QPR's Relegation Slide Continues With Home Loss to Scunthorpe: 1 Win and 7 Points From Last 11 Championship Games

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- QPR REPORT Available on TWITTER!.......Also: Also visit the combined QPR news and QPR messageboad: The QPR Report Messageboard! All QPR Perspectives genuinely Welcomed

- QPR Report: Protest Today at Loftus Road?...Harford: " Not as Bad Here as People May Think"..Hungarian Trialist..No Priskin..Happy Hall..Ramage Praise Routledge

- Predicting QPR's Season: Pre-Start-of the Season Predictions of What QPR's Season Would Look Like
- Year Flashback: QPR 7th and Sousa Confident
- Two Year Flashback: Article Bemoaning QPR's Lack of Youth Development

- Ainsworth Set for Wycombe - Ealing Gazette/Jacob Murtagh - Wycombe set to land QPR midfielder- WYCOMBE are set to sign Gareth Ainsworth on a permanent deal after the midfielder left QPR.
- The 36-year-old spent a stint on loan at Adams Park earlier this season before returning to Loftus Road through injury. But Gary Waddock is poised to land the former Cardiff City flyer in a bid to boost Wycombe's survival hopes. Ealing Gazette


- QPR Relegation Form Update - QPR have won just twice since their late October win against Derby County (14 League Games + 2 Cup games) ...and just once in our last 13 league and cup games.

QPR 0 SCUNTHORPE 1

QPR Official Site - HARFORD'S SCUNNY VERDICT
- Mick Harford felt his QPR side deserved more from this afternoon's Championship clash against Scunthorpe United, as the R's succumbed to a 1-0 defeat at Loftus Road.
- Garry Thompson bagged the only goal of the game, in a contest in which the Hoops more than enjoyed the lion's share of territory and possession throughout the 90 minutes.
- "I felt we deserved more," Harford told www.qpr.co.uk.
- "We were the dominant force in the first half and created the greater chances in the second half too.
- "Their keeper made a number of good saves and they were defending for their lives at times.
- "Their goal came out of the blue really and that's really difficult to take."
- Harford added: "The players gave me everything, but today just wasn't our day.
- "It's disappointing, but we'll pick ourselves up and go again on the training ground on Monday." QPR


EALING GAZETTE/Jacob Murtagh Scunthorpe sink QPR
QPR 0-1 Scunthorpe United
- RANGERS slumped to their second successive defeat against struggling Scunthorpe at Loftus Road.
- Gary Thompson's second-half strike earned The Iron a vital three points in their battle against the drop to leave the hosts' play-off hopes hanging by a thread..
- Both sides started brightly, Adel Taarabt forcing a good save out of Joe Murphy, while Carl Ikeme denied Thompson at the other end.
- Jay Simpson had the ball in the back of the Scunthorpe net midway through the first-half, only to be denied by the linesman's flag.
- But Sam Togwell missed a gilt-edged chance to give the visitors the lead when he blazed the ball over from 12 yards with the goal gaping.
- Kaspars Gorkss came within a whisker of breaking the deadlock after the interval when his glancing header skimmed the bar, while Simpson's solo effort was turned round the post moments later.
- Hooper thought he had headed Scunthorpe in front on 70 minutes, but his effort was chalked off for a push on Matt Connolly.
- Mikele Leigertwood had a long-range effort tipped wide, and from the resulting corner, Connolly could only stab the wall wide from close range.
- But the hosts fell behind 16 minutes from time when Hooper broke free down the right before teeing up Thompson to slot past Ikeme from four yards.
- QPR boss Mick Harford threw on Lee Cook, Antonio German and Angelo Balanta as they tried desperately to salvage a point.
- But they couldn't find a way back as they slipped to another disappointing defeat. Ealing Gazette

- QPR vs Scunthorpe Minute-by-Minute- Updated Championship Table


QPR Official Site REPORT

Garry Thompson's 74th minute strike was enough for Scunthorpe United, as they recorded back-to-back away wins with victory over the R's.

