Richard Kone’s season suddenly burst into life on Saturday with a hat trick inside the first 14 minutes of the 5-0 win against Swansea – Jack Supple sets the remarkable feat in context.

These are unpredictable times that we are living in right now but the real indicator of a ‘through the looking glass’ moment might just be a Queens Park Rangers player stepping up with a 14-minute first half hat-trick. We’ve only had eight trebles since the turn of the century, which is rather slim pickings – still, at least we had lalala-Ledesma (who bought the t-shirt?).

That said, despite a lack of hat-trick heroics over the last few decades, it’s never boring supporting QPR and they often find new and intriguing ways to surprise us.

Going into the match versus a previously impressive Swansea City, you could be forgiven for feeling a little frustrated with the Groundhog Day sensation that has seemingly been setting in for the third season in a row, with numerous key first-teamers unavailable with injuries. Despite big hitters like Madsen, Chair, Lamptey, and Burrell being out, QPR were still able to select a very decent XI for this level, which is testament to the recruitment in recent windows. However, it can be argued that the drawback of targeting talented players with flawed injury records is that they will likely be unavailable for large spells. This current injury situation has presented opportunities for perceived squad players to step up and shine, something we’re seeing with Paul Smyth, who is in the form of his life in a QPR shirt.

One player who has been a bit of a concern this season after a promising first term at this level is Richard Kone. The former Wycombe man has struggled for form and fitness in the early stages of this campaign, but a start at home to Swansea certainly presented a great opportunity for him to get his season back on track and he more than took it.

On what was a watershed day for the Ivory Coast forward, he became the first QPR player to score a hat-trick since Nahki Wells versus Cardiff City on New Year’s Day 2020. There must be something about Welsh sides for the R’s because three of the last four times that they’ve scored 5+ goals in a game, it’s either been against Cardiff (Jan 2020) or Swansea (Oct 2026 and Jan 2020). Portsmouth was the other in April.

There were six years and 296 days between those two hat-tricks, though it could’ve been fewer had Rumarn Burrell turned his brace into a hat-trick versus Cardiff earlier this season (the Welsh again).

Now, what made Kone’s hat-trick particularly outstanding was, of course, just how quickly it happened. It felt like a beautiful and exhilarating blur of goals, rain, wind and Pigbag.

Remarkably, Kone became the first QPR player to score a hat-trick inside the opening 15 minutes of a match since George Petchey versus Aldershot in January 1954, when he completed his treble within the first 14 minutes at the Recreation Ground.

Petchey was a defender by trade (half back officially) but found himself as the makeshift striker on that fateful day in 1954, in what was by all accounts a lousy one weather-wise with heavy fog. Petchey’s rout started when he netted inside the opening minute with a shot that caught goalkeeper Fred Brown off guard. He then followed up with a second goal in the 11th minute, before grabbing his third in the 14th minute. In total, he made 278 appearances and scored 24 goals for the R's, but the only other time he scored more than once in a game was a double against Walsall in January 1956, just over two years after his hat-trick.

The impressive Kone, the first African player to score a hat-trick in QPR’s club history, managed to grab his treble in a span of just 13 minutes. The last QPR player to take fewer minutes to score a hat-trick was Clive Allen versus Charlton in March 1982, with Allen scoring in the 62nd, 68th and 74th minutes in a 4-0 victory at Loftus Road in the second tier. It was a game that featured a managerial clash between former England international and Spurs teammates Terry Venables and Alan Mullery, with Mullery succeeding Venables in the Loftus Road dugout on a permanent basis a few years later.

Anyway, before Kone had bagged his third, he’d already become the first QPR player to score twice inside the first nine minutes of a game since Mike Sheron versus Wolves in September 1998 (2nd & 9th mins), and before that, Les Ferdinand versus Newcastle United in February 1995 (4th & 7th mins) – neither player went on to bag a third in their games but Rangers were victorious on both occasions.

Once Kone grabbed his third goal, converting from the penalty spot, it also represented the first time a QPR player had scored a first-half hat-trick since Alan Wilks versus Oxford United in October 1967, with Wilks netting three times in the first half and twice more in the second half. Wilks remains the only QPR player to score five goals in a single competitive match.

And while we're on the subject of when he scored, how about where? Chris Guy (QPR’s club historian) has confirmed that Kone is the first QPR player to score three goals at the School End in a single game since Rodney Marsh netted four times in the second half at home to Tranmere Rovers in September 1969 in the League Cup.

Just in case you’re ever asked what Richard Kone and Roger Morgan have in common (as I’m sure that is a burning question at the forefront of most minds), they have both scored a first-half hat-trick against Swansea for QPR at Loftus Road, with Morgan doing so in the 1965-66 season in a 6-2 mauling that included five first-half goals (Morgan x3, John Collins x2). The R’s finished in third place at the conclusion of that season, missing out on promotion, but they made no mistake the following season ending as title winners and of course, League Cup winners.

QPR players registered ten hat-tricks across the 1965-66 and 1966-67 seasons in all competitions (five in each), halcyon days indeed – an era in which England won the World Cup, the Beatles released Rubber Soul and Revolver and QPR won the Third Division title and the League Cup. If there’s a time machine going, drop me off there for a bit, please.

QPR’s early demolition of Swansea wasn’t the first time they’ve had a quickfire flurry of three goals in a game this season, also netting three times at Portsmouth, with those goals coming in a 14-minute window (including first-half stoppage time). When they are in the mood, this Rangers side can be lethal.

The 5-0 result marked QPR’s biggest ever competitive win over the Swans and it was the first time the R’s had won a home game 5-0 since trouncing Blackpool on the opening day of the 2003-04 campaign under Ian Holloway. The R’s have now struck four or more goals in consecutive home league games for the first time since April 2018, which also came under Ian Holloway, in his second stint as manager.

There’s a lot to like about this QPR team and in particular the way Julien Stéphan is coaching the side. When they are on form, they are a match for any team in the Championship. There’s huge potential for this campaign and for players such as Kone to really develop into top end Championship players.

Hopefully, we don’t have to wait nearly seven years again for the next QPR hat-trick either.

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