 Sunday, 10th Apr 2011 23:45 by Clive Whittingham Scunthorpe United produced the shock of the Championship season, annihilating league leaders Queens Park Rangers 4-1 at Glanford Park on Saturday. In a season when this remarkable team in Hoops had only lost four times it was reassuring to find out on Saturday that deep down they are still a QPR side at heart – prone to moments of inexplicable ineptitude. Inexplicable is the perfect word for this result because although I’m going to hazard a few guesses and offer a few theories there is absolutely no logic behind anything that happened between three and five on Saturday afternoon in North Lincolnshire. These clubs seem destined for very different things - Liverpool, Man Utd and Arsenal for one, Hartlepool, Yeovil and Oldham for the other. One lost six nil last weekend to sink further into relegation mire, the other won 3-0 in what was arguably the best performance of a remarkable league leading season to date. And yet on Saturday you’d never have guessed which was which. LoftforWords has never been noted for its fantastic predictions, and the assertion that QPR could win this game three, or even four, nil looked more and more laughable as the game progressed. Credit where it’s due though – our three Scunthorpe players to watch named in the match preview were exactly that. Joe Garner, an aggressive and wiry little player, absolutely dominated Fitz Hall and Danny Shittu in a farcical manner given their respective physical statures. QPR were so good on Monday night against Sheffield United and so awful here you could scarcely believe it was the same side and nobody summed that up better than Fitz Hall who earned justified praise for his handling of one of the division’s more feared target men Darius Henderson five days ago only to then be beaten to every ball by Garner. Shittu was so far off the pace he was removed at half time. Michael O’Connor was the star man though. “You don’t often go far wrong picking up graduates from Dario Gradi’s Crewe academy,” LFW said on Friday and so it proved. His scorching third goal from distance put the icing on a quite considerable cake. He was superb. And goalkeeper Joe Murphy, who produced two outstanding saves to deny Wayne Routledge when the score was actually in QPR’s favour. Had it gone to two and three nil to the visitors then the Iron, beaten 6-0 last week at Norwich, may have crumbled. QPR would be punished emphatically for their profligacy, and an attitude of “this job is done” that perhaps set in after Rob Hulse gave the R’s a seventh minute lead. Hulse led the line in a surprising QPR team selection. Heidar Helguson was ruled out with a knock, and Adel Taarabt remains troubled by stomach cramps, but rather than make the obvious changes and play Ishmael Miller and Akos Buzsaky Warnock chose to pick Hulse in the lone striker role and bring back Hogan Ephraim into the supporting cast of three behind him with Tommy Smith and Wayne Routledge. As usual Shaun Derry and Alejandro Faurlin held the midfield but there were more changes at the back. Kaspars Gorkss dropped to the bench, Danny Shittu came into the back four with Fitz Hall, Bradley Orr and Clint Hill ahead of Paddy Kenny. Scunthorpe sat bottom of the league before kick off and new manager Alan Knill certainly has his work cut out to keep them clear of relegation this season. He spent the week since the Carrow Road massacre preaching the values of good, honest hard work and was given a suitably warm reception from the fans who used to appreciate his no nonsense centre half play back in the 1990s. Knill probably should have been celebrating the opening goal of his reign inside two minutes. Joe Garner gave a hint of what was to come as he beat first Hall and then Shittu to the ball in the penalty area – both the QPR defenders appeared to foul him as he bundled his way through and the league leaders were fortunate referee Eddie Ilderton didn’t blow for a penalty on either occasion. QPR posed a threat of their own from the restart, Ephraim teasing a cross through the area without finding a team mate, and then they took the lead in the seventh minute. Wayne Routledge was the chief threat QPR posed in the first half and when he took on and beat Chelsea loanee Ben Gordon for pace down the right and crossed Rob Hulse powered a fantastic header into the bottom corner past Joe Murphy who moved only to race out of his goal and chastise his defenders in typical style. Hulse has endured a rotten time of things since moving to QPR from derby but this was a really fine goal. At this stage it looked like that might be the first of many with QPR in fine form coming into the game and Scunthorpe on a run of five straight defeats without scoring. A minute after taking the lead Rangers could have doubled their advantage when Wayne Routledge launched an