At approximately 4.50pm on Saturday 22^nd January a strange phenomenon occurred at Highfield Road, Coventry. This sight, rarely seen at a Queen’s Park Rangers game in the last few months had everyone in the ground scratching their heads. After consulting the appropriate authorities, I am now able to confirm that it was what is known, as a slice of luck.

With various people returning from injury and suspensions many, myself included, thought Olly would make changes to the side that beat Stoke last weekend. This was not the case though and the same eleven lined up for this one. Royce was in goal behind a back four of Edghill, Shittu, Davies and Padula. Ainsworth, Santos, Gallen and Cook were in midfield with Cureton and Furlong in attack. The bench was about as strong as it gets with Day, Bignot, Rose, Thorpe and Rowlands picking splinters.

Coventry actually started the brighter of the two sides but a magnificent challenge from Shittu set the tone for the afternoon. Gary McSheffrey burst through on goal and looked set to pull the trigger when Big Dan came in cleaned the lot out. From this Rangers found their feet and set about giving Coventry a real going over in the first period.

Ainsworth was finding plenty of room against old relic Steve Staunton and it wasn’t long before he was past him and having a strike at goal. Good link up work between the front two saw Ainsworth played in and he lashed a strike just wide of the far post. Furlong then won a corner and tangled with a Coventry defender. This lead to him being booed for the remainder of the game by the Cov fans, clearly he was not a massive favourite when they were his first pro club.

From the corner Shittu managed to get in front of Luke Steele but got too big a contact on his header and the ball flew over the bar. There was not much longer to wait though for the opening goal and it was a delightful move when it did. Rangers won a throw in near the right corner flag and Edghill threw it into Ainsworth. His flick found Furlong and just as the booing started he laid the ball into the path of Cureton and he rammed the ball home. That was his fourth league goal of the season and Coventry have been on the end of all of them! He might even get one against someone else at some point!

Coventry came close to replying as the game approached the half hour mark. Former Forest and Brum striker Stern John, a man who does not seem to have endeared himself to the Highfield Road faithful, stole in behind the back four and saw a shot turned behind by Royce.

This only seemed to galvanise Rangers and they came close to scoring another three more times before the half time break. Cureton saw a drive flash wide after the ball fell tom him inside the area. Next up it was Ainsworth again as he found yet more room behind the static Staunton and drew a fine save from Steele. The rebound just evaded Cureton as he tried to nip in at the far post.

Cureton himself came close to grabbing his second when he found himself with only Steele to beat following more good work from Ainsworth. He went for placement and Steele saved well. You couldn’t help but wonder what might have happened if he had just put his foot through it.

What had been most impressive in the first period was how well Rangers had moved the ball. Everyone seemed calm in possession and the midfield pairing of Gallen and Santos seem to be complimenting each other. Santos in particular was covering every blade of grass and constantly popping up in both defence and attack.

At the break Coventry threw on Dele Adebola and virtually went to a 4-2-4 formation as they had two strikers playing on the wings, Wigan style. It immediately made a difference as Adebola started to pull Davies and Shittu all over the place with his good movement and strong running. Pressure was being brought to bear on the R’s rearguard and a couple of corners proved to be their undoing.

From the first one former Reading man Adie Williams made a very late run into the area and was not picked up. The danger was cleared though but another corner came minutes later and the same ploy was used again. Williams arrived late and Furlong failed to mark him tightly enough. His header didn’t carry much pace but the direction was good and it nestled in the corner of the net.

Now the Coventry fans were in full voice, Jimmy Hill’s ditty was being sung with gusto and their players were visibly lifted. Cureton had a great chance to silence them again when he was played through one-on-one with Steele. Santos had collected the ball in his own half and set off on a buccaneering run at the heart of the Coventry defence. His through ball to Cureton was perfect however the striker’s first touch was a heavy one and he allowed Steele to smother at his feet.

Rangers were piling forward again now and Ainsworth brought yet another save from Steele. He latched onto a poor pass to drive through on goal, his shot was fierce but straight above Steele and he turned it over the bar. Ainsworth was soon substituted after he and McSheffrey were booked for a set to on the touchline. The Coventry man seemed the aggressor so I am not sure why Ainsworth was carded. It was fairly indicative of a very poor display from referee Mark Clattenburg. He was over fussy all afternoon and seemed to favour the home side with almost every 50/50 decision.

Coventry should have taken the lead with fifteen minutes left when McSheffrey crossed for Welshman Andy Morrell. His header was firm and true but luckily straight into the midriff of Royce. At the other end Steele was once again the hero as he clung on to a firm twenty five yarder from Gallen. All the good work Steele had put in keeping his team in the game was soon to be completely undone.

A freekick into the box was headed goalward by Shittu and before it could reach the goal Santos appeared in the six yard box. He arched his body into the air to fire in a spectacular volley only to see Steele plunge to his left to keep the ball out. The save was nearly completed before the on loan Manchester United man let the ball squirm from his grasp and trickle over the line. Clattenburg finally got something right and allowed the goal, not quite as obvious as the one he chalked off at OT a couple of weeks ago but this time his positioning was excellent.

Coventry were deflated and were never likely to get back into it. It didn’t stop Bignot from taking a little too much time over a throw though and incurring the wrath of Clattenburg. He became the fourth Rangers booking of the afternoon, following Davies, Ainsworth and Gallen.

At the final whistle there was joy unbridled amongst the Rangers fans. A first win on the road since the victory at Stoke at the start of October and an end to the terrible run of away defeats. In truth I would have been happy with the draw given all that but to get such a late winner was the icing on the cake.

This was a decent display from all concerned. Royce was under worked but did well; the back four were all solid and used the ball well. Davies ended the game sporting a Basil Fawlty headband and actually seemed to improve once he had cracked his noggin open. Ainsworth was always a threat, Cook on the other side not so but he did provide a welcome release of pressure and won the freekick that led to the winner. Gallen grew as the game went on and Santos next to him was in magnificent form. Cureton and Furlong linked well all day and Curo should have been tucking another match ball under his arm.

The same praise cannot be heaped on referee Clattenburg who was poor throughout. He seemed overly harsh on Rangers players whilst allowing the Coventry men to get away with similar misdemeanours. He booked Gallen for protesting at his award of a corner, the protests were fair enough as the ball had not come with ten yards of an R’s player.

Next up is a tricky looking away game at Millwall; the only shame is it comes fully two weeks after this match. If we had been going there this week I would have been pretty confident, as it is we will be rested and raring to go and ready to cause an upset.

simon@qprnet.com