QPR's Norwich Loss - Reports and Comments

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Reports on QPR's 0-3 loss at Norwich. QPR have 58 points with one game remaining. Updated Table


Sunday Mirror/Dave Smith - Canaries get safe

Norwich preserved their Championship status thanks to a spirited display, a passionate home crowd - and a helpful referee.
Rangers were unlucky to have defender Damion Stewart sent off after just five minutes and Norwich took full advantage.
Two minutes later, man-of-the-match Ched Evans scored from an unmarked position - where Stewart might have been - and there was no way back for the Luigi De Canio's side.
Norwich skipper Mark Fotheringham made it 2-0 and, with other results going their way, it was celebration time for the Carrow Road faithful.
Darel Russell made sure of the win with a clever lob from some distance as QPR keeper Lee Camp went on a kamikaze mission.
Norwich boss Glenn Roeder said: "We don't really want to be celebrating just staying in the Championship, but it is a great achievement.
"To have had eight points on the board in November and be where we are today is unbelievable."
Rangers must have known it wasn't going to be their day when a series of early incidents went against them.
Just moments after Angelo Balanta had seen his shot saved by David Marshall, the visitors were reduced to 10 men.
Stewart was adjudged to be the guilty party following a three-man collision also involving Camp and Evans. But it was no more than a tangle of bodies, and Rangers were rightly aggrieved.
Evans quickly piled on the agony when he volleyed home in stunning fashion.
Darren Huckerby, Ryan Bertrand and Evans then went close and it was only a matter of time before the Canaries struck again.
The second goal finally came on 56 minutes when Fotheringham fired home with the aid of a kind deflection. Then Russell but the icing on the cake seven minutes from time.
Qpr boss De Canio said: "To lose a player so early on was always going to make it difficult, but I have to accept the referee's decision."
The Norwich fans paid special tribute to veteran Dion Dublin, who came off the bench for a late cameo on his last home game before retiring.
Roeder said: "It has been an honour to be Dion's manager. Our fans voted him their player of the year, and rightly so."
HOW THEY RATED
NORWICH
Marshall 6, Otsemobor 7, Shackell 6, Huckerby 7, Cureton 6 (Dublin 5), Fotheringham 7, Gibbs 6 (Russell 6), Bertrand 7, Pattison 6 (Chadwick 4), Doherty 6, EVANS 8.
Manager Roeder 8
QPR
Camp 5, Delaney 6, Mahon 6, Stewart 4, Mancienne 7, Blackstock 6, Ainsworth 4 (Leigertwood 5), Rowlands 6, Connolly 6, Ephraim 4 (Rehman 5), Balanta 6.
Manager De Canio 6
Referee P Joslin 5
MAN OF THE MATCH .
CHED EVANS
A class act up front Sunday Mirror


SUNDAY PEOPLE - Mel Henderson ROEDER'S RIGHT TO KNEES UP

Glenn Roeder hailed his fine achievement of keeping Norwich in the Championship as the highlight of his managerial career.

Ten-man Rangers, one defeat in their previous 12 games, got off lightly.

Goals by teenager Ched Evans, skipper Mark Fotheringham and substitute Darel Russell made it mission accomplished.

Roeder, who took charge six months ago with the Canaries four points adrift at the bottom of the table, said:

"We don't want to celebrate because we've stayed up. But such was the position we found ourselves in when I came here, it's only right that we do.

"You tell me the last team to have just eight points in November and stay up.

I've had good and bad days in football management but this is probably the best of the lot."

Rangers looked in the mood from the kick-off as Colombian youngster Angelo Balanta forced Canaries keeper David Marshall into a fine one-handed save.

But the Londoners never recovered from the fifth-minute dismissal of Jamaican international defender Damion Stewart for a professional foul.

Boss Luigi De Canio said: "The referee only has a split second to decide and therefore we accept it. It's not my job to judge the referee - my thoughts on him I will keep to myself.

"Being a man down and a goal down, the task ahead was really hard."

The Hoops could have suffered a real drubbing. Norwich missed a host of chances after Evans, on loan from Manchester City, fired them in front in the seventh minute. But Matty Pattison, Darren Huckerby, Kieran Gibbs, Jamie Cureton and Evans were all off target as Rangers looked in complete disarray.

The one-way traffic continued after the restart when Matt Connolly's goal-line clearance denied Evans a second.

But Norwich eventually extended their lead when Fotheringham's low shot struck the heel of sub Zeshan Rehman to wrong-foot Lee Camp.

And then keeper Camp made a suicidal dash from his area to gift the Canaries one of the most bizarre goals of this, or any other season. He made three fruitless attempts to win the ball before it ran free for substitute Russell to float it 40 yards into an empty net.

Norwich: Marshall 7 - Otsemobor 7, Doherty 6, Shackell 6, Bertrand 7 - Huckerby 7, *FOTHERINGHAM 8, Pattison 7, Gibbs 6 (Russell, 78mins) - Evans 7, Cureton 6.

Qpr: Camp 5 - Delaney 5, Mancienne 5, Stewart 4, Connolly 5 - Ainsworth 4 (Leigertwood, 8mins, 5), *ROWLAND 6, Mahon 5, Ephraim 4 (Rehman, 8mins, 5) - Balanta 5, Blackstock 5. Ref: P Joslin 6.
Sunday People



SUNDAY TIMES/Ian Joseph Norwich City win to secure safety


DION DUBLIN narrowly missed out on providing the ultimate fairytale finish to his career – but Norwich supporters will have happily settled for the victory that secured their Championship status for another season.

