QPR Report Twitter Feed

Saturday, January 13, 2007

Hull Come from Behind To Win with Two Late Goals

-
UPDATE:
John Gregory's Comments- Official Site ROUGH JUSTICE
Gaffer John Gregory cut a forlorn figure, as the R's lost 2-1 to relegation rivals Hull at the KC Stadium.
A last gasp Stuart Elliott double gave Phil Brown's side maximum points.
"I honestly thought we'd done enough to win the game.
"We were cruising until the last eight minutes and needless to say, I'm gutted with what happened in those eight minutes.''
Gregory took a swipe at referee Mr Miller, who as well as waving away appeals for a blatant Rangers spot-kick with the score at 1-1, also sent off Lee Cook.
"The fact that everyone is talking about the referee tells me everything I need to know.
"I think the referee should have sent himself off if I'm being honest.
"If Lee Cook has said something detrimental then he deserved to go, but he tells me he was just complaining about the shocking decision not to award us a penalty.
"The home crowd was probably Hull's best player today, because I thought they were poor. They certainly influenced the referee and in the end they've managed to get the three points.''
Gregory added: "The minutes of madness at the end have cost us today.
"We've always been very strong from set-pieces and to concede in the manner we did was disappointing. It's the first goal we've conceded from a corner since I arrived here.
"It's a harsh lesson for my team. They've been given a huge rude awakening today.
"I couldn't see them scoring in a month of Sunday's to be honest.'' QPR Official SIte

Hull 2 QPR 1
QPR took the lead through Blackstock in the 45th minute. Hull equalized in the 85th minute through Elliott. Lee Cook was sent off in the 87th minute. And then Hull scored again in injury time, again through Elliott!

League Table - Table

Teams
Hull: Myhill, Ricketts, Turner, Delaney, Dawson, Marney, Ashbee, Livermore, McPhee, Parkin, Barmby -- Subs: Duke, Elliott, Forster, Duffy, Coles

QPR: Royce, Bignot, Stewart, Mancienne, Kanyuka, Cook, Lomas, Smith, Bircham, R, Jones, Blackstock -- Subs: Cole, Baidoo, Bailey, Timoska, Furlong
Referee: N Miller (Co Durham) TEAMS

QPR Official Site - Match Report

Lee Cook saw red, as ten-man Rangers succumbed to late heart-break at the KC Stadium.

Hull substitute Stuart Elliott bagged two goals in the final five minutes, after Dexter Blackstock had given Rangers the lead in first half stoppage time.

Rangers were reduced to ten men when the otherwise outstanding Cook was given his marching orders for dissent late on, as the R's slumped to their first defeat of 2007.

John Gregory made one change to the starting line-up, recalling Marc Bircham at the expense of Nicky Ward.

Bircham's return prompted a reshuffle in midfield, with Chelsea loanee Jimmy Smith asked to occupy the wide right berth.

Hull were minus the services of hit-man Craig Fagan, who joined Derby County in the week, in a deal reportedly worth £750,000.

Rangers made a promising start at the KC Stadium, with Lee Cook and Smith both at the heart of their early dominance.

The returning Bircham received an early ticking off from referee Mr Miller for a late tackle of Dean Marney, before skipper Marcus Bignot required lengthy treatment from physio Prav Mathema.

Hull created the first opportunity of the match on 15 minutes, when Nicky Barmby's pull back from the by-line found the unmarked Jon Parkin.

Fortunately for the R's, the Tigers top scorer lofted the ball onto the top of the net, insted of in it.

Rangers were soon on the front foot themselves, with Steve Lomas seeing his half-volley blocked to safety on 17 minutes, before Bircham's speculative 30-yard effort a minute later was easily held by Boaz Myhill.

Hull had a goal chalked out for offside moments later and correctly so.

With the R's holding a high offside trap, Barmby released Stephen McPhee who fired past Simon Royce with aplomb.

The Hull faithful were on their feet, only for the assistant referee to correctly raise the flag for offside, with the former Port Vale man three or four yards beyond the last defender.

