Team Line Up
		24. Radek Cerny
15. Peter Ramage		3. Damion Stewart	16. Matthew Connolly		2. Damien Delaney
		6. Mikele Leigterwood	4. Gavin Mahon (c)
25. Hogan Ephraim		7. Daniel Parejo			17. Lee Cook
11. Patrick Agyemang		14. Martin Rowlands
		9. Dexter Blackstock
Substitutes

After the international break it was back to Loftus Road for a Super Sunday treat for the television viewers. I'm not sure why but our game against Southampton was rescheduled for the prime Sunday afternoon spot which is not a great day to watch football on really with even poorer train services than usual and with work the next day the pre and post match drink is usually more rushed than usual.

Anyway I was still looking forward to the game after what seems like a long time since our last game. There as another change when we got to Loftus Road with the view of the pitch now blocked off from the back of the lower loft. This seemed pointless at first but was apparently done so they could sell alcohol in the lower loft which received a thumbs up from me.

The new family stand actually had something for the kids in this game with a bloke making balloon animals in front of the blue and white bar and the old club shop stall is now a sweet shop for the kids. Another change was some Arab men walking around playing drums with a man wearing a costume that looked like a giant penis, god knows what all that was about.

When all the pre match nonsense was out of the way the teams came out and Rangers had made just the one enforced change to the side that drew at Bristol City. Ledesma was missing through suspension so Hogan Ephraim won his first start of the season after recovering from injury. Martin Rowlands was again on the bench as Rangers lined up with a 4-2-3-1 system which has been successful in the last few weeks.

Rangers got off to a dream start winning a throw in on the right which lead to the first goal. As Mahon ran up to take the thrown in we could see Cook in acres of space at the far post and a simple flick on would find him. That's exactly what we did as Mahon's throw in was flicked on to the far post where Cook waited for the ball to drop and as he waited Blackstock called it and just smashed the ball into the top corner. A great start for Rangers ahead in just 37 seconds and for the rest of the first half that was as good as it got.

Rangers seemed to go into their shell after the goal and sat back rather than pushed for the kill. Southampton grew in confidence and played a very attack minded style looking to pass and move and try and get in behind us out wide. That ploy almost worked when a cross to the far post was flapped at by Cerny under no pressure at all and several other balls into the box were nervously cleared by the Rangers back four.

Southampton were not creating much but were the side on top as Mahon and Leigterwood failed to get any real grip on the game in midfield.

Cerny made up for his early nervous play with a decent save from Lallana as he got down low to keep out a long range effort.
Matt Connolly and Radek Cerny had a bit of confusion between them as they both left the ball to each other and almost allowed the striker to nip in before Cerny just cleared the ball. The communication between the back four and keeper is still very poor and will need to be improved on against the better sides.

Southampton were forced into a change when Holmes limped off injured to be replaced by Nathan the thief Dyer and despite looking a decent player he spent the whole game being booed and called a thief which was fair enough.

Dyer had the beating of Ramage using his pace to ease past his man on several occasions but his crossing was poor and easily defended. If he had a final ball he'd be a very decent player.

Southampton were having the better of it but Rangers continued to look the more dangerous going forward. Hogan Ephraim jinked inside before shooting high over the bar before Lee Cook did well on the left delivering a great cross for Blackstock to dive in at and saw his header well saved by Kelvin Davis.

Things got worse for Southampton when young defender Ollie Lancashire was sent off. Damien Delaney burst down the left and Lancashire slid in and missed the ball taking out Delaney. It was a poor tackle but the red card that followed seemed a bit harsh to me with a yellow probably more than enough. I know I'd have been fuming if Delaney had been sent off for a similar tackle.

The Southampton fans were now fuming and booking the referee and the Rangers players and they were lucky to just be a goal down as we continued to create chances.

Delaney linked well with Cook and cut inside to curl a great shot towards the top corner before Davis dived to his left to tip it over the bar. Delaney then turned provider crossing from the left only for Blackstock to be denied again from close range by the impressive keeper.

Southampton almost levelled just before half time when Lallana shot straight at Cerny from close range but I think the linesmen had already flagged for offside. At half time Rangers were deserving of the lead but it was closer than many expected and I felt we needed to improve if we were going to go on and win the game.

