Their win over Colchester was comfortable, and to form, but that does not mean everything is rosy at Loftus Road. Not for the first time this season, QPR decided to put style to one side and fight for victory in an often ill-tempered game that surprisingly saw no bookings but one sending-off. The crowds inside the ground may be bigger than in QPR’s Premiership days, but the begging bowls are being passed around outside once more. The same foresight that sent the club into administration as it was battling relegation from the Nationwide League first division, was applied by David Davies, the chief executive, a week ago when he said that the club was so poor they may have to sell players unless a new investor could be found. Ian Holloway, the manager, may be saying no one is leaving, but others would be glad to sell anyone if it meant balancing the books.
After Davies’s poorly-timed announcement, QPR collected just one point and conceded five goals in two matches away to Oldham Athletic and Notts County, clubs who have been battling relegation and extinction this season. That is two more goals than QPR have conceded at home in the league this season, and there lies the rub with the club, seen by many as a shoo-in with Plymouth Argyle for promotion, awesome at home but average away.
They are helped by the fact that few sides have come to Loftus Road this season with ambitions above gaining a draw. Colchester may have come into the match in sixth place, but could hold on for just 12 minutes.
Martin Rowlands had already had a shot turned wide when Kevin Gallen gave QPR the lead from an unlikely creator. Danny Shittu, the home side’s giant centre back, who had been stranded upfield after a corner was cleared, collected the ball on the left wing. Controlling it more with his shins than his feet, Shittu forced his way past a defender and crossed for Gallen to tap in.
Colchester had turned up with more ambition than most and Wayne Andrews was not far from levelling the scores, in the eighteenth minute, when he got a toe to an under-strength back-header by Terrell Forbes, but sent it went wide. Colchester’s number was effectively up, however, when Karl Duguid, their captain, was sent off in the 33rd minute for an ill-considered two-footed lunge at an already prone Marc Bircham. But when QPR moved into cruise control, Colchester, whose manager, Phil Parkinson, had been increasingly annoyed at some of the refereeing decisions, showed a determination to get matters back on an equal footing, starting the second half with a 3-3-3 formation.
The second goal, though, arrived in the 57th minute. A big clearance by Chris Day, the QPR goalkeeper, was allowed to bounce by the Colchester defence and when Simon Brown, the goalkeeper, slipped, Tony Thorpe ran in to head the ball home. As the ten men flagged, Gallen should have added another when he was put clean through by Thorpe’s clever header, but he fired straight at Brown.
Parkinson saw the sending-off as the defining moment of the match. “It was a rash challenge, and then we gave them the second goal,” he said. “I wish we had made them work for the win rather than handing it to them. I thought at the start of the season that QPR and Plymouth were the best two sides and nothing has happened to change that view.”
Now into the second half of the season, Holloway is allowing himself to look towards the finishing line. “Plymouth are doing things more consistently than we are at the moment, but there is still plenty of time to put things right,” he said. “We’ve had a great calendar year, but we need to turn that into a great season. This club is going the right way and it is largely down to the amount of bums on seats. I want our fans to forget all the bad things that have been said in the press, we are marching forward.
“It wasn’t our best performance and it wasn’t a great match. That was a man’s game and I’m pleased my players are starting to behave like men, not like petulant children.”
Queens Park Rangers (4-4-2): C Day 7 — T Forbes 6, D Shittu 7 (sub: S Palmer, 90min), C Carlisle 7, G Padula 6 — M Rowlands 8, M Bircham 5 (sub: M Rose, 89), M Bean 5, K McLeod 5 — K Gallen 7, A Thorpe 7. Substitutes not used: N Culkin, G Ainsworth, E Sabin. NEXT: Rushden & Diamonds (h). FORM: WDLWWD
Colchester United (4-4-2): S Brown 6 — S Stockley 6, L Chilvers 7, A White 7 (sub: J Cade, 78), A Myers 6 — K Duguid 4, G Johnson 6, K Izzet 7, R Vine 7 — S McGleish (sub: W Andrews, 17 8), C Fagan 6. Substitutes not used: R McKinney, S Fitzgerald, T Pinault. Sent off: Duguid. NEXT: Barnsley (h). FORM: LDDWLL
Shots on target: (h) 7 (a) 1. Fouls: (h) 19 (a) 8. Offsides: (h) 5 (a) 10
Referee: E Evans 6. Attendance: 15,720