Buoyed by that chance, the Tigers created another golden opportunity 60 seconds later.

After Rangers had twice failed to clear their lines, Barmby's deft chip found Dawson, who blazed wide from 12-yards, with the goal at his mercy.

The R's were second best all over the park by now and when Dawson's long punt forward was allowed to bounce, the alert McPhee seized on Damion Stewart's weak back header, only to lob the ball wide.

Bignot's early injury forced him from the fray on 32 minutes, with new signing Sampsa Timoska entering the fray for his first team debut in an unfamiliar left back role.

The Rangers physio was probably the busiest man in Hull during the first half.

With the clock ticking towards half-time, Ray Jones was patched up in a Terry Butcher style bandage after a clash of heads with Damien Delaney.

The stop-start nature of the first half resulted in five minutes of added time and it was Rangers who took full advantage of the extra minutes.

Cook's trickery on the left flank eventually saw him get to the by-line and when his pull back was fumbled by Myhill - under pressure from Jones - Blackstock pounced to bundle the ball over the line.

It may well have been the R's first shot on target in the opening 45 minutes, but that would've mattered little to Gregory, whose half-time team-talk was made that little bit easier thanks to the former Saints hit-man's eighth goal of the campaign.

Injuries continued to be the running theme in the second period, with players from both sides requiring treatment in the opening exchanges of the half.

When referee Mr Miller eventually allowed the game to flow, it was Hull who created the first chance of the half, with substitute Nicky Forster lashing a fearsome 18-yard drive into the side netting.

Pat Kanyuka was rather fortunate to escape a booking when he hacked Forster to ground on 58 minutes and there was yet more good luck for the R's from the resultant set-piece.

Dean Marney's low drive took a wicked deflection off a Rangers boot, only for the ball to spin off the post and into the path of Michael Mancienne, who cleared the danger.

The Tigers were on the front foot and sensing legs were tiring in the heart of the R's midfield engine room, Gregory replaced the hardworking Bircham with last Saturday's FA Cup hero Shabazz Baidoo.

Baidoo made a decent impact, immediately running at the heart of the hosts defence and drawing a booking out of David Livermore.

As the clock ticked down, Hull still looked the more threatening of the two sides, with Royce on hand to tip round Forster's fierce drive from an acute angle on 70 minutes.

The corner kick which followed caused yet more danger and this time it was the frame of the goal which came to the R's rescue, with Michael Turner heading against the bar.

Play soon switched to the other end, but Jones was unable to test Myhill, instead driving his shot into the side netting.

The pressure was relentless though and when Royce failed to gather Marney's free-kick, Parkin somehow fluffed his lines, firing over from little more than three yards.

After withstanding wave after wave of Hull attacks, the inevitable equaliser arrived five minutes from time.

Marney played provider, sending an inch-perfect ball in from the right flank, which substitute Elliott slammed home with aplomb from the edge of the six-yard box.

Worse was to follow for the R's a minute or so later, when Cook received his marching orders for speaking out of turn to Mr Miller.

And the comeback was complete in the first of four added minutes, when the R's failed to deal with yet another sweet set-piece and Elliott headed home to break Rangers hearts.

There was still time for the visitors to bag a share of the spoils late on, but Smith's shot was hacked off the line.

Hull City: Myhill, Barmby (Forster 46), Marney, McPhee (Duffy 66), Dawson, Delaney, Parkin, Ashbee, Livermore (Elliott 81), Ricketts, Turner.

Subs: Duke, Coles.

Scorers: Elliott 85, Elliott 90 (+1)

Bookings: Livermore 64

QPR: Royce, Bignot (Timoska 32), Bircham (Baidoo 60), Lomas, Cook, Kanyuka, Stewart, Jones, Blackstock (Furlong 77), Smith, Mancienne.

Subs: Cole, Bailey.

Scorers: Blackstock 45 (+2)

Bookings: Blackstock 74, Timoska 76, Cook 78, Lomas 89

Red Cards: Cook 87

Referee: Mr N S Miller

Attendance: 19, 791
Hull

Blog Archive