Harrington takes Plymouth game - Referee

Premier League newbie Tony Harrington is back in the Championship this Wednesday taking charge of QPR against Plymouth.

Referee >>> Tony Harrington (Cleveland)

Assistants >>> Adam Nunn (Wiltshire) and Richard West (East Riding)

Fourth Official >>> Charles Breakspear (Surrey)

History

Luton 3 QPR 1, Saturday October 16, 2022, Championship

Rangers did go on to have some prolonged spells of possession around the Luton box, and forced a number of corners, the best of which, from Paal, was only one slightly bigger flick off Lyndon Dykes’ head away from equalising. But with Premier League referee Tony Harrington in the mood to award a free kick for somebody looking at an opponent a bit funny, the R’s found themselves penned in their own box and repeatedly having to head and scramble clear crosses, free kicks and corners throughout the first stanza. It could so easily have been two nil when Adebayo climbed higher than any man ever did climb before and met what looked like a perfect header towards the top corner only for it to strike the inside of the post, hit Dieng, and stay out. Maybe it would be our day again after all? Maybe it is a curse?

Luton: Horvarth 6; Lockyer 7, Bradley 7, Potts 6; Bree 6, Lansbury 7 (Freeman 67, 7), Clark 7, Campbell 7, Bell 6; Morris 7 (Cornick 67, 6), Adebayo 8 (Jerome 67, 7)

Subs not used: Berry, Isted, Onyedinma, Doughty

Goals: Adebayo 18 (assisted Morris), Dunne own goal 77 (assisted Jerome), Freeman 90+2 (assisted Cornick)

Bookings: Clark 44 (foul), Lansbury 54 (foul)

QPR: Dieng 6; Balogun 5 (Kakay 14, 5), Dunne 5, Clarke-Salter 5, Paal 5; Amos 5 (Johansen 62, 5, Iroegbunam 5, Field 6 (Dickie 62, 5); Roberts 4 (Richards 79, 5), Dykes 5, Chair 5

Subs not used: Archer, Dozzell, Adomah

Goals: Horvarth og 90+1 (assisted Dickie)

Referee — Tony Harrington (Cleveland) 6 Controlled a potentially difficult fixture through the medium of awarding a free kick for absolutely every single thing that happened.

Preston 2 QPR 1, Saturday April 9, 2022, Championship

QPR did score, a first goal in the thick end of four games since Luke Amos gave us the lead right at the start of the Peterborough debacle. Daniel Johnson’s back post shirt pull on Sam Field under a stoppage time corner was blatant, lazy and needless. Tony Harrington the referee rightly pointed to the spot and Andre Gray calmly stuck the goal away with what turned out to be almost the very last kick of the game. I’d call it consolation, except it wasn’t really. It probably mattered only to Iversen, robbed of the clean sheet and bonus that comes with it that he surely deserved by a poor piece of play from his midfielder. The goalkeeper within me is furious on his behalf — I’d have been delivering a mild bollocking.

PNE: Iversen 8; McCann 6, van den Berg 7, Bauer 6, Hughes 6, Cunningham 6 (Murphy 70, 6); Whiteman 7, Browne 6, Johnson 6; Archer 7 (O’Neill 90, -), Riis 6 (Maguire 45+1, 6)

Subs not used: Rafferty, Ripley, Sinclair, Diaby

Goals: Riis 42 (assisted Hughes), Archer 50 (assisted Johnson)

QPR: Mahoney 7; Odubajo 6, Dunne 5, Sanderson 6, McCallum 5; Field 6, Dozzell 5, Amos 5 (Thomas 57, 5), Johansen 5; Chair 6 (Gray 69, 5), Dykes 5 (Austin 68, 5)

Subs not used: Kakay, Ball, Adomah

Goals: Gray 90+3 (penalty, won Field)

Bookings: Field 85 (foul)

Referee — Tony Harrington (Cleveland) 6 Not bad, but nothing at all to referee here really. This fixture has often become fractious and niggly in recent years but QPR are so limp at the moment that both referees in our away games this week have been able to just breeze through the 90 minutes. Penalty was blatant, and with seconds left on the watch he knew it didn’t matter anyway. Some soft stuff awarded at times, some daft errors over small stuff like throw ins, and a second half incident where Sanderson was fouled poking Dykes through on goal and he chose to give the offside against the striker rather than coming back for the foul a split second earlier was piss poor. Not much of an advantage if the ball rolls through to an offside player is there?

QPR 0 Stoke City 2, Sunday December 5, 2021, Championship

QPR have suffered two home defeats this season, against cities Bristol and Stoke, and across those two matches they have had 50 shots on the goal, 20 of which were on target. Sometimes a Dan Bentley or Adam Davies turns up, gives it the full Danny Coyne, and point blankly refuses to be beaten. All you can do is trust in the process, believe that playing like that and having that many attempts will get you a win more often than not, and move on. That it wasn’t Rangers' day was confirmed midway through the second half when they were awarded a penalty for the first time this season, referee Tony Harrington rightly adjudging that the otherwise superb Vrancic had wrestled Yoann Barbet to the ground at the near post, and Charlie Austin struck one of the tamest spot kicks you’ll ever see in professional football which Davies saved easily. A penalty so poor that in actual fact you could probably give the otherwise exemplary goalkeeper some stick for parrying it rather than holding the ball.

