QPR Under-18's reached the semi-final of the Puma Youth Alliance League Cup on Monday evening with an impressive 5-1 victory against Peterborough United at London Road.

Both sides agreed to kick-off earlier than scheduled as it was feared the game may be in doubt as fog was forecast for the local area. The freezing conditions didn't seem to deter too many fans though, as a crowd of almost 500, including Posh's Director of Football Barry Fry and First Team Manager Darren Ferguson, braved the icy atmosphere to watch the encounter.

Steve Brown recalled Romone Rose from his work experience 'loan' at AFC Wimbledon and this season's top goalscorer joined Antonio German and Aaron Morgan-Cummings in a three pronged attack.

In midfield, Danny Davenport was flanked by Matt O'Brien and Chris Arthur, with Billy Coyne, Josh Ford, Ed Harris and Lee Brown making up the defensive line, in front of custodian Reece Crowther.

In a lively opening to the game, Rangers could have opened the scoring as early as the fourth minute; Arthur outpaced his marker but his cross was just too strong for the inrushing German and Rose to connect with.

Rose was next to test the home defence out. Collecting a long clearance from Ford, he cut in from the right flank, only to see his shot flash across the face of the goal.

Peterborough's first effort arrived in the seventh minute, but Crowther was equal to it, turning a low drive round the post for a corner.

Rangers' early pressure almost paid dividends on 10 minutes, when the home side failed to clear a corner and Arthur's cross back in saw Harris head just over the bar.

Brown then switched Morgan-Cummings and Rose and the move immediately paid off. The former's diagonal ball from the right wing was flicked on by German and Rose pounced at the far post to curl his shot back across Courtney Howard in the Posh goal.

Buoyed by their goal, Rangers doubled their advantage just moments later, when Howard spilled a Coyne cross and Morgan-Cummings reacted quickly to head the loose ball into an empty net.

Rose and Morgan-Cummings continued to cause the home defence problems with their pace and power, but some erratic finishing let them down and Peterborough slowly began to drag themselves back into the game midway through the half.

They almost grabbed a goal on 33 minutes, but the Rangers defence managed to scramble the ball to safety. Three quick corners in succession followed and although Rangers managed to weather the brief storm, a Posh goal proved to be not far away.

A mix up on the edge of the R's box led to Jack Lyons finding himself free in the box and the striker coolly rounded Crowther to reduce the deficit.

Undeterred, free-scoring Rangers responded in style, with three goals in six minutes at the start of the second half all but ending the tie as a contest.

The first on 55 minutes came after Rangers had broken up a Posh attack on the left and Coyne's inch perfect pass found Rose just inside his own half. The speedy winger advanced unchallenged to the opposite penalty area, before crossing for Morgan-Cummings to head home his second of the night.

Coyne then played a part in Rangers' fourth of the evening, when his long throw evaded all the Peterborough defenders and set Rose free again. In almost identical fashion, Rose found Morgan-Cummings again and the striker completed his hat-trick with a composed strike at the far post.

German completed the scoring on 61 minutes, smashing an unstoppable shot into the corner of the net, leaving Howard with absolutely no chance.

The R's front-man had the ball in the net again on 72 minutes after being put through by Arthur, but his effort was this time disallowed for offside.

Rangers continued to dominate as the clock ticked down. Cyrus Sylvan-Vanterpool replaced man-of-the-match Rose on 73 minutes, and the substitute almost had a dream introduction when, with his first touch of the game, he connected with Arthur's cross but saw his header fly wide of the target.

Brown was understandably delighted with his team's performance in difficult conditions, telling www.qpr.co.uk: "When we arrived at the ground, the referee was concerned about one side of the pitch being frozen and the possibility of our not being able to finish the game.

"We agreed that, having made the journey, we would start and let the weather take its course. It was freezing cold and over the far side was pitch was rock solid, but I told the players to ensure that they had the right footwear on and went about their job with a positive attitude.

"I thought that once we got to grips with the conditions we dominated the game, although it wasn't easy for either side out there towards the end."