Our Quest for the elusive Quadruple was nearly derailed before kick off when Gary failed to turn up. With Darryl's hand still out of action we were lucky that Kyle turned up even though he had a free pass following his 16th birthday (his pubes have finally appeared).
With Glenn still injured, Kim on Holiday and Dan away working we were pretty much down to the bare bones so there was no easing Steve or Jack back as they were pressed into action from the off and this did them no favours as they both struggled to find their touch and composure under presssure from QPR who pressed hard in the early stages.
In truth we looked strangely flat and disjointed in the first half hour - not only were Jack and Steve returning after a month out but so was Ollie and with player absences we had to shuffle the pack. The one area of consistent strength was the back - Kyle looked commanding and confident and Chippy, Ryan and Bill maintained a good line and good focus. Neil went off after around 25/30 minutes with a hamstring and Sam dropped in the hole, Nathan came in at left back and Ryan was pushed further forward. These changes seemed to give us more forward momentum and we finished the half on the front foot. A 0-0 scoreline flattered them and disguised 4 clean chances that we had failed to take - Jack twice showing the effects of a long lay off as he spurned two good openings.
At half time we agreed to write off the first half hour and set about re-creating the tempo of the closing 15 minutes - the only shuffle was to pull Jack wide and to move Olli to point. This paid dividends within 2 minutes of the restart when Jack closed their left mid down, nicked possession and drove 5 yards before unleashing a 20 yard low drive which beat the 'keeper at the near post. As with last season Jack popping up with a nerve settling goal at a key moment allowed us to settle and find something approaching our usual rhythm.
Chippy, Bill and Nathan (putting in his best performance for some months) comfortably dealt with their long ball game and used Sam as the heartbeat to bring Josh and Darryl into the game which had been played over their heads for most of the first period. Ollies quality on the ball drew a stream of fouls but no yellow cards and Ryans pace up top disturbed their centre backs. Eventually Ollie was brought down in a more dangerous area and in the 63rd minute he punished them by latching onto Sams saved free kick to poke home from close range making it 2-0.
Lee came on for Steve with 20/25 to go and we saw out the game playing some neat football in short passages - putting together 5 or 6 passes with an end product was not easy on a scabby pitch but quality on and off the ball eventually shines through. As the game was drawing to a close Darryl combined to release Josh who slipped past three players before driving a lovely reverse cross just a yard the wrong side of Ollie, Ollie still controlled, slipped a man and teed up Lee whose 18 yard low drive was saved at full stretch but Jack was first to react and grabbed the loose ball to make it 3-0
We've said it before, at this stage of the season when we are in the running for trophies results are everything. We will produce performances such as those which swept aside Grange and Manuden but sometimes, like today, we have to be prepared to dig out a result on ugly pitches against ugly opposition. Every game is must win and we showed today what a strong group we are.
We have worked hard all season and we cannot afford any slip ups. As a group you have to make your minds up - do you want to be winners or do you want to be nearly men crying in your beer that you could have been contenders. A clean start for everyone but nights out before games are off the agenda for everyone until the end of the season - sort it out between yourselves before Wednesday training.
