| Coca Cola Championship | |
| Saturday October 18th | |
|
Queens
Park Rangers 2
|
Nottingham Forest 1 |
| A.Balanta | L.McGugan |
| A.Buzsaky | |
First up was Nottingham Forest at home, a side who started the day bottom of the league having lost every away game so far. A recipe for an away win if ever I've seen one. Iain Dowie has come under a bit of pressure for what tactics to play with many including the owner of the club wanting to see 4-4-2 and that's what he went with for this game as youngsters Daniel Parejo and Emmanuel Ledesma were both left out of the starting eleven. Dowie went with the same back four that played at Birmingham with Matthew Connolly again on the bench. Damion Stewart played despite only flying back to England on Friday from his international duty with Jamaica. Akos Buzsaky made a start on the right wing with Rowlands and Leigterwood in central midfield and Cook on the left. Angelo Balanta won his first start since August in attack alongside Dexter Blackstock. As for the visitors there was good and bad news. The good news was Robert Earnshaw missed out through injury the bad was Andy Cole was playing who scored a hat trick against us last season.
Forest looked far better than their position suggested though and the movement of Tyson up front was causing problems and he wasted a decent chance after a long ball forward by slicing his effort wide. On the right Paul Anderson on loan from Liverpool looked decent and was putting in some dangerous crosses which Stewart was struggling to clear. Stewart certainly looked a little rusty which was to be expected after his long flight back to England on Friday. Rangers began to get control of the game creating a few chances but didn't really cause Paul Smith any real panic in the Forest goal. Buzsaky's free kick was hit straight at the wall but he did try and make amends soon after with a lovely cross which Blackstock dived in for and flicked the ball just wide of the post. Buzsaky as looking very sharp and was coming inside to get involved as he chested the ball down and volleyed just wide of the post. He was also linking quite well with the much maligned Ramage as the right back swung a ball into the box which the keeper did well to collect under pressure from Balanta.
Radek Cerny was having his best game for QPR so far looking far more comfortable dealing with crosses and the defence seemed to have far more confidence in him shown when a ball in the box was brought down by Leigterwood under pressure and eight yards out he passed it back to Cerny who cleared. It was all done very calmly by the two players who had confidence in each other as most of the QPR fans watched with hands on head. Cerny made an excellent save from Tyson to keep us level whilst at the other end a good ball in by Delaney was volleyed at goal by Blackstock which Smith did very well to turn wide of the post. Buzsaky was continuing
to create problems and another long range effort was fumbled by
Smith and the power looked to be taking it over the line before
Smith did well to recover and claw the ball back and into his arms. At half time a few idiots booed the team off but it had been a decent half and although we hadn't been at our best I thought we would go on and win the game.
We won a throw in on the right which Fitz Hall ran forward to take. Hall launched the ball into the box which Delaney flicked against the bar and Balanta was on hand to touch home the rebound for his second goal of the season. It was a great relief to see us take the lead and you could see the players begin to relax and start to perform. Rowlands for one looked a different player and far sharper than he was in the first half whilst Buzsaky continued to cause problems for the Forest defence. A second goal looked
on the cards and it came from another long throw. Hall again launched
it into the box and it was headed out as far as Buzsaky who let
the ball bounce before firing in a volley on his left foot into
the bottom corner giving the keeper no chance. It was no more than
Buzsaky and Rangers deserved and the game looked as good as over.
To give Forest credit they never gave it up and continued to have a few chances of their own. Nathan Tyson had the best of them as his shot from the edge of the box was very well saved by Cerny. Colin Calderwood got some stick from the Forest fans for taking off the impressive Paul Anderson and it looks to me that he will struggle to keep his job if they don't start winning soon despite what was a decent performance from them. Fitz Hall limped off around the hour mark with Matthew Connolly coming on and Rangers had another chance for a third goal through Buzsaky. He got the ball on the right and with a lovely bit of skill he dragged it back and away from the full back before arrowing a brilliant curling shot to the top corner which missed by a whisker with the keeper just standing back to admire it. Angelo Balanta made way for Samuel Di Carmine and the Italian should have made the game safe when Cook did well to pick out a cross and with space in the six yard box he seemed to miss time his jump and couldn't get a touch on it. Forest then got themselves back in the game through a free kick. McGugan stood over the ball and a ragged looking wall was beaten as the ball curled over the wall into the top corner. Cerny had no chance and suddenly it was game on as Rangers looked very nervous and began to make mistakes. Forest threw everyone forward but couldn't create the chance to get a draw and during injury time lee Cook went close to a goal as e burst forward beating one man before being taken out with a crude tackle in the box. It looked a certain penalty as the Forest defender kicked Cook so hard his own boot came off and as Cook lay in agony the referee played on. It didn't matter in the end though as Rangers held on for a much needed win. This wasn't pretty at times but we got the job done and for 24 hours at least we moved back into the playoffs in what looks a very tight division. The first half was pretty even, we probably had the better chances but I thought we lacked a bit in midfield losing the battle at times. I'm not sure if that was down to playing 4-4-2 or Rowlands being below his best again, probably a bit of both. Once we got the first goal we settled down and looked
much better. Buzsaky was quality whilst Fitz Hall also had a good
game. I thought Ramage did ok, nowhere near as bad as some make
out. His crossing is not great defensively he did ok. Stewart had
a bit of a mare but understandable considering he only flew back
to England on Friday. Cerny had his best game so far not just I was pleased to see Balanta play as well, I think he should be ahead of Agyemang in the pecking order and he had a decent game. It wasn't perfect by any means and plenty to work
on but the win was vital and keeps us in the playoff mix ahead of
two tough away games in the next few days. Man of the Match: Akos Buzsaky Player Ratings: Cerny 8, Ramage 7, Stewart 6, Hall 7 (Connolly 6), Delaney 7, Buzsaky 8 (Mahon 6), Leigterwood 6, Rowlands 6, Cook 6, Blackstock 6, Balanta 7 (DI Carmine 6) |
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It
seems like a long time ago since we were last at Loftus Road but
a two week break was over and it was back to action for QPR ahead
of a busy couple of weeks as we face five games over the next two
weeks.
Rangers
had an early chance through a long throw from Fitz Hall as the ball
into the box was flicked on by Stewart and just collected by the
keeper. This would prove a hint of what was to come with Hall's
long throws causing problems all afternoon.
Damion
Delaney was getting forward far more than he is recent weeks and
linked well with Cook down the left hand side. He tried his luck
from distance but found the back of the stand rather than the back
of the net.
Rangers
started the second half attacking towards the loft and within a
few minutes we were ahead. 
We
had chances for a third goal as Balanta raced onto a pass from Rowlands
but his shot hit the side netting.