JIM'S BACK TO REALITY

IF Rangers were in any danger of starting to believe their own hype, that is no longer a problem - not after being handed a lesson in passing and shooting by a team who have been flirting with the drop zone.

Jim Magilton's Rangers, who have tumbled from fourth to sixth, were simply out-thought and out-witted in a game that should have suited them down to the ground.

Rovers, like Rangers, pride themselves on playing football the beautiful way - rather than the 'hoof and hope' approach.

Too often in the past, there has been little of beauty for their fans to savour as leads have been squandered and the losses have totted up.

Here, though, the home side matched Rangers every step of the way and then upped the ante with two deserved second-half goals.

The sound of the Rangers' bubble bursting was almost deafening.

In fact, the only thing that drowned it out was the cheeky chant of "Ole" from gloating Rovers fans as their team strung together 35 passes in the wake of their goals.

Victory ended a run of three games without a win for Rovers. But, more importantly for boss Sean O'Driscoll, it justified his insistence on sticking with his style of play.

He said: "Our performances this season have been as good as you will get - but it is difficult to secure results in this division.

"We do not make it easy for ourselves. But we would be the team people would want to watch because we are entertaining and we play the right way.

"Today we ticked all the boxes. QPR are a good team, sitting pretty in the table - and they spend an awful lot of money.

"They play the game the right way but we were better than them with the ball.

"Our first goal gave us confidence - our chests swelled and everyone wanted the ball. When we get like that, we are difficult to beat."

At their throats

Rovers were only one point above the relegation places before the game but, in the second half especially, they played like a team battling near the top.

Despite having won only one of their previous 11 games, suddenly they found they had Rangers by the throats.

Mind you, Rangers would have had trouble fighting their way out of a paper bag after the first goal from Billy Sharp.

A team with the third best scoring tally in the Championship warmed keeper Neil Sullivan's hands only once in the game.

And, in the end, their defeat would have been far heavier had it not been for two cracking late saves by Radek Cerny from James Coppinger. Rovers also looked to have a genuine claim for a penalty after substitute Alessandro Pellicori appeared to handle.

Doncaster fans delighted in chanting Thierry Henry's name, in reference to the Frenchman's controversial handball in the midweek World Cup qualifier.

And O'Driscoll admitted: "Those things happen all over the world every day but, thankfully, this one didn't have an influence on the game."

Whimper

A penalty would have been the final straw for Magilton as he watched in shock as his side went down with barely a whimper.

He said: "We looked lethargic. Doncaster pride themselves, as we do, in passing football - and they were better at it, especially when they went a goal up.

"We had a great opportunity at the start of the second half - but Jay Simpson's miss summed up our game. After that, we fell apart."

Simpson's fluffed early second-half shot, when he should have scored, did seem to crush Rangers and lift Rovers.

Sharp forced a corner with a cracking 20-yard shot - and from the set-piece, the on-loan Sheffield United striker turned the ball into the net from close range on 53 minutes.

Twelve minutes later, Rangers' problems doubled when they allowed Dean Shiels far too much room on the edge of the box to whip the ball into the bottom corner.

It took the two-goal deficit to spur Rangers into their first shot on target but sub Adel Taarabt's effort did little to trouble Sullivan.

Instead, it was Rangers keeper Cerny who kept having to come to the rescue of his side, twice thwarting Coppinger late on.

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