Burnley vs QPR - Additional Reports

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Sunday People 6 August 2006
JONES AT THE DOUBLE FOR A CLARETS FLIER
Burnley 2 QPR 0 Andrew Collomosse

NEW BOY Steve Jones hit a sharp double to give the Clarets a flying start to the season.

Jones, a free transfer signing from Crewe, had scored six goals in Burnley's successful pre-season campaign.

And he kept up the good work with two second-half strikes that ended some stubborn resistance from Rangers.

The Jones boy hit the jackpot in the 59th minute when he took advantage of a stumble by defender Matthew Rose and netted a typical poacher's goal.

Ten minutes later the Northern Ireland striker was on target again. He collected a pass from sub Micah Hyde before cutting inside to lash a 20-yarder past Paul Jones.

There was no way back for Rangers and on this showing fears of a long hard winter could be realised.

Yet for long spells Burnley were no better as they lived up to manager Steve Cotterill's warning to the fans not to read too much into their pre-season form.

Skill

The Clarets had included a win over Premiership neighbours Bolton in their build-up, but they rarely showed much cohesion in a dire first half.

In fact until Jones scored the only real skill on show had come from King Keepy Uppy Daniel Magness with his displays before the kick-off and during the interval.

Rangers were first to show when a flick from Lee Cook was headed over by Adam Czerkas in the tenth minute. Soon after, Nick Ward nodded a Martin Rowlands corner straight at Brian Jensen.

He should have done a lot better and he was almost made to pay when Chris McCann set up a chance for Andy Gray at the other end, only for Paul Jones to save.

Burnley produced the first classy raid of the match in the 29th minute when Kyle Lafferty headed a Steve Jones cross over the top from close range.

The game desperately needed a goal after a slow start and Jones provided it.

With a two-goal cushion, Burnley started to play some more fluent football and Hyde almost made it three with minutes to go.

BURNLEY: Jensen 6 - Sinclair 6, Thomas 6, Duff 6, Harley 6 - *S JONES 8, J O'Connor 6 (Elliott, 62mins, 6), McCann 6, Mahon 7 (O'Connor, 90mins) - Lafferty 6 (Hyde, 62mins, 6), Gray 6,

QPR: P Jones 7 - Bignot 6, Stewart 6, Rose 5, Milanese 6 - Ainsworth 5, Lowmass 6 (R Jones, 67mins, 6), *ROWLANDS 8 (Donnelly, 74mins), Cook 6 - Ward 7 - Czerkas 6 (Bircham, 70mins.5). Ref M Clattenburg 6.

http://www.people.co.uk/sport/football/tm_objectid=17519603&method=full&siteid=93463&headline=jones-at-the-double-for-a-clarets-flier-name_page.html

Telegraph

Burnley (0) 2 Queens Park Rangers (0) 0

Burnley beat Queens Park Rangers thanks to a player that the London club tried to sign earlier this summer.

Steve Jones, a Northern Ireland international, ignited a laborious Turf Moor encounter with two clinically struck goals inside 10 second-half minutes - a debut feat that repeated his opening game double for his previous club, Crewe - also against Rangers - four years ago.

Jones said Rangers were one of seven clubs he spoke to after Crewe released him. "London was not for me. It would have meant uprooting my family and, after speaking to Burnley, I knew they were the club for me."

He revelled in the switch to a more central striking role after starting wide on the right. His 59th-minute opener to end the depressing deadlock after a sterile first half was a simple tap-in after Paul Jones, the visiting goalkeeper, was left unsighted when Kyle Lafferty challenged him.

"It was a bad goal to give away - we shot ourselves in the foot,"said Gary Waddock, the Rangers manager.

However, he had no complaints about "a fantastic second" from Jones, whose sweetly struck left-footed effort from 22 yards gave his namesake in goal no chance.

Match details
Burnley (4-4-2): Jensen; Sinclair, Thomas, Duff, Harley; S Jones (G O'Connor 90), J O'Connor (Elliott 62), McCann, Mahon; Gray, Lafferty (Hyde 62).
Subs: McGreal, Foster.
Goals: S Jones (59, 69).
Booked: Duff, Harley, J O'Connor
Queens Park Rangers (4-4-1-1): P Jones; Bignot, Stewart, Rose, Milanese; Ainsworth, Lomas (R Jones 66), Rowlands (Donnelly 79), Cook; Ward; Czerkas (Bircham 71).
Subs: Cole, Kanyuka.
Referee: M Clattenburg (Tyne & Wear).
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/main.jhtml;jsessionid=OE2C4GKBUC2EPQFIQMGCFF4AVCBQUIV0?xml=/sport/2006/08/07/sfgbur07.xml


The Times August 07, 2006
Keeping up with Jones is not easy
By Ron Lewis
Burnley 2 Queens Park Rangers 0

QUEENS PARK RANGERS FIELDED three new signings on Saturday, from Australia, Jamaica and Poland, Burnley had one, from Crewe Alexandra, but it was Steve Jones who scored the goals that gave his new side the perfect start to the new season.
Born in Londonderry, Jones moved to Oldham when he was 12 and had spells at Blackpool, Sligo Rovers and Leigh RMI before making his breakthrough in his mid-20s at Crewe. This summer he had seven clubs, including QPR, chasing his services. Jones, though, finds more pleasure in causing QPR pain.

