Following on from a hard fought 0-0 draw at Preston in midweek Rangers faced what looked a daunting trip on paper to promotion favourites Charlton, add in the fact it was on Sky and hope were not exactly high for a good result.

It's been several years since I've been to Charlton, a 2-1 defeat on a Friday night in the 2000/01 season was my last visit but this one would prove to be far more enjoyable.

After a few drinks at London Bridge we made our way to Charlton by train was met by the most over the top police presence I think I've ever seen. We popped into the Antigallican pub for a drink and then were not allowed to leave with police blocking the doors, well all of them apart from the one by the toilets where most fans left and walked past the confused looking police who were busy guarding the doors.

The police must have been expecting trouble as they held by Charlton fans from us as we walked to the ground, the sight of the policemen in body armour holding the line with many kids and old people stood behind them was very bizarre. After doing our best to avoid walking through the piles of horse shit left in the road we were met with lines of stewards ready to search us all and treat us like scum, it was all over the top for a fixture that is not exactly the most volatile London derby.

Inside the ground the QPR fans gave the team a good reception as they came onto the field.

Mick Harford in possibly his last game in charge made just one change dropping Ainsworth to the bench and recalling Marc Nygaard to the attack. Charlton started the better of the two sides as we understandably started the game on the back foot.

Andy Reid was the main man for Charlton looking to get on the ball and rarely wasting a pass, which was difficult to deal with, but then they got near our goal the back four were defending well. The first chance came to the home side when Barker was caught out and Zheng Zhi broke through but Camp was quick off his line and saved well at the China captain's feet.

Rangers began to grow into the game and enjoyed some good possession through Leigertwood and Rowlands in midfield with Vine dropping deep to help us keep the ball. We were denied what looked a clear penalty with our first real attack. A corner on the right by Rowlands was blocked away by the arm of Iwelumo but the referee waved play on despite a furious protest from Bolder.

This seemed to spur us on and we continued to deny Charlton much space and the home side quickly resorted to the long ball to the big forwards which was easy for us to deal with.

Charlton continued to have the better of the chances although in all honesty they never really looked that confident in front of goal. They got into a few good positions around the box but couldn't find the finishing touch. Sam Sodje went closet for them as he gave Nygaard a shove, which allowed to him to climb high and head a corner onto the top of the bar. It looked a foul to me but in fairness to the referee he let these little shoves at corners go for both sides during the game.

Varney had the best chance of the half minutes when he got away from Stewart but as he broke clear his shot was high over the bar when he should have done better. Varney wasn't having the best of games and missed another good chance when Zhengs shot was parried by Camp and Varney failed to react to what would have been a simple tap in much to the relief of the QPR fans behind the goal.

Rangers continued to work hard and began to have a few chances ourselves. Rowlands stood over a free kick on the right and curled it over the wall but it was too close to Weaver who made the save. Rowlands then had another chance from a dead ball situation from a similar position but this time hit the wall.

Leigertwood also had an effort on goal smashing a thunderous volley over the bar and if it had been on target it would have burst the net.

As half time approached Charlton had their best spell of the match, as we looked a little nervous for the first time in the half. Stewart backed off Varney on the right and allowed him to get his cross in for Iwelumo to head over the bar. Lee Camp was not happy with this and gave Stewart a right bollocking for allowing Varney to get the cross in.

A defensive mix up then almost led to Charlton taking the lead as Cranie and Camp got in a mess and the on loan defender sliced his clearance over his own bar. It was a relief to hear the half time whistle as Charlton were getting on top at that stage but I was pretty confident we could get something out of the game as Charlton's game plan seemed to be lump it forward and try and win a free kick for Andy Reid, not exactly what you'd expect from a team just out of the Premiership.

During half time it was interesting to watch the subs warm up. Sahar, Ainsworth and Bignot were passing the ball between them and having a few shots whilst Moore stood on the half way line looking disinterested and just booting the ball back for Jake Cole to try goal kicks. I know it was only as kick about but it was disappointing to see Moore look as lacklustre during the warm up as he does during a game.

Charlton o made a change taking off their defensive midfield player Semedo and went with Jerome Thomas out wide and this allowed us to push further forward and began to find more space around the Charlton box.

Five minutes into the half we had a great chance to take the lead. Rowan Vine showed what he is all about getting the ball from deep and running at the Charlton defence. Fortune couldn't deal with it and as Vine got into the box he slid in with a poor challenge and the referee had no choice but to give us a penalty. The players celebrated as if we had scored which is always dangerous and Martin Rowlands looked calm as he walked over to get the ball.

