A Fer Result in the end......

The start of 2015 saw Swansea visit W12 as we looked to put Sunday's dross game behind us and begin the year with a positive start!

The gang fully united themselves inside the ground after some trouble free journeys and not one hangover was in sight, a miracle some may say! We were all in good spirits and looking forward to what was going to be an interesting return following from our 2-0 defeat at the Liberty a few weeks ago.

One change was made to the R's side with Junior Toilett dropping to the bench and Vargas replacing him.



Swansea started the opening ten minutes as the team with the upper hand but found it hard to unlock the R's back line.
The R's in fact were lucky not to be reduced down to ten men with just five minutes on the clock when Rob Green came rushing out and clearly handled as he slid outside his penalty area and denied Gomis the chance to go through on goal. What shocked me even more is that no Swansea player even appealed the offense and let it go by. This poor refereeing decision set the tone for what we were to expect from Anthony Taylor for the remaining eighty five minutes of the game.
The let off allowed the R's the chance to settle down and took full advantage half way through the half when Leroy Fer picked up a poor defensive header before taking aim and unleashing an unstoppable drive from twenty yards out!
Rangers' could and should've extended their lead but found Zamora in poor form in front of goal as he wasted two glorious efforts, one a free header and the second being a close ranger from a tight angle.
Swansea themselves were creating chances but found Gomis having an absolute shocker and failed to trouble Green with each shot attempted.



You can say we were happy at half time but also disappointed to of not taken advantage of the opportunities created. It was always going to be a long second half as Swansea were due a period of possession and we has to make the most of the chances made in the second half as they still had Bony to come on and we all know how dangerous he can be!

Five minutes into the second half the R's came close to doubling their lead as Austin hit the post with a header from Isla's cross and a minute later Fer took aim once more but saw his effort deflected just over the bar.
As the half wore on the R's began to sit deeper and deeper, allowing Swansea to pressurize them and saw Austin drop deeper and become more ineffective and Zamora became the target of many more long balls, it was Sunday happening all over again!
The inevitable introduction of that man Bony came with twenty minutes to go and was soon brought into action. His free kick was superbly flighted over the R's wall, only to see Rob Green in fine form and claw the ball out to safety! Amazing save!
This gave Swansea confidence to drive on but with five minutes to go they were reduced down to ten men. Karl Henry went in heavily on Routledge and the foul was rightly awarded but Routledge reacted by pushing Henry whilst he was on the floor and then looked to kick out at Henry as well! Henry was rightly booked for his challenge and just when it seemed Routledge had got away with the crime the linesman stepped in, had a word with Anthony Taylor and the red card was produced, Swans down to ten men, surely the points were a little safer now?
Rangers' looked to close the game out and had a golden opportunity when Toilett was found at the far post and the useless winger scuffed wide, he would've been better off running into the corner!!
As it was Swansea took the goal kick to pile on even more pressure and just over sixty seconds later leveled the game.
Ki found Bony in space as the Ivorian turned and took aim in one movement to find the net and break Rangers' hearts! An absolute kick in the teeth!!



On reflection I'd say a point was a fair result on the amount of chances created but Rangers' should've been home and dry before the late Bony equalizer and only have themselves to blame. Swansea had their fair share of opportunities and had Bony of started then the scoreline may of been very different.
With the transfer window opening on the 3rd January it will be interesting to see who comes into Loftus Road and more importantly who leaves. I think the first person who will be on the list after recent showings will be Toilett and we could also see Traore and Phillips also looking at uncertain futures with the club. There have been a few names mentioned with us so the next few weeks will be interesting!

Our Man of the Match saw several players gain votes with Lofty picking Fer, I chose Henry, Luke chose Isla but with votes from Jess, Sam, PK and Jenson our winner today was Steven Caulker.



Lofty returns on Sunday as he takes over reporting duties for our home FA Cup tie against Sheffield United. With just Lofty, PK and Jenson attending it will be interesting to see who gets picked in the starting eleven and whether we can go past the third round or will there be another replay?