A rare away win for Rangers on the pitch at Derby last week but what was Pride Park like for the travelling fans in the stands?

1 – The Match

One sided – in our favour for a change. The game was hailed as the second coming of Clough at Derby County but Nigel’s first match in charge quickly turned sour as QPR romped to an easy two goal win. Derby started brightly and Kris Commons had two half decent attempts on goal in the first ten minutes however a bad injury to captain Martin Rowlands seemed to galvanise Rangers. The skipper tore nee ligaments in the tenth minute and was replaced by Hogan Ephraim after which QPR played with renewed purpose and took the lead midway through the first half when Wayne Routledge volleyed into an empty net after Hogan Ephraim’s through ball was deflected into his path by Martin Albrechtsen, wrong footing his goalkeeper in the process. The lead doubled on the half hour when Routlege tormented Camara and crossed for Leigertwood to slam in his first of the season and the game never looked in any doubt thereafter. Derby had a couple of half chances in the second half, Rob Hulse had one headed off the line by Hogan Ephraim and Cerny saved from Addison, but QPR could have extended their lead had they been more clinical in front of goal. In the end 2-0 was a fair reflection on a standard Championship match.

6/10



2 – QPR Performance

Rangers picked up only their second away win of the season in the league thanks to a solid, committed and competent rather than spectacular display. At the back Matt Connolly made a long overdue return to form at right back after a poor couple of months while Gorkss and Stewart were strong as ever in the middle. In midfield Leigertwood and Mahon had their best games for some time and Routledge provided some much needed flair wide on the right, cruelly exposing the limitations of derby left back Mo Camara. Ephraim also turned in his best performance of the season after replacing Rowlands. The loss of Rowlands to a bad injury seemed to give the team added determination to win the game and in the end Rangers were never unduly troubled by Derby.

7/10



3 – QPR Support

Around 1400 QPR fans made the journey up the M1 for this one and after being drowned out by the large home crowd to start with they soon came into their own as the team took over the game on the pitch. “You should have kept Paul Jewell,” “What would your Father say?” and “We’re winning away, how shit must you be?” all raised a smile. The constant signing and mickey taking from the away end was all too much for one Rams fan up to the left of the away end who completely lost the plot with us all in the second half and had to be led away from his seat by Derbyshire Police – which of course only encouraged the away supporters.

7/10



4 – Atmosphere

Despite 18 months of essentially losing every week Derby are still very well supported at home. A big part of that is the price of the tickets which are reasonable. There is a larger signing section than you find at most grounds off to the right of the away end and there were very few empty seats to be seen anywhere. Consequently the QPR fans found it hard to make themselves heard in the first quarter of an hour and the backing the home side got was excellent, the best I’ve seen and heard since Swansea away. However when QPR took the lead that all died off very quickly and you could have heard a pin drop in the home ends by about the hour mark – many Derby fans left 15 or 20 minutes before the end of the game and in the end it was the away end holding the atmosphere up.

6/10



5 – The Ground

Regular readers know what’s coming – I hate these identikit new stadiums. Pride Park, like St Mary’s and the Walkers Stadium and the Riverside Stadium and the Reebok Stadium and all of these cathedrals that worship boredom, is stuck out in the middle of nowhere surrounded by warehouses and business parks and has all the soul and feeling of an Ikea distribution centre. The facilities are first class of course – great view from every seat, massive capacity, plenty of bogs and refreshment kiosks and they even let smokers go outside for one at half time which is something I know a lot of people would like QPR to do but for all of that it doesn’t feel like a proper football ground. Even places like Deepdale and Home Park that have been almost totally redeveloped and all sides still feel like places with history and character behind them, these Meccano like out of town jobs never do. Still, I shouldn’t complain too loudly as QPR now have two draws and two wins from four visits here.

6/10


6 – Journey

Sheffield through Derby is a journey we have to do for every home game of course and to be honest during the first half of the season it has been a bit of a nightmare. Some ridiculously long winded engineering works near Chesterfield have meant that trains leaving Sheffield have actually been heading out towards Rotherham and then bending back round on the goods line through the less salubrious parts of Sheffield at a walking pace. That means it has been taking a massive 40 minutes to get to Chesterfield and more than an hour to get to Derby which, considering I manage to do that commute in the car in less time than that in a Monday morning rush hour, is a bit of a joke. Thankfully they have finally finished that work and so last weekend it took us 35 minutes there and 35 minutes back – we were actually back in Sheffield at quarter to six after making the 1711. No problems, no delays and only £4odd return with a rail card. No complaints.

9/10



7 – Pre Match

A later than usual departure from Sheffield meant we could enjoy a cooked breakfast in our local café in Broomhill which was excellent as always. We got the bus down to Sheffield station and arrived earlier than expected which meant we could jump on a train at 11am and arrive in Derby at half past. That left a fair amount of drinking time before the match so we settled into The Waterfall opposite the station for a big session. I normally make a point of never frequenting a pub that I have encountered in a pub brawl court case but despite a large police presence in the station car park over the road there wasn’t a hint of trouble all afternoon. The pub was well populated by friendly, chatty bar staff who served us quickly and with a smile. The Preston v Burnley match was on, and had sound rather than being drowned out by music, and there was a large pool hall next door. The only criticism I would have is the hard floors and high ceiling meant it was bloody cold. Other than that it proved o be an excellent pre match pub, not as good as The Navy at Plymouth but not far off.

8/10



8 – Police/Stewards

Hundreds of police to meet QPR fans off the train at the station but very little presence around the actual ground and I did not see any trouble all afternoon. The stewards in the ground were excellent, allowing QPR fans to stand at the back unchecked and nip outside the stand to smoke if they wish which meant us non-smokers did not have to feel their way to the toilet through clouds of the stuff at half time as people tried to sneak in there for a crafty one as has happened at just about every ground I have been to since the ban. Plenty of common sense on show.

8/10



Total 57/80

Photo: Action Images

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