On an afternoon when Gareth Ainsworth said an emotional farewell to the QPR faithful following his departure after a successful seven-and-a-half year playing stint in W12, Thompson latched onto a Gary Hooper centre with only 16 minutes remaining, before firing the ball past Carl Ikeme.

QPR, in truth, enjoyed their fair share of possession throughout the match and pressed for an equaliser late on, but even the much-anticipated return of Lee Cook from injury couldn't prevent the R's from defeat.

Rangers boss Mick Harford made just a single change for the visit of Nigel Adkins' Scunthorpe, with Rowan Vine replacing Damion Stewart.

Ikeme kept his place in goal for the R's.

In defence, skipper Mikele Leigertwood started at right back, Matt Connolly and Kaspars Gorkss at centre back and Matt Hill at left back.

Akos Buzsaky and Adel Taarabt began out wide in midfield, with Nigel Quashie and Alejandro Faurlin supporting from the middle.

Vine partnered Jay Simpson up top.

At a cold but sundrenched Loftus Road, it was the R's who had the first opportunity to open the scoring.

Quashie's lovely, dinked ball over the top found Vine out wide on the left, and when the striker cut the ball back for Taarabt, his stinging effort was blocked away by an Iron defender for a corner.

Moments later, it was Scunthorpe's turn to attack. Cliff Byrne found the ball inside the R's box before touching it back to Hooper, but his shot was saved by Ikeme.

Hooper was then involved again, winning possession around 25 yards from goal before a dipping shot hit the roof of the net.

This was fast becoming an end-to-end encounter. Buzsaky then won possession in the Scunthorpe half before driving at goal, before his shot from 30-yards out went high and wide of the goal.

Soon after, Rangers missed their best chance to date to find the net.

Simpson and Taarabt combined before the former played the Moroccan international through on goal down the left, but his driven effort was palmed away by Joe Murphy for Scunthorpe before a defender cleared the ball up field.

The R's were playing some of the best passing football that they had done in a while. Simpson and Taarabt were then involved again, with the former touching the ball back to the Tottenham loanee on the edge of the penalty area, before his curling shot went inches wide of the post.

Moments later, Leigertwood found Simpson down the right channel before the frontman cut in and shot straight at Murphy in the Iron goal.

Rangers were creating the greater amount of chances, and they almost got the first goal of the game when Taarabt's corner was met by Connolly, whose header went marginally wide of the net.

As half time approached, the Iron almost put themselves into an unlikely lead.

Hooper's neat back heel enabled Martyn Woolford to centre from the left, and when his cross was directed by Ikeme back into the direction of Sam Togwell, he could only blast over from 12-yards out.

Rangers continued where they left off in the first half after the interval - and soon they went only inches from finding the goal.

Taarabt's beautiful corner was met by the head of Gorkss, who nodded the ball just over the bar.

Soon after, Rangers broke at pace through Simpson, who drove at goal before his shot was parried away by Murphy before eventually being put out of play by the Scunthorpe defence for a corner.

Leigertwood and Buzsaky then combined down the right before the Hungarian playmaker's cross went agonisingly across the face of the target and out for a goal kick.

Play then switched to the other end, where Thompson and Hooper combined to play in Paul Hayes on the edge of the penalty area, but his shot went just wide of Ikeme's left-hand post.

Moments later, the Iron almost grabbed the lead but for a brilliant save from Ikeme.

Quashie's pass hit the referee and fell into the path of Hayes on the edge of the box, before his shot was superbly parried away by Ikeme and then cleared by the Rangers backline.

Scunthorpe then thought they had taken the lead. Thompson's cross was headed goalwards and into the top right-hand corner by Hooper, but he was deemed to have pushed his marker Connolly in the back.

The R's raced up the other end and were again denied by Murphy.

