QPR 1 Plymouth Argyle 1

26 February 2007

By Ben Kosky

TIME will tell whether this was a valuable point for Rangers, but the lingering feeling was that of a good opportunity squandered.

Home matches against mid-table sides - especially those down to 10 men in the closing stages - are the ones a relegation-haunted team must make count.

While the Rs' desire and work ethic could not be faulted, their lack of a cutting edge in attack meant that Plymouth were rarely subjected to the kind of pressure under which they might have wilted.

Leaving aside Lee Cook's controversial 59th-minute equaliser, Rangers only seriously tested Argyle goalkeeper Luke McCormick twice - in the first minute of the game and the last.

Manager John Gregory admitted he was surprised to see Cook's goal stand, after McCormick had spilled a Martin Rowlands corner under pressure.

"You don't see players surrounding the referee for no reason and they've probably got some justification," said Gregory. "I thought the referee had cancelled it out when he blew his whistle and pointed.

"But it was certainly no more than we deserved. Playing against Ian Holloway's teams, you'll always be flat out for 90 minutes and you know you're going to have to match them.

"It was a tough game with a lot of blood and thunder and Ollie was quite complimentary about the way we battled against his team. I'm delighted we've got something from it."

The tone of the game might have been very different if Dexter Blackstock - who rarely looks convincing in a one-one-one situation - managed to slip the ball past McCormick right at the start.

As a unit, Rangers did look confident as the likes of Adam Bolder, Sami Timoska and Damion Stewart launched themselves into tackles with relish and Cook and Rowlands made good use of the space out wide.

Gareth Ainsworth's drive was deflected behind and McCormick sped out to foil Rowlands, but the clearest chance came at the other end, where Lee Camp leapt across to keep out Sylvan Ebanks-Blake's angled missile.

But QPR looked suspect defending set-pieces and they were caught out on 32 minutes, when Dan Gosling headed a free-kick back across for Lilian Nalis to glance past Camp.

Gregory's side started the second half as brightly as they had done the first and might have levelled when Ainsworth's effort thudded into a mass of Plymouth legs and trickled inches wide.

From the corner, though, they did square the match as Cook capitalised on McCormick's fumble and, after a quick glance towards match official Richard Beeby, launched into his celebration dance.

Almost at once, Camp blocked a David Norris effort with his legs, but it was all Rangers for the remainder of the afternoon and Blackstock twice directed headers wide, while Rowlands was unlucky to see his lob drop onto the roof of the net.

It was only when Nalis received his second booking, for kicking the ball away, that Gregory decided to relieve some of Blackstock's burden by sending on Paul Furlong.

So often, under Holloway, the veteran striker filled a starring role in late drama, and those memories flickered back when Michael Mancienne's cross fell to him, but his finish was superbly parried by McCormick as Plymouth held on.

QPR: CAMP*; Mancienne, Stewart, Cullip, Timoska; Ainsworth, Lomas, Bolder; Rowlands (Furlong 80), Cook; Blackstock. Subs not used: Cole, Kanyuka, R Jones, Smith.

Att: 13,757