Rangers were held to a draw in Preston thanks to an injury time goal from Youl Mawene.

Queens Park Rangers certainly aren't getting their fair share of good fortune this season. Ian Holloway was forty five seconds away from vindication of another bizarre team selection when Preston's Youl Mawene took advantage of some poor keeping by Royce to nod home an undeserved equaliser.

As if this wasn't hard enough to take, Mawene had earlier been spared a certain red card when referee Mike Pike chose to ignore his crude trip on Paul Furlong as the Rangers man raced into the penalty area. That's 45 games since Rangers last scored a penalty and the run shows no sign of coming to an end.

Holloway sprung surprises with his team selection as usual. Central defender Georges Santos was moved into the centre of midfield ahead of central midfielder Tommy Doherty who started the game on the bench. Gareth Ainsworth's man of the match performance and goal against Crystal Palace wasn't enough to keep him in the team as fit again centre forward Kevin Gallen took his place at right wing.

Nygaard and Furlong were the preferred combination up front after working so well together at Leicester, Steve Lomas came into the centre of midfield alongside Georges with Cook wide left, Ian Evatt finally, finally made a start at centre half with Danny, Bignot and Dyer the full backs, Royce the keeper.

Preston themselves were forced into fielding an unfamiliar line up. David Nugent's impetigo and the sale of Richard Cresswell meant Patrick Agyemang and former R Danny Dichio were left to make up a robust looking forward line. Loan Man Utd star David Jones was in the midfield with former Rotherham man Sedgwick, Neil and McKenna who'd played so well at Loftus Road last season. Mears, Lucketti, Marwene and Davidson made up the defence in front of Carlo Nash.

The game started at a snails pace. Both sides keen to take advantage of their monster forward lines batted long balls back and forth for twenty minutes or so with only a long range effort from PNE's Lewis Neil, which was easily saved by Royce, to show for their efforts.

The first piece of football of the afternoon saw Gallen linking well with Furlong and Nygaard before Furs sent the ball through down the left side for Lee Cook. Cook took a touch to steady himself but his shot was tame and easily dealt with by Nash. Furlong and Nygaard, both free and unmarked waiting for a square ball, were less than impressed with the left winger.

Nash had to work a little harder to keep out Paul Furlong's 26th minute effort while at the other end Royce easily dealt with another effort from Neil. Marwene rescued his team by heading a Marc Nygaard cross over his own bar but it was dire stuff to this point.

From a Rangers point of view it's a shame they couldn't have found a goal in these early exchanges. Preston are yet to win at Deepdale this season and the natives were restless from almost the first minute. Danny Dichio seemed to be the main target of their angst and this only increased when first he hacked a twenty yard volley high into the away end and then failed to convert the home side's best chance of the half.

Paul McKenna embarked on a piercing run to the heart of the Rangers defence and with Rangers stretched David Jones sent a terrific low cross into the six yard box where Evatt was struggling to contain Dichio. The Hammersmith Horse, trying a fancy back flick into the empty net, missed the ball completely and the danger passed to the dismay of the Preston faithful. There would later be the biggest cheer of the day from the home stands when Billy Davies performed a mercy killing and took Dichio off.

As the second half got underway Dichio was again the culprit in front of goal as he missed the target with a header from Callum Davidson's cross and within two minutes Chris Lucketti had headed wide from a corner when left unmarked.

The key incident of the game came at the other end though as Rangers started to turn the screw. The Preston defence looked square and slow in the fiftieth minute when a simple long ball from Shittu sent Nygaard racing through on goal, the Big Dane smashed a low volley from an acute angle wide of the far post, and a matter of moments later this sluggishness caught them out once again.

French defender Youl Mawene made a real hash of a bouncing ball on the edge of the area under pressure from Furlong and when the Rangers man nipped in behind him and set off towards goal with the ball at his feet Marwene had little option to but to haul him down - and how! A crude, laboured challenge right under the nose of the referee sent Furlong crashing to ground in the penalty area. The debate will of course rage about whether he was inside or outside the area but a more blatant red card you could never wish to see.

Referee Mike Pike, who last season turned down two red hot claims for penalties by Rangers away to Sunderland, was all of four yards away from the incident but infuriatingly looked across to the linesman on the other side of the pitch, a good forty yards away. He of course shrugged his shoulders as if to say "You're standing right there you stupid git, how the hell am I meant to see from here?!" Like the true coward this man is Pike shook his head and refused to even speak to Gallen or Furlong when the ball next went out of play. The incident was quickly forgotten, but would come back to haunt Rangers later.

While all this madness was taking place Steve Lomas pulled up with what looked like a hamstring injury and was quickly replaced in the centre by Tommy Doherty. Then, with sixty one minutes on the watch, the visitors took the lead. Danny Shittu had been charged with taking Rangers' free kicks to this point, with little success. One went embarrassingly wide, another hit the wall, but this third one did at least win a corner after taking a deflection.

Preston spent the afternoon defending QPR corners by leaving three players on the halfway line. This I have only seen once before. Ramon Diaz's Oxford played this way to great effect at Grimsby last season, but then Grimsby didn't have Shittu, Evatt, Santos, Furlong and Nygaard all hanging round the six yard box for corners.

