QPR defied all the odds to score twice in stoppage time and salvage a draw from a poor performance and seemingly unassailable position at Derby County on Saturday.
QPR are a bit prone to this sort of thing. Two days after I was born Newcastle United led 4-0 and 5-3 at Loftus Road but Rangers salvaged a point with two goals in the final minute of the game.
Ten years later on New Year’s Eve a QPR side won 3-1 at Highbury against the mighty Arsenal with goals in the final moments of the game from Bradley Allen and Andy Impey. Most of the coverage that day centred around John Jensen’s long overdue one and only goal for Arsenal. I was there when Jensen scored, I wasn’t when Allen and Impey did because I’d left early with my grandad who wasn’t so steady on his feet and would always head back to the tube early.
Then there was the famous comeback at Port Vale. 4-0 down at half time, 4-1 down with two minutes of normal time left, Rangers battled back to win a point. Those who were there still talk of the incredible, euphoric celebrations, most of which took place in a dramatic pitch invasion, after John Spencer’s famous equaliser. My dad and me left at 4-1, we were listening on the radio going round a roundabout in Burslem when the ball hit the net.
I’ve sat through some shit since then. Forcing my friends to stay to the end of matches under the “remember Port Vale” catch all reasoning. Literally hundreds of times we have sat through the last ten minutes of dire QPR performances at two, three and four goals down just in case the R’s suddenly found that little touch of magic again and launched a roaring comeback. They never have, because to go two, three and four goals down in a game chances are you haven’t played very well and it’s quite hard to turn that round and suddenly snatch something from the jaws of defeat.
On Saturday I thought I was safe. The stoppage time board had been shown, QPR had been outplayed for the full 90 minutes, they’d only looked like scoring once and that was a good hour and a half earlier. A comeback never, ever looked likely. The commentator on the Football League Show, who will play a large part in this match report as I was in the car park at the Harvester when Jamie Mackie scored, said “you always thought if QPR could get one they may get a second” but I disagree. When I walked down the steps in the 91st minute I honestly thought that QPR could have played all night without scoring. This was our worst performance of the season by some considerable distance, and with Patrick Agyemang and Leon Clarke offering nothing as second half substitutes a meteor strike seemed more likely than QPR taking a point from this match.
That we managed it bodes incredibly well for the rest of the season, and condemns the Northern R’s to another decade of staying to the bitter end of every match – just in case. It’s a bizarre sensation celebrating a goal in the middle of an industrial estate – a mixture of delight that we’ve done it, and devastation that I missed it.
The team that, as Warnock put it, dominated the game from the 96th to the 97th minute, started with Kenny in goal behind a back four of Orr, Gorkss, Connolly and Hill. Derry and Faurlin anchored the midfield with Mackie and Ephraim to attack from wide and Taarabt supporting Helguson in attack. That front four that has terrorised three teams already this season was completely ineffective throughout the game. Faurlin and Derry were outworked and out hassled by the Derby midfield and the back four looked unusually ropey, particularly against deliveries from wide areas.
Derby were once again without Rob Hulse in attack and with Tomasz Cywka suffering from a fractured cheekbone and Luke Varney Blackpool bound they started with left full back Dean Moxey leading the attack with midfielder Chris Commons and young Conor Doyle. They really should have been there for the taking.
QPR were fortunate to escape a second minute Derby corner that flashed all the way through the six yard box without a touch before Gorkss cleared it behind, the first of many lucky escapes from Derby corners on the day, but the slick attacking that has defined the QPR season so far was quickly on show at the other end. In their first attack of the game after three minutes Adel Taarabt escaped the clutches of Savage, slalomed through the static Derby defence and suddenly found himself one on one with goalkeeper Bywater. The Moroccan saw his shot saved one handed, and the rebound from Mackie was blocked away by a covering defender in the six yard box. As it turned out that was as good as it got for Rangers until stoppage time at the end of the game.
The sides then exchanged hopeful long range shots with Commons striking a few yards wide from the edge of the box after eight minutes and Taarabt hitting a free kick into the home fans from considerably further out than that.
The home side caused further problems with a corner after a quarter of an hour mark when Doyle slung over an inswinger that stayed low but somehow eluded everybody in the box except Shaun Barker who should have done better when left unmarked at the back post – his scuffed shot bobbled into the side netting.
Rangers actually had the ball in the net shortly after that when Helguson peeled away from Barker in trademark fashion and brilliantly finished Mackie’s through header by lobbing the ball over Bywater and into the net. The linesman’s flag went straight up though and the replays suggest that Helguson was indeed just half a yard offside. The R’s only really had that, and a further free kick that Taarabt squared to an unusually below par Faurlin who blasted over to show for their efforts in the last 20 minutes of the first half.
