QPR continued their recent flying form with a televised hammering of Derby at Pride Park on Saturday evening.

1 - The Match
A game between two teams playing in contrasting styles with the attractive passing game of QPR coming out on top against the more conventional Championship long ball tactics of Derby. The Rams went into a two goal lead before half time with Robbie Savage setting up Paul Dickov for the first with a quick free kick and then scoring himself directly from another. However after that the home side began to drop very deep, leaving striker Rob Hulse isolated to field one hopeful long ball after another against QPR’s towering centre half partnership of Stewart and Gorkss. The tactics were miserable, lacking ambition and were punished severely by a QPR side that clicked into gear just after the half hour and never really looked like doing anything other than win comfortably once Adel Taarabt had brought them back into the game with a low free kick around a poorly placed wall. The second half was totally dominated by QPR with goals from Mahon and Simpson turning the game on its head in the first quarter of an hour and a late penalty from Akos Buzsaky after a foul on Wayne Routledge putting the seal on it. A fine advert for the Championship really - good quality football, highly competitive and plenty of goals.
8/10

2 - QPR Performance
Such is the style and confidence oozing from this QPR side at the moment I can honestly say that even at two goals down midway through the first half I didn’t really expect us to lose the game. Both Derby goals came from refereeing decisions rather than anything they did to hurt us particularly so it was no surprise to make to see the R’s come roaring back to take all three points. Far from hinder QPR’s chances the absence of Rowlands and Watson from the midfield seems to have merely handed an opportunity to two more players to shine and Gavin Mahon and Alejandro Faurlin were both superb in the centre of the park. Derby simply could not cope with Taarabt. Routledge and Simpson further ahead of them and Buzsaky was sublime at times as the string puller. The defence fell asleep for the first goal but was reasonably steady apart from that, Cerny had a couple of uncharacteristically nervy moments in goal. Overall though QPR are good to watch, scoring lots of goals, and achieving great results so there is little to complain about.
8/10

3 - QPR Support
Considering the time of the game and the fact that it was on free to air television the attendance as a whole was mightily impressive, and it was good to see a good 600 QPR fans make the journey to the Midlands to support the team rather than stay and watch it at home. Chanting “We gave you two for the telly” raised a smile as QPR surged into the lead and overall the mood and atmosphere in the away end was very good, noisy and positive even when the two Derby goals went in early in the game.
7/10

4 - Atmosphere
For a new ground on the edge of town Pride Park is not too bad for atmosphere. Certainly when you compare it to the library-like states of Coventry and Leicester it is actually very good. There is a good band of noisy support across four or five blocks to the right of the away end and the mocking of our celebrations when we thought Faurlin had scored in the first half, while irritating and embarrassing at the time, did raise a smile later in the game - after we’d won of course. However I was quite surprised and disappointed at how quickly the Derby fans turned on their team. They’re a knowledgeable bunch and every one I have spoken to up here understands the problems that Clough has inherited. Why therefore they felt the need to boo and throw their free t-shirts onto the pitch because a team with 16 injuries that wasn’t very good in the first place has been beaten by a far better team on the day I’m not too sure. Still, I suppose it is hard to criticise a fan base that turns up 30,000 strong for a Saturday night game on the television for reacting to a four goal home defeat. The QPR fans did their best to contribute to the atmosphere and were heard loud and proud in the second half.
7/10

5 - The Ground
Pride Park is somewhere in between the classy, imaginative new grounds at Huddersfield, Bolton and Hull and the dull, soulless wastes of space at Coventry, Leicester, Southampton, Cardiff and elsewhere. With the two tiered main stand banking away to the left and the fact that the away fans are behind a goal rather than bunged off in a corner somewhere it does at least feel like a football ground rather than a crisp bowl. There’s a decent atmosphere inside the place as well as already mentioned. It still has a lot of the usual new ground problems - not close enough to the pitch, stuck out in the middle of an industrial park 15 minutes walk from the nearest pub - but it’s certainly one of the better ones. It has been here a while now, and QPR are yet to lose in five visits, which probably puts a rosier tint on things than I would normally look at such cathedrals of mediocrity with. Look regular readers know I hate these places in general, they’re not football grounds and I’ll take the Baseball Ground or Ninian Park any day of the week, but as far as new grounds go this one is one of the better ones.
6/10

6 - The Journey
A bizarre one given that I started in Derby in the morning but had pre-match drinks in Sheffield. This was due to a works night out turning messy on Friday and me kipping on a friend’s floor. I then had to get the car back to Sheffield which would have been easier had a Nissan Micra carrying an Asian family of 12 not crashed on the M1 at Junction 29a. First mission accomplished I then joined the rest of the Northern R’s on the train at about 3pm - we all got a seat on that and arrived in Derby on time 25 minutes later. Coming back we had just missed a train at about twenty to eight oweing to us staying behind and clap[ping the boys but they’re pretty frequent from Derby up to the Steel City and everything ran on time and without drama. For a change. Bloody hell, we’re looking at a high score here.
8/10

7 - Pre Match
So having dumped my car in Sheffield I then joined the rest of the Northern R’s in the Old Monk next to the Crucible in Sheffield. The police presence was pretty high in town with Cardiff visiting Bramall Lane but there were no problems in the pub. In fact The Monk, previously a dank and uninviting place used solely because of its enormous big screen with live football, has had a bit of a makeover and a new menu. Gone are the microwaveable dishes of doom and in their place were various specials, fresh options, and locally sourced burgers. They went down a treat with the odd Becks or five while we watched Aston Villa surrender points at Wolves before getting the train. In Derby we went in The waterfall opposite the station where the service was very good but the temperature rather colder than you would normally want from an indoor place. Beers sunk and Jeff Stelling watched then it was off to the ground for another four goal triumph.
8/10

8 - Police and Stewards
They’ve never really been a problem here, and indeed they won many friends by allowing the smokers to go outside at half time and light up, but there were a couple of real jobsworths in the away end. They insisted midway through the first half as Derby lined up a free kick on the edge of the box to rudely push and shove their way along an aisle to get to two lads who weren’t quite sitting down properly, while certainly not standing. Evil, vile, half standers vanquished they then pushed and shoved their way back past everybody just as the free kick was being taken without a word of apology.
4/10
Total - 56/80

Photo: Action Images

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