All Preston succeeded in doing was taking Dyer, Bignot and Lomas out of the box for our corners and with an average height of about five and a half feet this was no great loss and only succeeded in giving the big men more space to attack in the area. The tactic bit Preston right on the backside when Shittu rose highest to powerfully head home Kevin Gallen's corner.

Billy Davis persisted with this three up tactic even after Rangers had scored and fifteen minutes from time Georges Santos was left unmarked from a Lee Cook delivery but his powerful header went straight at Nash. Perhaps when teams come to Deepdale with five players over six feet tall it might be an idea for Preston to concentrate on stopping them scoring from corners, rather than forming grand plans for the perfect counter attack.

In between the Shittu goal and the Santos header Kevin Gallen was played through down the Rangers right but from an almost identical position to the one Nygaard missed from earlier, Kevin hit a shot straight at Nash.

At the other end Marc Nygaard almost put through his own net when he sent Paul McKenna's free kick bouncing towards goal with his thigh. The giant forward though calmly collected possession, dribbled along the line and played a nice ball out wide to the left leaving most Rangers' fans struggling for breath!

Preston introduced Noland and Hibbert for Sedgewick and the hapless Dichio and started to come into the game with twenty minutes left. Agyemang almost scored one of the Championship goals of the season so far when he danced in behind Bignot down the PNE left, cut back, ran past Evatt and launched a stinging drive towards the top corner only to see it flash past the post. Agyemang was denied again moments later by a terrific clearing header from Shittu.

Ian Holloway responded by removing Lee Cook and replacing him with Gareth Ainsworth. This change again had me scratching my head. Cook to this point was having his worst game of the season, fair enough, but on the other flank Kevin Gallen could barely walk after five weeks out with a hamstring injury - at least Cook could still run around. It was a move that would catch Holloway out in injury time.

Ainsworth's first action against his former club was to cheekily try to divert a cross into the net with his hand, a move that brought the first card of the game and deservedly so.

Preston were pushing Rangers further and further back as the time ticked down. Just three minutes were left when David Jones hit a seemingly unstoppable shot towards the bottom corner but Simon Royce was alive to turn the ball behind one handed for a corner. A magnificent save.

When Rangers did manage to clear their lines too often they found themselves immediately under more pressure. Twice they spurned good chances to run the ball down to the corner when Ainsworth and then Gallen tried to be heroes and the third time they did it, Preston made them pay. Picking the ball up on the halfway line Gallen wearily tried to beat his man only to softly lose possession. Preston tore away down the field and only superb speed and determination from Dyer prevented anything more serious than a corner.

Preston sent everybody, including goalkeeper Carlo Nash, up for the set piece and when Royce came for the ball and missed it Mawene was able to loop the ball into the unguarded net. Gallen had been punished for not holding the ball up, Holloway had been punished for not taking the knackered Gallen off when he had the chance, Royce had been punished for coming for a cross and not making it - and all by Mawene, who should have been paddling round in the early bath water half an hour earlier. Rangers' pleas for a foul on Royce were waved away, rightly, and PNE had their draw.

So a point Rangers would have grasped lovingly at 3pm, felt like a defeat come 5. The visiting team had numerous chances in the second half to kill off a Preston team that looked drained of confidence from the first whistle. To concede a goal in those circumstances was heartbreaking.

Furlong and Nygaard led the line well, the Dane in particular is starting to look like quite a player. Evatt and particularly Shittu were colossal at the back and Lloyd Dyer showed some nice touches and no small amount of defensive ability at left back.

When the team ran out I could almost hear the clatter of a thousand key boards throughout the world bemoaning Holloway's insanity and tactical incompetence on message boards - the under fire Rangers manager was just forty five seconds from vindication.

Teams

Preston Nash 7, Mears 6, Mawene 7, Lucketti 7, Davidson 7, Sedgwick 6 (Nowland 70, 6), Jones 8, McKenna 8, Neal 7, Agyemang 8, Dichio 4 (Hibbert 71, 6).
Subs Not Used: Alexander, Hill, Parillon.
Goals: Mawene 90.

QPR Royce 6, Bignot 6, Shittu 8, Evatt 7, Dyer 7, Lomas 6 (Doherty 56, 6), Gallen 6, Santos 6, Cook 5 (Ainsworth 76, 5), Nygaard 8, Furlong 7.
Subs Not Used: Sturridge, Cole, Moore.
Booked: Ainsworth.
Goals: Shittu 62.

Att: 13,660

Ref: M Pike (Cumbria) 5 - Didn't book anyone which is a positive but missed the key decision. He was only five yards away when Mawene felled Furlong and to look to a linesman ten times that distance away for help was just plain cowardice. I read at Sunderland last year that this guy's a copper, well it wouldn't surprise me if he's one of those heroes clutching a radar gun taking photos of people doing 74mph on a straight bit of motorway. Strap on a pair and give the away side a decision Mr Pike.

Man of the Match - Marc Nygaard - 8 - Nygaard is starting to look like a really good signing after a "difficult" first few matches. His physical presence and heading ability is a god send away from home, particularly the way Holloway likes the game played. He did everything but score against Preston and hopefully can stay fit and form a good, goalscoring, partnership with Furs over the winter months. Honourable mention to Danny Shittu who ran him close, but I give it to Shittu every week!

Photo: Action Images

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