ambitious lobbed effort from the corner of the penalty area that Murphy did well to scramble back and claw out from underneath the cross bar. Then when Nelson fouled Ephraim in the left QPR channel Tommy Smith delivered a free kick that Murphy spilled and Faurlin fired over the bar. Scunthorpe threatened briefly after a quarter of an hour when Michael O’Connor’s low corner forced Paddy Kenny to parry the ball out into the danger zone and rely on his defenders to clear, but on the counter attack Faurlin almost had Routledge racing clear but Murphy shot out of his area and cleared. Rangers really should have been two goals up after a swift break from another Scunthorpe corner. The R’s were able to clear the set piece easily at the near post and suddenly Alejandro Faurlin was bursting forwards over the halfway line with options left and right. He chose right, and Wayne Routledge, paying a perfect pass on a difficult surface into the path of the QPR right winger and his pace was far too much for Scunthorpe to handle. Routledge burst into the penalty area, accelerating away from the trailing defenders to create a one on one situation with Murphy. Sadly, one on ones have never really been Routledge’s forte, and Murphy made a decent save with one hand to deny Rangers a second goal which would have made it a very different game. It had all been a bit easy for QPR to this point. They’d dominated and missed two or three chances besides the Hulse goal – and perhaps complacency was starting to set in. It looked like any other QPR win this season to this point but Scunthorpe equalised quite out of the blue. Referee Eddie Ilderton has always been a bit of a fuss pot whenever we’ve had him in charge of our games, and it was one of numerous very, very soft free kicks he awarded on the day that led to the goal. Hogan Ephraim, well known hard man, was adjudged to have fouled his man tight to the touchline when there was barely any contact made and the ball appeared to have been won cleanly. There was no excuse for what followed though – Michael O’Connor took the free kick, lining up to the ball almost like a rugby goal kicker and attacking it on a run that arched through 90 degrees up to the point of contact. The result was a decent delivery, whipped into the near post with real pace, but the task of converting into the roof of the net, a task seized upon with glee by Joe Garner, was made terribly simple by a fundamental lack of any marking whatsoever by the QPR defenders. It was almost as if the visitors had forgotten a free kick was going to be delivered, and that lackadaisical attitude would manifest itself in the QPR performance for the rest of the afternoon. Within two minutes of conceding the first goal Rangers found themselves facing another free kick. This time the ball was positioned right on the edge of the area after Fitz Hall had been harshly judged to have fouled Garner. O’Connor took the free kick again, after a prolonged complaint about the distance of the wall from the ball, and indeed when he did strike it he could only find the group of QPR players standing in front of him. The ball rebounded to Nunez who drilled wide via a deflection. Gordon hit a shot over from distance ten minutes before half time in what had turned out to be a half of two halves. QPR fell apart after the goal, paying too much direct long ball football and treating possession with contempt. Such is the quality and attitude of the QPR team his season level half time scores, or even small deficits, don’t seem the big problems and insurmountable hurdles they once did. Thanks to the Derby game back in August there is a belief that we can play our way out of any amount of trouble however small the amount of time there is left. That belief was to be tested to the full here because rather than emerging from the dressing room as a rejuvenated force, as those in the away end had hoped, QPR were actually much worse after the break than they had been before it. Danny Shittu did not re-emerge, Clint Hill moved to centre half and Pascal Chimbonda played at left back creating a situation where the whole defence was shuffled and a right footed player played down the left – why Kaspars Gorkss wasn’t brought on I don’t know and Rangers fell behind within three minutes in farcical circumstances. A long free kick pumped into the penalty area by Murphy was headed up in the air by Nelson at the back post and that tempted Paddy Kenny from his goalline. The Irish goalkeeper is in the running for the club’s Player of the Year award such has been his outstanding form this year, but he flapped hopelessly at this one and had it headed out of his hands by Mirfin up from the back. He could then only watch helplessly as Garner stole in and buried the ball into the empty net. Garner is on loan to Scunthorpe from Nottingham Forest – that’s