Leigertwood received the ball in the right-back position before cutting in and shooting with his left foot 25 yards from goal, but his shot was tipped away for a corner by the Scunthorpe keeper.

From the resultant set-piece, Connolly headed against a defender before the ball fell back at his feet, but he could only shot wide of the target from only six-yards out.

It was a miss that the R's were made to pay for, as just seconds later, Scunthorpe broke at pace and opened the scoring.

After a long ball was played from deep up to Hooper, he cut the ball back at the byline to Thompson, who took a touch before smashing low from close range past Ikeme.

Undeterred, Rangers continued to press the Iron, with Cook introduced from the substitutes' bench for his first appearance after injury since April in the league.

Simpson found the ball on the right-hand side of the penalty area, before he cut in a shot just wide of Murphy's right-hand post in the Iron goal.

However, though Rangers continued to attack - namely when Simpson almost found the target after heading wide Cook's cross - they couldn't find a way back into the match, as Scunthorpe held out to take the points.

QPR: Ikeme, Leigertwood, Vine (German 75), Buzsaky (Balanta), Gorkss, Quashie, Connolly, Faurlin, Hill, Simpson, Taarabt (Cook 75).
Subs not used: Ramage, Stewart, Cerny, Ephraim.

Scunthorpe United: Murphy, Williams, Togwell, Byrne, McCann, Hayes, Hooper (Forte 90), Thompson, Jones, Mirfin (Wright 46), Woolford (McDermott 46).
Subs not used: O'Connor, Lillis, Morris, Moloney.
Goals: Thompson (74)
Bookings: McCann
Referee: Mr G Hegley
Attendance: 13, 105 QPR


Scunthorpe Official Site - QPR 0 THE IRON 1 - MATCHDAY LIVE!
Posted on: Sat 30 Jan 2010
FULL-TIME QPR 0 Scunthorpe United 1

Back-to-back away wins for Scunthorpe then, and they've done it by battling through. Many people will have questioned Nigel's team selection today, but he's proved the doubters wrong - again - hasn't he? That was a nice little performance by the Iron, and may well be seen as a defining win time. It also means that they leave Loftus Road after throwing a match that sets the home crowd into an alighted frenzy of disgust.

SECOND-HALF

92 Minutes: Forte time! Hooper goes off.

91 Minutes: As Murphy makes another save, I can hear only the Scunthorpe fans in voice. "It's over" states one QPR fan sat near to me.

90 Minutes: It's on-target, but Murphy makes one of those not-really-complicated-but-seemed-so-in-the-circumstances-type-saves.

89 Minutes: United are defending deep, and simply leathering the ball forwards when it's anywhere near the goal. Three minutes of time are added. QPR win a free-kick after a heavy tackle by Rob Jones.

87 Minutes: This afternoon's right-back, Sam Togwell, launches the ball to Hooper. He takes it down, and runs at Gorkss, who manages to stop him when the ball gets tangled between them. That provides a brief moment of respite.

84 Minutes: Slightly optimistic I feel - but humorous all the same, "Scunthorpe's going up" our fans proclaim.

81 Minutes: And again they hit it off-target: wide this time. Through German, who cuts in from the wing and curls it outside the post.

80 Minutes: Buzsaky replaced by Balanta. That's their last change. United meanwhile, still have the option of making another one. QPR fire another pot-luck-shot over.

78 Minutes: As you'd expect, QPR are throwing everything at us. I can even see a metaphoric kitchen sink heading towards the Scunny goal!

73 Minutes: Immediately, Cook and German are introduced at the expense of Vine and Taarabt for QPR.

72 Minutes: GOAL! Garry Thompson! The United fans go beserk. The contrast of how the QPR 'go' couldn't be more marked. Hooper got the ball, went round his marker, and slotted it across for Thompson. He stayed calm under pressure, rolling his finish into the net inch-perfectly from close-range.

