Burnley 2 QPR 0 - Match Reports

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Waddock's Post Match Comments

COSTLY MISTAKE

Gary Waddock believes the 'costly mistake' that led to Burnley's opening goal ultimately proved to be the R's downfall at Turf Moor.

Speaking exclusively to qpr.co.uk moments after the 2-0 defeat, Waddock said: "Our game plan worked superbly in the first half, but we conceded a sloppy goal and it cost us.

"We dealt time and again with the long punt forward in the first period, but our mentality seemed to change for one reason or another after the break and we've come away with nothing from a game we've competed superbly in for 60 odd minutes.

"As a manager you can only prepare the team for matches - once they step over that white line it becomes out of your control and when you make a mistake like we did, you get punished.''

After Steve Jones' fortuitous opener, Waddock switched to a 4-4-2 formation, only to see his best laid plans fail when the same player made it 2-0 soon after.

"We had to change everything around after the first goal, but we should never have got ourselves into that situation in the first place.

"We bossed the first half, creating chance after chance, yet we've come anyway with nothing and that's deeply disappointing.''

Waddock insists it will be easy to pick the players up for the visit of Leeds United to Loftus Road on Tuesday evening, commenting: "The season is only one game old and we're playing host to one of the biggest teams in the division in Leeds United, so the players won't need picking up.''

http://www.qpr.premiumtv.co.uk/page/Match/ManagersComments/0,,10373~877547,00.html


QPR Official Site

A brace from former QPR transfer target Steve Jones proved to be the difference at Turf Moor.

Jones - who left Crewe Alexandra to join the Clarets in the summer - bagged a second half double as the R's began the new Coca Cola Championship season with defeat at Turf Moor.

Rangers were their own worst enemies for the Clarets' opening goal, gifting Jones a simple tap-in to an empty net after an embarrassing defensive mix-up.

However, if his first was fortunate, his second was quite sublime. After being gifted time and space on the edge of the box, the industrious Jones let fly, giving Paul Jones absolutely no chance from fully 25 yards.

Earlier, the Hoops enjoyed the lion's share of territory and possession in the first half, with debutant Nicky Ward at the heart of most of their positive play.

Indeed, it was the Aussie international who came closest to breaking the deadlock just after the half hour, thrashing a fearsome 25 yard shot on target, only to see Brian Jensen make a fine diving save.

Gary Waddock handed competitive debuts to three of his new signings in the shape of Damion Stewart, Ward and Adam Czerkas - with the latter ploughing a lone furrow up front in a flexible 4-5-1 formation.

Gareth Ainsworth was given the captaincy in the absence of the injured Kevin Gallen, while Paul Jones retained the number one jersey he made his own towards the end of last season.

The opening exchanges between the two sides were fairly free-flowing, with Lee Cook feeling the full force of a mistimed James O'Connor tackle as early as the fourth minute.

Rangers created the first chance of the match 60 seconds later, with new signing Czerkas firing wide from fully 30 yards.

Czerkas was on the prowl again on eight minutes, latching on to a teasing Marcus Bignot through ball, only to be thwarted in his tracks by the onrushing Jensen.

The visitors' dominance continued and when Ainsworth was sent tumbling to ground on the edge of the box, Matthew Rose lived up to his surname, out-jumping the Clarets' defenders to head Cook's inviting free-kick over the bar.

The one-way traffic continued and Ward was unlucky not to open his account for the R's when he got a head to Martin Rowlands' perfectly flighted corner. The Aussie midfielder timed his leap to perfection, but Jensen was in the right place at the right time to gather on his line.

Ward tried his luck again on 18 minutes, letting fly from 25 yards, only for the ball to take a heavy deflection and go wide for a corner.

The former Perth Glory man was certainly relishing his first taste of competitive English football, turning O'Connor on a sixpence with an outrageous piece of close control inside his own half.

Buoyed by their tremendous travelling support, Rowlands - back after a knee injury sustained at the start of the year - forced Jensen into a comfortable save on 27 minutes, before play switched to the other end, with Paul Jones on hand to gather O'Connor's long range shot with ease.

As the clock ticked towards the 30 minute mark, Kyle Lafferty headed over the crossbar after some decent build-up play involving Steve Jones.

