With two new signings made during the week it was a little surprising that only Dominic Foley made his debut from the off. He formed a strike partnership with Doudou in place of the usual pairing of Thomson and Griffiths. Neither of them were on the bench, in the case of Thomson through injury, I think. Venezuelan international Fernando De Ornelas could only make the bench but would enter the fray in the latter stages. Danny Shittu also warmed the bench despite a man of the match performance against Peterborough in midweek.

Neither team began well but Rangers had slightly the better of the opening exchanges. Doudou forced a fine save from Gary Kelly in the Oldham goal after a trademark jinking run. The majority of both sides attacking intentions were being stifled by one of the worst referees I have ever had the misfortune to see. Mr Hegley seemed intent on stamping his authority on a game which didn't need it. His whistle seemed to punctuate the game every two minutes from kick off and as a result, it was not a great spectacle.

It was Doudou that gave Rangers a deserved lead just before the half-hour. As the Oldham defence dithered on the ball Doudou charged down a clearance and coolly lobbed the advancing Kelly. The ball seemed to take an age to drop into the net but it was no less than Doudou deserved, as he had been a constant menace. If he can extend his performance of the first 45 minutes to an entire game he will make one of the striking berths his own on a permanent basis. Oldham simply had no answer to his direct running and searing pace. He seemed to tire badly in the second period as his effectiveness waned.

Our lead could easily have been doubled had Mr Hegley spotted a blatant penalty area foul on Foley. The ball was fired in from the left and Foley attempted to meet it with a firm header. As he reached the ball he was met with a two handed shove in the back. I have seen people do time for more minor assaults than this. A few minutes later a pulled hamstring would bring his debut to an abrupt end. He was replaced by Dave McEwen who himself was the subject of a shocking challenge that Hegley either missed or chose to ignore. Many of his decisions left the Loftus Road faithful incandescent with rage.

From an Oldham point of view they had a lot of the ball but did nothing with it. The Sheridan brothers, John and Darren, were involved in an absorbing scrap with Rangers duo Bonnot and Bignot. Both sides were pulling no punches and both the Sheridan's can count themselves lucky not to be shown yellow cards. The victim of the majority of their assaults was Ollie Burgess, he stood up to the challenge well and it may have done him good to get a bit of treatment.

Rangers had dominated the first half but the pace of our attacking play looked to have taken its toll as Oldham were the brighter side from the off in the second half. However, they had created very little until they scored with their only real effort of the game. A highly disputed free kick was awarded to Oldham on the edge of the Rangers box. John Sheridan swung it in and Stuart Balmer rose unchallenged at the far post to nod home. Steve Palmer should have done better with his challenge, as he seemed to make no visible effort to cut the cross out.

A collective groan went up from the crowd as Stuart Wardley was brought on for the ineffective McEwen. Wardley soon silenced the doubters with a fine display of the target mans art which put his predecessors in the game, Foley and McEwen to shame. He won every header and was unlucky not to open his account for the season, his fierce left-footed strike being ruled out for offside.

We had other chances as well. Both Alex Bonnot and Doudou squandered chances when through one on one with Kelly. Another long-range effort slammed into the protective mesh covering the already broken score board. These are the sort of chances that never seem to go in when the luck is against you. But anybody who thought we had been unlucky so far was about to get a shock.

Firstly De Ornelas was brought on for a debut and found himself booked within two minutes. Hegley had allowed countless challenges to go from both sides yet chose to book De Ornelas for his one and only foul of the game. Five minutes later Matthew Rose had a ball driven squarely into his bollocks from no more than three yards. It would have been comical if you didn't know what the pain was like. He took two steps before the pain hit him and he collapsed to the floor like, well, like a man that had been smashed in the bollocks!

Rose had still not regained his composure when he attempted a backpass to the under-worked Chris Day. He sold Day badly short and he was forced to rush from his goal to attempt a clearance. As Day and Tipton met with an almighty shudder the big Rangers keeper stayed down. He was taken from the field on a stretcher with a suspected double break to his right leg. The more observant among you will note that we had already used our three subs. Wardley volunteered to go between the sticks for the last few minutes and similar to Day before him he had nothing to do.

The game ended as a draw and it seemed a fair result. Our main priority had been to halt the alarming run of defeats and this had been achieved. On another day, we would have scored three or four and run out comfortable winners but it wasn't to be. Holloway said after the game he would rather have lost the game than lose Day with injury. I am not 100% convinced of Fraser Digby's abilities and I think Holloway may look for another keeper if the take-over ever gets completed.

On a more positive note the defence looked much stronger with the return of Terrell Forbes at right back. He also gives you so much in an attacking sense that when he isn't there you really notice. Both Palmer and Rose were solid apart from the errors that cost us two points and a keeper. The left back area continues to be a source of concern. Bruce is not good enough and the introduction of Danny Murphy must surely be imminent. Bonnot and Burgess were both strong in midfield although Marcus Bignot seems out of sorts. His enthusiasm cannot be questioned but his passing is poor and he often plays teammates into trouble. Something must be done to help him recapture his earlier form, as he is an important cog in the Rangers machine.

Better, but we still have a way to go to get back to our early season form. We have dropped to thirteenth and if we're not careful, we could find ourselves dragged even lower. I called this match a must win, maybe I should have called it a must not lose. Next up we have Notts County who are not exactly setting the world alight and we must take all three point from Meadow Lane.