First off, I’m going to put this out there. Tuesday night made me remember what is great about being a QPR fan. I’d speculate it was the best away support this season coupled with one of our most impressive performances of the season. Real pride for who we are as QPR was shown by both those on the pitch and those in the stands. IF we continue in this vein we will stay up. 

Upon arrival into the ground we were met with a traveling support of around 500-600. Gregory was without both Lee Camp in goal and Adam Boulder due to clauses added into their contracts by Derby when they signed for us. We were also without our top scorer Dexter Blackstock. Unsurprisingly, Royce returned in goal for his first game since the Southend debacle. In front of him was a back four of Mancienne at right back, Cullip and Stewart in the middle and Rangers’ skipper Marcus Bignot at left back. In midfield no one was surprised to see Steve Lomas come in for Boulder to play alongside Idiakez, Rowlands and Cook. However, people were a little surprised to see Marc Nygaard partner Furlong in attack. Ray Jones, once more, found himself on the bench. 

Rangers flew out of the traps. A couple of early corners were won which came to nothing but we were dominating possession and Nygaard, Furlong, Cook and Rowlands were linking up very nicely when we went forward. Derby did not look like the promotion chasing side they are. This good work paid off on 14 minutes. A hopeful ball up front from defence was flicked on by Nygaard. Furlong who was up against the big, strong Darren Moore all night, got on the end of the flick on and, with his back to goal, hooked a shot towards the far corner. Bywater was stranded and didn’t move as the ball rebounded off the post to the edge of the six yard box where Rowlands dashed in to stoop and nod home the opening goal. It was what we deserved and the away end went a little mental. I’m not sure whether it was down to going ahead, or simply that we managed to score away from home. Bear in mind we’d only done so three times in our last ten away trips! 

Now, normally when we score what follows is the opposition appear to be camped in our half for the next fifteen minutes. Well, not Tuesday night! Buoyed by the goal we continued to dominate and were massively unlucky not to double the lead. First, only a minute after taking the lead, good play up front saw the ball shifted to Furlong on the edge of the box on the right. He had a great sight at goal but his right footed shot lacked power and Bywater saved easily.   

Following this, Martin Rowlands received the ball on the right hand side in Derby’s half. He ran at his full back before cutting inside. He shifted the ball onto his right foot and drilled a low shot towards the far corner. I thought it was going to nestle in Bywater’s bottom right corner but it whistled just wide. Derby looked all at sea. Nygaard and Furlong were holding the ball up well and feeding it out wide at every opportunity where Rowly and Cook were finding themselves with space to run at the Derby backline. We looked good. We actually looked really good. 

Then came the pivotal moment of the match. Another ball was played up to Furlong, who once more showed impressive strength to hold off the attentions of Moore, control the ball and pass it wide to Rowly. Rowly then played the ball back in behind the Derby defence into the path of an on rushing Furs in what was a great example of a pass and move one-two.  

Unfortunately the linesman on the far side, who clearly wasn’t sure of the rules, raised his flag. There is no way this could have been at Furs as he’d run from deep. In fact, it was Nygaard who was deemed offside despite the fact he was walking back on side about ten yards away from where the ball was passed to. Furs lifted the ball over the stranded Bywater and into the net, only to realize the flag had gone up. He even got booked for kicking the ball away. 

This piece of action was to be Rowlands’ last. He went down holding what looked like his right knee, but from our vantage point it was difficult to tell. Prav went over and signaled pretty quickly that that was it and Ainsworth came on to replace him. 

As the half wore on Derby began to get into the game more the game. A tame header by moo moo model Steve Howard was easily saved by Royce, who then had to be at his best to back peddle and tip over a 30 yard free kick. Derby’s best chance of the half then arrived courtesy of a corner from their right. Howard somehow managed to lift himself off the ground without the help of rockets and powered a header towards the far corner only to see little Cooky head it off the line. It would have been very unfair for us to have gone in all square at the break. As it was we didn’t, and most in the away end were impressed with what we’d seen. 

After purchasing ‘Football’s Famous Chicken Baltie Pie’, which really is quite tasty, it was back to our seats. We decided to move back a few rows and get amongst the core of the singing at the back. Up until now the away support had been good: quite loud and fairly constant. In the second half, though, it went up a couple of notches with practically full participation from everyone in the away end all half. Those there can be proud of themselves. 

Perhaps expecting a Derby onslaught we were surprised to see us look the more threatening early on. Royce made an early comfortable save but it was Rangers who once again looked likeliest to score. As Derby pushed forward, space was being left in the middle of the pitch for us to counter attack into. Idiakez seized the ball and broke into Derby’s half before slipping the ball through to Nygaard. He’d made a good run and was one-on-one on the edge of the box before taking that extra touch and time he didn’t have. Dean Leacock, the man we didn’t sign over Zesh Rehman, made a superb last ditch sliding tackle. 

