Looking back on last week's trip to the City Ground - a stadium QPR still have not won at although after the most recent encounter only they will know how.

1 – The Match
This was an entertaining Championship encounter. Rangers started off with a clear intent to end their City Ground jinx and early-on only goal line heroics from Forest’s defence, who blocked several shots in a big goalmouth scramble including one right on the line, prevented us from taking what would have been a well deserved lead. During the opening quarter hour or so there were about four different occasions when a Forest player went down and needed treatment and that made for a relatively slow start.

Once the match got going, Rangers were keeping more of the ball and looking the more likely to open the scoring but it was by no means one-way traffic. Forest looked dangerous on the break and there were several moments when it looked as though they might break through for a clear shot at goal but the final pass always seemed to just elude them. As the half progressed, Rangers continued to have the lion’s share of possession and create the better chances and although Forest had their moments they were looking less and less likely to score. It was to everybody’s surprise then when the referee pointed to the spot moments before the 45 minutes were up. A cross came over from the left and two players jumped for it in the middle of the area while Alberti was on the right with another Forest player, waiting to see if the ball got that far. It didn’t and suddenly it was a penalty. I assumed it was on Alberti for shirt pulling, since everybody was still standing and I had been watching the two players jumping for the ball and didn’t see any foul there. Why Alberti felt the need to pull a shirt in that situation is beyond me. McGugan duly dispatched the penalty to give Forest an undeserved lead, with Lee Camp diving to his right (a little too early in my opinion) and the ball going the other way about waist high, but not particularly close to the post. Had Camp gone the right way he would certainly have saved it. The Rangers contingent were gob-smacked at this unexpected turn of events, but two minutes later, from another goal-mouth scramble, Alberti rifled in a rebound to level the scores. That was the last action of the first half, so it was all square at half time.

Rangers opened the second half the way we had started the first and within a couple of minutes were ahead. Alberti broke free on the right of the Forest penalty area, fought off a Forest defender, and dispatched a lovely finish across the face of the goal and into the top left corner. After that we continued to press and a third seemed inevitable. But it didn’t come and suddenly, mid-way through the half and from one of those dangerous counter attacks, Forest were level. They broke down the right, put in a teasing cross from the byline to the far post, and Lee Camp decided to run across the face of his goal to try to claim it and never got there. Cohen fought off a challenge as he jumped for the ball and headed back across the face of the goal, where the ball bounced past a couple of Rangers defenders who were on the line but wrong-footed, and just inside the far post. A very nicely worked and extremely well taken goal, but nevertheless a big goalkeeping blunder. It looked as though the game still had one more goal in it and at that point it could certainly have come from either team. Forest had arguably the best chance of the final quarter hour when they worked the ball nicely down the left on a counter attack and then inside. The shot was taken from just inside the area with only Lee Camp to beat and I was holding my breath. But it was a weak shot along the ground and in the end Camp made a comfortable diving save to his left, collecting the ball in his midriff. Overall, this was an enjoyable match that I thought was an entertaining advert for Championship football.
8/10

2 – QPR Performance
Rangers played some very nice possession football but perhaps lacked a bit of cutting edge when close to goal. Four players stood out for me, three for the right reasons. Gorkss and Mahon were both outstanding and were the foundation upon which our nice passing game was built. I’m having a hard time separating them for my personal MOTM – perhaps Gorkss by a whisker. I don’t remember a single misplaced pass from Mahon; even when under pressure he seemed to find a hooped shirt and he also provided some steel when Forest came forward. Gorkss certainly defended well but for me the most impressive part of his contribution was his pure footballing ability and ball distribution. He showed nice composure on the ball as we built attacks from the back and also showed a very nice ability to simply glide past forwards who tried to put him under pressure when in possession. Apart from his two goals Alberti was not outstanding, but it’s hard to argue with two goals! I thought he came under unfair criticism from the fans for laying the ball back when faced with an impassable wall of red, but that is what possession football is all about – not running down blind alleys and losing the ball. My guess is that he was doing exactly what Sousa told him and I think it contributed to the nice possession game we played on the day. The player that stood out for me for all the wrong reasons was Delaney, whose misplaced passes did not help our cause. Lee Camp’s game really revolved around their two goals because other than that he did not have a lot to do. It’s hard to be too critical on a penalty, although I did think he tipped his hand a bit too soon, but when you’ve come for a cross and not made it, and conceded from the resulting header, it hasn’t been a banner day. Stewart was reasonably solid at the back and his strength complemented Gorkss’ skill nicely in the middle of the defence; however, Stewart’s technical ability did let him down a couple of times but he recovered well. Leigertwood had another good game in midfield and Routledge was mostly kept under control by Forest but still managed to make an impact. Up front, Di Carmine made some good runs but without ever producing any dangerous moments. A good overall team performance that I felt deserved all three points on the day.
8/10

3 – QPR Support
Around 2,000 QPR fans made it to Nottingham for this one and we filled most of the lower tier of the away end. A fair bit of singing and chanting continued throughout the match and contributed to a decent atmosphere, although we did quieten down a bit after Forest’s equaliser in the second half. All the usual banter was there, mostly with the Forest fans in the second tier of the Brian Clough Stand, away to our right. I was pleased to see our fans heartily acknowledge Lee Camp early on, although some fans were a bit disgruntled when the Forest fans did the same and also got a wave from Lee. I personally thought that was OK since he has just come back from a successful loan spell with them. Rangers responded with “Lee Camp is a Derby fan”, which Forest didn’t seem to like very much, and “Small town in Derby, you’re just a small town in Derby”, which they liked even less. I had to laugh at the one QPR fan who stood up and made the “come on” gesture at the Forest fans who were in the second tier of a different stand and had no way to oblige him even if they had felt so inclined.
7/10