QPR 0 Scunthorpe United 1

67 Minutes: Hooper has the ball in the net. But this time it's United's turn to have it chalked off by the officials. I think it was due to offside. Nope - it was due to a Hooper 'foul'. Well, I for one missed this foul, as the fact that I thought it was excluded for offiside sums-up. It was a lovely move though, Thompson's precise cross picked Hooper out in the box, and he steered it home with his head. Moments before that, McCann had the ball stolen off his head in a goalscoring position by a QPR defender. How ironic it would've been if he'd scored so soon after committing his temper-raising foul.

65 Minutes: Nigel Quashie goes down under a strong tackle, and then commences rolling around on the floor for a prolonged period of time - meaning tempers begin to flare. Grant McCann's booked (it was him who made the tackle). Initially, I thought he'd be dismissed in this sort of enviroment.

62 Minutes: The ball drops for Hayes in the area to rifle a shot on the volley. It has 'goal' written all over it. Although clearly Ikeme hasn't read the script though - he beats it away.

58 Minutes: Sam Togwell throws long into the area. It goes past Hayes, who is been held in a vice-like grip by a home defender, and drops for Hooper, who has his back to goal, but still gets a shot away; which Ikeme saves.

55 Minutes: The game is starting to open up. A goal is certainly on the cards. If I were a betting man I'd say it will be for our hosts. However, the nature of the fact that they're trying to turn the screw means that they're pushing forwards, leaving themselves vulnerable at the back.

53 Minutes: After showing us a little glimpse of his array of trickery, Donal McDermott gets a shot away in the area. It's deflected and fails to trouble Ikeme. It's a shame that didn't fall to a right-footer to be honest.

52 Minutes: A ball punted forwards from the London team's defence finds Rowan Vine. Offside. Another decent QPR chance wasted.

49 Minutes: Centre-back Kaspars Gorkss connects with a QPR corner... and heads over. A clear chance in a lot of space. That was a colossal let-off for United.

45 Minutes: Cliff Byrne leads United back out (quite a while after QPR were back out - a mind game?), and soon enough afterwards, the home side kick-off. United have made two changes for this half, replacing Woolford and Mirfin with Josh Wright and Donal McDermott. Togwell goes right-back, Cliff shuffles into the middle of defence.

HALF-TIME

QPR 0 Scunthorpe United 0

A few mild and muffled boos greet the whistle. The mindset of the QPR fans is there for all to see, and their negative attitude won't do their team on the field any good at all. For that reason, I think that whoever scores first will get this one, but judged on the first-half performances, it could be either of the teams that does so.

ATT: 13,105 (615 away)

FIRST-HALF

44 Minutes: And it's evened out a little bit... I think we'll head into half-time with the scores level.

40 Minutes: A five-minute or so spell of possession culminates in a Scunny corner. McCann plays it short, before getting it back and lashing the ball across goal. Ikeme can only palm it back into play, and Sam Togwell really should do better when he picks it up, controls it, and shoots - over the bar.

34 Minutes: Still located upfield following the attack, Rob Jones rises above everyone else in the area and gets a header at goal. It's caught by Ikeme though.

33 Minutes: Corner for the Iron after Jones makes a nuisance of himself in the box, forcing QPR to clear hurriedly. McCann promptly pops it into the area. QPR promptly pop it back out.

27 Minutes: Over the last few minutes Ranger's have taken this game by the scruff of its neck. United must consolidate for the next few minutes or so, and make sure they don't let a goal go past them. Taarabt needs to be watched really closely.

24 Minutes: QPR's Jay Simpson rounds Murphy and nudges the ball home. It's one-nil, and Loftus Road bursts into life. But the life is short-lived, when the linesman's flag executes it. Nil-nil. "Where's your money gone" taunt the United fans.

22 Minutes: Alejandro Faurlin is caught in possession by a bullish tackle from Sam Togwell. Togwell steals the ball from him, strides forward a couple of yards, sees Ikeme off his line, and wedges an effort towards goal. It goes just over, but would've been some individual goal had it gone in.

