Blackstock's wonder goal - History
Thursday, 18th Aug 2016 22:47 by Clive Whittingham

Ahead of the meeting with Preston at Loftus Road on Saturday, LFW looks back to 2007 when Dexter Blackstock won a crucial game in hand between the sides on one of those nights under the lights in W12.

Memorable Match

QPR 1 Preston 0, Tuesday April 3, 2007, Championship

QPR were firmly ensconced in a relegation battle at the bottom of the Championship when high-flying Preston visited Loftus Road for a game in hand in April 2007.

John Gregory’s arrival as manager, replacing Gary Waddock in mid-September, had initially threatened a turn-around as quick-fire wins at Southampton, Luton and Cardiff along with home successes against Hull and Palace were recorded. But a long, hard winter which included a 5-0 televised defeat at Southend left the future looking bleak.

Gregory added Inigo Idiakez to his midfield on loan, and was unlucky to see a late equaliser rob Rangers of a deserved win at Derby after Martin Rowlands’ first half opener. They went one better at Leicester that weekend, winning 3-1 with Idiakez starring and Marc Nygaard scoring a sensational long-range volley. But Paul Furlong’s penalty miss proved crucial in a 2-1 home loss to West Brom. It set the Preston game up horribly — QPR needed to win to stand a chance of finishing above the likes of Leeds, Hull, Luton and Southend at the bottom of the table.

Idiakez, tragically, was injured. He was replaced in midfield by Steve Lomas alongside Adam Bolder between Lee Cook and GarethAinsworth. Up front Furlong paid for his profligacy against the Baggies with his starting place - Blackstock partnered Nygaard. The same back four of Michael Mancienne, Danny Cullip, Damion Stewart and Marcus Bignot started in front of Lee Camp but within seconds of the kick off they failed in their key job of the night - staying tight to David Nugent. Preston partnered him with Michael Ricketts and also welcomed one-time QPR target Matt Hill back into the side at full back. It was the former Bristol City man who supplied Nugent, a cross from the left found England's latest international in acres of space in front of goal but his side footed half volley finish went two yards past the post.

QPR didn't respond to this. They started the game very sluggishly with Damion Stewart having a complete nightmare at centre half. He punctuated the first 20 minutes with numerous wild clearances, poorly played passes and terrifying mistakes in his own area culminating in a back header to Camp which he had two attempts at and still nearly presented to Nugent - thankfully after that one he calmed down and was magnificent in the second half.

Going forward Rangers struggled to trouble Preston at all early on. Cook cut inside Graham Alexander and looked threatening after eight minutes before being crudely blocked off by Sean St Ledger - the former Peterborough man picked up the first booking of the game for it which seemed a little harsh. Cook picked himself up to deliver an excellent cross to the back post but Nygaard was slow to react and Ricketts got the ball behind for a corner. A little later Cook received treatment on the knee injury that had looked set to keep him out of the game altogether, he played on but clearly wasn't happy, had little effect on the game and was withdrawn at half time. Another blow.

Once Rangers settled their game plan was clear - direct football up to the front two or wide midfield players as quickly as possible. A little heading exhibition on the edge of the box from Nygaard gave Blackstock a chance to hook a shot towards goal but Lonergan covered it as the ball flew over. Blackstock and Ainsworth both sent weak headers wide of the target while at the other end Nugent robbed an unusually static Mancienne of possession and crossed for Hill to head goalwards but Camp made a fine one handed save to deny him. Simon Whaley was next to try his luck on the half hour, cutting in and firing in a low shot but Camp was again equal to it.

When awarded their first corner of the game Preston worked it out to Songo'o on the edge of the box but Bolder raced out to get a block on his shot. The visitors, and the ever mouthy Alexander in particular, appealed for handball but the referee waved them away. They'd have an even more crucial handball decision go against them later in the game as well.

As the half wore on Gareth Ainsworth came into the game more and more, as he had done against West Brom, and started to cause his former club some real problems. In the final ten minutes two gilt edge chances went begging and he was at the heart of both of them. First he smashed in one of his trademark ambitious volleys from the corner of the penalty area after a poor clearance from Chilvers. An earlier effort had bounced meekly through to Lonergan but this one bounced viciously in front of goal and looked destined to go very close to the bottom corner. From nowhere Marc Nygaard appeared, onside, and sliding in on the ball. He got a boot to it at full stretch but somehow diverted the chance high into the Loft when the pace of the ball surely meant that any kind of touch couldn't help but divert it into the goal. It may even have gone in of its own accord.

It was one of those chances that brings and anguished cry of disbelief which is usually followed by a load of groaning and abuse for the player until he is substituted, especially when it's Nygaard. Luckily a combination of the fans being in a forgiving mood and Nygaard working himself to a standstill throughout the game prevented that happening here. Despite the missed chance this was one of the Dane's better games in a QPR shirt.