QPR: Dieng 7; Kakay 5, Dickie 6, Dunne 6, Barbet 5, Field 5 (Thomas 80, 5); Johansen 5, Dozzell 5 (Amos 67, 6), Chair 6; Willock 7, Austin 5 (Gray 74, 6)

Subs not used: Ball, Archer, Duke-McKenna

Stoke: Davies 8; Smith 6, Wilmot 8, Baath 7, Fox 7, Tymon 6; Sawyers 6 (Clucas 58, 7), Allen 7, Vrancic 8; Fletcher 6 (Ince 90, -), Campbell 8 (Brown 67, 7)

Subs not used: Chester, Doughty, Bonham, Sima

Goals: Campbell 14 (assisted Vrancic), Vrancic 78 (assisted Clucas)

Bookings: Fox 54 (foul)

Referee — Tony Harrington (Cleveland) 7 Not a referee we have a particularly happy time with but bar the usual complaint about the total lack of action on time-wasting, injury feigning and "shithousing”, I thought he was really pretty good. Nice to finally see a penalty awarded for this penalty box wrestling that’s just strangely accepted as part of the modern game.

QPR 3 Luton 1, Saturday May 8, 2021, Championship

QPR, who you wouldn’t have backed in a one ticket raffle when these sides met in January, now win these games as a matter of routine. Chris Willock had been plaguing the visitors throughout the first half, almost getting Austin in on the end of a gorgeous move on six minutes, smacking a cross shot right through the danger zone on 11, and then taking just too long over a very presentable shooting chance while at the heart of a swift twenty seventh minute counter attack after a weak penalty appeal against De Wijs had rightly been waved away by referee Tony Harrington at the other end. His progression over the season has mirrored that of the team — both espousing the virtue of patience and time in a society and sport that too often demands instant gratification. When things inevitably get rocky again next season, let’s use this horrible lockdown period wisely, remembering how certain we were that Warburton would be sacked after Swansea at home, how Dykes wasn’t good enough, how Willock was a lightweight waif… Turns out, not so much, and all it took was time.

Willock was key in a second half overtaken and carried off into the distance by Warburton’s supremely confident, expertly assembled, brilliantly coached side. Nathan Jones, chip on both shoulders, would drop a "big spending QPR” barb at full time, but Luton spent more on their goalkeeper than anything Rangers had on the field (and there are more adept goalkeepers working the tills at Tesco). Rangers overcame the loss of Lyndon Dykes, crocked by a horrible tackle from Glen Rea that should have been a red card regardless of the context but felt particularly needless and nasty in an end of season fixture with nothing riding on it. Harrington, who could scarcely have been any more pedantic in the first quarter of an hour of the game when absolutely everything was apparently a free kick, suddenly came over all understanding and lenient with a yellow card. It’s a common failing of Championship referees that they sweat the small stuff to the point of dehydration only to then botch the obvious, and more important, bigger decisions. Rea should have walked, and the rather incredulous "what you playing at?” reaction from QPR players and belated contrition on his part as Dykes, with the Euros ahead, was carried off perhaps suggests he knows it as well. If I could grow extra fingers and toes to cross them for the lad I would — post match news and noise sounded positive, and Dykes was on the pitch with the rest of the lads at full time sans-crutches.

QPR: Dieng 7; Dickie 6, De Wijs 7, Barbet 7; Kakay 6 (Adomah 76, 7), Chair 7 (Thomas 77, 6), Johansen 8 (Cameron 86, -), Willock 8, Wallace 7; Dykes 7 (Field 46, 6), Austin 7 (Bonne 66, 6)

Subs not used: Carroll, Bettache, Walsh, Hämäläinen

Goals: Austin 20 (assisted Dykes), Johansen 60 (assisted Chair), Adomah 90 (assisted Willock)

Bookings: Austin 1 (foul)

Luton: Sluga 5; Bree 5 (Pereira 86, -), Pearson 6, Bradley 6, Naismith 6; Dewsbury-Hall 8, Rea 5 (Berry 71, 6), Mpanzu 6; Cornick 6 (LuaLua 71, 5), Adebayo 6, Moncur 6 (Collins 71, 6)

Subs not used: Shea, Cranie, Potts, Tunnicliffe, Morrell

Goals: Dewsbury-Hall 43 (assisted Moncur)

Bookings: Rea 45 (foul)
Referee — Tony Harrington (Cleveland) 5 I thought the game was just going to be one long free kick the way he started in the first few minutes, including a yellow card for Austin after a matter of seconds (not a good tackle), but he calmed down thereafter. The Glen Rea tackle on Lyndon Dykes, for me, is a red card.

