 Sunday, 10th Feb 2008 16:59 QPR won again on Saturday to move up to 15th in the table as Patrick Agyemang’s superb form continued at Southampton. Rangers returned from a happy hunting ground with another three points on Saturday after an impressive performance and some disastrous defending from their hosts. Perhaps if we ask nicely, they’ll let us start playing our home games at St Mary’s – it’s easy to get to, the weather is always gorgeous, we always play well and get a result and there’s always thousands of QPR fans there to support the lads. Last season we won here 2-1 with a goal from Ray Jones, a goal marked in song by the sizeable QPR following inside St Mary’s on Saturday, and this year was every bit as satisfying as that result. Again we came from behind to win, again we played some nice football and carved the Saints’ defence up for two well worked goals and again we were treated to a further score by shambolic Southampton defending. The third goal, a seventh in five games for Patrick Agyemang, came courtesy of a defensive disaster – something that always looked likely with Jermaine Wright, Darren Powell and Wayne Thomas awful throughout ahead of Kelvin Davis who always loves to gift QPR a soft gaol whenever he can. De Canio sprung a surprise with his team selection leaving both Damion Stewart and Akos Buzsaky on the bench. Both players had been away with their respective international sides in the week and probably needed a rest but leaving Stewart out in particular seemed a risk with Fitz Hall injured. Zesh Rehman and Matt Connolly didn’t inspire confidence as a partnership and for the first 20 minutes or so QPR’s backline looked ripe for a hammering every bit as emphatic as the one they received at Cardiff last week. After that though they settled down and Rehman in particular can be very happy with his afternoon’s work. Delaney and Mancienne were the full backs either side of them with Camp in goal. Buzsaky was replaced on the right wing by Keiran Lee with Gavin Mahon again preferred to Mikele Leigertwood in the holding midfield role alongside Martin Rowlands. Hogan Ephraim started wide left. Up front Vine partnered the in form Patrick ‘Dave’ Agyemang. Rangers’ fans, fearing new manager syndrome, would have been delighted to see caretakers John Gorman and Jason Dodd still on the Saints bench as their hunt for a new man continues. Southampton looked like a leaderless team for much of the afternoon and left former QPR man Inigo Idiakez on the bench when their midfield was crying out for his guile and craft when they had possession. They were without Nathan Dyer who'd run QPR ragged in the game at Loftus Road ealier in the season. Although QPR do have an excellent record on the south coast in recent years, they also have a habit of allowing the Saints to get an early goal. Saturday was no different with the home side in front inside the opening 60 seconds. Saints kicked off and knocked the obligatory long aimless ball down to the corner. Matthew Connolly allowed the ball to run past him and back into the area for Lee Camp to claim but the R’s stopper slid out of his penalty area on the greasy top conceding a free kick wide left. Camp was lucky to escape without a card from rookie ref Anthony Taylor but his reprieve lasted barely another 20 seconds as Hammill delivered a low ball into the six yard box for Darren Powell to bundle into the bottom corner after being left completely unmarked. Not for the first time at St Mary’s Rangers were behind before many supporters had even taken their seats. Rangers’ first forays into the Saints half resulted in low shots from first Vine in the sixth minute and then, a couple of minutes later, Ephraim which Davis gathered easily on the goal line. QPR’s defence, as you might have expected with Damion Stewart missing, was all over the place. Corners and set pieces were causing particular difficulty and had Bradley Wright Phillips made any kind of contact when left unmarked in the 20th minute from Hammill’s corner then QPR would have been further behind. Wright Phillips also had a low shot saved by Camp after he raced away from Mancienne down the QPR right. From yet another Saints corner Andy Davies went close to a goal against his former club but his powerful header was well saved by Camp but the best chance the home team had for a second goal fell to Stern John. Hogan Ephraim dallied in possession deep in his own half and was robbed of the ball by Euell. He rolled the ball across the face of goal to John who was all alone 12 yards from goal with time to pick his spot – nobody could quite believe it when he spooned his shot miles over the bar. That was the cue for QPR to come back into the game. Hard work from Delaney and Lee after a throw in won a corner that Southampton cleared out to the edge of the area – Martin Rowlands watched the ball all the way and caught it full on the volley, hammering an unstoppable shot an inch wide of the top corner. To the 3000 QPR fans behind the goal the shot looked in all the way, and when another corner from the right was floated to the back post five minutes later Damien Delaney headed wide when well placed to do better. Rowlands wouldn’t have to wait long for his goal though. Seven minutes before the break Rangers were level. Rowan Vine picked the ball up wide on the left and ran at the Southampton defence, cutting in from the flank and