Ward was being gifted the freedom of the park and when he wriggled clear of his marker 30 yards from goal, only a superb tip round from Jensen denied him a goal his first half performance undoubtedly deserved.

Paul Jones produced a similar save at the other end on 38 minutes, diving full length to his right to divert Chris McCann's piercing drive.

The second half was only 30 seconds old when O'Connor became the third Burnley player to find his way into Mr Clattenburg's notebook for an overzealous tackle on Ainsworth.

O'Connor nearly made amends for his ill-discipline on 52 minutes, sending an arrowing drive inches wide of Jones' right hand post with the Welsh international seemingly beaten.

Burnley boss Steve Cotterill received his first dressing down of the new campaign from Clattenburg moments later, as the home gaffer became increasingly frustrated on the sidelines.

The impressive Stewart came to the visitors' rescue on 55 minutes, making superb ground to divert Mahon's right sided cross to safety.

But the Jamaican international and his fellow defenders were left licking their wounds on 58 minutes, when a terrible mix-up at the back involving Stewart, Rose and Jones allowed Steve Jones to blast the ball into an empty net.

Conceding was harsh on the R's, but when you make mistakes at this level, you generally get punished, as the visitor's discovered to their cost.

Undeterred, Rangers were back on the front foot immediately, with Jensen saving well from the roaming Rowlands.

Waddock threw caution to the wind by introducing Ray Jones at the expense of Lomas, but his best laid plans were in tatters on 69 minutes, when the outstanding Jones sent a superb strike into the top corner of the net to all but seal the three points for the hosts.

After playing his part in assisting with the Clarets' opener, Paul Jones went some way to making amends on 87 minutes, diving to his right to deny Alan Mahon a certain goal.

Burnley: Jensen, Thomas, Harley, Sinclair, Duff, J O'Connor (Elliott 62), Mahon (G O'Connor 90), Jones, Gray, McCann, Lafferty (Hyde 62).

Subs: McGreal, Foster.

Goals: Jones 58, 69

Bookings: Duff 33, Harley 45, O'Connor 46

Red Cards:

QPR: P Jones, Bignot, Stewart, Rose, Milanese, Ainsworth, Rowlands (Donnelly 78), Lomas (R Jones 65), Ward, Cook, Czerkas (Bircham 71).
Subs: Cole, Kanyuka.
http://www.qpr.premiumtv.co.uk/page/Match/MatchReport/0,,10373~33572,00.html



Burnley Official Site
Clarets Clockwatch:
21 Lafferty volley is far too high, but kick starts the Clarets
26 Mahon tests Paul Jones with a low drive
30 Lafferty heads just over from Jones' cross
38 McCann again denied by Jones acrobatics
58 GOAL! Jones off the mark with a poacher's finish
69 GOAL! Jones makes it two with a 25-yard scorcher
78 Mahon just off target with curling free kick
87 Hyde denied a third by another great save

STEVE Jones was the two-goal hero as Burnley opened up their Championship account with a deserved victory.

The summer signing from Crewe had scored six goals in pre-season, including a four-goal haul in one game during the tour to Italy.

And his hot streak continued as he got the Clarets up and running with a stunning second half brace to sink QPR.

Opening day games can be notoriously tense - and this was no exception as Rangers adopted a one-man strike force in a bid to frustrate their hosts.

However, the visitors carved out the chances in the opening stages, with Nick Ward heading over and then nodding straight at Brian Jensen in the 16th minute.

The Clarets forced their first half chance midway through the half, but Kyle Lafferty, who scored on the final day of last season, couldn't control his volley to start the new season with a bang.

Alan Mahon's clever dribble and pass was then whiskers away from opening up the path to goal for Lafferty. And as Burnley began to build up a head of steam, Mahon tested veteran Rangers stopper Paul Jones with a dipping drive from distance that the Welshman held easily.

Burnley created their best opening on the half hour mark, when Harley and Jones combined well down the left and the former Crewe striker, operating in a wide role, crossed for Lafferty to head narrowly over.

Chris McCann then tried his luck before the break, but Jones was equal to his rising drive from 25 yards.

The half time arrived with the Clarets now well in the ascendancy.

And it took just 13 minutes of the second half to make the all-important breakthrough. Mahon's through ball was just too far for Lafferty, but the big Irish striker refused to give up and as he tussled with keeper Jones, the ball rolled loose for namesake Steve to rifle home from 12 yards.

