Team Line Up
		24. Radek Cerny
16. Matthew Connolly		13. Kaspars Gorkks	3. Damien Stewart		2. Damien Delaney
		5. Fitz Hall
		20. Jordi Lopez
18. Liam Miller			6. Mikele Leigterwood (c)
21. Matteo Alberti			25. Hogan Ephraim
		7. Wayne Routledge
		22. Samuel Di Carmine	9. Dexter Blackstock
		19. Angelo Balanta
Substitutes

When the season started back in August I don’t think many people envisaged us having little to play for on March 7th but that’s the position Rangers found themselves in going into another hone game this time against in form Sheffield United.

The maths of it all show that a win or two for Rangers in the next week or so will see a different picture unfold and a push for the playoffs could materialise whilst one of two defeats could see us dragged into a bit of a late dogfight at the bottom but in reality Rangers season is effectively over with little more than pride to play for now as we build for next season.

Pride is of course a major thing to play for and with season tickets up for renewal soon and morale among the supporters hitting a new low some improved performances would certainly help under pressure Paulo Sousa and improve the mood around Loftus Road.

Rangers latest attempt to do that came on Saturday and once again a decent performance against a promotion chasing side failed to bring the three points it deserved.

Sousa made just one change to the side that lost to Norwich with Samuel Di Carmine replacing Heider Helguson up front. Rangers continued with the diamond formation to start with but Routledge was playing a litter wider than he did in the previous game.

Rangers got off to a flying start looking to get an early goal and we looked a very good side for the first ten minutes or so.

Leigterwood won a strong challenge on the edge of our box and played a long ball forward for Blackstock who had the beating of the Sheffield defence for pace all afternoon. He held off his man and got clear but his shot was weak and comfortably saved by Paddy Kenny.

The much maligned Damien Delaney almost made an early exit after hobbling around for a few minutes and with Fitz Hall getting ready to come on Delaney got some treatment and ran it off. Looking at the bench it became clear we again have no cover for left back especially now we’ve loaned Gary Borrowdale out to Brighton for the rest of the season.

Rangers had another chance to take the lead from a throw in as Lopez collected the ball and knocked it forward for Blackstock who brought the ball down and turned quickly to create space before volleying towards goal and Kenny made a good save to tip it away for a corner. This is something Blackstock rarely does and it was good to see him prepared to have a go from distance, he was certainly looking sharp after such a frustrating few months where first team football has been hard to come by.

Jordi Lopez was pulling the string in midfield and put in a good free kick which Blackstock headed goal wards but Kenny made a comfortable save.

The game became very stop start after that after a clash of heads saw Lopez require lengthy treatment. Sheffield United’s gameplan seem to be to spoil for some reason and they spent much of the half diving around trying to get players sent off. Brian Howard was the first throwing himself down holding his face before the game was stopped and he sprung to his feet to claim he had been elbowed. Video evidence backed up most people’s view at the time in that he was slightly exaggerating the impact of Millers challenge.

The ginger fella on the wing kept getting involved sprinting over to argue every decision and he wanted Stewart sent off for a poor tackle midway through the half which got the booking it deserved.

The visitors were offering little going forward in the first half an hour but with all the stoppages the game was dying on it’s arse a bit with no real rhythm or flow to the game. The pitch wasn’t helping and every bobble seems to be around Leigterwood who was having one of those days where most passes were over hit and his shots were high and wild.

Jordi Lopez had a chance to grab his first QPR goal with a free kick from 30 yards out but his effort was on target but straight at the keeper. Paddy Kenny had been the busier of the two keepers and he was next to stop the game needing treatment under a challenge from Di Carmine. He wasted several minutes limping about as Morgan took the goal kick and minutes later was seen sprinting out of his goal to clear the ball for a throw in.

It was becoming frustrating to watch but for much of the half Rangers were playing pretty well and although we didn’t have a goal to show for it I think most were pretty satisfied with the performance.

The game needed a goal though and we really needed it to be Rangers who opened the scoring as confidence again looked low in front of goal. Blackstock had been sharp around the box with the ball but without it he was quickly letting his head drop whilst his lack of movement was making it hard for the Rangers midfield to create opportunities.

It was the visitors who started the second half brighter though pushing on for a win that would have put them right into the automatic promotion race. A long range effort on target was well saved by Cerny and cleared by Connolly. The pressure continued though and a high ball to the far post saw Connolly out of position and Webber had time and space to finish but Cerny was in one of those moods again where nothing was going to get past him and he stopped the shot with his feet for a corner. Webber really should have scored but full credit to Cerny for making the save and he was quickly putting a poor midweek performance behind him.

Liam Miller had a mad five minutes where he got involved and pushed forward but his little burst didn’t last long and he was taken off with Matteo Alberti brought on. The young Italian certainly had plenty of energy and enthusiasm but his efforts were not well rewarded as he had a difficult afternoon.

He started well enough with a burst forward and found Delaney out wide who lost the ball only for it to fall to Leigterwood who picked out Blackstock with a cross which was headed just wide.

This was the start of a good spell for Rangers where we really should have taken the lead. Routledge floated a free kick into the box which was cleared as far as Leigterwood who miss hit his shot to Di Carmine. His effort on the right looped up high for Blackstock to pounce on and head towards goal only for Kenny to produce a great save on the line. The ball broke loose to Gorkss with an open goal from four yards out. I started celebrating the goal as the net bulged as did most around me and as they took a goal kick I could only assume it had been disallowed. Sadly after watching it on tv it turns out Gorkss hit the side netting, I think that was probably harder than hitting the back of the net and after missing that we were never going to score.

Blackstock had the beating of Morgan for pace and he again speed past his man on the edge of the box before looking up and playing a ball across goal for Alberti. He had the whole goal to aim at and time to compose himself but shot high over the bar.

The chances kept coming after a good build up between Alberti and Di Carmine and the Italian shot straight at Kenny. He appeared to hurt himself after that and limped off to be replaced by Angelo Balanta.

Ranger’s chance of winning looked to have gone though as the game slowed down again. Routledge was now playing as a left winger and getting nothing out of the two men marking him and despite plenty of effort by Balanta the visitors began to look a little more solid at the back.

As the minutes ticked away it was Sheffield United who looked like they might nick all three points. A long throw by Halford was half cleared and put back into the box only for Cerny to again produce a good save at the feet of Quinn.

That was about it though as the final whistle brought a few boos from the QPR fans which was well over the top after a decent performance that deserved more.

There were plenty of good performances from Rangers with Connolly excellent at right back and Cerny back to his best in goal. Lopez was again impressive whilst Di Carmine and Blackstock offered a threat up front and were unlucky not to score. Miller and Leigterwood both had games to forget but in Leigterwood’s case he rarely plays two games the same and he didn’t let his head drop.

Sousa has plenty to work on with the team in the coming weeks but at the moment we do look like a side lacking something especially going forward. The return of Vine and Buzsaky next season will be a massive boost but for now it’s looking like being a disappointing end to a disappointing season.

Man of the Match: Matthew Connolly

Players Ratings: Cerny 7, Connolly 8, Gorkks 7, Stewart 7, Delaney 6, Lopez 7, Miller 7 (Alberti 6), Leigterwood 5 (Ephraim 6), Routledge 6, Di Carmine 7 (Balanta 7), Blackstock 7