Rangers Don For at the Keepmoat..,.

Doncaster 2-1 QPR

QPR suffered only their second league defeat of the season in what was certainly an afternoon to forget at the Keepmoat Stadium.

And the day started so well...

Even with a motorway closure, the journey was still a breeze and Jenson, PK and myself, hooked up with Lee and Jess, diverted to the A1 and stopped at a very nice coffee shop about 30 miles from Doncaster for well, a coffee and a very nice and relaxed catch up.  Sam and Luke decided to give this one a miss..

We arrived at the Keepmoat in plenty of time to park up, collect tickets and have a pint and a pie, more on the pies later. But in order that we could all sit together, we went up to our seats early and enough that we managed to catch the R's having a bit of warm up shooting practice and from there, we should have known what sort of afternoon it would be for us. Let's just say, if anyone was stood in the back of the net, there was no danger of them getting hit by a loose ball...

Onto the game and the first half was probably as dull as I have seen all season with neither side looking to make any sort of early impression. Rangers had lots of the ball but the first real chance came on 25 minutes when Kranjcar blasted well wide following a pass from Danny Simpson.

Rovers had a good spell but the R's defence were holding firm and were relatively untroubled. But 2 minutes before the break and if honest, slightly against the run of play, Rangers were ahead -
Rangers broke quickly out of defence and Jermaine Jenas managed to poke the ball through to Austin whose fairly tame shot slipped through Turnbull's fingers and trickled into the net.

Despite the lead there was much concern down on the concourse at half time and again, mainly down to the formation and the attacking threat, or lack of it. Would it be a case of Rangers settling for what they have and trying to ride the game out..

I bumped into an old mate, Russell at half time who I had not seen for nigh on 20 years and after travelling alone, joined myself and the gang in the second half. Matt Phillips brought a comfortable save out of Turnbull and this was the last time the home keeper was really tested. Three minutes in and it was all square and like the Rangers goal, it had a touch of good fortune about it. Wellens picked out Robinson on the right and the Doncaster striker curled the ball into the net from a narrow angle when it looked as if he was trying to cross the ball. His celebration seems to suggest the latter.

Rangers again had lots of the ball but the attacking threat was so sadly lacking, Matty Phillips in particular always choosing to go backwards with his passing instead of taking players on and attacking the right flank. But as the game ticked on, it was Doncaster that were looking the more likely and Macheda should have done better than hit the side netting. Clint Hill had the R's best chance to sneak into the lead but looped his effort just over.

But with a minute to go, Doncaster got their winner and much deserved it was too I have to say - Quinn meeting Duffy's corner and powerfully heading down and into the roof of the net.

Queens Park Rangers

• 01 Green
• 02 Simpson
• 39 Assou-Ekotto
• 17 Barton
• 05 Dunne
• 06 Hill
• 07 Phillips
• 16 Jenas
• 09 Austin
• 36 O'Neil (Johnson - 63' )
• 19 Kranjcar (Hoilett - 77' )

Substitutes

• 03 Traore
• 08 Johnson
• 10 Carroll
• 14 Onyewu
• 20 Henry
• 23 Hoilett
• 26 Murphy

Man of the Match

Safe to say we really struggled with this one, but we managed to muster up two contenders. Myself and Jess picked out Danny Simpson, but this weeks winner with votes from Jenson, Lee and PK was on the other side of the park - Benoit Assou-Ekotto

AwayDay Pie Rating

Just like the match really, came in with high hopes but ended in disappointment. Myself, Lee and Jenson had the Chicken Balti and collectively pointed out too much pastry on the top, and as you went further down, it became very flaky, the filling being somewhat dry and generally, overcooked with the bottom of the pie stuck to the case. A generous 6 from the 3 of us. PK however opted for steak and it faired slightly better, but nothing overly outstanding and he stated once he found the filling, it was very nice - 7

Giving the Doncaster pies a rating of 6.25/10

In summary, we got what we deserved - nothing!! Credit to Doncaster though as they thoroughly deserved their win. Yet again, the attacking threat is a concern and we did improve slightly when Andy Johnson came on. How long is it going to be before we go with 2 strikers? Personally I think O'Neill and Jenas are too similar a player to both start and Kranjcar is totally wasted playing wide? It would have been nice to have seen Tom Carroll at some point as his attacking flair may well have made a difference? But there again, when defeated, we all become Managers don't we? It's only our second defeat, days like today will happen, deal with it and move on...

We need to bounce back now and have a great opportunity with 2 home games in quick succession.
Lee will return in the week to review, hopefully, our home win over Bournemouth..

Come on you R'sssssssss!!!

 

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