QPR v. Watford (12 Mar: Championship - Match 36) [R]

[Atouk]

QPR - 12th, 35 GP, -2 GD, 49 Points
v.
Watford - 15th, 36 GP, 0 GD, 44 Points

12 March 2005 15:00
Loftus Road
------

Hello from the Bush! I'll be taking this one in from the Ellerslie Road stand today along with Bison1997.

Rangers News:

Everyone except long-termers Gnohere and Culkin are available. Santos (hamstring stiffness) and Rose (ankle injury suffered against Ipswich) missed some training early in the week, but both are expected to be ready. R's are as near to full strength as they've been all year.

The Opponent:

Watford has been hot and cold of late, beating Ipswich away, then losing at home to Coventry and Forest.

Last 6, most recent first:

H Forest L, 0-2
H Coventry L, 2-3
A Wolves D, 0-0
A Ipswich W, 2-1
A Sunderland L, 2-4
H Gillingham W, 2-0

The Series:

QPR leads 44-27-27 in all games, 43-27-25 in league play. The teams first met in 1920/21.

The First Meeting:

Except for Leeds away, probably our worst performance of the season -- an 0-3 loss at Vicarage Road in the second game of the season. Webber scored twice, Dyer once for the Hornets.

[doolittledog2]

QPR with a big 3-1 win at home vs. Watford. Up to 11th in the table and are now at 52 points on the season. The playoffs are still a possibility and I see no chance of us getting relegated now. A great 1st year back in the second division...ok, the championship.

[doolittledog2]

Here are the standings.

The Coca-Cola Football League Championship Table
P GD PTS
1 Wigan 37 38 72
2 Sunderland 37 25 72
3 Ipswich 37 24 69
4 Derby 37 9 60
5 Preston 37 3 60
6 Reading 37 9 57
7 West Ham 36 4 54
8 Stoke 36 3 54
9 Sheff Utd 36 -1 54
10 Leeds 38 2 52
11 QPR 36 0 52
12 Millwall 37 3 51
13 Burnley 36 -1 49
14 Wolverhampton 37 4 47
15 Watford 37 -2 44
16 Plymouth 37 -5 44
17 Brighton 37 -19 44
18 Crewe 37 -13 43
19 Leicester 35 1 42
20 Cardiff 36 -2 41
21 Coventry 37 -14 40
22 Gillingham 37 -21 38
23 Nottm Forest 36 -18 36
24 Rotherham 37 -29 22

[K.P.]

I was at this game. Rangers failure to convert a penalty at 0-0 was almost comical -- the follow up hit the cross bar. Other observations are that Lee Cook was crafty and Furlong has more energy than men half his age. The home fans had a lot to sing about. All in all, it was an enjoyable afternoon in London.

[Atouk]

Good stuff yesterday at Loftus Road. Gallen's penalty was pretty well taken. I thought he was going to score anyway but his header went off the crossbar and Rowlands header went over. Still, the R's took advantage of the man advantage and Cook and Ainsworth provided lots of danger down the wings. Cook, in particular, had a heck of a game. Furlong was excellent, too. Dan Shittu had a nice game at the back. Royce couldn't do anything with the goal, but had a good game and made one really impressive save.

Overall, a great day in the Bush.

[Manck]

Great performance. Wish that I was in London to go have a drink with Ollie and the boys last night. 52 points, no way we're going down. Let's knock the crap out of Derby on Wednesday, and get that much closer to the playoffs!

[HiJazzey]

Slim hopes for playoffs, I'll be satisfied with a good top half finish. Puts us in good stead for next season, where we can have a go at promotion.