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Tuesday, December 11, 2007

Shock Victory for QPR at Burnley!

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QPR win at Burnley and move off the bottom - Table

BBC - Burnley 0-2 QPR
Goals by Damion Stewart and Rowan Vine saw off Burnley and lifted QPR off the bottom of the Championship.
Alan Mahon hit the post for Burnley before Stewart met Scott Sinclair's left-wing corner with a downward header at the near post to open the scoring.

QPR keeper Lee Camp brilliantly denied James O'Connor as Burnley responded.

But Vine sealed victory in the last minute, firing into an empty net after Burnley keeper Gabor Kiraly had gone upfield searching for an equaliser.

Burnley: Kiraly, Alexander, Carlisle (Gudjonsson 48), Unsworth, Harley, Elliott, Mahon (James O'Connor 63), McCann, Lafferty, Blake (Jones 63), Gray.
Subs Not Used: Jensen, Akinbiyi.

QPR: Camp, Rehman, Stewart, Malcolm, Barker, Ainsworth (Moore 90), Bolder, Leigertwood (Walton 88), Sinclair (Blackstock 75), Nygaard, Vine.
Subs Not Used: Cole, Balanta.

Booked: Barker. BBC

QPR OFFICIAL SITE REPORT
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Second half goals from Damion Stewart and Rowan Vine clinched a thoroughly deserved victory for Rangers against in-form Burnley at Turf Moor.

Jamaican international defender Stewart opened the scoring on the hour with a precise downward header, before Vine capitalised on Gabor Kiraly's ill-fated decision to come forward for a late Burnley corner, netting his third goal of the season in style.

Victory was no less than the R's deserved, on a night when their committed performance provided a fitting send-off to former team-mate Ray Jones, who passed away hours before this fixture was originally scheduled to take place back in the opening month of the season.

R's boss Luigi De Canio was forced into two changes for the trip to Turf Moor.

Gareth Ainsworth and Marc Nygaard were named in the starting XI, at the expense of Martin Rowlands (suspended) and Akos Buzsaky (injured).

Buoyed by a five match unbeaten run, Clarets boss Owen Coyle selected an unchanged side for the sixth successive match, with former R's defender Clarke Carlisle lining up in the heart of the hosts defence.

Despite a recent run of poor results, De Canio would have been encouraged by his sides' start on a freezing evening in Lancashire.

Half chances for Adam Bolder and Vine failed to test Clarets keeper Kiraly, but at the other end, his opposite number Lee Camp was a virtual spectator, touching the ball only twice in the opening 20 minutes.

As Rangers continued to frustrate their high-flying hosts, the lively Vine fired over the bar midway through the half.

It took Burnley 30 minutes to create their first opening, which Alan Mahon fired high and wide from the edge of the penalty area.

Vine should have put Rangers in front seven minutes before the break, when he capitalised on a defensive slip from David Unsworth.

Carlisle was always second best in his duel with the R's front-man, but having got goal-side of his marker, Vine's effort lacked direction, as he scuffed a half-volley wide of Kiraly's right hand post.

The woodwork came to the visitors' rescue on the stroke of half-time though, as Mahon's low drive cannoned off Camp's left hand post, with the R's keeper seemingly beaten all ends up.

After the hosts lost Carlisle to injury, neat build-up play from Marc Nygaard found Scott Sinclair in space on the right flank and following a clever one-two with Vine, the Chelsea loanee forced Kiraly to smother at his near post.

The same two players combined again 60 second later, only for Sinclair to be thwarted yet again by the former Palace custodian, who darted from his line to block his close range drive.

But Rangers weren't to be denied and from the resultant corner, Sinclair's floated centre was met by the unmarked Stewart, who powered a downward header beyond the despairing dive of the Hungarian stopper.

In a clear show of support for their Manager, the Rangers team raced fully 60-yards to celebrate their goal with De Canio in the visiting dug-out.

The expectant assault from the Clarets duly followed, with Zesh Rehman throwing himself full stretch to block substitute James O'Connor's shot, before the same player was denied by Camp, who flew to his left to tip the midfielder's goal-bound effort to safety.

But despite enjoying long spells of possession as the clock ticked towards full-time, the Clarets were at large restricted to shots from distance, which failed to further test Camp.

Rangers were even able to blood the returning Simon Walton in the closing stages, as the summer signing from Charlton returned following a five month absence, owing to a fractured fibula.

It was a typically bustling entrance from the former Leeds man, who threw himself into the thick of the action immediately.

And he was soon playing his part in celebrating another Rangers goal, as Vine clinched the points.

Kiraly's over-exuberance to come up for a Clarets corner back-fired, when the R's cleared the danger and Vine ran fully 80-yards to slam the ball home into an empty net.

It was a fitting finale to a performance which provided much hope for the coming weeks in W12. QPR

BURNLEY OFFICIAL SITE
After another fantastic away win at Wolves on Saturday, many were expecting the Clarets to see off bottom club QPR with relative ease.

But second half goals from Damion Stewart and Rowan Vine saw the visitors snatch their first win in seven and condemn new Clarets boss Owen Coyle to his first defeat in charge at Turf Moor.

After four wins on the bounce away from home, Coyle stuck with the same starting eleven but it was an uncharacteristically nervy start from the Clarets, who spent much of the opening exchanges chasing QPR.

Thankfully for Burnley, the visitors lack of confidence was there for everyone to see and aside from a few woeful efforts from Rowan Vine, Kiraly wasn't called into action.

The Clarets had to wait until the 27th minute for their first real opening when great play between Blake and Mahon released Andy Gray, but the ball was well snuffed out by a Rangers' defender before the striker could pull the trigger.

That seemed to give the Clarets the momentum they needed and Mahon went close five minutes later as the tide began to turn in Burnley's favour.

Despite this, Burnley struggled against the visitors negative long ball tactics and almost slipped behind on 38 minutes when Vine broke free but blast his shot over Kiraly's goal.

As the clock ticked down towards half time the Clarets came within inches of taking the lead.

But for the second time in as many games, Alan Mahon struck the upright with a rasping 25 yard effort that looked destined to nestle in the back of the net.

That proved to be the last real chance of the half and the Clarets went in all square at the interval.

The second half saw Burnley forced into a change when Clarke Carlisle hobbled off to be replaced by Joey Gudjonsson with Chris McCann switching to centre back.

The extra invention in midfield from the Icelandic star saw the Clarets start to turn the screw on the visitors but again QPR held firm and smashed the ball long at every opportunity, much to the frustration of the Burnley faithful.

Somehow QPR did take the lead on the hour mark when a corner whipped in was nodded home by defender Damion Stewart who found himself unmarked at the far post.

That forced Coyle into a double change with Blake and Mahon making way for James O'Connor and Steve Jones.

The Clarets immediately put Rangers under pressure but they found keeper Lee Camp in excellent form with Lafferty and O'Connor forcing the former Derby County stopper into superb saves.

Icelandic international Gudjonsson also went close with a long range effort as the Turf Moor crowd tried to roar the Clarets back level.

Half chances came and went for the Clarets but with stoppage time approaching referee Mike Pike turned down two penalty appeals in as many seconds to sum up Burnley's luck.

Gabor Kiraly went up for a corner in added time and despite making a nuisance of himself, the big Hungarian couldn't force the ball home and was left red-faced when Vine broke free slotted into an empty net to bring Owen Coyle's unbeaten run to an disappointing end.

The Clarets almost claimed one back deep into injury time but some smart defending again denied the Burnley frontline and Owen Coyle was left to find some positives from a largely disappointing night. Burnley

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