" Match report QPR v Cardiff City 27 Nov 2010 "

The first fall of snow welcomed the travelling supporters of Cardiff City to QPR. An extra 30 minutes wait was required at their respected pick up points as it was discovered first thing that someone had left the skyline open overnight on the forum coach. This allowed for the overnight snow fall to settle on the back seats of the bus and with the heating failing to work did not bode well for a good day.

Eventually we managed to all get on the bus that somehow arrived at all the pick up points in good condition. The trip to London went smoothly although we did lose someone on the way. A stop at Reading services was required and the place was swarming with Cardiff. However the place nearly ended up with a permanent resident as someone forgot to do a head count as we left. It was some 20 minutes later when someone realised the Horse with no name was missing. Oh dear. Fortunately a mobile call told us he had managed to catch a lift with a supporters coach at the services. Some one should have told him you are not allowed to sing on their coaches.

Two hours before KO Shepherds Bush was packed to the rafters with Cardiff. Some of us managed to get to the ground early but for those of us who left it late unfortunately had to suffer a police excort. I really wonder how the police minds work as the kept a large gathering waiting in the cold. Out of character for me but i just had to shout at the sargent in charge to get us moving else he would have more than he could stew to handle with. That seemed to do the trick.

Our excort through Shepherds Bush showed me how rough some parts of London can be. Do people lie living in thse areas? I dreaded to think what it would be like in the ground but was pleasantly surprised. Loftus road is an old fashioned ground that is enclosed and 2 tier all around. The away fans located behind one of the goals and I found myself on the upper tier at the front and it was right close ot the pitch. This I felt was going to be a great atmosphere and I was not let down as 2500 Cardiff filled their stand.

Cardiff fielded a strong side with Heaton in goal, Hudson and Blake in central defence with Naylor on the left and MacNaughton on the right. Oli partnered Whittingham in central midfield with Bellamy on the left wing and surprisingly Drinkwater on the right. Bothroyd played up front with Burke making up the right wing position.

The game KO with QPRstarting brightly but it was the Cardiff that had the better chances. A run from Burke forced a sprawling save the QPR goalkeeper Kenny. Apparently Kenny nearly turned down his move to QPR as he thought they play on an artificial pitch. What changed his mind was that he found out they play on grass so put pen to paper.

Another chance so fell to Cardiff when Burke found Whitts outside the QPR area. However his floating shot went just over the bar. However it was not long after when Cardiff took the lead.

From nothing in midfield and QPR looking comfortable in possession their midfielder Gorky tripped over himself and Bothroyde pounced. Jay found Bellamy in space and slloted the ball to hm. With only Kenny to beat Craig stroked the ball into the net. Unfortunately the lead was not to last long.

On the 18th minutes heavy pressure by the QPR was not cleared by the Cardiff defence. A cross that should have been stopped by Naylor found Gorky in space at 18 yards. He made an unchallenged header into the net giving Heaton no chance. A lack of concentration we are just witnessing too much these days.

QPR now had the heads up but noce again it was the Cardiff that went close. Bothroyd found himself one on one with a QPR defender and left him standing. However after a strong run he failed to beat Kenny from 6 yards resultig in a corner. It was QPR who went close after that with a 25 yard low drive heading for the inside of the left hand goal that was in front of the away support. A stretching dive by Heaton forced an excellent save. The referee soon after blew his whistle for half time.

The Cardiff support felt their team had the edge of the first half and expecte dan avalche of attacks to the goal in front of them. Unfortunately it was the QPR who came out attacking as Cardiff failed to make any impact. QPR took hold of the game in midfield and attacked the Cardiff defence strongly. Their best chance came from the Scottish international Mackie who 20 yard drive that was heading into the top corner foced an excellent reaction save from Heaton. However it was another international that was running the show.

Abel Taarbat has been the talk of this division this season and the Cardiff were about to find out why at their expense. A 50 50 challenge just outside the area with Naylor resulted in Lee looking lie a Conference player as Taarbat left him standing. Taarbat found himself in a bit of space on the 6 yard box when he danced around Hudson. A clever poke of the ball and QPR had the lead.