Bristol City 0 QPR 2, Saturday March 6, 2021, Championship

As we know, from our Friday afternoon Warbs Bingo sessions, when we get the ball down and play, when we’re on the front foot and pressing, when the wing backs are able to go forwards, when we win first contacts and second balls, we’re a good team. We looked a good team here. Absolutely bang at it. Austin would have been in with more support than Fulham take away were it not for a very generous decision to let Bristol City off with a free kick from referee Tony Harrington, who you may remember from such Bristol City QPR fuck ups as the disgraceful injury time penalty that lost us this game when we were resident on Steve McClaren’s Hair Island.

Diedhiou’s stray arm into Dickie’s face also brought a yellow — referees look for a clenched fist as a sign of intent to elbow on those things, so his splayed palm probably saved him. Only poor finishing from first Chair on the end of more excellent Willock approach work, and then Bonne after Albert Adomah got the key pass in the final third right once again, prevented a breakaway third as time drained away. Rangers would have richly deserved it, Dom Ball’s 25 yard howitzer was an inch away from providing it, and if that had gone in no lockdown would have been strong enough to hold us. Hookers, blow, shots of AstraZeneca, dogs and cats living together. Mass hysteria.

Bristol City: Bentley 6; Hunt 5, Mariappa 6, Kalas 6, Sessegnon 6; Vyner 5 (Pearson 37, 6); Palmer 5, Bakinson 4 (Semenyo 23, 5), Nagy 5 (Lansbury 31, 5), Wells 5; Diedhiou 5

Subs not used: O’Leary, Bell, Towler, Moore, Conway, Massengo

Bookings: Lansbury 84 (foul), Diedhiou 88 (foul)

QPR: Dieng 6; Dickie 7, De Wijs 7 (Kakay 63, 6), Barbet 7; Kane 7, Johansen 8, Field 8 (Ball 75, 6), Chair 7 (Thomas 82, -), Wallace 7; Willock 8 (Adomah 82, -), Austin 7 (Bonne 75, 6)

Subs not used: Lumley, Dykes, Hämäläinen, Bettache

Goals: Chair 11 (assisted Kane), Dickie 22 (unassisted)

Bookings: Kakay 71 (foul), Dickie 74 (foul), Ball 76 (foul)

Referee — Tony Harrington (Cleveland) 6 I thought there were a couple of highly dubious, extremely generous free kicks awarded in the first half when City players had simply been caught up in QPR’s high press and were in on goal but for braver refereeing. How Lansbury isn’t sent off late on is beyond me — even if the Johansen tackle isn’t a straight red, and it’s borderline, how on earth do you let him off with a warning for the deliberate take out of Chair just a moment before that?

QPR 1 Blackburn 0, Saturday February 6, 2021, Championship

It would appear that Rovers had come to push, shove, bite, scream, shout, swear and bully QPR off the pitch. Maybe they'd heard about all our nice quiet boys. But actually, with Austin and Johansen in the team, and the back three bedding in wonderfully well, not so much any more. When Lewis Travis went careering into Charlie Austin for no particular reason and the QPR striker responded with a shove to the chest, Travis theatrically collapsed to the ground clutching his face. Fucking wanker. It’s like that is it? Jesus Christ. Yellow card for Chaz. Travis should be made to watch it on a loop while rugby league players gather round to point and laugh. And get a pair of shorts that fit, who you trying to impress with those?

QPR: Dieng 8; Dickie 7, Cameron 7, Barbet 8; Kane 6, Johansen 5 (Bettache 74, 7), Ball 6, Chair 6, Wallace 7; Dykes 5 (Adomah 83, -), Austin 5 (Bonne 74, 6)

Subs not used: Lumley, Thomas, Willock, Kakay, Hämäläinen, Kelman

Goals: Barbet 54 (unassisted)

Bookings: Austin 5 (unsporting), Ball 20 (foul), Adomah 90+2 (foul)

Blackburn: Kaminski 6; Nyambe 7 (Harwood-Bellis 62, 6), Lenihan 6, Branthwaite 6, Bell 6; Rothwell 6 (Dack 62, 6), Travis 6, Davenport 6 (Holtby 62, 6 (Brereton 82, -)); Gallagher 5 (Dolan 74, 6), Elliott 6, Armstrong 7

Subs not used: Downing, Pears, Buckley, Bennett

Bookings: Davenport 9 (foul), Gallagher 60 (foul)

Referee — Tony Harrington (Cleveland) 6 Did well not to be conned by Travis’ ridiculous theatrics and attempt to cheat a red card for Charlie Austin early on, thought I think both players should have been yellow carded. Other cards correct, but I thought he was very generous in awarding Blackburn a free kick when Dykes caught them pissing around on the edge of their own box late on. The half time thing was odd, though I’ve seen it suggested he may have actually blown for a foul against Charlie Austin.