dancing past would be tacklers on the edge of the area. Just when he seemed to have created an opening for a shot he elected to lay a pass through instead. Wayne Thomas played both Agyemang and Rowlands on side, the latter took the responsibility on and beat Davis to the through ball to prod it into the bottom corner and level the match. After coming under so much pressure in the first 20 minutes of the game Rangers would probably have been happy to go in at the break level but it got much better for them on the stroke of half time. Again QPR profited down the Southampton left. Hogan Ephraim was the provider this time, cutting back onto his right foot and lofting a deep cross to the back post. Jermaine Wright was the last Southampton man but he was far too central and although he back peddled frantically to try and get his head to the ball the cross was always too long for him and Patrick Agyemang calmly wondered in behind him and side footed the ball home first time for his sixth goal in five starts. At half time De Canio replaced Lee, who’d been tidy but fairly quiet down the right flank, with Buzsaky. Southampton introduced Marek Saganowski to their attack, although the decision to remove Hammill seemed a strange one as he’d been one of their better players in the first half – especially as Euell remained on despite being almost completely anonymous. The lumbering and one paced Wayne Thomas lasted only a further seven minutes after the break before being given the hook. He could have few complaints. Viafara came on for him but didn’t control the game as he had done at Loftus Road back in August. As with the start of the first half though it was Southampton in the ascendancy early on, pressing QPR back as they searched for a way back into the match. Unlike the first half though they didn’t create any clear cut chances. Lee Camp made an awesome point blank save from Wright Phillips after a quickly taken free kick but referee Taylor had already decided the set piece had been executed too quickly and he hauled the Saints back for another go. That, and an incident where he failed to allow Southampton to play advantage and then made them retake a free kick deep in their own half, summed up an overly fussy display from the official. Buzsaky fell foul of the rookie official with a fifth booking of the season (including one for Plymouth) for a foul, and petulant reaction to the decision, on fellow half time sub Saganowski. The referee wasn’t helped by the linesman at the QPR end in the second half to whom the offside law was an inconvenient distraction to his watching of the game for free. Southampton were getting plenty of possession in our half without doing too much with it and QPR made the most of the hosts profligacy when they bagged a third goal on the counter attack. A long kick down field from Camp was half heartedly chased by Agyemang but Jermaine Wright appeared to have the situation under control as the ball bounced towards Kelvin Davis on the edge of the Saints’ area. I’m sure the clearance would have reached the keeper without assistance but Wright had a Jamie Pollock style brain explosion and kneed the ball over his own keeper and into the clear unmanned grass of the penalty area. Agyemang could hardly believe his luck and apologetically ran the ball in, finishing with a nifty back flick on the goal line. Kelvin Davis has been involved in some real cock ups against QPR for both Southampton and Ipswich, although this one was more Wright’s fault that the keeper’s – Wright was abysmal all afternoon. Agyemang must be thinking that playing for QPR is easy – the ball just keeps dropping his way in front of goal. It could be said of course that he’s being rewarded for his hard work. Things went from bad to worse for the home side when they were reduced to ten men with 20 minutes left to play. Agyemang went up for a bouncing ball with Andrew Davies and then spun round to try and get a boot to the subsequent loose ball. Safri beat the QPR man to it and hooked the ball back to his keeper but then inexplicably followed through with a crude, thigh high, studs up lunge that left Agyemang writhing in agony on the turf. There was only one decision Taylor could give and once the melee had died down the red card was flashed in Safri’s direction. Agyemang wasn’t fit to continue and was replaced by Dexter Blackstock – QPR fans were relieved to see their red hot striker out on the touchline warming down a short time later. Wright Phillips was also lucky to get away without further punishment for a petulant flick out at Zesh Rehman but Safri could have no complaints about his fate. That killed the game off as a contest with the vast majority of the home fans choosing to head for the exits long before the final whistle. Rangers looked very dangerous on the counter attack with a numerical advantage. Dexter Blackstock should have made it four five minutes from time when he caught Darren Powell dallying by the corner flag, robbed him of the ball and skipped his way to the corner of the six yard box. He probably should have taken a shot on against his former club but instead decided to try and square the ball to Mahon who just couldn’t get up with play enough to toe the ball in. Akos Buzsaky also went close when fellow sub Mikele Leigertwood picked him out to the right of the penalty area unmarked. He cut inside and whipped a low shot wide