So Cardiff now had to chase the game. DJ brought on Koumas for Drinkwater and Jason was put on the left wing. It was Burke though who had the best chance from the right wing. A typical move into the area, one of those moves we all have become familiar with from the Scottish guy, and from 15 yards he fired low. The shot took a deflected and bounced of the head of Kenny who knew nothing about it. It felt it was not going to be our day.

Surprisingly DJ then took off Burke and brought Chopra on. He ordered Bellamy on the wing and that did not go down well with the Welsh captain.

Cardiff pressed forward for the equaliser and the best chance came to Koumas. Jason was given plenty of space to play with on the wing but made vey little progress there. In fact he made no progress and the given chance he had he wasted by placing the ball straight into the arms of Kenny. Sad to say but Jay is turning out to be the worst signing of the season.

Cardiff continued to press with Jay showing why he was picked for England. He danced his way through the the QPR defence and was brought down in the area fo a stonewall penalty. The only person who thought it was not a penalty was the man in black. Momemts later Bellamy was brought down and once again the referee saw different to anyone else in the ground. Three substitutions by QPR in injury time brougbt the game to an end as the blind referee blew his whistle.

Summing up: To me QPR showed why they are top of the league. I think we have seen better sides than them this season but they showed the character that makes champions. After going down they soon got back into the game. They created few chances but those they did they made use of. An excellent game for the neutral to watch but frustrating for the Cardiff fan. Some questions need to be answers like why do we bottle it against the top teams. Also for this game why was our most productive player Burke substituted. Finally why did not the players acknowledge the away support? Excluding Bothroyd, Hudson and Bellamy we would like an answer from the rest of them.
failed to capitalise

Cheers Ian, Very Much Appreciated for your Excellent Report

good read ian, i didnt realise that they didnt clap us until i read it last night
the burke substituation baffled me. but i called it, i said to nuclear blue i garantee chops on for burke, and bellamy out wide, next break in play it happened. predictable sadly.

good read ian, i didnt realise that they didnt clap us until i read it last night
the burke substituation baffled me. but i called it, i said to nuclear blue i garantee chops on for burke, and bellamy out wide, next break in play it happened. predictable sadly.

That Hurts Milly that the Players/Manager cant be Bothered to Acknowledge Our AMAZING SUPPORT

an excellent report

and agree with what you say

good read ian, i didnt realise that they didnt clap us until i read it last night
the burke substituation baffled me. but i called it, i said to nuclear blue i garantee chops on for burke, and bellamy out wide, next break in play it happened. predictable sadly.

That Hurts Milly that the Players/Manager cant be Bothered to Acknowledge Our AMAZING SUPPORT

to be fair i didnt hang about to clap them, i had a firework party to attend

well done Ian, glad to see you managed to re-type this after losing it all last night, and that your home safe.

see you next week mate

good read ian, i didnt realise that they didnt clap us until i read it last night
the burke substituation baffled me. but i called it, i said to nuclear blue i garantee chops on for burke, and bellamy out wide, next break in play it happened. predictable sadly.

That Hurts Milly that the Players/Manager cant be Bothered to Acknowledge Our AMAZING SUPPORT

to be fair i didnt hang about to clap them, i had a firework party to attend

PMSL At that Chief

Ian thanks for the report, sorry to hear you lost your work last night, it has happened to me twice and it is the most frustrating thing, I know how long these things take to type up. I always right click and copy before I hit submit now so if I ahve become logged out due to inactivity then I just paste it back on when I sign in.


As we spoke on the bus it really gets to me when the players do not come towards us and acknowledge the fans

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Jack Bob Coles Good read, only now realised after reading this that the players didnt acknowledge us fans, which is confusing because unlike our home support the atmosphere we produced was amazing, the players should of thanked us for making the trip and supporting them for the whole 90 minutes:(

regardless o the result the players SHOULD ALWAYS come and thank those of us that made the effort and gone to the expense

Good report Ian, see you on Saturday

Cheers Ian, Look forward to your Preston Match Report