QPR Ladies continued their encouraging pre-season campaign with a thumping victory over Staines on Sunday.

Despite taking a while for the Hoops to get going in baking weather conditions, it easily could have been double figures as the visitors were guilty of missing numerous opportunities to score. Once Chez Albert opened the scoring though there was only ever going to be one winner and generally the Rs played some excellent football throughout.

Staines struggled to gain any control over the midfield which Malin Engman and Tanya bossed from the outset and Chez’s trickery and smart dribbling gave them all sorts of trouble. Up front Viki Blackburn worked her socks off and deserved a goal for her performance, but was unlucky not to get the rub of the green on more than one occasion.

Malin added a second followed by a glorious hat-trick from Donya Wilson put the game way beyond doubt before Tanya and Malin (who grabbed her second) finished the job. Staines did manage to pull back a late consolation goal but by then the game was long over.

Team: Shereen (GK), Ceryl Guard, Ellie Sullivan, Nicole Cho-Yee, Mel Bidewell (Capt), Donya Wilson, Steph Lupano, Tanya, Malin Engman, Chez Albert and Viki Blackburn.

Subs: Elsa, Mel Randall and Allana Ashmeil

I managed to grab a photo of the big screen while I was down at Loftus Road this weekend, so those of you who were wondering what it looks like, here you go:

Am I the only one who gets really frustrated by the way clubs use Squad Numbers these days?

It has really irritated me over the last few seasons because why on Earth have we moved away from the traditional positions and numbers? I know there is a need for bigger squads these days, but at the start of the season it’s a chance to sort it out and organise the players properly. Or maybe it’s another one of those things where a team is worried they’re giving too much away?

It annoys me seeing Damien Delaney wearing 2 when traditionally a left-back would wear 3. We’ve got Damion Stewart wearing 3 when traditionally a centre-back would wear either 4, 5 or 6. We’ve got Patrick Agyemang wearing 11 when traditionally strikers would wear 9 or 10. You could make a lot of arguments and cases for others players as well as why they’ve got the numbers or not, but it’s still annoying all the same when the basic ones are muddled up.

It makes it harder when you watch clubs you’re not too familiar with and they’re also not sticking to any form of tradition because it means it takes longer to work out who plays where. You don’t have to stick to anything rigidly but a little consistency here just makes following the game all the more beautiful.

Oh well. They’re just numbers after all…

QPR Ladies continued their winning start to pre-season with a resounding victory over Denham United who were promoted into the division below our Ladies for the coming season after storming to the title and promotion.

The Rs started with a 4-5-1 formation but switched between that and 4-4-2 throughout the game. The match started fairly slowly with both teams feeling each other out but after a good 15 minutes or so we began to dominate and take control.

The height of Carla Williams and Malin Engman was a cause of concern and the superb deliveries from wide areas from Suzanne eventually paid off as Tanya was on hand to put us 1-0 up. Suzanne was the provider again shortly before half-time with another great cross which Mel Bidewell headed home at the back post.

Despite the 2-0 advantage we were a little congested throughout the opening 45 minutes and the players heeded advice from the coaching staff to spread the play. Simone Dwyer was the catalyst for much of the good work that proceeded and in the next 45 minutes we created a host of chances.

Carla Williams struck for 3-0 and finished a lovely passing move and then Tanya got her second for 4-0 with a header from another Suzanne cross. Mel Bidewell struck from the edge of the area after a good run at goal for her second to make it 5-0 and Malin wrapped up the win with a thumping turn and shot from almost 30 yards to seal an impressive 6-0 win.

Line Up: Jess, Mel Bidewell, Nicole Cho-Yee, Ceryl Guard, Susanne, Hannah Curnow, Jayd Bowley, Malin Engman, Tanya, Carla Williams and Chez Albert

Subs: Fiona Webb, Donya Wilson, Vicki Blackburn and Simone Dwyer

I had the daunting pleasure of being asked to write a match report for Clive’s excellent Loft For Words website, which I was more than honoured to do.

I also took some photos from the game which you can find below.

Photos
Stevenage 1:3 QPR

Read more…

I am now enrolled onto the Level 2 Taster day which I will take on August 3rd and once I’ve completed that I hope to start my Level 2 Certificate in Football Coaching towards the back end of this year, probably from November onwards but I’ll need to check if it clashes with any matches first!

I received this message from Dave Thomas on behalf of AKUTR’s which I’m delighted to share with you and it’s great to see AKUTR’s and Dave doing well after some recent struggles:

Fresh from winning the prestigious ‘Championship Fanzine of the Year’ award, we are currently introducing a new look to A Kick Up The R’s, aiming to make it bigger and better than ever. We will also shortly be launching our long-awaited website.

Something new to the fanzine will be the inclusion of advertising, with both outside and inside positions available, in various sizes. And with QPR supporters who are running their own small businesses firmly in mind, we are also creating a special Directory section.

All advertisers will feature FREE on the new website, as part of the value add-ons package - which also includes discounted rates and advertorial. For a full list of the value add-ons and for further details on how to advertise your business, then please drop us a line at qpr@netcomuk.co.uk and we will email the rate card, as a pdf.

Dave Thomas
Editor - AKUTR’s
qpr@netcomuk.co.uk