6. QPR, 14 GP, 6-6-2, +13, 24 points 19. Tranmere Rovers, 15 GP, 4-5-6, -8, 17 points ------ 25 October, 3PM Loftus Road ------ Rangers News Furs' MRI came out OK and he may be able to play this weekend. McLeod and Rowlands overcame minor injuries from last weekend and are set to play. http://www.qpr.premiumtv.co.uk/page/NewsDetail/0,,10373~441894,00.html Opponent's Form They've won their last two, both at home. Road form is not good -- 0-3-4 away in the league. Tranmere's last 5: 21/10 W vs. Swindon, 1-0 18/10 W vs. Oldham, 2-1 14/10 LDV Vans - L at Blackpool, 2-3 11/10 L at Plymouth, 0-6 06/10 L at Luton, 1-3 The Series QPR leads 11 wins, 5 draws, 6 losses However, QPR lost both last year (1-2 at Loftus Road, 0-3 away) The Referee Kevin Wright gets the call. It looks like he's a first-year referee. He's handed out 26 yellows and 3 reds in 9 games this year. However, 7 of those games were in the Third Division and one was an LDV Vans game. He's only worked one match in the Second Division this year (Notts County 0-1 Bournemouth), his most recent league match.
Crap. Tranmere gets a 5th minute goal. Rangers 0:1 Rovers 38 minutes in Forbes has a yellow. Substantial changes in the lineup today (Edghill, Carlisle, Ainsworth back in, and Thorpe starts again for injured Furlong, who failed a fitness test and isn't on the bench). Day, Edghill, Forbes, Carlisle, Padula, Ainsworth, Rowlands, Bircham, McLeod, Gallen, Thorpe Bench: Bean, Pacquette, Sabin, Palmer, Culkin Welcome back, Clarke!
Goal by Kevin Gallen just two minutes into the second half! It's been mostly Rangers since then, too! QPR on the move! QPR 1:1 Tranmere
Just a few minutes left and it's still 1:1. Sabin and Pacquette on for Thorpe and Ainsworth as Rangers try to grab three points.
Full Time QPR 1:1 Tranmere Rovers Hope we don't need those two points later. This and Wycombe are two home games that we probably should have won. How'd we look, Kev?
Another frustrating loss of points at Loftus Road. Again, the performance wasn't really bad (although far from good), but the result is a definite dissapointment. The early goal was the result of good fortune and finishing on their part - and it took us far too long to get back into the match after it. Praise - not too much. Kevin Gallen had a good match and it was nice to see him get a goal. Especially after some have been critical of him due to his lack of goals this season. For me, he's the first name on the team sheet every week. His possession skills and vision are key to us playing good football. No one else really stood out. Terrell Forbes played alright at the back. Tony Thorpe (like Gallen) is a threat if someone plays the ball to his feet. Both he and Kev did not get the ball at their feet enough to impress - same too for McLeod. Which leads into the biggest complaint - we hoofed way too much. And this without Big Dan on the field. Leading the long ball offender list was Richard Edghill. When we signed him earlier this autumn I was instantly impressed with his skill on the ball and passing. Two things he showed very little of yesterday. I would say that our midfield was poor - but they were played out of the match too often by the hoofs. Bircham was not as poor as people are saying (recently), but he's not excelling like many are expecting. I think that Marcus Bean should get his spot back next to Birch, with Rowlands back on the right. Ainsworth is a fan favorite and great signing, but I think he's more valuable as a sub. Clark Carlisle seemed to get better as the match went on which is a good sign. He got a great reception before the match - looked very pleased to be back on the field at home. We'll need to hope for a lot of City reserves on Tuesday, or we don't have much of a chance. But, I didn't think we'd do that well in Sheffield and look what happened. This team can rise to meet good opposition (and lower itself against poor sides). The FA Cup draw was just salt on a "blecchh" day. Away to Grimsby - can't be much worse in round one. I was hoping for a non-League side in a nice southern town. No such luck. Fish and chips in Cleethorpes it is (If I can afford to go).