Rangers fielded a below strength team to earn a battling point against high flying Charlton. Loan Signing, Darren Ward made his QPR debut in place of the suspended Ian Baraclough with the rest of the team unchanged from last weeks draw with Torquay.

It was Charlton who started the more threatening playing some neat football in midield and seemed to be able to cut the QPR defence open at will with new boy Ward looking shaky early on. Rangers got out of jail twice early on with offside decisions going our way just yards away from goal but Lee Harper was on hand to make two good saves if the linesman had not have flagged.

Rangers needed to steady themselves but the pressure continued with Chris Plummer and Ward slipping over as a free kick was floated in but Harper was on hand again to save the day. It was not looking too good for Rangers but soon enough we starting to get a grip on the game in midfield.

Richard Langley showing some superb touches of skill and vision and Paul Murray was adding a much needed bite to the midfield as the two youngsters had their most impressive game for some time. Chances were still few and far between for Rangers but a really good move down the right almost resulted in a goal. Some nice passing between Steiner, Langley and Breacker earned the R's a corner but Charlton held firm at the back.

Rangers were fighting for every ball as the half wore on and began to create a few half chances but the Charlton defence were looking very solid. Several incident followed as the half wore on with Chalrton defenders Youlds and Rufus having a few shoving matches with the Rangers forwards. Nothing major but something the ref needed to pick up on and calm down early. He did not do this and it boiled over later in the game.

Charlton produced several long range efforts but none really worried Lee Harper and it was good to see Darren Ward improve as the game wore on. Charlton almost got a goal before half time when Newton ran through after a bad pass by Murray. Chris Plummer came in with a superb last-ditch tackle as the player was pulling his right leg back to shoot.

A few more half chances from corners for Rangers but as half time came we had yet to force a save out of the Charlton keeper. Second half started much brighter from QPR as the crowd really got behind the team. Stuart Wardley began to break forward more and the Charlton defence began to panic.

Kiwomya and Wardley then linked brilliantly for Rangers best (and only) chance of the game. Wardley hit a great shot from the edge of the area which Dean Kiely pushed wide with a good save. Rangers pushed hard with a series of corners and a goalmouth scramble, which saw Steiner inches away from reaching the ball for a Rangers goal. A free kick followed but the ref seemed to totally miss a shoving match between Youlds and Ward, which was calmed down by the Rangers players.

Although the ref had his back to the incident the Linesman decided to ignore the incident, I'm sure he wouldn't make up for it later and just flag for any incident, would he?? Charlton began to put pressure on Rangers with John Salako getting the better of Darlington but Rangers cleared the danger. Darlington then broke twice down the right but found himself trying to take on one man too many when a cross would have been a better option. Each time he gave woeful passes back to Langley who was booed and slagged off for not creating a wonder goal each time.

Langley worked back each time though trying the win the ball as was Murray who was showing some real fighting spirit in midfield. Rangers still lacked the touch of class that would win the game as Langley's skill and vision was being used too deep and he was being closed down well by the Charlton defence when he came near goal. Charlton appeared to have weathered the storm with the introduction of John Robinson who was his usual annoying self earning free kicks and moaning about every decision. A free kick was the best example and earned Kiwomya a yellow card. He moaned the wall wasn't back ten yards, Kiwomya and Rufus continued the shoving match they had been having all game and Kiwomya was shown a yellow card along with Youlds.

Robinson curled the free kick straight at Harper. Charlton saw lots of the ball but couldn't produce a finish as the Rangers defence coped well with everything thrown at them. The ref went on to dominate the game by giving one mad decision after another not just in Charltons favour but some of the free kicks we got defied belief. He seemed to give free kicks to the defending team all of the time, I think he must have had money on a 0-0.

Then the craziest decision of them all. A ball over the top saw Kiwomya and Rufus tangle. Now this is how I saw it, I am sure other saw it differently. Kiwomya was being held by Rufus, Kiwomya then pushed Rufus away and threw a tame punch, which missed, by miles (he needs to take lessons from Kojoe who has a mean left hook). Rufus had a kick at Kiwomya but also missed by miles. The linesman then woke up and saw he could do something. He had a chat with the ref, and the ref sent Kiwomya off and booked Rufus. Now I am not condoning Kiwomya but that was a mad sending off, he should have calmed both players down and played on. No big deal but now Kiwomya faces another ban because of a petty offence.

Francis came onto the field to lead Kiwomya away and organised the troops to sit tight in midfield, press hard and play one up front. Rangers did this well and although a goal for Rangers seemed a million miles away, we didn't look like conceding either. George Kulscar came on for Langley to add some more bite in midfield. One run by Robinson caused some problems but his shot went well wide.

As the final whistle went it was a like a win for QPR fans, without Ready, Maddix, Rose, Baraclough and Peacock (to name just a few), QPR had managed to match one of the favourites for promotion. Same again on Tuesday will see the teams meet again in January. A quick word on the support today, Superb, Q and R block did not stop singing all game and finally the Loft lower joined in for once other than to boo Langley!

Man of the Match: Chris Plummer

13. Lee Harper : Did everything needed of him and has earned the goalkeepers shirt this season 7/10

22. Jermaine Darlington : Tried to do to much going forward but was always a threat and defended well apart from a few lapses. If Langley had given up as Jermaine did when Salako went past him, he would have been slaughted. 6/10

30. Paul Bruce : Did ok, not the answer on the left though, needs to produce the sort of service we all know he is capable of. 6/10

17. Chris Plummer : Not everyones favourite player. He led the QPR defence today winning everything in the air and one last ditch tackle was the difference between 1 and 0 points today. 8/10

2. Tim Breacker : Did a solid job in defence, nothing special he does the job well though. 7/10

32. Darren Ward : Looked nervous early on but settled well and did a good job. 7/10

27. Stuart Wardley : Was our only real goal threat and worked very hard in midfield. 6/10

7. Paul Murray : His best game for a while, battled and used the ball well. 7/10

21. Richard Langley : Some superb touches and he worked hard, its a shame his team mates didn't read all of his dummies and flicks. 7/10

9. Rob Steiner : Worked hard, threw himself on the floor a lot but can't fault his effort.