For most Championship clubs the trip
to Newcastle was one of the first fixtures to look out for when
they were published back in June and those QPR fans looking for
a weekend away were left disappointed when our trip to the North
East landed on a Wednesday night in September. Nevertheless close to 2,000 QPR fans
made the long trip north to boost hotel room sales as well as boost
the local pubs income. For me it was an easy one as my mother
in law lives in Newcastle now so it was a very early departure in
the car from Langley at around 6am to make sure we were in Geordie
land for lunchtime. This was also my wife Carly's first match of
the season as we left our son with my mother in law for a rare night
out. After a few drinks locally we made our
way to Shearers bar which was full of buoyant Newcastle fans full
of confidence after their excellent start to the season and sharing
a drink with my mother in law's partner David, we both agreed before
the game that a draw would be a decent result for Rangers. Fast
forward two hours and a draw didn't feel that great from our point
of view. We made our way to the away end climbing
fourteen flights of stairs to what felt like the top of Everest.
Our reward for a near heart attack was to pay £3.70 for a
pint of Carling, who said it was cheaper up north. As my wife is scarred of heights this
was going to be a tough walk to our seats and as we walked out into
the night air it dawned on us how high we were, the opposite penalty
spot was a quarter of a mile away, it felt further and thankfully
it was a night game as the large window next to us would have left
us all feeling the effects of vertigo, thankfully we couldn't see
down. We couldn't see much at all to be honest
with the players looking like hobbits as they walked onto the pitch.
Watching a game so high is good for the tactical aspect of the game
as you can watch it like a chess match but it's hard to feel part
of it from that height. The QPR fans gave it a good go to get involved
though with plenty of noise from the first minute to the last. Rangers were unchanged which was no
surprise as Jim Magilton looks like he has found his best side.
That meant though no St James Park return for Peter Ramage who seems
to have been dreaming of this game since he signed last year, his
place on the bench must have been disappointing for him but understandable
given Leigterwood's recent form. The game kicked off with Ranges attacking
towards the opposite end to where QPR fans were sitting and we got
off to a good start attacking straight from the off. Rangers were on the front foot hassling
the home side when they were in possession and looking to get as
many men forward from midfield as possible. Rowan Vine won possession
early outside the box and with the Newcastle defence backing off
he took the chance for an early shot which was saved by Steve Harper. It was an early warning shot from Rangers
and the home side ignored it and found themselves a goal down after
seven minutes. Ben Watson won the ball around 30 yards
out and drove at the Newcastle defence before shooting from the
edge of the box with his left foot, his effort took a deflection
and left Harper beaten in the Newcastle goal and Rangers had the
lead. The celebrations in the away end were great as the QPR fans
who had made the very long trip north were being rewarded in the
best way possible. Newcastle began to wake up and attack
us a little more but Rangers continued to look the more dangerous
side using the ball well in possession with some quick and sharp
passing movements. Rangers looked supremely confident and
my wife found it hard to recognise this was the same team she had
watched produce some right shit last season. It's impossible to dominate for the
whole game though and Newcastle got back into the game as they began
to throw men forward as well and they almost drew level within ten
minutes. A ball into the box saw Steven Taylor had a shot which
hit Stewart on the arm and a penalty was given, Stewart can't have
been more than a yard away so it was an incredibly harsh decision.
I can't imagine Taylor's reaction would have been the same if he
had been in Stewart's shoes. Danny Guthrie stood up to take it and
I thought that was that and we'd go on to get beaten now. Oh ye
of little faith as Guthrie's penalty was awful and Cerny made a
comfortable save to leave us all celebrating again high up in the
clouds and dreaming of a victory that would really announce us a
side to watch this season. Newcastle really pushed on after the
penalty misses though and dominated for the next ten minutes. Kevin
Nolan's header was well saved on the line by Cerny despite mental
protests from Nolan that it crossed the line. Nolan was alone in
his protest with not even the partisan home crowd claiming a goal. Nile Ranger went close to a goal with
a header but Cerny again did well to save it whilst Rowlands booted
the ball off the line from another dangerous set piece. It was far
from all one way traffic though as with plenty of space to play
Rangers looked excellent going forward with Vine, Buzsaky and Watson
all linking well and Routledge was causing plenty of trouble on
the right. Buzsaky went close to another screamer
with a 30 yard effort flying just wide whilst the offside flag denied
Simpson a clear run on goal. At half time we were feeling pretty
good with the fans in great voice and the team producing a very
good performance. I fully expected a Newcastle onslaught in the
second half though but as the teams kicked off it was Rangers who
looked more like scoring than the home side. Rangers were playing some really good
stuff but Newcastle continued to look a threat going forward with
Gutierrez pushing Routledge back n his own half but the final ball
was usually poor. Newcastle were forced to make a change with Harewood
coming on and he proved to be far more of a threat than the inexperienced
Rangers up front. Rangers were looking comfortable though
and personally I couldn't see where a goal was coming from, were
virtually home and dry. It was about 90 seconds after that thought
popped in my head that we conceded a sloppy goal and were level.
Damn you brain. Newcastle cut us open with a diagonal
ball to the far post and Leigterwood was far too easily beaten by
Carroll whose header across goal was a good one and allowed Harewood
to tap home from close range. I half hoped the referee had disallowed
it as he seemed to spend an age in the penalty area after the home
players had run back to kick off again but perhaps he was just catching
his breath. The home side now looked favourites
to win it and pushed forward but rangers continued to stand firm
and played the better football and with the clock ticking we began
to look more threatening again. Routledge went on a strong run down
the right and into the middle but after beating about six players
he ended up on the left wing before turning and looking knackered
realising he hadn't actually advance forward. His ball into Vine
was a good one but the out of form strikers shot was deflected clear. Adel Taarabt came on and looked keen
to impress hitting the post after being flagged offside and having
another effort fly narrowly wide. It was a good result for me really as
it meant a peaceful few days in the north east with mutual pats
on the backs for the performances. The general feeling among the
locals in the North East was that we were the best side they had
played all season and the local Newcastle press were very kind about
our performance. It was certainly a good display by Rangers
with everyone playing a part. Radek Cerny wins my man of the match
for his outstanding display in goal but that doesn't tell the whole
story with Rowlands, Watson and Routledge all excellent in midfield
and Stewart again in fine form at the back. Man of the Match: Radek Cerny
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