| Coca Cola Championship | |
| Saturday August 23rd | |
|
Queens
Park Rangers 2
|
Doncaster Rovers 0 |
| D.Blackstock | |
| E.Ledesma | |
Within the space of 90 minutes it was
decided by many experts that Gorkss and Cerny should never play
for us again and we need to spend several million to bring in a
new defence and some more money should be spent on the attack. Thankfully the man in charge Iain Dowie didn't panic and knew that the odd tweak to the side would be enough to get us back on track and that's exactly what happened. We got to the ground quite early to
see who was playing and it was a slight surprise to see the returning
Martin Rowlands left on the bench. Dowie stuck with Cerny in goal
but dropped Gorkss due to his late return from international duty
with Latvia this week. Damion Stewart returned to partner Fitz Hall
whilst Peter Ramage started in place of Connolly at right back. Dowie went for a five man midfield with
Mahon alongside Leigterwood and Parejo in the middle and Cook/Ledesma
out wide. Dexter Blackstock was given the lone strikers role in
a formation that I think we'll see plenty of this season.
I've seen the video before but it never fails to move me and you can't help feeling what a tragic waste it was to lose him at such a young age. I don't think I was alone in hoping the team put up a better performance to mark the anniversary than we did a year ago when the side rolled over against Southampton. The teams swapped ends at the start
so Rangers were attacking the Loft End a ploy clubs use against
us to have an advantage in the second half but if truth be known
we've not played a good second half at home for ages so we at least
got to see our goals close up for a change. Doncaster started brightly playing some nice football but Rangers midfield looked far more solid with Mahon and Leigterwood holding and breaking up attacks and launching quick counter attacks. The first of them saw Parejo break down the left and he was brought down for a free kick by the corner flag.
It was perhaps fitting that one of ray Jones best mates scored the opening goal and Blackstock celebrated by taking off his black armband and kissing it as he ran to the corner before being mobbed by his team mates. An excellent start from Rangers and it got better as Dowie's change of system worked a treat. Mahon was breaking up attacks and quickly giving the ball to Parejo who was making things happen in midfield. Blackstock was working his socks off up front playing the lone striker role really well and his link play was far better than I've seen from him in a long time. He went close to a second goal when good work by Cook saw a delivery into the box but Blackstock's header was straight at Neil Sullivan. Some of Rangers football was great to watch with some lovely passing and movement off the ball. Ramage charged down the right wing and angled in a brilliant cross which Parejo ran onto but his header sailed over the bar when he really should have hit the target.
Rangers got the killer second goal before half time and it was no more than we deserved. Mikele Leigterwood stood over a free kick and played a long pass to split the defence open for Ledesma to bring down with his chest before stroking the ball with the outside of his foot past the keeper and into the bottom corner. Ledesma ran to the QPR fans in the lower loft to celebrate and was ridiculously booked for celebrating with his own fans. I think this new respect initiative may work better if referees looked to cut out dangerous tackles rather than goal celebrating but that of course comes from above and the refs usually look embarrassed to show yellows for this. Dowie must have been pleased but soon had an injury problem and surprise surprise Fitz Hall was struggling and limped off, I don't think I've ever seen a defender pick up as many injuries as Hall. Matthew Connolly replaced him and impressed alongside Stewart in defence.
Parejo was enjoying himself and fired in two long range efforts which flew just over the bar whilst a good run from Lee Cook ended with Blackstock shooting just wide. At half time the team were given a standing ovation and very well deserved it was too. Rangers had been excellent on the ball but possibly more impressive off the ball where the whole team really worked hard to win the ball back and we looked a very strong unit. The second half turned out to be pretty comfortable as Rangers played within themselves to see out the win. The back four continued to do well and work as a unit with the offside trap working to perfection. Radek Cerny was talking to his defence far more than in the first home game and he was called into action as he saved a shot from Coppinger. Dowie was looking a little frustrated with Rangers in the second as we never really got going and didn't use the wide players as well as we did in the first half but saying that chances still came with Ledesma firing a free kick just over the bar. Dowie looked to freshen things up as
Balanta replaced Cook who had been quiet in the second half. I thought
Cook again showed signs he is getting back to his old self with
some lovely balls into the box but it will take weeks possibly months
before he gets back to his very best form.
Rangers almost added a sublime third goal as Balanta cut in from the left and dribbled past two players before laying it off to Rowlands who have it back to him with a lovely back heel. Balanta then burst into the box dribbling past one more defender before his shot was blocked away by the last defender. It was great stuff from Balanta who has bizarrely been written off by some fans but continues to impress me. Rowlands had one shot fly over the bar but as the six minutes injury time came to a close there was only one winner and Rangers could be pretty pleased with themselves. The players celebrated as a team at the end and it was interesting to see Dowie go straight over to Cerny for a high five. Cerny is in need of a confidence boost and it looks like Dowie is going to stick by him. This was a very good performance, certainly our best in the league so far and showed we have that despite the moans and groans from nay fans the team does have a lot of quality and if they get a chance to gel they should do well this season. The new formation worked really well with Mahon and Leigterwood offering far more protection to the back four and with Parejo, Cook and Ledesma all bursting forward on the break to support Blackstock we looked strong all over the pitch. Doncaster were not the best side we'll face this season but this was a good start ahead of tougher tests to come. I thought Blackstock was man of the match for his nonstop running and his vastly improved link play. It was a close call though as Mahon was excellent in the middle whilst Parejo and Ledesma were brilliant at times and some of ledesma's close control and outrageous showboating is great to watch. Dowie will certainly be a happy man
and with a Carling Cup game to come this week he'll have a chance
to give Rowlands some more game time and perhaps give some of the
fringe players a game. Man of the Match: Dexter Blackstock Player Ratings: Cerny 7, Ramage 7, Delaney 6, Hall 6 (Connolly 7), Stewart 7, Mahon 8, Leigterwood 6, Ledesma 8, Parejo 8 (Rowlands 7), Cook 7 (Balanta 7) Blackstock 8
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I
think it was Corporal Jones in Dads Army who made the phrase Don't
panic famous but that was something many QPR fans ignored after
a first defeat of the season with the panic button pushed across
several message boards following last week's defeat at Sheffield
United. 
As
the teams warmed up the club made an announcement to mark the first
anniversary of Ray Jones death. A standing ovation followed from
the Doncaster fans as a video of Ray's goals and a few interviews
were shown on the big screen. 
The
boy from Madrid stood over the ball and curled in a brilliant swerving
ball into the box. Neil Sullivan was rooted to his spot and Dexter
Blackstock had the simple task of touching the ball over the line
for his second goal of the season. 
Doncaster
looked decent on the ball but created little due to Rangers efforts
closing them down and the back four looked a far more solid unit.
Rangers
continued to create chances and we looked deadly from set pieces
with Damion Stewart rising high to head just wide of the post and
from another Parejo delivery Ledesma's overhead kick was off target.
Balanta
looked bright on the left and was trying to cut inside and support
Blackstock which worked quite well. Martin Rowlands then made his
first appearance of the season replacing the excellent Daniel Parejo
and slotted in just behind Blackstock.