QPR 0 Reading 1, Saturday December 11, 2020, Championship

A farcical passage of play where Ilias Chair and referee Tony Harrington had a needlessly drawn out argument over the exact placing of a pretty neutral free kick, only for Chair to then pass it straight to the end of Reading’s two man wall, rather summed it up. Rangers really must stop making shit free kicks the microcosm of their afternoon’s endeavour.

When it’s not your day, it’s not your day, and with a minute left for play Macauley Bonne’s appeals that the ball had gone out for a throw in on the South Africa Road side of the ground fell on deaf ears allowing Olise similar amounts of time and space from 25 yards out. His shot beat Seny Dieng every bit as comprehensively as Chair’s had Cabral, but it beat the post as well, to win the match for the visitors amidst deathly silence at Loftus Road. Reading flagrantly pissed the five minutes of stoppage time away with timewasting unchecked by referee Harrington, but QPR were gone regardless. Could have played all night at that point.

QPR: Dieng 6; Kakay 5 (Kane 72, 6), Dickie 7, Barbet 6, Hämäläinen 5; Cameron 5, Carroll 7; Willock 6 (Adomah 57, 5), Chair 7, Osayi-Samuel 6 (Bonne 79, 5); Dykes 5

Subs not used: Ball, Bettache, Masterson, Thomas, Kelman, Kelly

Bookings: Carroll 67 (foul)

Reading: Cabral 6; Esteves 7 (Holmes 65, 6), Morrison 6, Moore 8, Richards 6 (Gibson 27, 7); Rinomhota 6; Aluko 5 (Olise 65, 8), Lauren 7, Ejaria 7, Semedo 6; Baldock 5 (McIntyre 87, -)

Subs not used: Southwood, Melvin-Lambert, Watson, East, Onen

Goals: Olise 89 (unassisted)

Referee — Tony Harrington (Cleveland) 6 Couple of dodgy calls over minor free kicks. In general a difficult referee to like with his ongoing fussiness and pickiness about the placement of everything, which immediately lapses into a carefree, do-nothing attitude when it comes to time wasting late in the game, but this wasn’t a particularly hard game to get through and he did it without and serious major incident.

Hull 2 QPR 3, Saturday October 19, 2019, Championship

Let me do this, first of all, by running you through all the chances we created and didn’t score. Hull goalkeeper George Long scuffed a first minute clearance straight at Nahki Wells in a manner that brought back memories of Kelvin Davis teeing up Paul Furlong at Portman Road a lifetime ago — Wells couldn’t get the ball under control as well as the great man had and the opportunity slid by. A minute later Ebere Eze was executing a dignity stealing nutmeg on Kevin Stewart and aiming for the top corner but Long saved with two hands. When Wells did, emphatically, find the back of the net with a one on one finish he was pulled back by referee Tony Harrington, with whom QPR have extensive history, for an incredibly generous foul on a beaten defender. Later Eze tried his luck with a free kick after Bright Osayi-Samuel drew a foul on the edge of the box but found Long in flying form in the other top corner this time.

There was so much more to come. With time ticking down towards 90, Hull’s frustration at their inability to lay a glove on the game’s star man had started to manifest itself in wild hacks at his shins. With each desperate, cynical lunge came another deft flick, another silky slalom, another show of strength, another drop of the shoulder, another twist of the dreds and another move off beyond the challenger and into space. One, two, three Hull men all had a go as he slipped and tricked his way from the far touchline down to the byline and along into the penalty area. Back he checked, round a fourth man, on he went, ball glued to his foot, like an adult playing in a kids match. It was mesmeric, and it was heading straight for the hapless Lichaj who couldn’t help but trip him again for a second penalty. My word. Eze took the kick himself, tried to sit Long down again, and then, when the goalkeeper didn’t buy it, simply sent the ball screaming into the other bottom corner like a shell. Outstanding. Print it out for Joan.

Hull: Long 7; Lichaj 3, Burke 5, Tafazolli 6, Elder 5; Stewart 5, Honeyman 4 (Toral 77, 6), Irvine 5; Grosicki 4 (Bowler 84, -), Eaves 5 (Magennis 62, 5), Bowen 7

Subs not used: Batty, Ingram, Pennington, Da Silva Lopes

Goals: Bowen 29 (assisted Eaves, pre-assist Long), Magennis 90+6 (assisted Toral)

Bookings: Bowler 90+10 (foul)

QPR: Kelly 6; Rangel 8, Leistner 7, Barbet 6, Manning 8; Scowen 7, Cameron 8; Chair 7 (Amos 83, -), Eze 9, Osayi-Samuel 7 (Pugh 62, 6); Wells 6 (Hugill 62, 6)

Subs not used: Lumley, Kane, Ball, Mlakar

Goals: Manning 44 (unassisted), Eze 75 (penalty, won Eze), 88 (penalty, won Eze)

Referee — Tony Harrington (Cleveland) 7 My heart sank when I saw we had this guy for another away game given his record with us, and for one horrible moment I thought he was going to wave away the first penalty appeal by Eze which was as blatant as they come. But he called that, and the second spot kick, exactly right. I did wonder why Lichaj didn’t see a card for the first one, given that it was a deliberate trip on a player streaking away on goal with no attempt at the ball, and I thought Wells’ disallowed goal in the first half was a very generous call, but overall not too bad.