Derby took a thoroughly deserved lead five minutes before half time. Bradley Orr was robbed of possession wide on the QPR right and the ball was fed into Moxey’s feet by Green. Moxey made the most of Orr’s absence in the right back slot to send a low cross in behind the QPR back four that had been sucked into the goal mouth and that left Commons with the simple task of taking a touch to set himself and then scoring from close range – although the problem that has kept Commons from playing at the top level was obvious in the finish as he did everything with the outside of his left foot, his right really is just for standing on.
Still he was excellent for the first 40 minutes and it was something of a relief when he was withdrawn, presumably injured, just before halftime and replaced by Tomasz Cywka who posed different, but still very threatening, problems to the QPR defence. Clough’s squad building leads him susceptible to suffering more than most managers when injury strikes, but Derby do seem to be very unfortunate when it comes to injuries.
Derby made another change immediately after half time with Doyle replaced by Dave Martin and it was QPR who had the first chance of the second half when Ephraim was fouled wide on the left and Taarabt whipped a devilish free kick into the near post but when any contact seemed certain to take the ball into the net it was cleared away for a corner.
Derby made it 2-0 on the hour mark. A soft free kick given against Matt Connolly for a supposed foul on Paul Green, one of several very strange refereeing decisions in the second half, was taken quickly by Robbie Savage and although Rangers, through Faurlin, twice had the chance to win the ball back and clear it Derby’s hard work and quick pressing of the QPR man in possession kept it alive around the penalty box. The ball was run into the area by Cywka who teed it up for James Bailey and the youngster scored his first goal for Derby with a nice, low, curling shot around Kenny from the edge of the area after a crafty drop of the shoulder to fool the advancing defenders. Kenny’s pre-emptive step to his right justg before the shot was hit to his left proved crucial.
Both the Derby goals summed up the problem QPR had all day. Derby got into the visiting players faces whenever they had possession, never giving them a chance to settle and play as they had done in the first three games of the season. In the build up to both goals Derby hassled a QPR player out of possession and received the ultimate reward. On paper the Rams are a limited side but their work ethic was seriously impressive on Saturday and I have to say that what happened in the end was extremely harsh. It’s a concern that our future opponents will have a handy manual of how to play against QPR this season simply by watching the video of this game – man mark Taarabt, close Faurlin, Orr and Ephraim down as soon as they get the ball, deliver plenty of ball into the QPR box from wide areas.
Warnock’s response to going two behind was positive. He took Derry off and brought Buzsaky on and he introduced Leon Clarke and Patrick Agyemang to the attack instead of Heidar Helguson and Adel Taarabt. It has to be said that for the second game running against Derby Robbie Savage had done a very good job on Taarabt, restricting him to just that one chance early in the first half. I did wonder whether, rather than take him off, Warnock had considered moving Taarabt out to the wing because I doubt Savage would have followed him out there and it would have given him some more space to attack in. Initially the changes did little. Buzsaky tried hard but Clarke and Agyemang had very little impact, until stoppage time that was.
Cywka continued to cause QPR problems after the second goal. A low drive from distance was easily gathered by the post by Paddy Kenny. Then powerful running by the Pole had the QPR defence back peddling and he teed up Bailey for the second time in the game, but this time the resulting shot went into the side netting with Kenny probably covering it with something to spare. He looked very useful indeed.
It seemed as though QPR were just going to meekly surrender their unbeaten record. Derby were quicker to every loose ball, enthusiastic when out of position, threatening with the ball and full of running and hard work. QPR looked off the pace and lethargic. To compound matters for 20 minutes in the second half referee Mark Haywood had one of the brain explosions that have come to typify his refereeing performances with QPR in the past. There was a goal kick awarded after Bywater clearly punched the ball out, several strange free kicks and finally a blatant QPR throw in given to Derby which sent Neil Warnock into a towering rage on the touchline and forced the match official to come and threaten him with a spell in the cheap seats if he continued. As a referee though he does just seem to lose the plot for long spells of games.
Frustration with the officials, and life in general, grew 15 minutes from time when Barker and Brayford clashed under a high ball in the Derby area after failing to communicate with each other. Barker fell heavily as the ball fell to Ephraim in the area. Haywood stopped the play immediately and called for treatment for Barker who was, wouldn’t you just know it, absolutely fine. Was it a head injury? I fail to see how Haywood could tell having blown his whistle and stopped play within half a second of Barker hitting the deck. It was a pathetic piece of refereeing really, and the frustration with it only grew when Robbie Savage absolutely needlessly stood by and applauded the referee while the treatment was metered out. This is the sort of thing that winds people up with Savage – he had an excellent game, keeping Taarabt very quiet and making the Derby team tick, why ruin that by winding opposition players and fans up in this way? You just know that had the play been stopped for an injury while Derby were on the attack he would have been right in the referee’s face.
With no further options to call on from the bench and Derby coping easily with anything that QPR had to offer the game looked set to peter out into our first ever defeat at Pride Park. We just weren’t really at the races and a 2-0 defeat would have been a fair reflection of the game as a whole. I did say in a conversation with another QPR fan in the away end that I wondered if Warnock had actually given the game up when he made his substitutions, simply giving Clarke and Agyemang a bit of a run out with a view on September’s fixtures. As it turned out, nothing could be further from the truth.
