Charlie Oatway is resigned to some friendly ribbing from members of his family in the next few weeks, but roles could so easily have been reversed.

Oatway, like the rest of his clan an avid Rangers supporter, was denied the opportunity by referee Mark Cooper to have a potentially decisive bearing on a frantic promotion encounter.

Debutant Trevor Benjamin inadvertently miscued a Gary Hart cross into Oatway's path.

His shot from the edge of the area seemed sure to give Albion an early lead, only for the leaning Clarke Carlisle to block it with his arm.

Cooper refuted Albion's penalty appeals, allowing Carlisle a second lucky escape in a matter of weeks.

The central defender elbowed Leon Knight in an off-the-ball incident in the LDV Vans Trophy tie between the teams last month.

The referee didn't see it and booked Knight instead for feigning injury, but Cooper had no such excuse.

Oatway, raised just around the corner from Loftus Road, said: "The ref was on top of it and it was handball, no ifs or buts.

"He (Carlisle) leaned down to try and get something on it because the goalkeeper was on the other side. He knows it would have been a goal.

"Not only was it a penalty, he would have to have gone as well and I think the ref let a few things get to him.

"He was alright making decisions in the middle of the park but when it comes down to the nitty-gritty refereeing you want he wasn't there for it.

"He just said it was his shoulder, which I find weird. It was definitely a penalty."

Probably a goal down and certainly a man down with just six minutes played, Rangers' unbeaten home League record would have been under considerable threat.

Instead they chiselled out another valuable victory which keeps them on course for automatic promotion and effectively ends Albion's chances of catching them.

All three goals came in the first half and all of them left question marks against the respective defences.

Former Brentford midfielder Martin Rowlands drifted in from the left flank on a 30-yard run to score with a low drive from the edge of the box.

Kevin Gallen doubled Rangers' advantage two minutes before the break when he latched onto Paul Furlong's back-header, evaded Paul Watson and calmly slotted his 12th of the season.

It would have been harsh on Albion had they gone in 2-0 down. Danny Cullip ensured the deficit was narrower deep into first-half stoppage time with a near post header from Watson's inswinging corner.

That was a poor way for Rangers to concede for only the fourth time at home in the League and Cullip could have added to his first of the campaign in a frenetic climax.

He shot over from Knight's header, while Knight himself was foiled from close range by keeper Chris Day.

Oatway said: "As the gaffer pointed out, a couple of sloppy goals didn't help us.

"We got back into it and in the second half I thought there was only one team in it.

"The boys gave everything they had and if a couple of things had gone for us we could have been going home with three points.

"Our eyes haven't come off the top two yet. We were 11 points behind Chesterfield a couple of seasons ago and Rangers or Plymouth have only got to go through a bit of bad form."

You have to admire Oatway's optimism, but Rangers have now opened a 15-point gap over Albion from a match more.

Of more concern is the pattern of narrow away defeats which are damaging their prospects of a play-off spot.

"Each of the last three away games have been lost by the odd goal and the Seagulls have been beaten in seven of their last nine outings on the road in all competitions.

Manager Mark McGhee said: "It was a tremendous effort, but effort is not always enough. You have to show quality at the right times and you have to defend.

"We lost two disappointing goals, particularly the first goal when we allowed a player to come inside.

"We talk all the time about showing people in those areas to the outside. That was really disappointing for me.

"I have absolutely no complaints about the commitment, but that is not always enough against teams like QPR.

"At times we didn't have enough composure and we didn't turn our pressure into better chances, but if we can reproduce a lot of what we did for the rest of the season we won't be far away."

McGhee was satisfied with Benjamin's contribution up front but Mark Yeates' return to Tottenham following two months on loan increases Albion's difficulties on the left side of midfield.

Yeates filled that role on Saturday in the absence of the injured John Piercy and suspended Nathan Jones, then Chris McPhee took over for the last 20 minutes.

Young Dan Harding is the only natural alternative and the lack of options emphasises how much of a blow it was losing Simon Rodger in September with serious knee damage.

Surely it is Rodger and out now in terms of an automatic return to Division One.

  • ALBION (4-4-2): Roberts (gk) 8; Watson (rb) 7, Mayo (lb) 7, Cullip (cd) 8, Knight (f) 7, Hart (rm) 7, Oatway (cm) 8, Yeates (lm) 7, Carpenter (cm) 7, Butters (cd) 7, Benjamin (f) 7. Subs: Flitney, Virgo for Mayo (withdrawn 89), McPhee for Yeates (withdrawn 71), Harding, Robinson for Hart (withdrawn 81).
  • Scorer: Cullip (45).
  • Bookings: Hart (58) diving, Cullip (59) foul, Knight (80) dissent, Carpenter (81) foul.
  • RANGERS (4-4-2): Day; Forbes, Padula, Carlisle, Shittu, Rose, Bircham, Gallen, Rowlands, Bean, Furlong. Subs: Culkin, Palmer for Bean (injured 19), Dean Marney for Rose (withdrawn 75), Sabin, Oli, Dean Marney.
  • Scorers: Rowlands (20), Gallen (43).
  • Bookings: Padula (16) foul, Shittu (63) foul.
  • Half-Time: QPR 2 Albion 1.
  • Attendance: 17,839.
  • Fan's View: Lennie Rider (Worthing) Like all Albion fans, regardless of how exciting this game was, I don't like losing.

Despite the defeat, the atmosphere was electric and I hope the day Albion can play home games in front of 18,000 passionate supporters is not far off.

The game hinged on several incidents. We had a cast-iron penalty turned down and with it the possiblity of QPR being reduced to ten men.

Leon Knight then missed a chance that two months ago he probably would have scored.

Unfortunately, the next two games are not against lesser sides.

The players will be really up for the back-to-back home games and if the Albion want to stay in the play-off hunt, then at least four points out of six is a must.