Bristol City 2 QPR 1, Tuesday February 12, 2019, Championship

Cousins, much maligned, picked up where he’d left off against Birmingham with an energetic and physical protection of the defence behind him. Pawel Wszolek took to his task well, tracking back and making key interventions. Mass Luongo gave away a succession of cynical, tactical fouls without seeing a yellow card — when Marlon Pack was later booked for similar we thought we were getting a lot out of referee Tony Harrington. Oh how we’d laugh at that notion later. With the three of Furlong, Leistner and Hall looking relatively untroubled, bar one fumble from an increasingly nervous Joe Lumley for which he was awarded a generous free kick, it all seemed set for a stalemate.

Their fury was justified, but in the lead up to it Rangers had turned down three opportunities to clear the ball and then given away a dangerous free kick — albeit for an alleged foul by Freeman almost as soft as the penalty itself and then taken with a moving ball. Not the referee’s finest hour — just to put the tin hat on it he waved away a very presentable shout for a foul in the other box on Cousins in the remaining injury time — but equally not Rangers’ either. Braindead play all round.

City: Fielding 6; Pisano 6, Kalas 6, Webster 6, Kelly 5 (Dasilva 45, 7); Pack 6 (Taylor 66, 6), Brownhill 7; Paterson 7, Weimann — (Eliasson 18, 8), O’Dowda 6; Diedhiou 6

Subs not used: Wright, Baker, O’Leary, Palmer

Goals: Eliasson 73 (assisted Paterson), Diedhiou 90 (penalty, won Diedhiou)

Bookings: Pack 62 (foul), Pisano 69 (foul)

QPR: Lumley 5; Furlong 6 (Osayi-Samuel 90+4, -), Leistner 6, Hall 6; Wszolek 6, Bidwell 5; Luongo 6, Cousins 7, Freeman 6; Smith 7 (Hemed 72, 4), Wells 5 (Eze 78, 5)

Subs not used: Ingram, Scowen, Manning, Kakay

Goals: Smith 45 (assisted Bidwell/Wells)

Bookings: Furlong 90+2 (alleged foul), Leistner 90+2 (dissent), Hall 90+2 (dissent), Bidwell 90+7 (foul), Wszolek after final whistle (dissent), Lumley after final whistle (dissent)

Referee — Tony Harrington (Durham) 3 Third completely inept refereeing performance in a row in the league. He’d already been thoroughly odd all the way through the game: letting Luongo off with five fouls including a couple of really cynical trips and one into the groin of an opponent only to then book Pack for his first one; giving a foul against Matt Smith for standing still while an airborne defender smashed into the back of his neck; disallowing a Bristol City goal almost before the corner had even been taken for an offence far less than many he ignored before and after. And then there was the penalty, which much like the handball at Wigan and the failure to send of Maghoma at the weekend was not only plain wrong, it also wasn’t that hard to get right. Given that nothing happened to warrant its award, you can only conclude that the decision — made after an inordinate delay — was crowd influenced. To then flash around six yellow cards in stoppage time to players complaining about it smacked of jumped up small man syndrome. You know when you’ve made a mistake, we all know that horrible hot feeling, just suck it up, get the penalty taken, get full time blown and fuck off home you little scrote, don’t be booking six players for pointing it out to you.

West Brom 7 QPR 1, Saturday August 18, 2018, Championship

What happened next was a cataclysmic collapse and it started, as ever, with two more goals through that pleasure window immediately before and after half time which QPR love so dearly. First, in the 53rd minute, Barnes skipped round Scowen way too easily, stood Lynch up and unloaded a shot off the base of the far post. Left back Kieran Gibbs slammed in the rebound despite flailing attempts on the line from Osman Kakay and Matt Ingram. Then, two minutes later, Lynch was caught trying to be too clever for his own good in possession on halfway by Phillips who freed Gayle and Scowen deliberately and senselessly tripped him in the penalty box — Rodriguez stuck away the spot kick.

Three more goals followed, in increasingly embarrassing, humiliating and soul-destroying fashion. Leistner dallying over a loose ball in the penalty area hoping his goalkeeper might come and help, Ingram arriving late on the scene with a wild lunge that sent Rodriguez tumbling for a second penalty from referee Tony Harrington. One of the stupidest things I’ve ever seen. Rodriguez converted and is now the league’s early pace setter with four goals — three of them penalties. Hal Robson Kanu, on from the bench, nodding down for Phillips to score a sixth untouched and unchallenged. Another sub, James Morrison, running off the back of a static Luke Freeman to square for Robson Kanu himself to add a seventh. The body language spoke volumes. To a man, they’d given up long before the end.