Four minutes of stoppage time was indicated by the fourth official and that seemed to be that. Hundreds of QPR fans had left already and I made my exit at that point, and probably missed the best three minutes of QPR action there will be this season. Somehow in the time remaining the R’s scored once, almost conceded a third, equalised, and had a scrap in the back of the net.
The first came from a broken piece of play in the centre circle. A loose ball was turned into the path of Agyemang by Leon Clarke and the big striker did the rest. He drove toward goal with the ball, just about, under control and asked Shaun Barker to go with him. As it turned out the defender, who was the worst Derby player on show by several country miles, wasn’t quick enough to stay with his man enabling Agyemang to work an angle on goal, slip the ball past Bywater and into the side netting for a fine first goal of the season.
As always happens in these situations Dean Leacock and Stephen Bywater attempted to waste time by holding the ball in the net and Hogan Ephraim, Leon Clarke and others waded in to try and retrieve it. In Rugby League delaying a tap on the twenty in this way is an automatic yellow card and it should be the same in football as well.
Anyway, consolation at most you would think. Especially when a corner, again won by strong and powerful running from Agyemang, was cleared by Derby with some ease. Still, it is good to see Agyemang actually getting a ball down and running at defenders. He’s a very poor footballer, but he can serve a purpose as an impact sub if his attitude was right. In the 20 minutes or so I saw him on Saturday I thought he was dross again, but apparently he came alive in stoppage time.
On the counter attack from that corner the Rams poured forward in a three or four on one situation and a third goal seemed inevitable. Cywka put Bailey through on goal but Kenny was equal to the task and made a fine save, the rebound fell to Moxey but was deflected away from the goal by Orr who had made it back to the goal line despite being out on his feet.
That brought the four minutes of advertised stoppage time to an end but sticking with his bizarre behaviour in the second half referee Mark Haywood continued to allow play to go on. QPR launched a final attack with a long ball forward from Kenny. Leacock climbed all over the back of Agyemang but could only flick the ball into the path of Mackie on the edge of the area. The in form striker controlled the ball, turned Gary Roberts inside out, and then fired a wonderful finish past Bywater and into the net before removing his shirt and engaging in jubilant celebrations in front of the travelling QPR faithful. The shirt removal cost him a yellow card, I doubt he cared.
The positives for QPR from this game all took place in that stoppage time after I left. To get a result from two goals down after such a poor performance bodes very, very well for the rest of the season. Confidence will now be sky high and it will encourage a ‘never say never’ attitude in the team when it faces adversity again this year. Mackie deserved his goal for matching Derby for work rate, and it’s good to see Agyemang actually being a bit positive and having a go rather than just lolloping around as he has been doing for the last 18 months. It’s also nice to see Warnock making good his pledge to always be positive and go for a win with his substitutions.
Overall this was a get out of jail free moment. QPR were second best for the entire 90 minutes of normal time and thoroughly deserved to lose the game. Derby have never beaten us at Pride Park and on this evidence they never will.
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Derby: Bywater 6, Brayford 6, Leacock 6, Barker 5, Roberts 6, Doyle 7 (Martin 57, 7), Green 7, Savage 8, Bailey 7, Commons 8 (Cywka 45, 8), Moxey 7 (Ball 90, -)
Subs Not Used: Deeney, Buxton, Pringle, O'Brien
Booked: Moxey (foul)
Goals: Commons 40 (assisted Moxey), Bailey 59 (assisted Cywka)
QPR: Kenny 7, Orr 6, Gorkss 6, Connolly 5, Hill 6, Derry 6 (Buzsaky 61, 6), Faurlin 5, Ephraim 6, Mackie 7, Helguson 5 (Agyemang 62, 6), Taarabt 6 (Clarke 69, 5)
Subs Not Used: Cerny, Leigertwood, Ramage, German
Booked: Hill (foul), Mackie (over celebrating)
Goals: Agyemang 90 +1 (assisted Clarke), Mackie 90+5 (unassisted)
QPR Star Man – Jamie Mackie 7 Deserved his goal for actually matching the Derby players for their workrate. Unlucky not to score another very early in the game when he seized on Taarabt’s rebound. It’s three goals from four league games for Mackie now, an impressive return from a player we feared would not be prolific enough when he signed from Plymouth. His attitude is always absolutely spot on regardless of how well or badly we’re doing as well.
Referee: Mark Haywood (W Yorkshire) 5 No really big decisions wrong, but he tends to go through 15 to 20 minute periods in matches where he just loses the plot and cannot get a decision right. After Derby’s second goal the next 20 minutes or so of refereeing was absolutely abysmal.
Attendance: 25,874 (1655 QPR) A large and vocal following from West London, shame on those of us who lost faith and left early because we missed an amazing comeback. The Derby fans continue to back their team in big numbers but the big gang to the right of the away end that normally provide all the noise were unusually quiet on Saturday.