It was a good thing the match was all-ticket — this time around just about all QPR fans were in the ground by the time Karl Connolly had given us the lead from the penalty spot. You can now see why he's been given responsibility from 12 yards, completely fooling the ‘keeper with a chip down the middle. Of course, had he stood his ground Connolly would have been made to look a right mug, but he got it right and it was just what we needed.
It capped a bright start from QPR, who went on to dominate against ten men after Hunter's harsh dismissal for the foul on Connolly that earned us the penalty. I had hoped Holloway would finally give the 3-5-2 system a go, but stayed with a tight 4-4-2 which served us well on the day — until the last 15 minutes.
By the time Connolly doubled our advantage with a neat header from Peacock's cross after 21 minutes, that badly needed win was looking a certainty. We played Northampton off the pitch at times, and quite how we failed to build on our advantage was as frustrating as much as it was pleasing that we were actually playing like a proper team at last.
Even Grifftiths was looking the part down the left-wing. That's where he played most of his football for Hampton and Richmond so it's easier to accept that's why Holloway has persisted with him in this position for the last few games. Whether or not he can sustain this level of performance remains to be seen though — he will not always be given such space to exploit, but he, like the rest of the team made the advantage of playing against 10 men just that, when often we fail.
Ironically, the substitution of Griffiths due to a facial injury proved to be the turning point in the game. Normally, you wouldn't blink an eye at his departure, but with the out of sorts Doudou replacing him, we started to lose our shape, and more vitally, our concentration.
Substitute Asamoah gave Northampton a life line with 12 minutes left, beating three or four players to cap a superb individual goal. It lifted the home side no end, and it was inevitable they would score again. Parkin duly obliged, taking advantage of hesitancy in the QPR defence to stab home the equaliser two minutes from time.
Both sides could have won the game in injury time, but in the end we had to settle for a point. Two points dropped, but the performance was so much better than in recent weeks. We now need to keep it up for the remainder of the season if promotion is to remain a realistic achievement.
QPR: 4-4-2 – Digby 6 – Forbes 7, Palmer 6, Shittu 6, Bignot 6 – Langley 8, Peacock 7, Rose 7, Griffiths 7 (75mins Doudou 6) – Gallen 7, Connolly 9. SNU: Evans, Ben Askar, Murphy, Bonnot.