The Canaries had this match by the scruff of the neck as early as the seventh minute. By that time they were one up, courtesy of Ched Evans’s 10th goal of the season, and were also playing against 10 men after the dismissal of Rangers defender Damion Stewart.

Glenn Roeder’s side, who were bottom of the table when he took over six months ago, went on to win at a canter, with second-half goals from captain Mark Fotheringham and substitute Darel Russell completing the job after a string of missed chances.

By then the stage was set for Dublin, who entered the fray to a rapturous reception with a little under 15 minutes remaining to make his final appearance at Carrow Road.

The 39-year-old striker, who will retire at the end of the season, almost made it a sensational finale when he tried his luck from inside his own half with as cleanly a struck volley as you are ever likely to see. Sadly for his adoring fans, QPR keeper Lee Camp, who had gone walkabout to give Norwich their third goal, saved it.

Norwich did not look back from the moment Stewart saw red in the fourth minutes for a shove on Evans as the Welshman chased a clearance from goalkeeper David Marshall. Camp also clattered into the on-loan striker, but referee Phil Joslin decided it was Stewart who had to go and the Rangers back four was still at sixes and sevens a few minutes later when Darren Huckerby’s cross fell for Evans to volley home.

As has been the case so often this season, Norwich were wasteful in front of goal after that, with Matty Pattison, Huckerby and Jamie Cureton all failing to hit the target and Ryan Bertrand firing against the upright.

Any possibility of a nervous finale for Norwich disappeared 11 minutes after the restart when Fotheringham tried his luck from outside the area and was delighted to see a deflection off substitute Zesh Rehman divert the ball into the net past the wrong-footed Camp.

The Rangers keeper had no chance with that one, but he was at fault with City’s third goal in the 82nd minute. He had raced out of his area and Russell was on target with his 40-yard effort to make Camp look rather stupid.

Star man:
Ched Evans(Norwich)

Player ratings.

Norwich City:
Marshall 7, Otsemobor 7, Shackell 7, Doherty 7, Bertrand 8, Huckerby 7, Pattison 6 (Chadwick 63min), Fotheringham 7, Gibbs 7 (Russell 77), Cureton 6 (Dublin 77min), Evans 8.

QPR:
Camp 5, Mancienne 6, Stewart 5, Connolly 5, Delaney 7, Ephraim 5 (Rehman 28min 6), Mahon 6, Rowlands 7, Ainsworth 5 (Leigertwood 32min, 6), Balanta 5, Blackstock 5

Scorers:

Norwich:Evans 7, Fotheringham 55, Russell 83 Sunday Times


De CANIO - QPR OFFICIAL SITE
EF JUSTICE
Posted on: Sat 26 Apr 2008
Luigi De Canio was left ruing referee Phil Joslin's fifth minute decision to dismiss R's defender Damion Stewart as QPR went down 3-0 at Norwich City.

Stewart's sending off stunned the Rangers First Team Coach, who told www.qpr.co.uk afterwards: "The referee made some crucial errors, and that cost us today.

"Maybe Norwich would have won the match even if the sending off hadn't happened.

"They had far more to play for than we did, but we will never know that now because of that early decision."

"We have to accept the judgement of the referee, even if we don't necessarily agree with it.

"Referees have to make split-second decisions, and it can be difficult for them, but I feel we were unlucky with an important one today."

Moments after Stewart's departure, Ched Evans opened the scoring for the hosts, forcing De Canio into a double substitution in the eighth minute.

Hogan Ephraim and Gareth Ainsworth were replaced by Mikele Leigertwood and Zesh Rehman.

"We needed to keep two up front to give us any chance," De Canio explained, "but when the deflected effort gave them their second goal in the second half, we ran out of options.

"The red card and the deflected goal rather summed up our day.

"We did what was possible. The task was really difficult after the sending off, but I am pleased with the players' efforts.

"They never stopped running and we kept fighting until the end." QPR



NORWICH OFFICIAL SITE - ROEDER PROUD OF TEAM

PROUD City boss Glenn Roeder today saluted the collective effort by everyone at the Club to battle to secure Championship status for next season.

The comfortable 3-0 win over Queen's Park Rangers at Carrow Road means City are mathematically safe from the threat of relegation to League One - and Roeder said this was a magnificent achievement considering the situation he inherited when he took over in November.

"I can't think of too many other teams who have had eight points in November and managed to achieve safety at the end of the season. At times we were one defeat away from needing snookers!


"All of the lads and the staff deserve so much credit for ensuring we stayed up this year, they really do. What they have achieved is magnificent taken in the right context. I'm not saying we should celebrate staying up in the grand scheme of things for this Club because we should be aiming a lot, lot higher than that.

"But in the context of where we were in November I think the fans, who were wonderful again today by the way, are entitled to spend a couple of days celebrating today's result and what that means.

"I thought they played superbly well under pressure today. Don't forget we had three teenagers out there today and they will have learned a lot from the experience of playing in such a massive, massive match for this football club."

Roeder also saluted Dion Dublin, the subject of emotional support from City's biggest crowd of the season before, during and after the game when the players walked around Carrow Road to acknowledge the best supporters in the Championship.

"I have known Dion since '97 and he is a fantastic player and a wonderful human being. I just don't think there is another Dion Dublin out there, just as there isn't another Alan Shearer out there. These kind of players are different class and it's been a real pleasure to work with Dion," he commented.

Finally asked to comment on speculation regarding Darren Huckerby's contractual situation, Roeder said: "It would be totally wrong for me to start talking to the media about players' futures before I've sat down and talked to them about it. When the time is right we'll talk to the media about it, but not now." Norwich


Also: QPR OFFICIAL SITE MATCH REPORT - Report