Match report from Ginger Pele

This was very muddy, boggy and not far of being called waterlogged

The game was a scrappy one, QPR could have scored in the first 30 seconds, but then we had a great opportunity to get one in on about five minutes after their keeper dropped the ball and Cort tried to get a foot to it....

Our goal led a charmed life with crosses flying across the area on a regular basis, but QPR didn't have the strikers to put them away... Helguson was a waste of a shirt and Blackstock was busy, but clumsy.

After about half an hour we should have had a penalty as Croft was felled in the area (it was the opposite end of the ground), the ref was two yards away and gave but the linesman who was 15 yards away over ruled him....... The QPR fans sang Linesman Give Us A wave for the next five minutes. This linesman continued to give biased decisions in favour of QPR the whole way though the match, I participated in the RESPECT campaign

I have work to do so will cut this short -

Our goal came from Crofty running down the right, giving the ball to Hoolihan in the box and then him cutting it back to Rusty to shoot... Good Goal!! Right in front of us lot

The Marks out of ten

GK Marshall 7.5
Made a couple of blinding saves, but distribution was a bit poor at one point in the first half Marshall goal kicked to the QPR keeper, who then kicked it back to Marshall, who then kicked it back to the QPR keeper. The state of the pitch meant that direct football was the way forward, but that was daft and led to the crowd shouting "SHOOT" whenever he got the ball
RB Otsemobor 3
When the rest of the defence zigs, he zags. He plays zonal marking all on his own, and chooses a zone of the pitch where there is either no opposition player or no threat. When Grounds goes back we need to borrow a rightback from another club to give the guy a break.... He needs time out of the firing line to get some confidence back
CB Doherty 7
Solid performance from captain courageous, you could hear him barking out orders all of the way through the game. Some strong challenges and but he was upstaged by his central defensive partner:
CB Shackell 8 (MOM)
Unbelievably strong performance, had Dexter Blackstock in his pocket the whole game. Some great tackles, and strong clearing headers. Best I have ever seen him play?
LB Grounds 7
Solid from our "Smoggy" left back. He gives us options when attacking corners, as opposed to our usual team of Ump Lumpas, we now have (for one week only) four six foot plus players attacking the ball. Strong performance shame we cannot keep him.
RM Croft 6.5
Not up to his normal levels, with him only being 4 foot tall I reckon he struggled with the conditions... it must have been like bog snorkelling for him. He spent a lot of time covering for otsemoleftwingrightwingleftbackthumbuphisarsebor.
CM Clingan 6
Defensive display.... Did nowt going forward, but was a very good shield in front of Doc & Shack. QPR had obviously watched us play and closed him down very quickly whenever he got the ball
CM Russell 7
Well taken goal and ran all game, was the engine room in the middle of the park. A typically energetic Rusty performance
LM Bertrand 5
Not his fault for being a 5, he is a left back, not a left winger?? He offered very little going forward. I can understand Gunny's thinking in playing him there as Routledge down QPR's right wing is a threat, but they played Routledge more centrally so was a bit wasted on the wing. I personally would have liked to have seen Carney given a go in the second half
AM Hoolahan 6
A bit like Croft, looked a bit sluggish, as the mud came up to his knees on his short little legs. He made a couple of little breaks from Corts flick ons and had a great opportunity to score, but could not get the ball out of his feet. He looked very disappointed to be subbed
CF Cort 7
The guy tries his heart out, except when it comes to jumping. He worked tirelessly throughout the game but had limited scraps to work on (Marshall kicked it three foot over his head umpteen times). Definitely needs someone to play alongside him to take advantage of his flick ons.

CF Gow 7 (sub for Hoolahan circa 60 minutes)
A very busy performance, he kept their defence occupied and had some good movement and runs. I would like to see more of him in a City shirt. He went straight down the tunnel at the final whistle as opposed to celebrating with the fans and rest of the squad - has he picked up an injury? or does he want to start the game??

Subs: Nelson, Lappin, McDonald, Carney

Posted By: Snakey, Mar 4, 10:37:51