4 – The Ground
I liked the City Ground. The Trent End is an impressive two tier stand at the Forest end of the ground with the river Trent flowing right behind it. Along the side of the ground to our right was the equally impressive Brian Clough Stand, which was also two tiered. Along the side of the ground to our left was a moderately sized single tier stand which I thought exuded character and contrasted well with its impressive cousin across the way. The Bridgeford end, where we were situated, was also two tiers; we were in the bottom tier and home fans were in the tier above us. Another thing that I liked about our end was that it was asymmetric, with one corner having seating that curved around and connected to the Brian Clough Stand in “bowl” fashion but the other corner being disconnected from the adjacent smaller stand. Every stand has a roof, which is an important practical consideration. I liked the location too. Although it seemed like a primarily residential district, there are a number of places close-by where you can get something to eat and drink. And there is a nice little bridge over the river Trent where you can stand and see the ground and enjoy the surroundings. Inside the ground, the concourse at our end was a bit pokey and would certainly benefit from the installation of some TVs so that everybody can see what is happening elsewhere. All the usual amenities were available and the food and drinks were reasonably priced.
8/10

5 – Atmosphere
The atmosphere was decent but perhaps not as noisy as one might have expected for over 25,000 fans. I think that is down to the fact that the Forest fans spent much of the time holding their breath as Rangers probed. I was disappointed with how little noise or songs seemed to come from their impressive Trent End; most of the singing seemed to come from the group of fans nearest to us in the upper tier of the Brian Clough Stand. The Forest fans did manage to seriously crank up the noise level a couple of times when Forest broke forward and earned a corner from a dangerous looking attack, but this was the exception far more than the rule. I thought the atmosphere in the away end was also decent, but not in any way memorable.
6/10

6 – Pre-Match
We arrived in Nottingham at shortly after 1pm. After we had parked we basically took a little wander along the road and over the bridge, just for a look-see, and one of the main things that I saw were all the free parking places that would have saved us a fiver! Surveying the ground from the bridge over the river Trent was also nice. After that we had a look around in the Forest club shop, which I thought was rather small and generally lacking compared to others I have seen. Pre-game victuals were not necessary, as we had taken care of that on the journey up. This is my normal game day routine, since I find that the quality of food around a football ground is spotty at best and often no better in a local pub, even if you do manage to find one that isn’t bursting at the seams. Pre-game lubrication is another matter and we took care of that at Amici, a nice little wine bar very close to the ground on the main road that runs over the river Trent. I’m not sure whether they are normally “away fan friendly” as my Rangers shirt was well hidden beneath my zipped-up fleece and jacket, but we had no trouble. To my surprise it wasn’t overcrowded and not only were we able to walk right up to the bar for our pint but we also found a couple of seats at a table in the back where we could watch T.V. We were hoping they would be showing the early match live but that must not have been available to them, as we got to see (but not hear, since the volume was turned down) the Sky T.V. preview of the day’s matches instead.
8/10

7 – The Journey
The journey started in mid-Wales at around 9:15am as we were worried about what road conditions we might face with the recent freezing temperatures, and indeed what types of weather conditions, since snow was a definite possibility. In the event, the gritters must have preceded us as the roads were quite reasonable and thankfully the snow never materialized. My brother drove and took it nice and easy on the winding Welsh roads and we had no trouble. Our one pit-stop was at Tamworth Services, which is only around an hour or so from Nottingham. My brother went for a well overpriced veggie burger, which was reported as being good even if not worth the money, and I went for the ham and cheese sandwich I had brought from home. This was to be my last day in the U.K. on this trip so I had my eye on something a bit special for supper and decided to compensate by not pushing the boat out for lunch. An hour later we were in Nottingham and spent about 15 to 20 minutes looking for parking in the residential district on the ground side of the Trent, but without luck. At this point my brother decided to part with my fiver to park in the car park next to the ground and we later saw that we would have had much more success looking for parking on the other side of the river.

After the match, I drove home and it was relatively uneventful, except that we spent a fair bit of time touring the streets of Nottingham after turning the wrong way out of the car park (see Police and Stewards below) and didn’t manage to get out of the city until close to 6pm. After that it was plain sailing, with just a quick petrol stop and then a McFlurry and McChips break at a McFastFoodPlace that I normally never visit. We got home at around 9:30pm and proceeded to eat pizza and then drink beer until after midnight, when we rather wimpishly called it a night as I had to leave at 6am for Heathrow.
7/10

8 – Police and Stewards
The stewards were excellent. The one at our entrance from the concourse into the seats made a point of acknowledging us as we went to and from our seats and was ready to point us in the right direction had we needed it. Above us, I noted a strong presence of stewards at the front of the second tier, which was a nice piece of preventative stewarding in case any of the home fans in the tier above had decided to misbehave. As for the police, I only had to deal with them once, as I was leaving the car park. There were two lanes coming out, one going left and one going right. I was in the right lane and our Sat Nav told us to turn left. A couple of police vans had just passed us on the left and a gap opened up so I took it, one or two car lengths from the exit. A policeman then stepped right in front of me to block my progress and ordered me to reverse back into the right lane. Other cars waited and the overall flow of traffic out of the car park was slowed as I did so. I thought that maybe there was another emergency vehicle that wanted to get through in the left lane, but it turned out that there wasn’t. He just wanted to be sure that I left the car park going in the opposite direction to the one I wanted. So that’s full marks for the stewards and none for the asshole whose wife beats him up.
5/10
Total 57/80

Photo: Action Images

Queens Park Rangers Polls