More cries of disbelief followed soon after though as Ainsworth burst into the area and rampaged towards goal. He seemed certain to shoot, and probably score, but he'd already made his mind up to pull the ball back. Blackstock hadn't read his intentions though and the ball found only acres of open grass around the penalty spot as the chance went begging.

Half time came and went with the faithful wondering if they'd live to regret missing two of the game's best three chances. That feeling only grew as the teams emerged for the second half. Arguably the two best players Rangers have failed to reappear after the break. Michael Mancienne took a nasty boot to the face as time ticked down in the first half and he was replaced at right back by Pat Kanyuka. Lee Cook also got a knock in the first half, and looked well out of sorts for the second game running, Rohan Ricketts came on for him as QPR restarted kicking towards the School End for the second half for a change.

There was a nervousness around the ground as the game recommenced. Two missed chances and now two injuries, a QPR win was looking more and more unlikely, but then Dexter Blackstock blew the doubts away with the opening goal. Nygaard retrieved possession just inside his own half and floated a glorious forty yard ball straight onto Blackstock's chest. Dexter brought the ball down with a killer touch, completely taking St Ledger out of the game, and then hammered an unstoppable shot past Lonergan and into the roof of the net. Loftus Road erupted and for the second time in as many games Blackstock was booked for over celebrating by referee Keith Stroud.

Preston almost came up with an immediate response. Michael Ricketts turned Cullip on the edge of the penalty area and was hauled to the ground. Ricketts leapt to his feet screaming and waving his arms around demanding Cullip be sent off. Alexander was, as he had been for the entire first half, right next to the referee having a whinge and all this gamesmanship was too much for Steve Lomas who steamed in with some choice words and was booked for his troubles. Only Pat Kanyuka covering in round the back saved Cullip a red card. When Ricketts had finally collected all his toys he stepped up to take the free kick himself, curling the ball round the wall and past the post with Camp beaten and twelve thousand QPR fans holding their breathe and/or soiling themselves.

Preston added Patrick Agyemang to their attack on the hour and started to pepper the QPR penalty area with high balls but Cullip and Stewart stood firm. In front of them Lomas seemed to have been fired up by his booking and was charging around with Bolder winning challenges left right and centre. Both strikers were also working their socks off and with Ainsworth outstanding wide on the right again and Ricketts showing some decent touches wide left this was a wholehearted, committed display. Nygaard attempted a repeat of his Leicester wonder goal with 20 minutes left, cutting round the back of a pass from Blackstock and firing a yard over the bar. If he'd been striding onto the ball instead of trying to wrap his foot round it this could have gone very close to the goal his performance deserved. Both Blackstock and Nygaard put in a fantastic level of work, won an incredible amount of ball in the air and never stopped running.

At the Loft End Ricketts and Alexander had good reason for a moan, not that a lack of reason had stopped them to this point, as time ticked away and Stroud missed a blatant penalty decision. Wilson, on for Matt Hill, won the ball at the back post under challenge from Blackstock who had his arms up above his head and inadvertently killed the ball stone dead with his elbow. It was a blatant penalty, but with Stroud unsighted he was relying on his linesman who kept his flag firmly down by his side. Perhaps he just couldn't be doing with the hassle of giving such a crucial decision on that side of the ground. The fans in and around the P, Q and R blocks were magnificent in the second half, getting increasingly louder and more vociferous in their support as the half went on. By the end of the night it was hard to recall an atmosphere like it since the Oldham play off semi-final. I wouldn't like to have given a penalty against them and then stand in that corner for another twenty minutes.

QPR were on the end of some rough decisions as well, Steve Lomas was absolutely cleaned out by a nasty fore arm smash from Alexander who was barely even spoken to by the referee. Within thirty seconds Adam Bolder had been booked for a sneaky push and kicking the ball away. Blackstock also looked to have a good penalty claim after beating Lonergan to a loose ball and collapsing but the free kick went against him.

Lee Camp claimed two corners from Pugh magnificently under his cross bar with crowds of men seemingly twice his size vying for the ball and then, with the fourth official preparing to signal five minutes of added time, his wonder save to keep the scores level - denying Dichio down in the bottom corner.

Gregory introduced Jimmy Smith for Rohan Ricketts, the loaned Wolves man picked up a knock earlier in the half, and when Chris Sedgwick's last gasp free kick was cleared from the penalty area Smith found himself with the freedom of Loftus Road and a raucous home crowd roaring him on. He carried the ball down the line, looked up and squared a glorious ball across the face of the area. Despite working tirelessly for more than 90 minutes to this point Dexter Blackstock ran fully 90 yards from his own area to get on the end of the cross but Lonergan brilliantly saved down low to his right to prevent a second goal. The roof might well have come off had that one gone in.

