Waddock went with a starting eleven of Sean Thomas, Marcus Bignot, Pat Kanyuka, Tobi Jinadu and Anthony Tonkin (both trialists). Gareth Ainsworth, Tommy Doherty, Armel Tchakounte and Olisen (another trialist) were in midfield with Shabazz Baidoo and Stefan Moore up front.

Rangers started the game the brighter of the two sides with Doherty and Olisen looking to move the ball whenever they could. This wasn’t made easy by the very long covering of grass on the pitch. It made balls that looked perfect when they left the boot stop alarmingly at times.

Kanyuka was working hard at the back against the vastly experienced Marcus Gayle. He wasn’t being help by centre half partner Jinadu who seemed reluctant to attack the high ball. He let far too many bounce and he doesn’t look any better than anything we already have for me.

Rangers took the lead when Doherty whipped home a terrific freekick after twenty five minutes. Former R’s keeper Nikki Bull was powerless to intervene as The Bristol Strangler sent the ball over the wall and in.

Later in the half a goalmouth scramble came to nothing and Baidoo went close after a neat turn on the edge of the box. He let the ball run across him and lost his man only to see his shot blocked by the covering defender.

Olisen was showing what good potential he has. He seemed to have an extremely sure touch and an eye for an intricate pass. Had the pitch been more conducive to passing football he may have opened The Shots up more than he did.

Wholesale changes were made at the break with Jon Munday, Ian Evatt, Matt Hislop, Scott Donnelly, Steve Lomas, Stefan Bailey, Lee Cook, Kevin Gallen and a trialist called Betu Tshimanga came on in place of Bignot, Jinadu, Tonkin, Ainsworth, Olisen, Doherty, Tchakounte, Moore and Baidoo. Thomas and Kanyuka were the only players to stay on.

Aldershot also made a host of changes and as with the first half it took a fair old while to get going. Gallen blazed a left footed effort over the top after good work from Cook and Tshimanga was looking lively but not seeming to get much in the way of service.

Kanyuka went off with a touch of cramp and Jinadu came back on to replace him. A mix up between he and Evatt almost lead to an Aldershot equaliser. A header flicked off of Munday and Evatt and Tobi left it to one another. The Shots striker forced an excellent save from Thomas and he palmed his effort onto the post and behind.

The Shots now had a concerted spell of pressure and Thomas was forced into another excellent save, this time diving away to his left. Thomas is certainly a good prospect in sticks and it would be great to see him and Jake Cole jockeying for position in years to come.

Cook was not seeing as much of the ball as he would have like on the left wing but every time he did he looked a threat, even with the lush turf stopping him from going at his fullback at top speed.

With twenty five minutes of the half gone Stefan Bailey took control of the game and started to give Tshimanga some decent service. He looks to be a player that wants to hang on the defenders shoulder and then use his pace to spin onto through balls. One such pass saw him get past his defender only for his shot to be blocked away.

With roughly five minutes to play Aldershot equalised and it was a bit of a give away. Hislop made a real hash of a clearance on his weaker right foot and gifted possession to The Shots. He then didn’t get close enough to pressure the cross and a good ball was flung in that cut Thomas out of the equation and Pritchard stole in to nod the ball home from six yards.

All in all the result was fair as Rangers had the better of the first half and Aldershot the better of the second. It was noticeable how much better we were when we had two central players that could move the ball. Doherty and Olisen both did well and some of the thrust was lost when Lomas and Bailey were on. Bailey can certainly use the ball well but Lomas gave an idea of why Waddock is looking to move him on.

Trialist wise Tonkin looked ok but nothing for Mauro to lose any sleep about. Jinadu was poor I thought and for centre back he struggled to read the high ball and left most of the heading to Big Pat. When you consider that he was released by today’s hosts at the end of last season it’s not a massive shock. In the second half Tshimanga looked lively and showed decent movement. I would like to see him again with a partner up top as Gallen was deployed in a deeper role for much of the game and couldn’t support him.

Olisen was the pick of the bunch. He looks like a classy operator in the middle of the park and I am looking forward to seeing him against Stevenage to see whether this was a one off. There was no sign of Joel Drogba or the Togolese international we are mooted to be signing.

Perhaps more worrying was the fact that Big Dan was nowhere to be seen and no doubt rumours will start flying about again that he wasn’t playing as a move away from Loftus Road is imminent.

Man of the Match – Pat Kanyuka. 
Big Pat was excellent in the first half against Marcus Gayle and it was a shame that fatigue got the better of him in the second. He even had a chance to unleash his primal scream in one aerial duel and Gayle must have wondered what the bloody hell was going on!

simon@qprnet.com