QPR v Bristol Rovers, Tuesday 28th August, 2018

QPR 3 Bristol Rovers 1

After Chelsea and Fulham in 2016 and 2017 respectively, this was Rovers third annual outing to West London in the league cup. Tonights 'glamour tie' involved a trip to Championship QPR. Hopes were high amongst us travelling fans, although Rovers had had a poor start to the season, QPR's had been even worse and included a 7-1 mauling at West Brom and a recent 3-0 defeat at home to Bristol City.

My last visit to Loftus Road had been a bit of a disaster by all accounts. It was back in 2007 for a league game against Ipswich. At the time I was working in a hostel for rough sleepers. QPR were kind enough to donate half a dozen tickets to the hostel for the game. Myself and a colleague, tempted by the free ticket offered to come in on our day off to accompany the residents accross town. I ended up spending the afternoon with a new Irish resident called Jackie. By the time we got to the ground, she'd already had a few clandestine cans of Tennants and was in high spirits. As we took our seats just before kick off it was noticeable we were surrounded a lot of young children, presumably fellow recipients of QPR's community outreach drive. As the game got underway the youngsters enthusiastically joined in on the "RANGERS, RANGERS" chant. Unfortunately this was too much for Jackie to take. An Irish catholic, she retorted, very loudly, "FUCK RANGERS - CELTIC, CELTIC" etc. My desperate attempts to shush her and explain that QPR had nothing to do with Glasgow Rangers fell on deaf ears and she carried on with her choice observations. Needless to say we were attracting a lot of looks from the children, the accompanying adults and nearby stewards. It seemed Jackie was relishing the notoriety and she showed no sign of toning things down. We left before half time. Probably just before we were asked to. Me back home with my tail between my legs and Jackie to a nearby off license.

Tonight I was in esteemed company. In the car were Harley of Gas Cast fame and my pal Tom, retired blogger and now official photographer for Bristol Manor Farm. Briony and Paul were the other knowledgeable gas heads sitting in the back. We zipped up the M4 and arrived in Shepherds Bush in plenty of time, allowing an enjoyable pint or two in The Queen Adelaide before heading to the game.

Loftus Road is a lovely old ground. It doesn't appear to have changed at all since my last visit over a decade ago and probably hasn't changed much since long before that. Tightly surrounded by terraced streets, it's made up of stands all the same height with three being two tiered and one being a steep single tiered affair. The claustrophobic concourse under the stand made this feel like a classic old ground. I also like how blue it is. I heard one Rovers fan moaning that it felt like one giant corrugated iron shed. A bit rich considering the state of the Memorial stadium. A recent visiting Millwall fan memorably quipped - 'A tent, a cricket pavillion and a cow shed - and that's just one side of the ground'!

For the home side this was very much not a glamour tie and this was borne out by the attendance of 5,000 of which Rovers accounted for almost 2,000. One side of the ground was closed but being in the packed away end in the upper tier behind a goal meant the atmosphere was pretty good anyway.

I'm writing this some time after the game so my recollection of the match action is pretty limited. I do remember us going 1-0 down, then 2-0 down very quickly in the first half. QPR were kicking towards us so at least we had a good view of the goals. James Clarke, Rovers popular utility man was tasked with doing a job at right back and had a torrid time trying to deal with Rangers left winger. Clark cut a comical figure as with chest puffed out, he ran back towards goal whilst trying to look over his shoulder at the on rushing winger who would then go past him as if he wasn't there. Adam Smith in the Rovers goal looked dodgy as well and it was a mild relief that it was only 2-0 at half time.

Rangers went 3-0 up in the second half when giant striker, Matt Smith was left unmarked and picked his spot with a header. Ed Upson scored a late consolation for Rovers to make the score line look a little more respectable. Off we trotted back to Bristol. An enjoyable summers evening in West London at a classic old ground, but not a performance that will live long in the memory.