Saturday 8th August 2009
The Coca-Cola Championship
Referee: Andy D’Urso
Attendance: 14,519
Queens Park Rangers 1-1 Blackpool
By The Godfather

Queens Park Rangers starting line-up: Cerny, Ramage, Mahon, Hall, Routledge, Helguson, Gorkss, Rowlands, Balanta, Borrowdale, Taraabt.

Blackpool starting line-up: Rachubka, Crainey, Southern, Evatt, Burgess, Vaughan, Taylor-Fletcher, Baptiste, Euell, Edwards, Adam.

Frankly, it was a travesty that Queens Park Rangers had to rely on a fluke cross-come-shot from Peter Ramage to escape with only a point in a match that they dominated from start to finish. In truth, the game should have been put well beyond Blackpool’s reach before Ben Burgess scored in the 37th minute. Some of the Rs’ approach-play was excellent, passing the ball around nicely and making clever use of Balanta and Routledge on the flanks. Once again, however, I found myself bemoaning the lack of a quality goalscorer as chance after chance after chance was squandered. What looked like a serious injury to skipper, Martin Rowlands, added to my disappointment.

Magilton set out with what appeared to be a 4-4-2 formation. Heidar Helguson partnered the loanee, Adel Taraabt, in attack. Routledge and Balanta took up the wings while Martin Rowlands and Gavin Mahon started in central midfield. Fitz Hall played alongside Kaspars Gorkss in the heart of defence. After what has seemed an eternity, QPR fans also got to see left-back, Gary Borrowdale, in Championship action. Ramage occupied the right-back position.

After a pre-match firework display had left half the pitch engulfed in a thick cloud of smoke, the game began with Blackpool on the back foot. With just two minutes on the clock, a Wayne Routledge corner trickled out to Martin Rowlands on the edge of the area. Buoyed by the crowd’s shouts of “shoot”, the skipper unleashed a powerful strike which was deflected just wide of Rachubka’s right-hand post.

Just minutes later, Rangers had another golden opportunity to take the lead. This time Taraabt was at the centre of the action, playing a neat one-two with Helguson and breaking through on goal. The tricky Moroccan was only denied by a superb block from the Blackpool goalkeeper.

At this point the Rs were in complete control of the match. Blackpool looked poor and they were struggling to deal with the movement of Taraabt, Balanta and Routledge. It only seemed a matter of time before the home team would break the deadlock. And, in the 17th minute, I thought that moment had arrived.
Some lovely skill from Routledge on the right wing allowed him to release Taraabt into the penalty area with a well-timed pass. With the crowd on their feet ready to celebrate, the loanee inexplicably fired his shot straight at the diving Rachubka. Another opportunity had been squandered.

At this point I was asking myself “could the finishing get any worse?” The answer was “yes”. In the 20th minute, Routledge beat his man on the right wing and smashed the ball across the penalty area. With the goal at his mercy, Helguson somehow managed to send it crashing against the crossbar from only a few yards out. If this performance is anything to go by, the Icelandic forward could be heading for another disappointing campaign.

Undeterred, Routledge nearly took the lead himself in the 23rd minute. Pouncing on a throw-in, he turned and sent the ball curling towards the bottom corner of the net from about 25 yards out. To my despair, Rachubka managed to palm it out of play.

After 35 minutes of last-ditch defending, Blackpool finally responded by creating a chance for themselves. The big, physical Ben Burgess chested down a long-ball, turned, and sent the ball rolling just wide of the bottom corner of Cerny’s net. This was a lucky escape for Fitz Hall who really shouldn’t have allowed Burgess to get his shot away so easily.

Just two minutes later, the Rs weren’t so fortunate. A long-ball found Gary Taylor-Fletcher in the penalty box. Despite the efforts of the Rangers defenders, the Blackpool forward passed to the onrushing Ben Burgess who tucked it into the bottom corner. The goal was completely against the run of play but this is what happens when teams do not take their chances.

Despite the disappointment of conceding, Rangers almost equalised just five minutes later. Another Adel Taraabt corner fell to Angelo Balanta on the edge of the box. The Columbian sent his powerful drive crashing into the side-netting.

As Mr D’Urso blew the half-time whistle, Jim Magilton must have been wondering how on earth his team were 1-0 down.

Bookings: Heidar Helguson (32 minutes)

Half-time score: Queens Park Rangers 0-1 Blackpool

Queens Park Rangers almost equalised at the beginning of the second half. Rowlands’ deep free-kick found the towering Fitz Hall in the area, whose header was brilliantly tipped away by Paul Rachubka. The rebound fell to Angelo Balanta who, to my despair, smacked the ball against the post. For me, this summed up the story of the match.