West Brom: Johnston 6; Adarabioyo 6, Bartley 5, Hegazi 6, Gibbs 7; Livermore 7, Brunt 7 (Barry 73, 6); Phillips 8, Barnes 8 (Morrison 86, -), Rodriguez 8; Gayle 8 (Robson Kanu 83, -)

Subs not used: Myhill, Townsend, Burke, Field

Goals: Phillips 28 (assisted Barnes/Gayle), Gibbs 53 (assisted Barnes), Rodriquez 55 (penalty, won Gayle), 82 (penalty, won Rodriguez), Gayle 67 (assisted Gibbs), Phillips 88 (assisted Robson Kanu), Robson Kanu 90+1 (assisted Morrison)

Bookings: Brunt 18 (foul), Bartley 45+3 (foul)

QPR: Ingram 2; Kakay 3, Leistner 2, Lynch 3 (Baptiste 77, 4), Bidwell 3; Scowen 3, Cousins 2; Eze 4 (Washington 58, 3), Freeman 3, Luongo 3; Smith 3 (Wszolek 81, -)

Subs not used: Lumley, Chair, Smyth, Sylla

Goals: Lynch 35 (assisted Freeman/Smith)

Bookings: Scowen 54 (foul)

Referee — Tony Harrington (Cleveland) 8 Very decent, few errors, all major decisions correct, both penalties and all three bookings blatant.

QPR 1 Barnsley 0, Saturday February 3, 2018, Championship

The goal that sealed it was worthy of winning any match. Three minutes after half time Josh Scowen made the most of too much time and too much space 25 yards out from goal to get the ball out of his feet and whip a clean strike round goalkeeper Nick Townsend (making his first start of the season) and into the far bottom corner. Nice to see Scowen get some reward for his hours of thankless toil at the base of a poor side’s engine room, nice to get a still all-too-rare goal from central midfield (something we still desperately need to improve), nice to see a goal of such high quality in such a drab game, and nice for the old player scoring against his former club and player scoring his first goal in 53 appearances to go for us for a change rather than against us. But it was the one shining moment of quality in a game that, particularly in the first half, bordered on being fucking abysmal and even that was celebrated in quite a muted and odd manner because the crowd was still trying to fathom how Matt Smith being dragged to the floor by the throat by everybody’s favourite backseat referee Matt Mills wasn't worthy of a penalty seconds before.

It was at least watchable by the point, which is more than you could say for a turgid first half spent mostly waiting for referee Harrington to check whether the ball was placed precisely right for corners to be taken. Moncur hit a low shot that Smithies saved comfortably, giant Kieffer Moore did the same after ten minutes fresh from his move from Ipswich in January, and Gardner volleyed over from 15 yards. Adam Hammill drew a great clearance from Nedum Onuoha with one cross, and a splendid one-handed save up in the top corner from Smithies with a dipping volley. Harrington’s decision to book Jordan Cousins for the first foul of the game, then let a series of other poor tackles from both teams slide with just a word on the run, only darkened the mood among what looked like the lowest attendance at this ground for a Saturday league game in many a long year — the announced crowd in excess of 12,000 about as believable as a ‘Sky sources’ story on deadline day. Andy Yiadom, a summer transfer target for Rangers, smacked Jack Robinson with no comeback in one particularly inconsistent moment of refereeing before Gary Gardner was deservedly booked to huge applause for interrupting a counter attack. QPR had one blocked shot from Cousins amongst a twenty second minute goalmouth scramble to show for their ‘efforts’. It was, in all honesty, like watching paint dry. And not very good paint at that.

QPR: Smithies 7; Perch 6, Onuoha 6, Lynch 7; Wszolek 6, Robinson 6; Scowen 7, Freeman 6, Cousins 6 (Manning 67, -); Washington 5 (Bidwell 90, -), Smith 5 (Osayi-Samuel 79, 5)

Subs not used: Ingram, Baptiste, Eze, Oteh

Goals: Scowen 48 (unassisted), Robinson 90+4 (foul)

Red Card: Manning 71 (killing a man to death)

Bookings: Cousins 5 (foul)

Barnsley: Townsend 6; Yiadom 6, Mills 6, Lindsay 6, Pinillos 6 (Mahoney 80, 6); Gardner 6, Williams 6, Hammill 6 (Hedges 68, 5); Moncur 7; Bradshaw 6, Moore 6 (McBurnie 68, 5)

Subs not used: Davies, Mallan, Pearson, Thiam

Bookings: Gardner 31 (foul)

Referee — Tony Harrington (Cleveland) 5 Very decent in his recent appointments with us but a bit of a pain here. Absolutely no arguments with the Manning red card but his decision to issue a ridiculously harsh yellow card to Jordan Cousins so early placed him behind the eight ball for the rest of the half, and he was forced to let several players off with identical offences or risk turning a run-of-the-mill Championship game into an absolute card fest. There was no need to put himself under that pressure. Rangers haven’t had a penalty since the opening day of the season and Matt Smith has been particularly hard done to in that regard — having seen Matt Mills respond to getting the wrong side of his man by yanking him to the floor by the throat just before Scowen’s goal I’m now resigned to us never getting a spot kick ever again.

