Orient Knock QPR Out of the Carling Cup

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QPR Official Site - John Gregory - 'IT HURTS'
Gaffer John Gregory bemoaned the R's below-par display as Rangers bowed out of the Carling Cup to League One side Leyton Orient.
Speaking exclusively to www.qpr.co.uk after the 2-1 defeat, Gregory said: "I'm not happy with the outcome.
"We lost the game - that's what went wrong tonight.
"We didn't pass the ball well enough and gave it away far too easily."
Gregory added: "I don't get too excited when we win and I'm not going to make any knee jerk reactions now we've lost this game tonight.
"It hurts a lot, because we didn't perform well enough.
"We had to make changes, but we should have had more than enough about us to win the tie.
"We didn't though and we go again at Harlington in the morning." QPR

QPR Official Site QPR 1 Orient 2

Rangers bowed out of the Carling Cup to League One side Leyton Orient at a rain-swept Loftus Road.

Two goals in a nine minute purple patch early in the second half gave Martin Ling's outfit the initiative, as the R's were left to rue a hatful of missed half chances in the first period.

Martin Rowlands provided brief hope with a quarter of the tie to go, but earlier strikes from Jason Demetriou and Adam Boyd (pen) ultimately proved to be enough for the O's to progress.

With one eye of the impending visit of Cardiff City to Loftus Road on Saturday, John Gregory made four changes to the side which drew 2-2 at Bristol City on the opening of the Championship campaign.

The fit-again Marcus Bignot and Danny Cullip returned in defence, while Nick Ward and Marc Nygaard were also recalled to the starting XI.

Orient included former Luton front-man Boyd, but there was no place in the squad for former Sunderland midfielder Sean Thornton.

Rangers were on the front foot from the first whistle and it was Saturday's man of the match Martin Rowlands who was at the heart of the action.

The in-form midfielder forced Stuart Nelson into a simple save from distance early on, before Ward's neat one-two with Stefan Moore resulted in him stinging the palms of the O's custodian from the edge of the box.

The lively Stefan Bailey was next to test the overworked O's keeper, when he thrashed wide after arriving bang on cue to meet Nygaard's cushioned header.

At the other end, Boyd forced Lee Camp to scramble across his goal and save at the second attempt, after the former Hartlepool goal-getter sent a skimming effort off the lush Loftus Road turf.

Boyd was proving a constant threat and he should have done better on 20 minutes, pulling his eight-yard effort inches wide of Camp's right hand post from an acute angle.

Orient grew in stature as the half progressed and with the clock showing 35 minutes, Wayne Corden tricked Zesh Rehman one way and then the other, before laying the ball off to JJ Melligan.

Gifted time and space 15-yards from goal, the O's midfielder squandered his golden opportunity, leaning back and firing high and wide.

Rangers ended the half in the ascendancy though, with Moore glancing wide Bignot's searching cross five minutes before the break and the impressive Ward seeing his goal-bound shot blocked after a jinking solo run.

Ward picked up where he left off at the start of the second half, firing another left footed effort just wide of the target after Bailey and Nygaard combined effectively.

Rangers were left to rue their missed opportunities though, when Orient opened the scoring on 54 minutes.

Boyd evaded the last line of a static R's defence and when his heavy touch fell into the path of the unmarked Demetriou, the midfielder took one touch to set before guiding the ball past the exposed Camp.

After being a mere spectator for much of the match, Camp was suddenly the centre of attention, as he pulled off a stunning save to deny Wayne Gray, as he stole a march on Mancienne to meet Corden's cross.

There was to be no reprieve though, as Cullip sent Gray tumbling to ground inside the box a minute later, leaving referee Mr Hall with little option but to point to the spot.

Boyd made no mistake from 12-yards, sending Camp the wrong way to compound Rangers' woes.

The two-goal buffer lasted just a matter of minutes though, as Rowlands got the Hoops back in the tie.

Ward appeared to be in a perfect position to apply the all-important touch to an innocuous looking through ball, but when he was denied at the last by a superbly timed challenge, the ball fell to Rowlands, who finished with aplomb.

Gregory rang the changes in an attempt to breath fresh life into the R's indifferent performance, but the second goal the Rangers' faithful so dearly craved proved to be beyond them.

QPR: Camp, Bignot (Curtis 81), Cullip, Mancienne, Bolder, Rowlands, Moore (St Aimie 64), Bailey, Rehman (Stewart 81), Ward, Nygaard.

Subs: Cole, Timoska.

Scorers: Rowlands 68

Bookings: Ward 45, Cullip 63

Leyton Orient: Nelson, Thelwell, Mkandawire, Melligan (Daniels 76), Chambers, Gray, Corden, Terry, Boyd (Echanomi 76), Palmer, Demetriou.

Subs: Morris, Sylvester, Shields.

Scorers: Demetriou 54, Boyd 63

Referee: Mr A R Hall QPR

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