“My wife said to me that I made my debut for Crewe against QPR and scored two goals and wouldn’t it be amazing if I did the same thing,” Jones said. “I talked to QPR but there was too much uprooting for me to go down there, I’m not a London boy. I knew as soon as I talked to Steve [Cotterill, the Burnley manager] that they were the ones for me and I didn’t have to move home. ”

Burnley struggled to come to terms with QPR’s five-man midfield in the first half but, after 58 minutes, hesitation in the visiting team’s defence let Kyle Lafferty slide in on Paul Jones, the goalkeeper, and Steve Jones tapped in the rebound. Eleven minutes later, Mauro Milanese gave the ball away to Frank Sinclair, who fed Jones to rocket the ball into the top corner.

With Kevin Gallen and Marc Nygaard injured, QPR started with a lone striker in Adam Czerkas, a 22-year-old on a year’s loan from Kolporter Korona in Poland. He received no support and QPR never looked like scoring. “You take those two out of the side and we are not much of a threat,” Gary Waddock, the manager, admitted. Waddock, who was made caretaker manager after Ian Holloway was sent on gardening leave in February, was given the job on a permanent basis in the summer despite finishing last season with a run of 11 games without a win. Having sold Dan Shittu to Watford yesterday, he may now have some money to invest in new signings.

Burnley (4-4-2): B Jensen — F Sinclair, W Thomas, M Duff, J Harley — S Jones, C McCann, J O’Connor (sub: W Elliott, 62min), A Mahon (sub: G O’Connor, 90) — A Gray, K Lafferty (sub: M Hyde, 62). Substitutes not used: McGreal, Foster. Booked: Duff, Harley, J O’Connor . NEXT Leicester City (a)

Queens Park Rangers (4-4-1-1): P Jones — M Bignot, D Stewart, M Rose, M Milanese — G Ainsworth, M Rowlands (sub: S Donnelly, 79), S Lomas (sub: R Jones, 66), L Cook — N Ward — A Czerkas (sub: M Bircham, 71). Substitues not used: J Cole, P Kanuyka. NEXT Leeds (h)

Referee: M Clattenburg. Attendance 12,190

Shots on target (h) 9 (a) 6. Fouls (h) 14 (a) 14. Offsides: (h) 2 (a) 0

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,435-2301918,00.html


Mirror 7 August 2006
TURF GUY JONES ROCKS RANGERS

Coca Cola CHAMPIONSHIP Burnley 2 QPR 0
By Scott Douglas

DEBUT boy Steve Jones continued piling on the agony for QPR at Turf Moor.
The striker netted twice on his Crewe debut four years ago against Rangers.

He then snubbed a move to the Londoners in the summer in favour of a free transfer move to Burnley.

And on Saturday he rubbed further salt into the wounds with a match-winning double against Gary Waddock's men.

Jones admitted: "I do like playing against them a lot. I scored two on my debut at Crewe against QPR and I said to my wife before the game that it would be amazing if it happened again. Lightning has struck twice for me.

"It's odd how things happen like this in football because I did have a chance to go there.

"I talked to QPR in the summer but there was too much uprooting for me and my family. Plus the fact I'm not a London boy. I don't like the bright lights and it's a different culture down there.

"I talked to seven clubs in the summer but as soon as I talked to Steve Cotterill I knew this was the place for me.

"I could have gone to Stoke and it would have taken me only 20 minutes to get there.

"But I live in Crewe and I think I might have got my house chopped up. So coming here was the perfect move for me and I'm so pleased it has started as well as this."

Jones was buzzing throughout the game - never more so than with his bizarre goal celebration after netting the 59th-minute opener.

He explained: "In Italy in pre-season we were playing a Playstation game called Buzz.

"The lads say I have a Manc accent and there is a Manc character in the game who does the celebration and the lads told me to do it if I scored."

Jones' opener arrived courtesy of some shocking QPR defending.

Alan Mahon's pass behind the visitors' backline looked too strong.

But with Kyle Lafferty and Andy Gray charging through, keeper Paul Jones fumbled the ball and it rolled out for Jones to side-foot home.

The guilty Rangers keeper said: "It took a couple of ricochets before it came through and it somehow squirmed out."

Jones could do little about the second when QPR were caught short by Mauro Milanese's sloppy pass out of defence.

Frank Sinclair intercepted and rolled the ball into Jones' path and the nippy hitman slipped away from his marker to score with a left-footed drive.

And there could have been more goals with Mahon bending a free-kick inches wide and sub Micah Hyde forcing a flying stop from Jones.

Rangers badly missed injured strikers Paul Furlong and Kevin Gallen and skipper Gareth Ainsworth said: "It's hard for us at the moment having Gallen and Furlong out. Then we play against a lad who we tried to sign and he scores two goals."

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