BALANTA EARNS R'S A DRAW
Tuesday 18th March 2008
by Ron Norris

After a gap of nearly a month Rangers' reserves were back in action on Tuesday evening and fought out a creditable 1-1 draw with high flying Southampton at Loftus Road.

Matt Pickens made his first appearance between sticks for this one with Zesh Rehman, Chris Barker and Angelo Balanta the other first teamers in the starting eleven.

Romone Rose returned to play up front as per his loan deal with AFC Wimbledon whilst Terry Smith got his first chance at this level after impressing for the under 18's in only a handful of appearances.

Pickens lined up behind a back four of Billy Coyne, Josh Ford, Rehman and Barker. Chris Arthur, Matt O'Brien and Smith made up the midfield whilst Balanta, Rose and Antonio German were the attacking tandem.

Rangers took the lead thanks to a clinical Balanta finish but were pegged back through Cedric Baseya's header minutes later.

The result leaves The R's in 9th place in the ten team Combination league however we have played far fewer games than most of the division.

After months of sporadic fixtures there is a little flurry of activity for the reserves in the coming weeks, starting with a trip to leaders Charlton Athletic next Tuesday evening.

QPR: Pickens, Coyne, Ford, Rehman, Barker, Arthur, O'Brien, Smith, Rose, German, Balanta. Subs: Crowther, Brown, Wright, Morgan-Cummings.