3. QPR -- 8 GP, 4-3-1, +10, 15 Points 11. Luton Town -- 8 GP, 4-1-3, +2, 13 Points ------ 20 September Kenilworth Road ------ Bircham, Forbes, and Thorpe return for Rangers, giving Holloway nearly a full side to select from (only Rose remains unavailable). Luton already has home victories over the teams placed first and second in the table (Port Vale and Hartlepool) and sits just two points behind Rangers. http://www.qpr.premiumtv.co.uk/page/NewsDetail/0,,10373~427179,00.html Uriah Rennie will referee. All three of Rennie's matches this season have been in the Premiership. He handed out 8 yellows in the Southampton/Wolves match last weekend, 7 in Liverpool/Tottenham, and 4 in Newcastle/Man United. Looks like he doesn't mind reaching for his book on a regular basis. Over half of his matches last season were in the Premiership as well, with 4 First, 3 Second, 2 Third, and a couple of League Cup matches thrown in. He hasn't worked a Rangers match since '00/'01 when he worked the middle in a 1-1 home game with Bolton (their keeper was sent off in the 18th minute, no other cards) and a 1-3 away loss at Grimsby (no cards). His last match with Luton was that same season in a League Cup match.
A bit of a surprise in the starting lineup as the only change from Tuesday is that Edghill gets his first start at right back, Rowlands moves up to replace Ainsworth at right midfield, and Ainsworth moves to the bench. Day, Edghill, Gnohere, Shittu, Padula, Rowlands, Bean, Palmer, McLeod, Gallen, Furlong That leaves us with a very, very strong bench: Bircham, Ainsworth, Thorpe, Forbes, and Culkin Luton's Bayliss and QPR's Bean have picked up cards in the early minutes. Neither team seriously challenged goal in the opening dozen or so minutes as the teams feel each other out, but then back to back each had a chance as Furlong was called offside before he headed into goal right before Luton went down to the other end and forced a save from Day. This one feels like it is going to be a good one.
Gnohere picked up a stupid yellow card right before the half by dribbling/kicking the ball away after being called for a foul. HALFTIME Luton Town 0-0 QPR
Just as QPR is beginning to get on top -- Goal Luton. Luton 1-0 QPR. Still a half hour or so to go. Thorpe on for McLeod. Ainsworth on for Rowlands. Come on, you R's!
Thorpe and Luton's Leary go in the book in seperate incidents. R's have most of the possession now and have forced a few minor saves -- nothing too dangerous yet, but the R's are pushing them back. Luton is still dangerous on the counter and just forced a save from Day, but the R's are working hard to equalize. About 15 minutes to go. Bircham comes on for Palmer.
Furlong went in the book. The Luton commentators thought it was for nothing (they also thought that of the first two cards). The QPR commentary went out, so I've been listening to Luton for the second half. We've forced two great saves from their keeper, plus several lesser ones. A few corners, a good free kick from Gallen, etc. We had 'em under serious pressure, but Beckwith coped very well -- excellent keeping. Rangers got three minutes of injury time to work with and --- Thorpe flicks on to Furlong and GOOOOAAAAALLLL! Paul Furlong! Luton Town 1-1 QPR About a minute to go. Hoops!
FINAL Luton Town 1-1 QPR Good second half from Rangers and a wonderful stolen point at the end. Big result! 4 points from two very tough road games. We've got a killer on Tuesday in the League Cup at Sheffield United before returning to Loftus Road for back-to-back tough league games against Bristol City and Barnsley. Come on, you R's! Keep up the good form, SuperHoops!
With the draw, QPR holds at third. Hartlepool lost at Brentford (!), so falls below us, but Brighton beat Sheffield Wednesday 2-0 (!), so moves into second. Everyone has 9 GP, except Wrexham and Blackpool (8): 1. Port Vale, +3 GD, 19 Points 2. Brighton & Hove Albion, +6, 17 ------ 3. QPR, +10, 16 4. Swindon Town, +6, 16 5. Barnsley, +4, 16 6. Hartlepool United, +9, 15 ------ 7. AFC Bournemouth, +2, 15 8. Plymouth Argyle, +4, 14 9. Luton Town, +2, 14 10. Sheffield Wednesday, +1 (14 Goals), 14 11. Colchester United, +1 (13), 14 12. Bristol City, +6, 13 13. Rushden & Diamonds, +1, 13 Everyone else has 11 points or less
Well done Paul Furlong. This was a match that most supporters were thinking (hoping) we'd win. But in the end we have to be happy with a point. Win would be nice in Sheffield - but I think that two home wins next week are more important for keeping the the points going towards automatic promotion. I'll give a report from my trip to Bramell Ln in midweek.