QPR 2 Wolves 1, Saturday October 28, 2017, Championship

Yes, Wolves looked good at times, but only in fits and starts. They were hamstrung by first Ivan Cavaleiro and then later substitute striker Bright Enobakhare’s apparent total lack of knowledge of how the offside law works. When Cavaleiro did finally get through on goal with the flag down, he flung himself theatrically to ground in the penalty box under minimal contact from Jack Robinson. Referee Tony Harrington, excellent all afternoon, waved the half-hearted appeals away.

QPR: Smithies 7; Baptiste 6, Lynch 7, Robinson 8; Cousins 6 (Wszolek 66, 6), Bidwell 8; Scowen 8, Freeman 7 (Furlong 90+2, -), Luongo 8; Washington 7, Sylla 6 (Smith 66, 7)

Subs not used: Mackie, Ngbakoto, Lumley, Wheeler

Goals: Washington 41 (assisted Luongo), Smith 82 (assisted Lynch)

Bookings: Bidwell 45+1 (foul), Luongo 79 (foul), Lynch 90+6 (foul)

Wolves: Ruddy 6; Batth 5, Coady 5, Doherty 6, Douglas 7; Neves 6 (Marshall 84, -), Miranda 6, Saiss 6; Cavaleiro 4 (Costa 57, 6), Bonatini 6 (Enobakhareat 71, 4), Jota 7

Subs not used: N’Diaye, Bennett, Boly, Norris

Goals: Bonatini 43 (assisted Jota)

Bookings: Saiss 90+5 (foul)

Referee — Tony Harrington (Cleveland) 9 I continue to be disconcertingly impressed with the quality of Championship refereeing this season, and how there seems to be a concerted effort not to smother games with cards and endless whistle. I suspect the Wolves equivalent of this site would give him a five and say they should have had a penalty but I thought that would have been soft and he set his stall out early on that just because there’s contact, doesn’t necessarily mean it’s a foul. By waving away a few early cheap ones he contributed to the flow and tempo of the game.

QPR 2 Barnsley 1, Tuesday March 7, 2017, Championship

It remained 1-0 until half time, although quite how, nobody could be sure. Ngbakoto struck a fresh air shot when well placed two minutes later, then did connect with a fierce volley from the edge of the area when a cross was cleared up in the air — Davies did well to save. James Perch, already yellow carded for his weekly attempt to kill a man to death with a wild hack which actually seemed to do more damage to him than anybody else, crashed a header off the underside of the bar having arrived at the back post all the way from right back.

The result was the Tykes drew a blank from 45 minutes of football when most sides would have scored at least twice. Watkins and Armstrong’s finishing, if not their movement which was too much for Onuoha and Hall at times, made one grateful Tom Bradshaw spent the first half on the bench. That was corrected at half time, but only after the fourth official and referee Tony Harrington had faffed about making sure he had the regulation socks on.

QPR: Smithies 6; Perch 6 (Furlong 48, 7), Onuoha 6, Hall 5, Bidwell 7; Luongo 7, Manning 7, Freeman 8; Wszolek 8 (Washington 70, 6), Sylla 7, Ngbakoto 6 (Morrison 87, -)

Subs not used: Goss, Ingram, Doughty, Smith

Goals: Sylla 7, MacDonald og 66 (assisted Wszolek)

Bookings: Perch 14 (foul), Bidwell 83 (foul), Manning 86 (foul)

Barnsley: Davies 6; Yiadom 6, Roberts 6, MacDonald 6, Elder 5; Scowan 7, James 7, Mowatt 6 (Bradshaw 45, 7), Kent 6 (Hammill 77, 6); Watkins 6 (Hedges 73, 6), Armstrong 6

Subs not used: Moncur, Townsend, Jackson, Jones

Bookings: Hammill 85 (foul)

Referee — Tony Harrington (Cleveland) 6 Bit fussy, but not too bad overall. The Bradshaw nonsense at half time seemed pedantic in the extreme.

Blackburn 1 QPR 0, Saturday February 4, 2017, Championship

There’s something about Queens Park Rangers playing games in this part of the world against teams managed by Owen Coyle that turns assistant referees into incompetent, window-licking morons, incapable of finding their own arse with both hands or identifying the blatantly obvious when it occurs right in front of their face.

We can talk about goalline technology in the Championship all we like — not much of a discussion, it should absolutely be here and should have been here since it was introduced in the Premier League — but the simple fact is this one was blatantly fucking obvious. A one-eyed, drunk chimp could have told you it was a goal.