Routledge was involved in another excellent piece of play in the 49th minute. Receiving the ball on the right flank, he picked out Gavin Mahon with a sublime ball. The midfielder couldn’t quite manage to connect with it properly and Rachubka gathered comfortably.

Magilton made two substitutions in the 54th minute, replacing Helguson and Balanta with Buzsaky and Vine. I could understand the decision to take off the Icelandic but for me Angelo caused a lot of problems for the Tangerines. Perhaps if he had been kept on the pitch the Rs would have equalised earlier than they did.

In the 59th minute, during a Blackpool attack, came the concerning sight of Martin Rowlands curled up on the floor, punching the floor in agony and frustration. The injury looked serious and Patrick Agyemang replaced him immediately. The skipper’s performance today exceeded my expectations – I thought that he would struggle in his first competitive match since February but he was really dominant in central midfield. Fingers crossed that he is OK.

Agyemang, to his credit, seemed to add an extra dimension to the Super Hoops’ attack with his pace and strength. In the 67th minute Rangers won a free kick in a dangerous position. Unfortunately, Buzsaky curled it just wide.

Blackpool substitution: Taylor Fletcher off for Ormerod (68 minutes).

Blackpool substitution: Vaughan off for Clarke (74 minutes).

Adel Taraabt received the ball on the edge of the area in the 76th minute and, instead of releasing Ramage, selfishly chose to shoot, forcing Rachubka into a comfortable save. As talented as the Moroccan is, at times he can be guilty of playing for himself rather than the team, a quality which I am sure he will eradicate from his game as he gains more experience.

In the 84th minute, Rangers had another golden opportunity to level the scoreline. Patrick Agyemang picked up the ball on the left flank and found Rowan Vine in the penalty area with an excellent lob. With Rachubka flat-footed, all the Rs striker had to do was get the ball on target. However, to my horror, Vine tapped the ball just wide of the post. As far as I was concerned, this was QPR’s final chance to escape with a point. It felt like the game was over.

As I reflected over all the chances the Rs had squandered, it was announced over the PA system that Peter Ramage was the official “man of the match”. Whoever awarded the prize must have had some sort of crystal ball because “Rambo” was to become the unlikely hero only a few minutes later.

With just five minutes of normal time remaining, Ramage received the ball on the right flank. With Agyemang waiting in the penalty area, the former Newcastle man seemed to miscue his cross. Just as I was about to vent my frustration at the player, the ball looped over Rachubka and into the back of the net. How ironic that after all those opportunities, the only way QPR could score was through a complete and utter fluke.

After that incredible moment, there was a real belief amongst the crowd that Rangers could nick a winner right at the death. However, during the five minutes of added time, the QPR defenders inexplicably chose to pass the ball across the back four with no sense of urgency. What was that all about? Mr D’Urso blew the final whistle, signalling the end to what had been a thoroughly entertaining, but ultimately disappointing, match.

Bookings: Buzsaky (62 minutes).

Full-time score: Queens Park Rangers 1-1 Blackpool

What the managers said….

Jim Magilton: “It's a mixture of feeling relieved and also disappointed that we didn't win the game. We created chances in the first half and then shot ourselves in the foot with the goal we conceded. It was tough, because when you come up against Ian Holloway's team you expect them to keep going and be dogged and determined. In the end, it was a good point for us. It was important that we got something from the game and I think we deserved to”.

Ian Holloway: “My boys are disappointed we didn't win but I have to say I'd have felt like a complete robber if we had won. A draw was a fair result. My team just need to change their mindset. We're not a small club in this division and we are not punching above our weight.”

Conclusion

I disagree with Holloway’s comment that “a draw was a fair result”. The Rs dominated the match from start to finish and should have won. There’s no question about that. Like Magilton says, although it’s relieving that the team didn’t lose their first fixture, the result is also rather disappointing given the amount of chances that were squandered.

There are, however, many positives to take from today’s performance. I thought that the two wingers, Balanta in particular, looked very quick and skilful (although I would like to see them put in more quality crosses in future). Borrowdale looked very solid – on this display I can’t really understand why he wasn’t given an opportunity under Paulo Sousa.

In short, the Rs looked excellent up to the final third of the pitch. I’m afraid that there can be no excuse for the failure to take a number of clear-cut chances. There is no escaping the fact that Helguson should have done better. Unless Heidar improves, he might struggle to keep hold of his place in the side. Pellicori will be breathing down his neck.

Man of the match: Peter Ramage. I’d never thought I’d see the day when Peter Ramage became our top goalscorer! Even without taking his fluke goal into account, I noticed a real improvement in Ramage’s positioning and distribution from last season. Well done, Peter!