Danny Mills did his best to put Rowlands off with moans about where the ball was being placed. Weaver in the Charlton goal stood tall and made the goal look small as Rowlands ran up and shot to the keepers right but saw the ball hit the post and bounce away to safety. Rowlands looked gutted and he must have run over a cat and walked under a few ladders this year judging by the number of times he has hit the woodwork this season.

That penalty miss could easily have seen us crumble and as the home fans gave us a rather quiet version of that's why your going down Rangers responded to show why we won't be going down if we play like this.

Vine was causing plenty of problems running at the defence and he linked well with Ephraim in the box before the on loan West Ham man blasted his shot wide.

The QPR fans were in fine voice now and were almost celebrating a goal when Rowlands corner found Stewart in the box and he tried a cheeky back heel on the volley which Weaver did very too save. It was such a shame that didn't go in as it would have been one of the goals of the season.

Ephraim then had another chance to grab us the lead after good work by Nygaard but he wasted the chance before Vine went close with another good run and his shot was saved by Weaver. It was all one way traffic and only a matter of time before we scored with Charlton clueless as to how to stop us.

Leigertwood had a great chance to get us that lead when he robbed Mills of the ball on the edge of the box and was one on one with the keeper. He had time and space and really should have smashed it across the keeper but instead tried to curl into the near post and put it wide.

Charlton then went on a rare counter attack with Varney forcing Camp into a comfortable save before Rangers finally got the lead we deserved.

Vine ran into the box on the right and his cross was blocked away to Eprhaim who found Barker in space and the left back produced an excellent cross into the middle. Nygaard rose with the keeper who appeared to miss time his jump and palmed the ball down to Adam Bolder who brought the ball down and seemed to take an age to volley the ball into the empty net. I looked over the linesmen half expecting it to be disallowed for Nygaards jump with the keeper or what looked like handball by Bolder but the goal was given and sparked a frenzied celebration in the away end.

With Rangers deserv4edly in the lead we began to sit back and invite the home side on to us, which is always dangerous and allowed Charlton to create a few chances. The Rangers back four were more than equal to the challenge though with Cranie making several vital interceptions and alongside him Stewart was looking far more like Danny Shittu than Gus Ceaser.

Charlton's best chance came from a free kick which Lloyd Sam curled over the wall but Camp made a good save to deny him and Sam's reward was to be taken off which seemed a little strange.

Mick Harford and Warren Neil were screaming at the team on the bench to push up and as the clock began to run down the nerves were starting to get to the players and fans.

Vine and Rowlands combined well on the right with some nice one touch passing and the fans sang It's just like watching Brazil and continued with the ironic chant when Vine spent the last five minutes taking the ball into the corner to waste time.

The referee gave three minutes injury time but Charlton produced little to trouble us during that spell and Rangers could soon celebrate an unlikely but thoroughly deserved victory, our first away win of the season.

The result saw us move off the bottom of the table for the first time in a month. That is now four games unbeaten for Rangers and Mick Harford has really turned things round to not only move us off the bottom but also give us a genuine chance of moving up the league in the next few weeks.

In the end it was a great result and a cracking atmosphere in the away end. The players were going mad in front of us and Harford came over to thank the fans as well.

Harford must have a great chance of becoming the new manager now. . I don't think any of us would have picked Harford as our next manager a month ago but he has been so impressive so far I can't see how he can be ignored. If he had an Italian relative he'd probably be given the job tomorrow.

He's turned round an absolute shambles into a decent looking side. His loan signings have been excellent and he's got the best out of Rowlands, Bolder and Leigertwood. We also seem to have a game plan now similar to the England rugby team to keep things tight and be in with a chance of winning the game with twenty minutes left. Not exactly rocket science but at least it's a plan, which is more than we had in the final weeks of John Gregory.

I couldn't fault any of the players for yesterday. The back four were solid, Cranie looked a fantastic player and Stewart was a different player to how he looked a few weeks ago. Barker also had a decent game. In midfield Bolder and Leigertwood both did well with the later really starting to show why Gregory spent so much money on him back in August.

Up front Vine was very impressive and Nygaard also did well although I wish he would learn to time his jumps, as he always seems to be on the way back down when the ball reaches him. Rowlands also did well and worked so hard to win the ball back throughout the game.

All in all a fabulous away day and we now have genuine hope of getting out of trouble sooner rather than later. With plenty of talk about us signing Plymouths creative midfield player Akos Busacky on loan with a view to a permanent move in January the team is shaping up nicely and is starting to look decent again. With two tough but winnable home games coming up we have a great chance to move away from the bottom of the table in the next few weeks.

Man of the Match: Rowan Vine

QPR: Camp 8, Mancienne 7, Stewart 8, Cranie 8, Barker 7, Bolder 7, Leigertwood 8, Rowlands 7, Ephraim 6, Vine 8, Nygaard 7.