of the far post with many in the away end thinking the shot was destined for the bottom corner. Southampton were restricted mainly to long range shots, most of which caused more problems for the fans at the back of the stand than Lee Camp. Amazingly with QPR in so much control they ended up enduring a nervous four minutes of stoppage time. A cross to the back post from Viafara bounced off Michael Mancienne’s arm and landed with Stern John who bundled the loose ball into the corner of the net. There only ever looked one outcome for the match throughout the second half and yet suddenly the R’s found themselves sweating a little as the home side packed the box with nine outfield players and a goalkeeper for two nerve jangling free kicks that Rangers managed to scramble away. The full time whistle followed shortly afterwards with the 3200 QPR fans left to acclaim their heroes in an otherwise empty stadium. In the end John’s goal served no other purpose than to lose our mates £75 as they had QPR to win 3-1. Another terrific win then, and a success on the road at last which is certainly a relief after the collapses at Cardiff and Sheff Utd. Southampton started the game very strongly and could have been more than one goal in front with better finishing by the 20th minute. However after that QPR took the first half over in both possession and chances. With two goals and near misses from Rowlands and Delaney the R’s richly deserved their half time lead and although the third goal came after Southampton had dominated the possession since half time, without ever looking likely to score with it, after that it was all QPR once more until the four minutes of stoppage time. For an away team QPR created plenty – scoring three and missing at least that many great chances again through Delaney, Blackstock and Buzsaky. If it had stayed 3-1, or gone to 4-2, then that would have been a fairer reflection on the game. Rangers looked bright in possession, keen to keep the ball on the floor and dangerous going forwards with Rowan Vine particularly impressive in his link up play between the midfield and attack. Before Christmas he wasn’t linking up to anything but now with good players down both flanks and the division’s form striker up front with him he’s really coming into his own. Southampton looked lifeless, leaderless, lacking in confidence and, at times in the second half, completely disinterested in what they were doing. The number of empty seats inside St Mary’s seems to double in number every time we visit here and I’ve a strong suspicion that they may go the same way we did after relegation from the Premiership and the end of the parachute payments. Their next managerial appointment is a big one – they surely can’t continue with Dodd and Gorman much beyond Tuesday night’s tough encounter with Stoke. While they’re struggling with that we face Burnley at Loftus Road before the lads head out to Portugal for a break and some warm weather training. That is the first in a run of three consecutive home games – a rare luxury and one that could turn our season into a late play off charge rather than one spent bobbing around in the middle of the league. I still don’t think we’re capable, or ready, to make a push for the top six and I’m just quite happy to be winning games and sitting safely in the middle of the league. But if we happen to stick seven or nine points on the board over the next three home games who knows. It starts with Burnley on Tuesday, a team with three wins and a draw from their last four games who will be keen to bounce back from surrendering two points at home to Colchester on Saturday. Here’s hoping we carry our form from the City and Southampton games into that one on Tuesday. Southampton: Davis 5, Thomas 4 (Viafara 52, 6), Powell 5, Davies 6, Wright 3, Hammill 7 (Saganowski 46, 6), Safri 5, Euell 4, Surman 7, Wright-Phillips 5 (Lallana 68, 6), John 6 QPR: Camp 7, Mancienne 7, Rehman 8, Connolly 7, Delaney 8, Lee 6 (Buzsaky 46, 7), Mahon 7, Rowlands 8, Ephraim 7 (Leigertwood 83, -),Vine 8, Agyemang 8 (Blackstock 79, 7) QPR Star Man – Martin Rowlands 8 - Lots of candidates for this but with a goal to his name and a superb work rate it’s got to go to Martin Rowlands again, still in the form of his life. Almost ripped the net off the back of the posts with a volley in the first half that would have put the icing on the cake. Another great performance from him, all over the pitch. Referee: Anthony Taylor (Greater Manchester) – 5 - Over fussy at times and seemed to give Southampton the benefit of the doubt on numerous occasions in the second half Missed Wright Phillips kicking Rehman off the ball in the second half. Had no choice with the sending off. Attendance: 22,505 (3200 QPR approx) QPR fans were in good voice as you would expect. Southampton fans were full of it early on but soon quietened down as we went in front and were leaving in large numbers as earl as the 60th minute. Quite why they were signing “where were you when you were shit” is beyond me because there were 3200 of us here last season. And the season before that. Rangers fans sang “there’s only one Ray Jones” as the game came to a close to mark the late striker’s fantastic goal on this ground last year. Photo: Action Images Please report offensive, libellous or inappropriate posts by using the links provided.
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