Response needed, response delivered. Rangers finally delivered a performance of note against the divisions in form side as they played out an entertaining draw with Watford at Loftus Road. For the first time since the Bristol City match they showed the fight and determination that saved them last season. 

Changes were needed after Tuesday and Gregory took the bull by the horns to a certain extent. Camp was in goal behind Timoska, Cullip, Stewart and Barker. Ainsworth, Bolder, Leigertwood and Rowlands were in midfield with Nardiello and Blackstock up front. 

Both sides missed excellent chances in the first few minutes. Midfield terrier Lee Williamson lashed a poor shot well off target before Rangers almost scored when Blackstock got onto a throw in and lifted the ball past Shittu before volleying wildly and sending the ball out for a throw on the other side of the pitch. Lee Camp then produced a brilliant save to deny Shittu a goal on his return to Rangers. The giant centre back rose above Stewart at a corner and powered in a header that Camp tipped onto the bar.  

Ainsworth’s mere presence seemed to have lifted his team mates and he set off on a typically buccaneering run down the wing only to see his ball in narrowly evade Blackstock. Whilst there is little doubt that Ainsworth lacks quality in his final ball sometimes his enthusiasm alone is enough to pull the team up a notch. 

The breathless start to the game continued when Tommy Smith shot wide when he should have done much better. What was already noticeable was how referee Hill seemed quite content to allow players to have a physical battle. Cullip was having a right old ding dong with Henderson and King and the same could be said at the other end. Unfortunately he would abandon this in the second half and Rangers would pay the price. 

Adam Johnson, on loan from Middlesbrough, should have been booked for an outrageous dive as he tried to go between Bolder and Cullip. He pushed the ball too far ahead and then hurled himself to the floor. I thought that such a blatant dive would have carried an automatic yellow card?  

Blackstock should have done better when he managed to get into space to meet Rowlands’ ball in from the left. He glanced a header goalward but it slipped wide of Poom’s left hand post. At the other end Sampsa Timoska produced a trademark blockbuster challenge to deny Williamson. The Hornets midfielder looked certain to score but Timoska hammered him in the area with the challenge of the season so far. 

Rangers were bang at it now and had three quick chances to take the lead. Bolder whipped a ball in that was expertly cleared by USA international Jay DeMerit. Then Rowlands went on a jinking run that has been all too lacking of late and weaved his way into the Watford box. The chance to shoot seemed to open up but he tried to beat another man and Lloyd Doyley took the chance to rob him. Doyley was the hero again moments later as he blocked Blackstock’s goal bound strike. 

Minutes before the break Camp was back on superhero duty as Watford launched a rapier like counter attack. King went hurtling goalward with the ball at his feet and cracked in a low shot that Camp saved well, such was the speed of the Watford attack though that they had another three players in the R’s box! The in form Henderson was first to the ball only to see Camp spread himself again and block the ball away. The linesman’s flag had gone up but it takes nothing away from the quality of the keeping. 

Gregory was forced into a change just before the break when the disappointing Nardiello seemed to tweak his hamstring and Ephraim came on to play in his favoured striking role. At halftime both sides made further changes. Ainsworth came off to be replaced by Moore, the plan was probably to get him through a half and then assess him. Watford withdrew DeMerit and sent Adrian Mariappa on in his place. 

Disaster struck at the start of the half though as for the second game in a row, Rangers seemed to get caught cold after the break. Marlon King stood a ball up to the far post and Barker failed to deal with it. He allowed the ball to be lifted back across the six yard box where champion diver Johnson was on hand to head into the gaping net. 

Rangers responded though. Rather than the heads going down as they had against Plymouth they battled back and within ten minutes the equaliser had been scored. Rangers broke quickly as they had done several times during the game and Ephraim spread the ball wide to Stefan Moore. He stood a great ball up the back stick where Blackstock rose highest only to see his header come back off the woodwork. The ball landed in the path of Moore and he made no mistake as he rammed the ball into the roof of the net. 

Rangers were finally creating chances, and plenty of them. Blackstock missed a couple of chances before Boothroyd made a double change to try and pep up his team. Ellington and McAnuff were sent on in place of Henderson and Smith. Ellington almost scored with his first touch as he sent in a free kick that Camp needed two goes at to gather. As he grabbed it Williamson clattered him and sparked a hand bagging session. It was Williamson’s umpteenth foul of the game and he had yet to be shown a card; it is a shame Mr Hill of Herts wasn’t so lenient for the Rangers players. 

With nine minutes left Rangers were down to ten men as Mikele Leigertwood was dismissed. He had rightly gone into the book for an ugly lunge on Gavin Mahon early in the half but had not conceded another foul for the rest of the half, indeed the Mahon one was his first by my reckoning. Doyley had the ball near the touchline and as he tried to knock it up the line Legs went across him to try and block but ended up catching the full back. Doyley went down as if hit by the 1643 Kings Cross to Watford Junction service! Hill was quickly across to give a second yellow for his second foul and it was harsh in the extreme. 

Moore turned hero at the other end of the pitch as he hacked a King shot off the line before Camp produced a staggering one handed save after Ellington cracked a stunning volley goalward from the edge of the area. Despite their numerical disadvantage Rangers kept going and had two late chances to win the game. 

A ball into the box from the right flank was chased by Doyley and Blackstock and they were both pulling each others shirts. Blackstock released Doyley but the collapsible full back didn’t release Blackstock and hauled the front man to the floor only for Hill to deny Rangers the chance to score from the spot. Not quite as blatant as the pen Rangers were denied on Tuesday night but a pen all the same. 

Then, as the game crept into injury time Moore had a chance to silence the critics, of which I am most certainly one! The ball was played wide to him on the right flank and he cut inside leaving Jordan Stewart floundering on the deck. He struck the ball cleanly on his left foot only to see the ball deflected over the bar. 

The final whistle brought Rangers a richly deserved point and in truth the draw was probably a fair result from an entertaining game. Both teams had a right go and even when Rangers went down to ten they showed togetherness and a fighting spirit that embodied the team at the end of last season but had been sadly missing this. 

Camp was supreme and Bolder turned in his best display of the season, although he still didn’t hit last season’s heights. Cullip was a monster at the back and pulled a much better performance out of Stewart. Ainsworth out wide in the first half just lifted everybody. Timoska was very good at right back and when fit has to play, in the middle of the park Leigertwood seems to be growing by the game and was really unlucky to go. Barker might be the slowest player of all time but for the most part he positioned himself well so as not to get caught out.  

Moore showed glimpses of what he can do but he has to do it all the time and probably more often than that if he is to win the R’s fans over! Rowlands did some good work but I think he drifts inside too much and gets in other people’s areas to often. Blackstock still looks short of form, he missed a lot of chances yesterday and looks cumbersome to me, Ephraim next to him though was a livewire and worth a start up top at West Brom next week. 

West Brom will be a huge test next weekend. With Leigertwood suspended a change will need to be made, with a bit of luck there will have been some movement in the loan market by then to pep the side up as the squad as a whole still looks short.  

Man of the Match – Lee Camp. This was exactly the sort of performance that shows why Gregory went after Camp so tenaciously in the summer. He was nothing short of exceptional.

simon@qprnet.com