17 Minutes: Buzsaky brings the ball out of midfield for QPR, and responds to cries of "shoot" from the crowd when the space opens up in-front of him. His twenty-yard drive isn't bad, but goes over all the same. Seconds later, Taarabt has another go from inside the area, meaning Murphy has to spread himself into a lowly stance to push it away.

11 Minutes: QPR had a corner earlier, but I didn't mention it as it didn't really result in anything. So really, the attack that I'm about to describe was their first real one. Taarabt had the ball on the left, skipped inside, and sent a skimming drive out of play past the far-post.

9 Minutes: After a poor pass out of the box from QPR's left back, Garry Thompson receives the ball. He charges at his man, and then slides the ball inside for the well-placed McCann. McCann falls over, however. Not a problem - Woolford is one more over, and shall get it instead. Or not. He trips too! That was slightly funny actually.

3 Minutes: Gary Hooper lurches onto a ball in the box. He sidesteps a couple of players, before drawing a save from Carl Ikeme; a second chance then falls to Hayes, who tries to get a shot away on the rebound, but can't quite manage it.

1 Minutes: The game starts, and United are the first team to leave their half. The ball travels a little with Woolford, but QPR soon seize it and push up the other end in a very balanced start.

BUILD UP

14:58: Team's are welcomed out. Both teams are wearing a tint of blue on their shirts. United's is combined with Claret; and QPR's with white, however. Loftus Road stands in the shadows of the BBC Television Centre, where so may big things have happened. Let's hope today can hand United a big result in the context of their season.

14:54: The two sets of teams are about to come out. They'll be welcomed into a half-empty Loftus Road... A decent amount of Scunny fans have made the journey south, but this isn't exactly a great turnout from QPR's perspective. To make things worse, there's no sign of any A-list celebrities in the Press Box either. I'm a little dissapointed about that actually. This is usually a hotspot for them!

14:41: During the time I've spent lounging around in the press areas of Loftus Road prior to kick-off, I've got the impression that this is a really big game for QPR. Their fans are feeling a little bit disheartened at the moment since they haven't won in five, and we've been told to be wary of and expect something of a backlash from them today. An early goal for United would turn this already hostile atmosphere into a cauldron of disenchantment, and lay strong foundations for a Scunthorpe victory.

TEAM NEWS

Surprisingly enough, United keep faith with the team that fought to a 2-0 win over Sheffield Wednesday in midweek. Nigel Adkins said that he left it late to make his decision; and I suppose that ultimately, he would've found it just that little bit too difficult to change the team following Wednesday's win, even though some of his players may be feeling it a little by now. Consequently, Josh Wright and Donal McDermott will continue on the bench. Michael O'Connor, who returns from suspension, will also have to settle for a place on there.


QPR: Ikeme, Leigertwood, Buzsaky, Gorkss, Quashie, Connolly, Faurlin, Hill, Simpson, Taarabt. SUBS: Cerny, Ramage, Stewart, Cook, Balanta, Ephraim, German.


SCUN: Murphy, Williams, Togwell, Byrne, McCann, Hayes, Hooper, Thompson, Jones, Mirfin, Woolford. SUBS: Lillis, O'Connor, J. Wright, McDermott, Morris, Moloney.

PREAMBLE

For the second weekend in a row, United are faced with a wealthy set of opponents. Last Sunday it was the richest club in the world, Manchester City. This weekend it's Queens Park Rangers, a team located geographically in Shepherds Bush; but also found in the same financial bracket as the likes of City, due to the wealth of their billionaire chairman, Flavio Briatoire. For this week, the man directing QPR from their dugout on a caretaker basis will be Mick Harford. United owe him one actually, as it was he who stuck it to Scunthorpe as Luton manager in another of the Iron's recent expeditions to the capital - during last season's JPT Final.