the same Nottingham Forest whose manager Billy Davies has done nothing but bitch and moan all season about lack of support from his board, lack of options in his squad, too few strikers to choose from and so on. If I was the Forest chairman I’d be ramming a picture of Garner right up his short Scottish arse next time he came to see me because he is a good, honest, hard working, talented player who would be far more use to Forest this season than the huge grazing hippopotamus he did bring in from Middlesbrough when given the chance and yet has spent the season at first Huddersfield and then Scunthorpe. Two became three just before the hour when Tommy Smith was beaten in the air forty yards from goal by O’Connor who then landed on his toes ready to receive the ball back from a team mate and launch a fabulous long range strike that crashed into the back of the net off the post from fully 25 yards. It was nothing more than Scunthorpe, and the excellent O’Connor in particular, deserved for a tremendous performance both individually and collectively. They worked hard for each other and showed a tremendous attitude, which is sadly more than QPR did, and 3-1 certainly didn’t flatter them. Hulse was then withdrawn and replaced by Ishmael Miller, leaving the field to a barrage of abuse from the away end. QPR fans are never happier than when attempting to destroy one of their own players and even in this fabulous season Hulse has been the boo-boy target since Leon Clarke was taken off to the glue factory. The keenness to get on his back regardless of circumstances seems like complete madness to me. There was a moment in the second half when Fitz Hall, who is to long throws what Eddie the Eagle is to ski jumping, hurled yet another one of his utterly pointless, short throws in the vague direction of the penalty area. Hulse had a Scunthorpe player in front of him reaching behind and holding him down by the front of his shirt, a Scunthorpe player behind wrapping both arms around him, and a further home player digging at him from his right with elbows and shoulders. The throw in, as all Hall’s “long throws” do, came up short and was headed away easily by the Scunthorpe man in front of Hulse. “Fucking hell Hulse, move your arse,” “don’t just stand there Hulse you c***,” “you’re shit Hulse” – all came hencing forth from the away end. I cracked at that point and asked one of his naysayers what exactly Hulse should have done? Short or tearing his shirt off Liam Lawrence style to reveal a superheroes outfit and taking to the sky to rescue Hall’s latest pathetic attempt I’m not sure there was anything, but like I say some at QPR have never been happier than when tearing into one of their own. After he’d gone off Ishmael Miller, his replacement, did no better and became visibly frustrated by David Mirfin, picking up a stupid yellow card for a violent body check on the former Huddersfield centre half, while Patrick Agyemang did absolutely nothing of any use whatsoever. But no, it’s all Hulse’s fault, despite the fact he actually scored our goal. In many ways it is because of Hulse we lost, but not through any fault of his own and not for the reasons the idiot section believes. Firstly the fact that Hulse, Shittu and Ephraim all came into the side from Monday night unsettled the team. If Helguson and Taarabt were unfit then we should have replaced them with the nearest thing we had to them – Miller up front and Buzsaky behind would have required minimal adjustments. Likewise at the back, Kaspars Gorkss did nothing wrong on Monday night and should have remained in the side. So much of our success this year is based on having a settled team and to make three changes in personnel, and moving Smith inside with Ephraim wide of him, did us no favours at all. Secondly, whenever Hulse plays our approach play is abysmal. This is partly because Helguson holds the ball up and links the play absolutely superbly and few strikers can match him for that, certainly Hulse can’t, but it’s mainly because we seem to be afflicted with Peter Crouch syndrome whenever he plays. From the back our defenders seem to look up, see only Hulse, and hit a long ball at him. This was as one dimensional and long ball as we have been since the defeat at Leeds, when Hulse also played, and it does not suit us at all. Neither of those things are Hulse’s fault, one of them is Warnock’s and one of them is his team mates, but the guy cops a load of abuse anyway. The changes had little effect, although with just under 20 minutes remaining Rangers actually threatened from, would you believe, one of Fitz Hall’s throws. In fairness it did need Mirfin to misjudge his clearing header at the near post and flick it on for Hall but Routledge, stunned that it had got that far, could only head wide at the back post. It’s worth pointing out that Derry was