Gregory made a few changes following the stalemate with Leicester City on Saturday. Royce was in goal behind a back four of Mancienne, Rehman, Stewart and Bignot. Ainsworth, Lomas, Smith and Cook were in midfield with Gallen partnering Blackstock up front.  

Rangers started the game pretty well with Blackstock looking lively up front. It was going to be important for him and Gallen to hold the ball as much as possible when it came to them to try and stop the high tempo the home side were sure to set. Despite the decent start there weren’t too many raised eyebrows when Rangers conceded their now obligatory goal within the first fifteen minutes. 

The R’s defensive line had resembled a dogs hind leg from the off and the linesman had already been called into action a couple of times as Ellington and Kamara found themselves offside. They managed to spring the trap though and Koumas found himself in acres of space. His shot was well parried by Royce but the ball fell to Ellington and with no pressure on him he fired goalwards. The ball seemed as though it may have been travelling wide but Royce had to go for it and only succeeded in diverting it into the net. 

This seemed to knock the stuffing out of Rangers and for the majority of the remainder of the half the West Brom midfield proceeded to run the legs off of Lomas and Smith. Koumas was being afforded all kinds of space, as was Greening, and they were hurting the R’s time and again. What wasn’t helping was that Lomas and Smith were managing to surrender possession all too easily when they did win it back. Lomas looked like a different player from the man that controlled the midfield on Saturday. 

The amount of space afforded to the Baggies midfield was making the skittish back four even more nervy than usual. Zesh Rehman appeared to have developed some sort of temporary deafness as he ignored the instructions of Royce time and again as he turned in the worst of his host of awful performances since he joined from Fulham.  

Lomas almost made amends for some of his poor play when he forced dodgy Swiss keeper Pascal Zuberbuhler into a diving save with a drive from the edge of the box. At the other end Koumas was thwarted again by Royce before the R’s keeper turned away a looping Steve Watson header that seemed destined for the top corner. Watson was having an excellent game; he was strong going forward and had managed to repel the advances of the in form Lee Cook at will. 

Zoltan Gera then forced Royce into yet another save when he was left in acres of space at the far post to collect a cross from Diomansy Kamara. The mini Magyar cracked an angled drive toward goal that was turned away with some style by Royce. It was like the boy with his finger in the dyke though and it was going to give at some point. 

A high ball in from the left should have been attacked by Stewart but he failed to get off of the ground. Kamara brought the ball down and when Stewart slipped in front of him he had plenty of space to tuck his effort past Royce to make it 2-0. Another poor goal to give away but what this team lack in terms of defensive quality they make up for in heart and just before the break they were back in the game. 

Cook to a short corner and when his original delivery was headed clear it came to Bignot. The left back managed to work it back out to Cook who was still loitering on the right wing and he sent in a fantastic ball to the far post where Damion Stewart was on hand to slide the ball home for his second goal of the season. 

The half time whistle wasn’t long in coming and the goal had probably changed John Gregory’s team talk somewhat. Whatever he said seemed to have an effect as within two minutes of the restart the deficit had been cancelled out. More good running from Blackstock saw him receive the ball in the inside left channel and he sent the ball into the six yard box where Gallen was on hand to beat his man and bundle home. 

What was needed now was a period of ten minutes to just steady the ship and try and take some of the sting out of the home side. That went out of the window though when Lomas surrendered possession in the middle of the park to Nathan Ellington. He found Kamara in space between the centre backs and the Senegalese international mad no mistake with a fine finish past Royce into the corner. Lomas then stood there and shouted at all and sundry to try and deflect the blame. He had managed to hook the ball aimlessly into the air all night and the only time you want him to do it he lets it bounce and a goal is given away. 

The Baggies were at it again now and Royce was on hand to save from Ellington after Stewart had slipped again to let him in. Royce then had an easier task as Koumas tried to lob him but only plopped the ball into his hands from ten yards. Curtis Davies then put in a contender for worst header of the season as his attempt at goal went out for a throw on near the corner flag! 

Rangers were trying to get out and Cook was getting into the game more now and starting to have some joy against the tiring Watson. With Blackstock now back in the dugout and Nygaard on in his place he was the only one with any pace going forward so there was a lot on his shoulders. 

Koumas went close again when a combination of Mancienne and Ainsworth managed to deflect his shot away for a corner. Cook then went close twice in quick succession; first his shot was easily saved by Zuberbuhler before his freekick beat the big Swiss easily but sailed inches wide of the target. 

Then with seven minutes of normal time remaining Rangers struck to earn a share of the points. Once again Cook was the instigator as he sent in an early cross that found Nygaard rampaging in to the six yard box. The man who had entered the field to a crescendo of booing from a section of the R’s fans made no mistake as he powered a header past the hopeless Zuberbuhler. 

The final few minutes of the game seemed to take an eternity as you felt sure that the R’s defence would conjure up another Halloween horror show to gift the home side a winner. Four minutes of injury time didn’t help matters much but luckily the R’s managed to ride out the storm and take a creditable point back to W12. 

This was an odd display; some of the players were very poor whilst some were very good. Rehman and Lomas had shockers and they couldn’t seem to get anything right all night. It was amazing to see how poor Lomas was after such an outstanding display on Saturday. Mancienne showed good powers of recovery and he had to as he was caught out of position all night. Jimmy Smith was largely anonymous again, he worked hard but a harsh early booking meant he didn’t have a tackle left in him. Late in the game he made some good attacking forays as the R’s looked for a way back into the match. Ainsworth was totally anonymous on the right flank. 

Royce was outstanding, Bignot was solid as usual and Stewart played well in the second half and with some studs in his boots he may have been even better! Cook got into the game more as it wore on and had another two assists against his name. Gallen and Blackstock played well up top and Nygaard took his goal very well when he came on. He may not be everyone’s cup of tea but there is no excuse to boo a player onto the field.

We have to learn how to keep a clean sheet and binning Rehman would be a decent start. Play Mancienne in the middle with Stewart and shunt Rehman to right back if necessary. The man is a liability in the middle, doesn’t listen to anything the keeper says and seems to have none of the instincts needed to play centre back. 

Palace roll into town on Saturday in the midst of a poor run, let’s hope we don’t do our usual charity job and hand them a win to get their season back on track and leave our dangling in the balance. 

Man of the Match – Simon Royce. Even though he conceded three goals the R’s keeper made a host of great saves to keep his side in it. Had it not been for him it could easily have been 8-3! 

simon@qprnet.com