The final whistle was met with celebrations worthy of a much bigger occasion than this, but the hard work required to cling to the point and terrifying last half hour provoked an outpouring of relief when Mr Stroud finally brought the game to a close just the right side of 22.00.

As Gregory said afterwards, this wasn't pretty. The success was built almost exclusively on hard work and graft. Two physical teams leathering the crap out of each other in a bruising battle. For that reason QPR couldn't have won without the spine of the side. Apart from Damion Stewart in the first twenty minutes the two centre halves, central midfielders and centre forwards all had fantastic games. The work ethic and never say die attitude was led by Gareth Ainsworth who was magnificent for the second game in a row.

The confidence and momentum helped Rangers win 1-0 at Coventry that weekend, and 3-2 at home to Luton over the Easter weekend to survive with something to spare.

QPR: Camp 8, Bignot 7, Cullip 8, Stewart 7, Mancienne 6 (Kanyuka 46, 6), Ainsworth 8 Bolder 8, Lomas 7, Cook 5 (Ricketts 46, 6) (Smith 82, -) , Nygaard 7, Blackstock 8

Subs not used: Cole, Furlong

Goals: Blackstock 49 (assisted Nygaard)

Bookings: Blackstock 50 (over celebrating), Cullip 54 (foul), Lomas 54 (dissent) Bolder 73 (foul/kicking the ball away)

Preston North End: Lonergan 7, Alexander 6, Pugh 6, St Ledger 7, Chilvers 7, Sedgwick 6, Whaley 7 (Dichio 75, 7), Hill 7 (Wilson 77, 7), Songo'o 7 (Agyemang 61, 7) Ricketts 7, Nugent 6

Subs not used: Henderson, Nowland.

Bookings: St Ledger 8 (foul)

Attendance: 11, 910

Recent Meetings:

Preston 1 QPR 1, Saturday March 19, 2016, Championship

While there was little at stake for either side when they last met in March, a combination of the pressure being off and the referee being under the influence of some bad acid made for a lively encounter at Deepdale. QPR took the lead early on when Seb Polter headed a corner home, and should have sealed the game in the second half when Tjaronn Chery ran through one on one with Anders Lindegaard but failed to convert. Amidst some farcical officiating from Andy Woolmer, PNE bagged a last minute equaliser from Doyle but there were four yellow cards in injury time alone and in the end most were relieved the game was called to a halt before anybody was killed.

Preston: Lindegaard 7; Woods 6, Wright 6, Clarke 5, Cunningham 7; Johnson 7; Gallagher 6, Pearson 6 (Doyle 61, 7), Reach 6 (Beckford 85, -), Robinson 6 (Welsh 79, 6); Hugill 5

Subs not used: Vermijl, Kilkenny, Smith, Kirkland

Goals: Doyle 90+3 (assisted Cunningham)

Bookings: Clarke 81 (denying a goalscoring opportunity), Beckford 90+5 (fighting)

QPR: Smithies 6; Onuoha 6, Angella 6, Hill 7, Perch 6; Faurlin 6, Henry 7, Mackie 6 (Luongo 78, 5), Chery 6 (Hall 89, -), Hoilett 6 (El Khayati 90+3, -), Polter 7

Subs not used: Washington, Tozser, Ingram, Petrasso

Goals: Polter 5 (assisted Faurlin)

Bookings: Hoilett 71 (not sure), Angella 90+5 (fighting), Faurlin 90+5 (not sure), Hall 90+8 (foul-ish)

QPR 0 Preston 0, Saturday November 7, 2015, Championship

The first meeting between these sides last season was something of a perfect storm. It fell into the brief period of Neil Warnock's caretaker charge, when Rangers had surrendered almost all of their attacking intent in order to tighten up a defence that had been shipping two goals a game on average for the first three months of the season. Preston meanwhile, with Jermaine Beckford injured and Joe Garner out of form, were also relying on a tight backline to establish them following promotion from League One. Absolutely nothing of any real note happened in the entire match.

QPR: Green 7; Henry 6, Onuoha 6, Hall 7, Konchesky 6; Phillips 5, Faurlin 6, Sandro 5 (Emmanuel-Thomas 64, 5), Hoilett 6 (Chery 74, 5); Fer 6, Austin 6

Subs not used: Luongo, Smithies, Angella, Tozser, Polter

Yellow Cards: Onuoha 69 (dissent), Austin 78 (foul)

Preston: Pickford 6; Vermijl 6, Woods 6, Wright 7, Huntington 6; Reach 6, Browne 6, Gallagher 6, Johnson 7 (Kilkenny 90+4, -), Doyle 5 (Keane 75, 6); Garner 5 (Hugill 88, -)

Subs not used: Davies, Brownhill, May, Kirkland

Preston 1 QPR 1, Saturday February 19, 2011, Championship

Although Neil Warnock's QPR were runaway Championship leaders in February 2011, the club still had the ability to struggle against the division's lesser lights as it always had done before. Preston would go on to be relegated that year, and had already been swept aside by Rangers 3-1 at Loftus Road, but had much the better of this encounter once Ishmael Miller's powerful run down the left had set up Heidar Helguson for an emphatic opener. Phil Brown's side equalised through Barry Nicholson and had numerous chances to win. Later, Rangers lost 4-1 at one of the other relegated teams Scunthorpe.