Blackburn: Steele 6; Nyambe 6, Greer 6 (Akpan 70, 6), Lenihan 6, Lowe 6; Feeney 7, Mulgrew 6, Conway 6 (Mahoney 65, 6), Bennett 6; Gallagher 7, Graham 5 (Emnes 65, 7)

Subs not used: Joao, Guthrie, Brown, Raya

Goals: Gallagher 90+1 (assisted Emnes)

QPR: Smithies 6; Furlong 6 (Lua Lua 90+4, -), Onuoha 6, Lynch 6, Bidwell 7; Luongo 6 (Morrison 78, 5), Perch 6, Manning 7; Mackie 6 (Smith 62, 6), Washington 6, Wszolek 6

Subs not used: Freeman, Hall, Goss, Ingram

Bookings: Perch 59 (foul), Manning 80 (foul), Furlong 90+1 (foul)

Referee — Tony Harrington (Cleveland) 6 Quite a decent referee actually from what we’ve seen of him this season. Good with the advantage, not too hot with the cards, tries to give games a good chance. Sadly, completely let down by an assistant referee here who should certainly be considering a change of career, or a full frontal lobotomy. Useless fucking prick.

QPR 2 Ipswich Town 1, Monday January 2, 2017, Championship

QPR: Smithies 6; Perch 6, Hall 8, Lynch 7, Bidwell 6; Manning 6 (El Khayati 68, 6), Cousins 6, Borysiuk 6 (Onuoha 58, 7); Mackie 7, Wzsolek 7, Sylla 7 (Washington 38, 5)

Subs not used: Ingram, Ngbakoto, Sandro, Shodipo

Goals: Sylla 30 (assisted Perch), Wszolek 83 (assisted Onuoha)

Ipswich: Bialkowski 6; Webster 6, Chambers 6, Berra 6, Kenlock 6 (Knudsen 77, 6); Emmanuel 5 (Ward 46, 6), Bru 6 (Douglas 69, 5), Skuse 6, Lawrence 7; Pitman 6, McGoldrick 7

Subs not used: Gerken, Varney, Sears, Dozzell

Goals: Lawrence 48 (unassisted)

Referee — Tony Harrington (Cleveland) 8 Right fussy plonker when we had him earlier this season for Swindon but this was a well controlled game, allowed to flow, with no cards, and no big decisions wrong.

QPR 2 Swindon 2, League Cup First Round, Wednesday August 10, 2016

Referee Tony Harrington exacerbated matters, stopping the play unnecessarily frequently - including the very generous award of a free kick on the halfway line to QPR who might have liked him not to bother and allow them to streak away in a three v one attack instead. Several yellow cards were awarded completely at random. On three separate occasions play was brought back because a restart was adjudged to have been executed with a moving ball. It was the very definition of ball ache.

The farce dragged on, with scant regard for local last orders regulations. Referee Harrington had a prolonged discussion with Swindon manager Williams before taking no action.

QPR: Ingram 7; Furlong 6, Onuoha 6, Lynch 5 (Polter 78, 7), Perch 5; Ngabakoto 6 (Kpekawa 71, 5), Henry 6, Cousins 6, Shodipo 6 (Chery 58, 7); El Khayati 5; Washington 5

Subs not used: Smithies, Hall, Gladwin, Kakay

Goals: Ngabakoto 58 (assisted El Khayati), Washington 93 (assisted Chery)

Bookings: Perch 57 (foul), Henry 90+2 (unsporting), Polter 103 (foul)

Swindon: Vigouroux 7; Jones 5, Thomas 6, Thompson 6 (Iandolo 61, 6), Sendles-White 6; Brophy 6, Rogers 6, Kasim 7 (Smith 65, 6), Barry 6; Hylton 6 (Stewart 65, 7), Norris 6

Subs not used: Goddard, Henry, Evans, Young

Goals: Stewart 72 (unassisted), Brophy 107 (unassisted)

Bookings; Barry 90+2 (unsporting), Stewart 112 (foul)

Referee — Tony Harrington (Cleveland) 5 A right pedantic arsehole.

Stats

Harrington began the season with five games in August, including Burnley 0-1 Man Utd in the Premier League, but has only just returned to refereeing after two months out following Everton’s 2-1 win at Villa in the League Cup. His first game back was Bolton’s 5-1 FA Cup win against Harrogate last weekend. He’s got 26 yellows and no reds from six matches so far. Harrington also had a prolonged absence from officiating last season. He did 39 yellows and no reds in 11 games through to November but then didn’t referee again right the way through until this August. Harrington was promoted onto the Premier League list for 2021/22 but only had three games. He did 24 games in total, with 74 yellows and a single red.

QPR are 9-0-7 with this referee from 16 games while Plymouth are 1-0-4 from five. He hasn’t refereed Plymouth since Dec ember 2017 when they lost 3-01 at Bradford in the FA Cup.

The Twitter @loftforwords

Pictures — Action Images

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