QPR 0:2 West Brom
You will have to forgive me, because after an action packed weekend, which included attending the Player of the Year event for the first time, I’m still recovering and catching up somewhat!
I didn’t see what happened when Martin Rowlands was sent off, but the players didn’t really put up much of a protest. I was pleased however with the performance and discipline of the team when we were down to 10 men.
The burden laid on the shoulders of Hogan Ephraim and Gareth Ainsworth to inspire the team, but in the case of Ephraim, he did everything right up until the final ball where it just didn’t happen for him on the day.
That left us a bit flat and apart from a few moments of individual inspiration from Ainsworth, we lacked any real penetration in attack, especially in possession because we didn’t have the quality needed with our final ball or end product to get anything from the game.
It was always going to be that way when you’re missing the likes of Akos Buzsaky, Rowan Vine and Patrick Agyemang and once again, Damien Delaney from left-back was one of the few attacking successes. That says it all really.
I was pleased with the shift that Mikele Leigertwood put in when he came on, I thought he did well and we also had a solid performance at the back from Zesh Rehman and Matthew Connolly.
Damien Delaney played very well. His attacking instinct is worth some of the risks he takes, but he still has to make the effort to get back. He got forward on one occasion but in his despair that the move broke down, he didn’t react quick enough and a good team like West Brom seized the opportunity to attack down an unprotected right-flank. The team should also put two and two together though and just shift across or fill in.
Overall, we’ve learned that we can still compete with the best this division has to offer in West Brom, even with a depleted side. The truth however is we are still thin on numbers and strength in depth, and so long as we add to the squad for next season, we’ll be more than fine.
Congratulations to West Brom on winning the Championship and good luck to them in the Premier League next season. What a lovely free-kick it was too from Chris Brunt. Well done.