Preston: I Turner, B Jones, S St Ledger, L Cort, D Gray, B Nicholson, I Ashbee, K Treacy, A Barton (P Parry, 75), E Johnson (P Hayes, 55), N Ellington (J Proctor, 82)

Subs not used: A Lonergan, D Carter, C Morgan, D Russell

Goals: Nicholson 62

Bookings: Ashbee, Treacy, Gray

QPR: P Kenny, C Hill, B Orr, M Connolly, K Gorkss, W Routledge (A Buzsaky, 86), S Derry, A Taarabt, A Faurlin, I Miller (P Vaagen Moen, 61), H Helguson (R Hulse, 74)

Subs not used: F Hall, P Chimbonda, D Shittu, R Cerny

Goals: Helguson 16

Bookings: Gorkss, Routledge, Derry

QPR 3 Preston 1, Saturday November 20, 2010, Championship

Adel Taarabt did always seem to quite enjoy playing against Preston. After registering QPR’s goal of the season in a 4-0 win against the Lily Whites at Loftus Road the previous season, the Moroccan scored two more breathtaking goals against them in W12 here. Taarabt made it 2-0 and then 3-0 from long range at the Loft End after Rob Hulse had scored from close range in the opening ten minutes. A soft own goal from Matt Connolly in injury time ruined Paddy Kenny’s clean sheet and gave the scoreline a flattering look when the gulf between the two sides on the day was taken into account.

QPR: Kenny 6, Walker 8, Hall 7 (Rowlands 81, -), Gorkss 8, Hill 7, Connolly 6, Faurlin 7, Mackie 7 (Andrade 88, -), Taarabt 8, Clarke 6, Hulse 7 (Agyemang 80, -)

Subs Not Used: Cerny, Leigertwood, Helguson, Ephraim

Goals: Hulse 4 (assisted Walker), Taarabt 56 (assisted Hulse), 84 (assisted Clarke)

Preston: Lonergan 3, Gray 5, Brown 5, St. Ledger 4, De Laet 5, Tonge 5, Barton 6, Russell 5, Pugh 4, Parkin 5, Hume 5

Subs Not Used: Arestidou, Morgan, James, Mayor, Parry, Jones, McLaughlin

Booked: St. Ledger (play acting/fighting)

Goals: Connolly 88 og (assisted Hume)

Preston 2 QPR 2, Saturday March 27, 2010, Championship

Adel Taarabt, promised an early substitution and trip home to France if he played well, was at his imperious best at Deepdale as Rangers battled back from two down to draw, and almost win. Static defending cost the R’s the opening goal before half time when Billy Jones had time for two touches and a finish in the area after Ross Wallace’s low free kick made it right through the box. Then after half time further defensive hesitancy allowed Jon Parkin in behind Kaspars Gorkss and when he was subsequently wrestled to the ground a penalty was the obvious result — Callum Davidson almost ripped the net off the back of the posts with the kick. So far so predictable, but then Taarabt started to play. He mesmerised the Preston defence time after time after time teeing up identical goals for first Peter Ramage and then Tamas Priskin before laying in Rowan Vine for what should have been a certain winner — Vine cleared the bar with his shot.

Preston: Lonergan 8, Jones 7, St. Ledger 6, Ward 5, Davidson 5, Wallace 6, James 7, Chaplow 6, Carter 6 (Sedgwick 59, 7), Mellor 6, Parkin 7 (Brown 71, 6)

Subs Not Used: Henderson, Hart, Mawene, Chilvers, Barton

Booked: Carter (foul), Chaplow (kicking ball away), St. Ledger (foul), Mellor (foul)

Goals: Jones 37 (assisted Wallace), Davidson 56 (penalty)

QPR: Ikeme 8, Ramage 7, Stewart 5, Gorkss 5, Hill 5, Faurlin 6, Leigertwood 7, Priskin 6, Ephraim 7, Taarabt 9 (Buzsaky 90), German 6 (Vine 46, 7)

Subs Not Used: Cerny, Cook, Balanta, Tosic, Oastler

Booked: Hill (repetitive fouling), Taarabt (kicking ball away)

Goals: Ramage 57 (assisted Taarabt), Priskin 66 (assisted Taarabt)