Pre-Season Friendly
Wednesday 29th July 2009
Kick-off: 19:45
Rockingham Road Stadium
Kettering Town V Queens Park Rangers XI
By thegodfather

After an impressive win over Wycombe Wanderers, Queens Park Rangers travel to Kettering Town in their penultimate pre-season friendly. As I have said in previous articles, the results of these matches bear very little significance. However, I am sure Jim Magilton would like his side to go into the 2009/010 campaign on the back of some comfortable victories.

A few facts on Kettering Town

The manager – Former Birmingham and Fulham footballer, Mark Cooper, made the move into management when he took charge of Tamworth in 2007. He enjoyed success in the knockout competitions, reaching the third round of the FA Cup in two consecutive seasons. Impressed by his coaching skills, Kettering Town appointed Cooper as their new manager in May 2007. In his first year he guided the Poppies to the Conference North title and promotion to the Conference National. The 2008-09 campaign was also a successful one for the club. They just missed out on the play-offs in 8th position.

The stadium – The club has been playing its home matches at the Rockingham Road Stadium since 1897. The ground has a capacity of 6170, of which 1800 is seated. The Chairman has recently announced his intention to move Kettering Town FC to a new stadium in the future.

Hopes for the 2009/010 campaign – Mark Cooper and his players will be aiming for a play-off place after narrowly missing out last season. The manager will therefore be expecting a decent performance from his side when they face Queens Park Rangers this evening.

Men to watch

1. Remember Lee Harper? The 37 year-old goalkeeper spent four years at Queens Park Rangers and made 119 appearances. Ian Holloway released him in 2001 and a successful five-year spell with Northampton Town followed. In 2007 Harper signed for Kettering Town and he has made 43 appearances since.

2. Andre Boucad is a product of Queens Park Rangers’ youth academy. The 24 year-old lists Peterborough United and Wycombe Wanderers among his former clubs. Boucad is currently in his second spell with Kettering Town and has made 81 appearances for the Poppies. The midfielder is very skilful and creates many of the team’s opportunities. He will need to be marked closely by the QPR midfielders.

3. Central defender, Exodus Geohaghon, will provide the Queens Park Rangers forwards with a stern test this evening. The 24 year-old’s impressive performances have earned him a call-up to the England C side. According to newspaper reports, Crystal Palace, Sheffield United and Plymouth Argyle all showed interest in the player during last January’s transfer window.

4. Up front, the Rangers defenders will have to deal with Lee Fowler. The 26 year-old has Football League experience from his spells with Coventry City and Huddersfield Town. He recently joined Kettering on a two-year contract.

Form

Kettering Town’s previous match against Redditch was called off ten minutes into the second half after one of the players dislocated his shoulder. The score was 0-0. Queens Park Rangers, on the other hand, won their game against Wycombe 2-1, although the victory was more comfortable than the scoreline suggests.

QPR Team News

According to the official website, Kettering will face a “Queens Park Rangers X1”. Expect to see several members of the youth team in the starting line-up. Alejandro Faurlin, Akos Buzsaky and Mikele Leigertwood all sustained minor injuries during the pre-season programme and could miss out. Lee Cook will definitely not be available.

Prediction

This might be a little more difficult than the previous few matches against Forest Green, Oxford and Wycombe. It is likely that Magilton will field a weakened side and Rangers could be more vulnerable in certain areas of the pitch. I think this evening’s game will be more even as a contest but I still fancy the Rs to come out on top.

Kettering Town 0-1 QPR