistle and signalled the end of Stokes playoff chances. The players were given a great ovation as they left the field with Marc Bircham coming over to bow in front of the Loft.

After a short delay, which saw the Stoke players take their bow in front of their own fans, the team came back out for a lap of honour. Many of the players brought their kids with them onto the pitch. Bircham seemed to be having a great time having photos taken with his kids as his youngest was clapping and waving to the fans. When the players came to the Loft end the noise was deafening as the team were given a standing ovation. The biggest ovations were given to the departing players. Marc Bircham had his song sung as he waved goodbye and blew a kiss just a minute or so after an emotional goodbye to Furlong. The players all got on their knees to bow before Furlong as the crowd sang, "There's only one Furlong". The players himself had a huge grin on his face and waved goodbye to the fans he so brilliant won over.

Gregory also got a good reception at the end and as we walked away from Loftus Road for the last time this season the atmosphere was excellent with everyone smiling having enjoyed a surprisingly stress free last day of the season. I think if you'd said a month ago we'd finish eleven points clear of the drop I'd have thought you were mental but that is what has happened and we finish the season with high hopes for the future.

Focussing on this game though it was a decent performance as we did very well defensively playing with ten men for most of the second half. Dominic Shimmin impressed at the back as did Damion Stewart who has really improved over the last few months. Adam Bolder and Stefan Bailey were also very impressive in the Rangers midfield.

Martin Rowlands just edged those few for my man of the match award, I thought Rowlands looked very sharp and our most creative player plus he switched to the middle and did a good job for the team when required.

Gregory will now look to build a new team for next season, which promises to be an exciting one, and will hopefully see us finish a little higher in the table.

Man of the Match: Martin Rowlands

Players Ratings: Cole 7, Bignot 7, Timoska 7, Stewart 8, Shimmin 7, Rowlands 8, Bailey 7, Bolder 7 (Bircham 7), Smith 7, Nygaard 6 (Jones 6), Blackstock 6 (Furlong 7)