Hoop Dreams - QPR FC

Very early in this game, a chant came up from the 1,404 Burnley fans which very succinctly summed up the atmosphere around Loftus Road.
‘It’s just like being in church’ they sang. The Rangers supporters couldn’t really argue and they didn’t bother either, preferring to wait for their team to raise the interest levels.

It was far from gloomy, although the autumn drizzle didn’t help to lift spirits, but for a top-of-the-table side there was a lack of buzz around the ground. The next chant from Burnley’s travelling supporters of ‘top of the league, you’re having a laugh’ was harsher.

If there was little in the way of give-and-take in the stands, there was plenty on the pitch, with a number of personal battles across the turf, particularly between Michael Duff and Rob Hulse, making his first start for Rangers.

They kept in extreme proximity to each other for most of the first half and both complained of overly physical treatment from their opposing ‘shadow’.

The Burnley defender was unwilling to give an inch across the pitch, diving in to expertly steal the ball from Jamie Mackie as he readied himself to pull the trigger on 16 minutes.

Another personal battle was played out at other ends of the pitch as Adel Taarabt and Chris Eagles made competing bids for the ‘most embarrassing dive of the game’ award.

Eagles went one better by performing two laughable attempts to earn a spot-kick in the first 45 minutes, the second of which, under the merest hint of a challenge from Kaspars Gorkss, put the ex-Manchester United player deservedly in the book.

Not that Eagles wasn’t proving a handful in other ways and a combination of his driving runs and Chris Iwelumo’s strong aerial presence and hold-up play was putting Rangers’ record of not conceding at home in the league this season under jeopardy.

Eagles pulled a fizzing low shot from the edge of the area which stretched Paddy Kenny in the Rangers’ goal to the full.

He could only parry the ball out into his area allowing Jay Rodriguez a simple tap-in, but Kenny flung himself onto his shot for a remarkable double save to keep the ball out.

Having rode their luck, Rangers took full advantage through Adel Taarabt who up until that point had flattered to deceive and been fairly woeful in his final ball.

The first point of a pre-game team talk for any visiting manager to Loftus Road should be ‘do not give Taarabt space on the edge of the area’.

Perhaps his wasted flicked passes beforehand lulled Burnley into a false sense of security or more fairly, perhaps his run was just too good to challenge.

He must have twisted Graham Alexander’s blood by the number of times he switched direction before drilling the ball into the top right corner.

A beautiful goal, another collector’s item for the Moroccan and another indicator that he is a name you would leave off the team sheet with great caution.

He was high on confidence after that, embarrassing Eagles with a staggering number of step-overs and drag-backs which drew a petulant push.

An arcing cross was inches from meeting the forehead of Hulse as well and a calmly planted pass in the area should have found one of Alejandro Faurlin or Hulse but they chose to tackle each other instead.

Rangers were also collectively showing their willingness not to surrender a goal at home.

Matt Connolly strode from the area to block a long-range shot by Danny Fox while from the resulting corner, Shaun Derry whipped Eagles off the ground with a heavy but fair challenge.

The Burnley midfielder was brought off for Ross Wallace at the break after a half in which he could have been sent off.

That was after Rangers finally succumbed to a league goal at Loftus Road after 585 minutes of football though.

Paddy Kenny, who Norwich and Swansea both failed to put penalties past already this season, was called to provide the last line of defence once more.

After Iwelumo rose to head the ball down, Matt Connolly unfairly checked the run of Dean Marney and the referee rightly pointed to the spot.

Graham Alexander then ran up to place an unstoppable penalty into the top corner as the half closed.

Eagles’ replacement was lively after the break and Burnley began to dominate in the middle of the park, pushing forward and Rangers looked stretched on their relatively few counter-attacks.

Manager Neil Warnock showed his willingness to re-arrange his pack to find another goal with Rangers looking increasingly faltering in the final third, particularly in comparison with their blistering home form at the start of the season.

He brought off Hogan Ephraim for Patrick Agyemang on 61 minutes.

Ephraim seems to be the first-choice to come off in most games and by extension, must feel his place in the starting line-up is far from assured.

Wade Elliott threatened on the break for Burnley, driving from his own half and nearing the Rangers area before he drew a late challenge from Gorkss which saw the Latvian go into the book.

Neither side could create as clear openings as they had in the first half, though Jamie Mackie, who had a quiet game by his standards, did come close to planting a beautiful cross onto the head of Agyemang.

Soon Leon Clarke, who has been a stranger to the QPR team for much of the season, was on for Hulse who had failed to get a firm grip on the game.

Iwelumo could have taken all three points for Burnley, racing across the Rangers area and working the space for himself before blasting acres over the bar.

Jay Rodriguez as well came within inches of diverting the ball past Kenny with an outstretched toe.

In response Rangers laid siege to Burnley’s goal in the final ten minutes and deep into the five minutes of injury time, with Tommy Smith also joining the fray in place of Mackie.

Smith scuffed a shot from the edge of the box when he should have worked Lee Grant but he was very close to making amends with a sensational curled effort from distance.

After the match, Warnock, who is very wary to criticise referees nowadays, said today’s official, Iain Williamson, had a ‘bad day at the office’. He did fail to control a bad-tempered encounter though I’m not sure QPR’s manager is right in his assessment of Burnley’s penalty.

Though the Rangers crowd did struggle to reach a state of any excitement, one supporter showed that they haven’t lost their sense of humour, despite the team now surrendering a six-point lead to trail Cardiff, who now lead by two.

Few supporters left before the end but one particularly wealthy benefactor, Bernie Ecclestone had seen enough with quarter of an hour to go. As he stopped for a spot of schmoozing on his way out, he was met with cries of ‘Sit down Bernie’. Not quite biting the hand that feeds you, but…

It was a result no-one could be too despondent about but as with previous home games against Milwall and Norwich, it seems that Rangers are hard to beat right now but lacking in inspiration themselves. The manager said his team now need to lose a game so that they can start winning again.