The relief was tangible and it lifted Burnley to a new level, capped by a brilliant second from Jones in the 69th minute.

Latching onto Frank Sinclair's ball inside, the flame-haired hitman took the ball out of his stride and unleashed a 25-yard howitzer that flew into the top corner and capped off a wholly satisfactory opening day victory.

BURNLEY: Jensen, Sinclair, Thomas, Duff, Harley, Jones, S Jones, McCann, J O'Connor (Hyde 62), Mahon (G O'Connor 90), Gray, Lafferty (Elliott 62). Subs not used: McGreal Foster,

QPR: P Jones, Bignot, Milanese, Rose, Ward, Ainsworth, Rowlands (Donnelly 79), Lomas (Jones 66), Cook, Stewart, Czerkas (Bircham 71).
Subs not used: Cole, Kanyuka.

Ref: M Clattenberg

Booked: Duff 32, Harley 45, J O'Connor 46
http://www.burnleyfootballclub.premiumtv.co.uk/page/Match/MatchReport/0,,10413~33572,00.html


BBC - Minute-by-minute
http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/b/burnley/live_text/default.stm



BBC Report - Burnley 2-0 QPR

New recruit Steve Jones kicked off Burnley's Championship campaign with a win by scoring two goals on his debut.
The striker broke the deadlock in the 59th minute when QPR goalkeeper Paul Jones failed to clear leaving Jones to sweep home a left-footed finish.

Jones' second arrived with 21 minutes remaining as he found the top corner with a powerful drive following Frank Sinclair's interception.

The impressive Nick Ward enjoyed QPR's best chance with a fierce volley.

http://newsvote.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/eng_div_1/5226752.stm


Sporting Life
Burnley 2 QPR 0
By Mike McGrath, PA Sport

Click here for full match stats


Summer signing Steve Jones kicked off Burnley's Coca-Cola Championship campaign with a win by scoring two goals on his debut in a 2-0 defeat of QPR at Turf Moor.

The 29-year-old, who only scored five goals last season during a campaign with Crewe which ended in relegation, swept home the first just before the hour then smashed a long-range effort into the top corner to wrap up the points.

There was little to separate the teams prior to the Northern Ireland striker breaking the deadlock, with Nick Ward impressive for the visitors before his busy performance in midfield faded.

Adam Czerkas led the visitors' attack as a lone frontman and the Polish striker, who is on loan from Odra Wodzislaw, almost latched on to a hopeful ball from Damion Stewart early on.

Frank Sinclair had carelessly allowed the ball to run through for Czerkas, but Clarets goalkeeper Brian Jensen dived at the feet of the striker and cleared.

The visitors then threatened from set-pieces, firstly Mauro Milanese heading over from a free-kick delivered by Lee Cook, then Australian youngster Ward heading straight at Jensen with a free header from a corner.

Burnley had tried without success to get youngster Kyle Lafferty behind the QPR defence, but his height remained a threat and he headed on to the roof of the net on the half-hour mark after a cross from the left by Jones.

Ward was proving a handful for Clarets defence, with Michael Duff earning a booking for a trip on the youngster after 33 minutes, and goalkeeper Paul Jones required to save from a Ward volley soon after.

Clarets midfielder Chris McCann also had a long-range effort saved, while Jon Harley, who had earlier come close with a sliced volley from the touchline, was booked for a foul on Ward in the dying moments of a lacklustre opening half.

The second period began with the same lack of fluency, and James O'Connor was booked for a foul on Gareth Ainsworth in the opening minute.

O'Connor came close with a long-range effort which flew just wide of the top corner, although clear-cut chances proved more difficult to come by.

Any sort of promising opportunity was likely to be caused by a mistake, and QPR goalkeeper Jones obliged in the 59th minute when he failed to clear a straightforward ball into the penalty area after pressure from Andy Gray. The ball broke to Clarets striker Jones who swept home with a left-footed finish.

Jones' second arrived with 21 minutes remaining as he found the top corner with a powerful drive following Sinclair's interception of a dreadful pass out of the QPR defence.

Alan Mahon and Micah Hyde came close with long-range efforts late on - but it remained 2-0.
http://www.sportinglife.com/football/live/reports/story_get.cgi?STORY_NAME=soccer/06/08/05/SOCCER_Burnley.html