| Coca Cola Championship | |
| Sunday May 4th | |
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Queens Park Rangers
0
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West Brom 2 |
| M.Rowlands sent off | Kim |
| Brunt | |
The final day of
the season and what a day it proved to be in the Championship. Seeing
Leicester get relegated with 52 points shows how vital it was that
the new owners came in as I doubt we'd have got anywhere near that
number of points without the money spent in January. Rangers had a chance to have a say in the destiny of the title as West Brom needed a win to be sure of winning the title and in the end a point would have been enough. We made our way to the ground early for the pre match presentation and seeing the team I can't say I was hugely confident. Rangers were without Agyemang, Hall, and Buzsacky and of course Rowan Vine whilst Damien Stewart was suspended. It's hard enough to beat West Brom and without some of our best players this was looking like a tough task. With the players out Rangers brought in Zesh Rehmann alongside Matthew Connolly in defence. Gareth Ainsworth started on the right wing with Balanta and Blackstock up front. Among the subs was seventeen year old Ramone Rose who won promotion with AFC Wimbledon during his loan spell which ended on Saturday. Rangers started the game at a great pace and quickly showed they were not going to make life easy for West Brom and we almost took an early lead when Balanta got the ball deep and ran at the defence before slicing his shot wide. It was a fully committed performance and West Brom looked a little nervous. Rangers were looking to get the ball to Gareth Ainsworth who was rolling back the years and tearing Paul Robinson apart. He stormed inside past his Robinson and picked out Blackstock with a cross and Dexter got his header on target only for the keeper to save right on the line with Rangers appealing for a goal. I've no idea if it went in but these things happen so quickly it's almost impossible for a linesmen to see and I think half the time they just guess. That chance appeared to spur West Brom into life and they began to pass the ball better in midfield and work a few chances. Bednar had the best of their chances when he got space in the box and hit a shot towards the top corner which Camp was equal to and managed to tip over the bar. It was looking a pretty good game with an excellent atmosphere and both sides were having chances. Brunt tested Camp with a shot from outside the box which Camp did well to keep out. At the other end Blackstock was fouled on the edge of the box and Rowlands curled a free kick just wide of the post. Delaney was doing well to get forward and he went on a great run nutmegging Clement before trying to get the cross in but he put in a poor ball which was easily cleared. Delaney was slow to get back and Ephraim showed little desire to try and cover which gave Gera a chance to run through and Camp did well to keep him out before giving Ephraim a right bollocking for jogging back. The games turning point came on 37 minutes when Rowlands miss controlled a ball in midfield and went in for a 50/50 with Greening. Rowlands was late and caught Greening for what looked a yellow card. The referee got his yellow card out before the linesmen came in and the referee instead took out a red card and Rowlands was off. It seemed a very harsh decision and there had been no real protest from West Brom players over the tackle. It meant that Rangers were down to ten men against one of the best footballing sides in the division so it didn't look good for us. Greening made a miracle recovery to sprint back on the pitch and was booed for the rest of the afternoon. De Canio made a
change bringing on Leigterwood for Balanta and going 4-3-3 which
is what I thought he should have done last week. At half time Rangers had been slightly the better team but now with ten men it was always going to be difficult to get the win and stop West Brom winning the title. The second half though started well for Rangers and we went very close to the opening goal. Excellent work by Ainsworth on the right created an early chance as he ran past Robinson and found Blackstock who hit a shot just over the bar from 25 yards out. Ainsworth was causing all sorts of problems for Robinsons and time and time again was speeding past him and getting into good positions but our lack of numbers getting into the box made it difficult for us to convert the crosses. Leigterwood was trying to push forward and on the counter attack he looked a threat and had a shot deflected wide of the post. West Brom were always a threat though and took the lead with a well worked goal. Phillips dropped deep and picked out Koren in the box with a beautiful ball. Connolly nicked it off him before Gera punched and beat Delaney before cutting it back to Kim who poked home from close range. The West Brom fans in fancy dress celebrated waving inflatable bananas safe in the knowledge that they were now going to be crowned champions. To Rangers credit we didn't lay down and die but kept pushing forward for a goal with Ainsworth having an outstanding game on the right and very well backed up by the excellent Mancienne. We were finding it hard to break them down though and they used the extra man well by keeping the ball and making us do all the work. We won a few corners and free kicks around the box but we couldn't find a way through and as the atmosphere went a bit flat West Brom got the killer second goal. It came when Connolly was adjudged to have fouled outside the box and it appeared a little harsh. Brunt lined up the free kick and placed a quite brilliant effort into the top corner. Camp didn't even move and we could have had everyone on the line and that would have still gone in. Rangers kept going and young Ramone Rose came on for his debut in place of Ephraim but didn't get much of a chance to show what he can do. Ainsworth once again beat his full back to create a late chance for Leigterwood but the low ball across the six yard box just evaded Leigterwood's outstretched foot. In the end 2-0 slightly flattered West Brom but once we went down to ten men it was always going to be difficult and they thoroughly deserve to win the title. QPR fans stayed back after the game to applaud them getting the trophy before our own team came out for a lap of honour. Rowan Vine got a great reception and the only one missing was Luigi De Canio who was doing his post match press conference which overran and forced him to miss the chance to soak up the applause. The players all wore t shirts with the new club crest with Ray Jones name on the back which was a very nice touch. This was a decent game and a good chance to test ourselves against the best in the division, when you consider the players we had missing we didn't do too badly and with a full side out though I think we'd have beaten them. Ainsworth tore his full back apart all game, god help that full back when he faces Ronaldo next season. Delaney had an excellent game getting forward and defending really well. Again I wasn't impressed with Ephraim and his blanking of some kids in the club shop before the game was more than a little rude. Mancienne also had a very good game at right back and really only Ephraim had a poor game imo. Rehmann is worth a mention, he deserved enormous credit for the way he has turned his game around, he was shocking until De Canio turned up but now looks like he can defend. I'm sure he'll leave in the summer but up against a very good forward line he did very little wrong. I thought De Canio got the tactics right when we went down to 10 men going to a 4-3-3 and it worked really well. Even with ten men I thought we looked more like scoring through Ainsworth but then they got ahead and there only looked like one winner in truth. They kept the ball well and it was a stunning second goal. Good Luck to West Brom they deserve to go up and I think they will do Ok next season. We can learn from them, I though the movement of Phillips was great to watch and they use the ball very well. So the end of another season and what a season it
has been. We started with an aim of mid table which is how we finished
the season but the journey to get there has been unbelievable. Hope
and expectations are now massive for next season and it will be
a big summer for us with several new players expected to sign and
we'll need new players if we are going to challenge at the top end
next season. Man of the Match: Gareth Ainsworth Players Ratings: Camp 7, Delaney 7, Mancienne 7, Rehmann 7, Connolly 7, Ainsworth 8, Rowlands 7, Mahon 7, Ephraim 5 (Rose 6), Balanta 6 (Leigterwood 7), Blackstock 7
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