the second player withdrawn, probably his worst game of the season in a midfield completely dominated by their opposite numbers. Miller’s booking started a spate of yellow cards with O’Connor also carded for fouling Fitz Hall, shortly being withdrawn to a deserved standing ovation and replaced by Josh Wright, and Orr booked for fouling Duffy. And just to put the tin hat on the whole shooting match three became four ten minutes from time. On a day of uncharacteristic performances and errors this time it was Clint Hill who has to accept the blame, although the whole situation again came from Fitz Hall losing out to Joe Garner in the air. Hill has become known this season for always doing the simple things, and never taking any risks. Why, therefore, he decided to try and shepherd a ball out for a goal kick that never looked like it was going to reach when for the last eight months he’s calmly stuck every similar situation straight into the stand for a throw in God only knows. Buoyed by his team’s performance Chris Dagnall chased the opportunity down when he may not have bothered a week ago, robbed Hill on the touchline and pulled it back to Duffy who hit a low, deflected shot into the back of the net to make the scoreline, astonishingly, 4-1 to the basement side. In four minutes of added time Scunthorpe made a further two changes to run the clock down, Nunez shot over and Ishmael Miller turned and smacked one onto the railway which just about summed up QPR’s day. I suppose you’ll view this result depending on your general outlook. For the worriers and the pessimists it’s a disaster and a sign of an impending Rory McIllroy style collapse, for the optimists and positive people it’s merely a blip. Personally, I think it’s the latter, and in many ways it might actually do us some good. It’s very easy to tell the Fulham Chronicle that you won’t be complacent, but there certainly seemed to be a carefree attitude from our team in this game having gone one nil up – you can perhaps forgive the poor finishing from Routledge and others that should have made it two nil, but the defending for the first goal was shambolic and betrayed a poor attitude and approach to the game which was in stark contrast to that shown by the home side who covered up their many failings with good old fashioned hard graft. Hopefully this will serve as a kick up the backside for the Barnsley game because although, nine points clear and six games left, we’re almost certain to finish top I’m still of the opinion that the FA will take a great many points from us at their little hearing in May and we cannot therefore afford too many off days or blips like this between now and then. Links >>> Have Your Say >>> Interactive Player Ratings >>> Message Board Match Thread c Scunthorpe: Murphy 7, Hughes 6, Mirfin 8, Nelson 7, Gordon 6, O'Connor 9 (Josh Wright 84, -), Togwell 7 (Raynes 90, -), Nunez 7, Duffy 7, Garner 8 (Miller 90, -), Dagnall 7 Subs Not Used: Lillis, Collins, Nolan, Godden Booked: O'Connor (foul) Goals: Garner 28 (assisted O’Connor), 48 (assisted Mirfin), O'Connor 58 (unassisted), Duffy 79 (assisted Dagnall) QPR: Kenny 4, Orr 6, Shittu 5 (Chimbonda 46, 5), Hall 5, Hill 5, Faurlin 6, Derry 5 (Agyemang 62, 5), Routledge 6, Ephraim 5, Smith 5, Hulse 5 (Miller 61, 5) Subs Not Used: Cerny, Buzsaky, Gorkss, Moen Booked: Miller (foul), Orr (foul) Goals: Hulse 7 (assisted Routledge) QPR Star Man – Wayne Routledge 6 On Monday this was a difficult decision because there were so many contenders, here it’s tricky because there were so few. Routledge carried our biggest threat, although it was his poor miss when through on goal that should have put us two goals up. To be honest I almost put not applicable for this today. Referee: Eddie Ilderton (Tyne & Wear) 5 Never has been my favourite referee and is unlikely to improve in my mind while he referees like this. He’s a referee you can tell never played the game to any kind of level. He’s got no feel of when an advantage should be played and not, when a player is genuinely fouled or is actually looking for a free kick, when a tackle is a good one or a foul. He’s just a fussy, nit picky, irritating official. Of the major decisions, Scunthorpe should have had a penalty after two minutes which he didn’t give. Attendance: 6,061 (1,845 QPR) Fantastic support in number and volume from West London, but I despaired at some of the things I heard in the second half. Even excluding the abuse of Hulse, which I’ve already addressed, somebody near me in the second half screamed: “You don’t know what you’re doing Warnock.” Who are these morons? Where have they come from? Do me a favour, if that was you, don’t bother coming again. Photo: Action Images Please report offensive, libellous or inappropriate posts by using the links provided.
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