Rangers got back to winning ways with an easy victory against Wycombe Wanderers on Tuesday night. Early goals from Gavin Mahon and Patrick Agyemang were enough to brush aside Peter Taylor's League One side in what was a much improved display from Friday's 2-2 draw at Oxford.
Rangers lined up with Cerny in goal, behind a back four of Ramage, Gorkss, Hall and Connolly.
Routledge and Balanta flanked a central pairing of Rowlands(c) and Mahon, while Vine and Agyemang continued together in attack.
The R's raced out of the blocks from the first whistle, and found themselves ahead after only two minutes. Wayne Routledge's precision cross found an un-marked Mahon who beat the Wycombe goalkeeper with a diving header from five-yards out.
Rangers continued to press against a shell-shocked Wycombe, and the lead was doubled six minutes later. The Impressive Angelo Balanta broke quickly from inside his own half to evade two attempted tackles before finding Rowan Vine who crossed for strike-partner Agyemang to slot home a low shot from 15-yards.
We continued to dominate the first half with some stylish football that totally overwhelmed the home side. Balanta, Vine, Rowlands, Routledge and Mahon were all having exceptional games, while defenders Connolly, Ramage, Hall and Gorkss were easily mopping up the odd Wycombe attack.
The quality of passing and retention of the ball was reminiscent of manager Magilton during his playing days, and hopefully this is a sign of things to come this season. Obviously rangers will come across much better opposition during the next campaign, however nobody can deny that after last night performance, it would seem that Magilton and John gorman are succeeding in getting the players to play a stylish brand of football that we have long craved for at Loftus Road.
The second half however failed to live up to the same quality as the first, with the Chairboys deciding to stick 11 men behind the ball whenever rangers had possession.
Chances were now at a premium despite our dominance in possession. It would seem that Peter Taylor thought it sensible to try and contain a rangers side that had threatened to rack up a cricket score in the first half.
Saying this, Wycombe stuck to the task well and restricted us to merely playing a simple game of keep ball amongst ourselves, which grew more and more frustrating.
Trialist Gregory Vignal and new loan signing Adel Taarabt were introduced mid-way through the second half, with Vignal coming on for left-back Matt Connolly, and Taarabt replacing the impressive Vine.
Vignal saw very little of the ball despite trying to get forward as much as possible, however the former Liverpool and Rangers man will get more of a chance to make his mark in tonight’s friendly away at Kettering Town.
Taarabt looked poor after being introduced. The young Moroccan was caught in possession on a number of occasions and he will have to learn quickly the importance of team-play if he is to become a threat for us this season.
Wycombe then pulled a goal back on 83 mins when a rare forray up-field from the home side resulted in Vignal needlessly bringing down Matt Phillips on the edge of the area. The ensuing free-kick caught rangers cold, and sloppy marking allowed Luke Oliver to head past Cerny in the rangers goal.
It was yet another sloppy goal from our point of view, and an issue that will need to be addressed quickly before the season gets underway in ten days time.
After the goal Magilton introduced youngsters Antonio German, Josh Parker and Matteo Alberti, however with only little time left it was difficult for them to make an impact.
Rangers ran down the clock to take a comfortable victory on the night, and the performance was one that we hope can be replicated against Southampton on Saturday, and again the following week against Blackpool at Loftus Road.