Rangers continued to threaten. Lee Cook, who up to now and been his usual self, proceeded to become untouchable. Had we had a ref who was willing to give us a free kick within 30 yards of the Derby goal we may well have seen a different result. Time and time again Cook received the ball on the left, often marked by two or even three men whom he danced his way past, showing close control I’ve not witnessed by a QPR player since Trevor Sinclair. The ball really seemed glued to his boots and Derby regularly reverted to kicking him or pulling him back which, if this occurred in Derby’s half, was generally ignored by a classic ‘homer’ of a ref, Steve Tanner. One exception to this was midway through the second half when Cook was scythed down by a challenge even Stevie Wonder wouldn’t have missed. It was an atrocious tackle and a given that it would be a booking. Or not as the case was. Instead just a little chat with the offending player was good enough for Mr. Tanner. Perhaps he was just warning the Derby player not to do this any nearer his box as that would compromise Tanner’s obvious aim not to give us a free kick we could score from. What made it all the worse was Mr. Tanner booked Idiakez moments later for the most innocuous of challenges. 

It was more good work from Cook which saw the ball played inside to Nygaard who managed to shift it further across to Ainsworth who, in turn, was steaming into space on the right hand side of the box. As Leacock came across to cover he cut inside and poked the ball into the path of Lomas on the edge of the box. He unleashed a fearsome shot to which Bywater made an excellent save high to his right. It was a good effort, but as it was hit so hard I feel if it had been low Bywater wouldn’t have been able to get down to it and we’d have got that crucial second. 

Derby continued to push and commit more of their midfield forward but they weren’t really creating anything thanks to a centre back pairing who were heading away anything that came near them. Cullip, in particular, was having his best game for the club since his debut. The whole back were performing professionally. They were first to loose balls and were not giving an inch. By now, between them Stewart and Cullip had Howard in their pocket, which is no mean feat for someone of his size. Pun intended. 

Around the hour mark, another counter attack saw the mesmerizing Cook glide by his man on the left and bear down on the two centre backs. Furlong was in support and he made a clever run in behind. Cook, however, over hit the ten yard pass by about 2 yards and Bywater smothered it just in front of Furlong. Had the pass been weighted correctly you’d have fancied Furlong to score. Bywater would have been stranded and Furlong would have been able to go round the keeper or pick his spot. 

The Rangers support was now in full voice. The staple chant of ‘We are the Rangers boys, da da da da daa daa, stand up and make some noise’ was being sung with gusto and renditions of ‘we’re the finest football team’ echoed around Pride Park. 

As the game entered the final ten minutes members of the home stands began to filter out. The away end was buzzing. The players were giving their all. Perhaps, just perhaps, we allowed ourselves to think we’d done it.

A knackered Paul Furlong was removed with 5 minutes left to a standing ovation and chants of ‘Furlong, there’s only one, Furlong’ from the away end. Ray Jones replaced him. 

Then it happened. With four minutes of normal time left to play Derby won a corner of their right. It was embarrassingly over-hit but a Derby player managed to collect it and lay it back to McEvely, Derby’s left back and one of their more impressive performers. I’ll put it down to tiredness, but he wasn’t closed down quick enough and was able to take a touch and whip in a cross. The penalty area was full of players and Stewart, Mancienne, Bignot and Nygaard were all in the vicinity but no one seemed to jump. It reached Darren Moore who nodded the ball down right into the far corner leaving Royce with no chance. It was a cruel blow. The players looked shattered by it and they had every right to be. They had put in the almost perfect away performance. We’d defended with resolve, we’d passed the ball around nicely and we’d looked a real threat going forward but we won’t going to win. 

I couldn’t believe it. The away support continued to sing and try and lift the players but really, we were all hoping to avoid a Hull scenario now. Thankfully we did and we finished the game with a decent result and a fantastic performance. 

The players showed they’re good enough and have the fight to stay in this league. Play like this against Leicester and we’ll win. However, this is QPR we’re talking of and things are never that easy. 

Man of the Match: Very tough because so many players had great games. Cook was outstanding in the second half. His close control is breathtaking and he is far, far too good for this league, let alone league one. Get yourself to Loftus Rd. as much as you can because I can’t see him being with us much longer. However, I’m going to be a little controversial. Cook was overshadowed by Rowly in the first half and on occasion he lacked a final product. Therefore, I’m going to give MOM to Paul Furlong. I have been, unreservedly, one of the man’s biggest fans since he signed for us years ago. For the last two seasons he’s been off the boil and has looked past it. Last night saw the Furlong of 2/3 years ago. He gave Moore a torrid time. He looked sharp, strong, good in the air and fit. He missed a decent chance in the first half and scored, yet again, when someone else was adjudged to have been offside. He also had the shot which hit the post and we scored from. But the main reason I’m giving him MOM is that he was the prime reason we looked like we might score. In previous weeks we’ve had all the creativity of Cook but failed to look like we’d convert his good work. The difference today was that Furlong looked dangerous and likely to score. He held the ball up front brilliantly bringing the wingers into the game and making us into an attacking force. If he and Cook continue to play like this we have a chance of survival. Just a chance mind.

simon@qprnet.com