We started the second half brightly with Blackstock going close to his second goal before an awful tackle on Parejo went unpunished. The tackle was knee high and left Parejo in a heap but the ref waved play on and ended up giving Parejo a talking to for complaining about the foul. I think once the ref sees it on TV he'll be embarrassed he didn't punish that foul.

Ranges were struggling to finish off the ten men of Southampton and we were made to pay for our lack of urgency as they equalised. Mahon broke forward into the box and saw his shot saved and the Saints broke quickly with a huge gap left in midfield to make us pay. Adam Lallana burst through the midfield unchallenged and played a one two with Gillett before placing a shot into the bottom corner past Cerny. It was a quality goal and promoted more than a few moans around the home support.

The players looked shocked as we looked to regain the lead but continued to look sluggish. Hogan Ephraim had a shot well saved by Davis before Dowie made a double change which would prove to be a good one for Rangers. Off went Danny Parejo and Hogan Ephraim with Rowlands moving to the right and Agyemang coming on to partner Blackstock in a 4-4-2 formation.

Rowlands made a quick impact supplying a second goal for Rangers. We won a free kick on the left and the Rangers captain ran over to take control. He whipped a ball into the box and at the far post Damion Stewart ghosted in and flicked a shot past Davis from twelve yards out. He stopped to check if he was offside but no flag was raised and we were back in the lead. At the time it looked close as to if he was offside or not, seeing it on TV it was an awful decision with Stewart several yards offside. That goal knocked the stuffing out f Southampton and they never really recovered.

They continued to have the ball in good positions but they were regularly caught on the break and with the pace of Agyemang more goals were sure to follow.

Rangers produced some lovely flowing football with Rowlands at the heart of most things and a good ball into the box was chested back by Blackstock for Leigterwood to volley over the bar. Damien Delaney had a goal disallowed for a foul on the keeper before the third and killer goal came with just over ten minutes to go.

The impressive Agyemang was at the heart of it again bursting forward from the halfway line with a turn of pace which left the defence for dead. Agyemang got into the box before shooting but Davis again saved well only for Blackstock to latch onto the rebound and bury his shot into the back of the net. That's five goals this season now for Blackstock and he is top scorer in the Championship this season, not bad for a player many had written off after last season.

Agyemang was tearing them apart and was denied again by a great save from Davis after his low shot looked certain to go in. Lee Cook almost capped a decent performance with a goal when he was given the ball on the left and he cut inside to fire a shot into the top corner from 25 yards out but he was denied by the offside flag.

Rangers did get a fourth in the last minute which was cruel on Southampton. Agyemang again was at the heart of it all bursting forward with pace before smashing a shot past Davis into the bottom corner for his first of the season.

The score line flattered Rangers but you won't find me complaining. The main decisions went for us with the second offside goal and the red card changing the game. Rangers lacked any real spark until Rowlands came on and seee4md to be going through the motions for much of the game which allowed Southampton to always be in the game. Saying that though we did score four goals, have two disallowed and only some brilliant saves kept the score down so it wasn't all bad.

Mahon and Parejo both had poor games in midfield but on the plus side we saw an excellent performance from Blackstock again who is thriving in his lone striker role and is only one goal behind last season's total after just six starts for the striker. He worked hard, linked play well and looked a goal threat throughout which is great to see.

The subs changed the game in our favour and was a good move by Dowie. Martin Rowlands added more energy to the midfield and Agyemang's pace caused mass panic to a young Southampton defence.

Southampton looked decent on the ball but very fragile at the back and if they don't get some experience in soon they are really going to struggle this season.

So a good day for QPR as we now face three tough looking away games in a row which will be a big test for the team and will probably give us a better idea of how the season is going to go.

Man of the Match: Dexter Blackstock

Player Ratings: Cerny 7, Ramage 7, Delaney 7, Connolly 7, Stewart 7, Mahon 6, Leigterwood 6, Cook 7, Ephraim 7 (Agyemang 8), Parejo 5 (Rowlands 7), Blackstock 8