As our awaydays catch up continues we look back at QPR's first ever, and ultimately fruitless, trip to the Keepmoat Stadium in Doncaster. The R's were easily beaten 2-0.
1 - The Game
Very similar to the Barnsley fixture we played in this part of the world ten days beforehand. QPR started reasonably well and popped the ball around a bit, Di carmine fired a chance wide and we seemed to be settling down quite nicely. Doncaster took the lead out of the blue when an aimless long ball down the field was inexplicably headed over his own goalkeeper and into the back of the net by Damion Stewart. If Cerny called for it then it is obviously Stewart’s fault for ignoring him, if Cerny didn’t call then it’s his fault for wandering out that far without letting anybody know. From that point there was only really one side in it and Doncaster quickly made it two with a Paul Heffernan header following more poor defending at a corner. Rovers continued to dominate the second half without creating clear cut chances although Cerny had to be at full stretch to deny Wellens and a tremendous last ditch tackle from Ramage denied Heffernan a run through on goal. Only a fine late save from Neil Sullivan to deny Sam Di Carmine added any respectability to what was a very one sided encounter.
5/10
2 - QPR Performance
Pretty wretched. A performance that lacked both confidence and commitment. The latter was masked by a reasonable start but once Doncaster took the lead it was cruelly exposed by the former. Once behind on the scoreboard heads went down and QPR lost out in every fifty fifty tackle, were beaten to every second ball in midfield and most unforgivably regularly left team mates to battle alone in the face of two or three opponents without support. Not only did there not seem to be the belief that we could get back into the game there did not seem to be much effort to even see if we could. The exception to all of that was Peter Ramage - making his first appearance at right back since Christmas and clearly determined to hang on to his spot. He has not been part of the first team during its recent bad run so has not suffered the confidence sapping series of results, he also has to make the effort to stay in the team and both shone through here as he turned in a man of the match performance for the first time in his QPR career. Some might say it shows how bad the team was that our much maligned Geordie right back was the star man in it but that would be unfair on Peter who did at least make the effort and turned in a competent performance on a night when so many of his team mates could not say the same about themselves.
3/10
3 - QPR Support
I’m not sure whether it was the new ground factor, I’m assuming it must be because I cannot think of another reason, but QPR were well followed here on this Tuesday night in the north. I would say between six and seven hundred made the trip which, when you consider we only took 211 to Sheff Wed when we still had something to play for, is very impressive. We went straight to the back of the stand behind the goal in the hope that the stewards would let us stand up and they did, Al endeared himself to a group of Rangers fans near us by demanding they sit down but a quick swap round of seats soon alleviated that issue. Those that did make the journey chanted ‘Paulo Sousa’s blue army’ constantly for the first twenty minutes of the game until Doncaster went ahead. There then followed forty minutes or so either side of half time of the angry outbursts from individual fans against individual players, management staff and board members which I’m sure, in the cold sober light of day, they regret. I mean if I sat you down in a non-football situation and said that you had stood up in a crowd of six hundred almost silent people and ranted on for thirty seconds on the subject of Paulo Sousa being a “f****** useless c***” you’d be a bit embarrassed wouldn’t you? Maybe you wouldn’t. Anyway thankfully this gave way to playful chanting in the final half hour culminating in the classic chants about Gary Borrowdale. It probably was not as well thought through as I give it credit for but to find a chant that registered our displeasure with the farce QPR has become at times without lambasting any player, board member or member of the coaching staff or turning on our own team was superb in my opinion. The attendance didn’t seem duly affected by the ridiculous notion perpetuated by both clubs before the match that this was going to be all ticket for away fans although quite a few did leave early - Northern the Younger had to be restrained when he tried to break free at half time, Mel arrived late and left before half time such was the quality of the fair on show.
7/10
4 - Atmosphere
It’s a new ground on the edge of town so there was none of course. I could see and hear murmerings from a group of Doncaster fans standing at the back of the stand directly opposite but the sound barely carried to our end and I dare say the chants from the away end drifted off into the night as well. Claims in the local press the following day that the first goal “ignited” the Doncaster fans and atmosphere were almost as laughable as the defending that lead to it. Almost totally silent for almost the entire game.
3/10
5 - The Ground
As a semi regular attender at Belle Vue it was clearly obvious that the club desperately needed to move or redevelop - but would it kill these clubs to do something a little bit different? Where has the imagination that created the new stadiums at Hull, Huddersfield and Bolton gone? The Keepmoat is about as sterile as these new stadiums come. Almost identical on all four sides to such an extent that I managed to walk round three and a half sides of the place outside trying to work out first of all which stand I was in and then ultimately which of the stands was down the side and which wasn’t. With the adjacent training facilities, youth coaching schemes, community changing rooms and all the rest of it I’m sure it’s a very worthy place for Doncaster and the people that live there - but a proper football ground it most certainly is not. Dull, depressing and stuck out in the middle of nowhere.
5/10
6 - Journey
As usual for these northern games this was not as long a trip for me as it was for other Rangers fans although as there were some “just back” posts appearing on the message board from just after midnight it seems that very few people had any problems. I left work in Derby just before six and was parked up in the retail park next to the railway sidings by half past. I went there intentionally because having been here before for the Rugby League I know the traffic can be a bit of a pig afterwards. I parked a little further away than I might have liked but the plan paid off afterwards when we bombed straight out onto the M18 and down to Sheffield in less than half an hour. I was alone on the way there but had four of the lads in the car on the way back reflecting on a successful (or in some cases less than successful) day at the Sedgefield Races. Still, one of them had backed Wichita Lineman earlier in the day at Cheltenham so we did get Glen Campbell renditions to drown out Danny Baker on the way home. The lads went out for a curry on arrival in Sheffield, I took a rather drunker member of our party back to mine where he/she fell asleep trying to eat Mexican Pizza. He/she shall remain nameless but you know who you are.
7/10
7 - Pre Match
Being stuck out in the middle of nowhere the ground does not offer great facilities for pre-match entertainment. I was hoping, had this been a Saturday game, to pay a visit to the Tut ‘n’ Shive in the middle of the town which is a pub made entirely out of recycled wood and always has a great atmosphere on a matchday. Sadly though I was stuck having a pre-match drink, and it was only one because despite being based next to a shopping centre there are no cash machines for miles around, in the neighbouring Beefeater. That was full, and an out of town chain pub, and therefore fairly crap. In the end I cut my losses and went to watch the players warm up which was worth it only because I got to see Rowan Vine in action again. Apart from the surreal feeling of being an extra in 28 Days Later walking round the shopping maul alone looking for a cash point this was pretty unremarkable - actually did they have extras in 28 days later? I suppose not. Must have been a cheap film to make.
5/10
8 - Police/Stewards
Saw none of the former and the latter stayed out of the way all night allowing QPR fans to stand at the back. South Yorkshire Police are a pain in the arse at Hillsborough and Bramall Lane but excellent here and at Barnsley. There will be a reason for that somewhere I suppose.
8/10
Total - 43/80