I wasn't bothered about our Carabao Cup exit and it was clearly treated as another warm-up match. Many other Championship sides seem to have had the same idea. This afternoon we'll be back to the real stuff and after the encouraging first couple of matches there's going to be another big crowd roaring us on. I imagine we'll be fielding almost the same side as last Saturday though there may be a bit of tweaking in defence as we were looking vulnerable down the flanks against Bristol City.
Q.P.R. have won one and lost one so far, scoring three and conceding three. I'm listening to BBC Radio London at the moment and presenter Robert Elms, who's a Q.P.R. fan, just said that their first eleven is pretty good but they have little strength in depth. Chair would appear to be their danger-man. I renewed my SAFSEE subscription but have had some trouble logging on so I hope it's plain sailing today. Match prediction: 2-1 to us.
I got the team-news about forty minutes before kick-off and there were no changes in the starting line-up from the Bristol match but on the bench Diamond was in for Dajaku so Matete and Winchester weren't featuring. I managed to get the audio stream on no bother.
'I Can't Help Falling in Love with You' was coming over loud and clear as Q.P.R. kicked off and the pitch, apparently, was looking very good. After a few minutes Ballard went down injured though it took referee Jeremy Simpson a good while to blow his whistle which didn't please Alex Neil too much. Ballard managed to get to his feet but had to be helped off and was replaced by O'Nien. On a positive note, with his first touch Simms caused ripples in the Q.P.R. defence. Shortly after that Simms had a shot on target but it was straight at Dieng in goal.
We were certainly doing most of the pressing. After great link-up play we won the first corner half-way through the first period but it was headed away and after Pritchard put it back in again the ref blew for offside. We were soon pressing again but Gooch put his cross out for a goal-kick. Clarke was yellow-carded for a rash challenge that gave Q.P.R. a free-kick in a dangerous spot but we finally got it clear.
Our fans booed loudly after Adomah fouled Gooch without receiving a booking. After thirty minutes there'd been little in the way of shots on target, especially from Q.P.R. Commentators Barnes and Bennett were having difficulty reading the Q.P.R. numbers due to their shirt design but one of their players was booked (Field as it turned out). Next thing we were deservedly ahead when Dieng couldn't hold a Neil shot and Stewart smashed it in. Once again Pritchard was heavily involved in the build-up. Q.P.R. were rocking and we soon won another corner that Evans lashed goalwards but Dieng collected it. Dickie was booked for a foul on the edge of their box which gave us a free-kick in a great position. Pritchard drove it wide of the left post – it still received a smattering of applause. It was soon 2-0 after Johansen gifted the ball to Simms who obliged by slipping it under Dieng and into the net. Evans was booked to make it three so far this season. There was bound to be a fair bit of stoppage-time after Ballard's injury and four minutes were duly announced. Q.P.R. were enjoying a bright spell and won another corner so we needed to keep it to 2-0 at the break. We did and were top of the table.
As we kicked off again Q.P.R. had replaced Adomah with Roberts but we'd made no further changes. Simms had a shot blocked by Hamalainen about five minutes in and not long afterwards Dieng had to deal with a Gooch cross just under his crossbar. Q.P.R. had a couple of decent efforts themselves but thankfully their shooting was off-target.
On the hour-mark we brought on Roberts for Simms, surprisingly, but they probably just wanted to give him a rest with the Sheffield match coming up on Wednesday. I rather like this five-subs business. Roberts didn't waste much time getting involved as very soon he put in a low shot that Dieng had to dive to block. With twenty minutes to go and with our fans chanting. “What the fuckin 'ell was that?” as another Q.P.R. effort blazed over the bar, things were looking good. I was taking nothing for granted, though. Clarke and Pritchard were sounding a bit tired so another switch or two seemed to be on the cards. The attendance of 37,883 was announced to much applause.
In the eighty-seventh Chair pulled one back for Q.P.R. with a free-kick from around twenty yards out to set up an edgy final period. They'd been standing around on the touch-line for ages but finally we brought on Embleton and Wright for Neil and Pritchard. Four minutes of stoppage-time were announced and Q.P.R. won another corner after a good Patterson save from Armstrong. Next thing goalkeeper Dieng came up and nodded in the equaliser. We battled back and Embleton hit the underside of the crossbar (or did Dieng actually save it?) before it went for a corner. It ended 2-2 and there was muted applause but no booing.
We failed to manage the final period as we were tired and Q.P.R. pressed so we must learn to do that better. Still, five points from our first three matches is a decent start.
