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QPR 3 Bury 0

Last updated : 20 January 2002 By

With no Gallen, Thomson, Connolly, Rose or Langley, I wondered where the goals would come from. In the end they came from three players who wouldn't have been in the starting line-up had everyone been fit, giving a pleasing scoreline but the overall performance was ragged at times.

It was like watching a different QPR side from the one we've been watching these past few weeks. It was all about pace and power against Bury, with the patient build up of late being substituted for a more direct approach. Not quite constant long ball, but still not overly pretty to watch. I've never seen so many games of head tennis in a single match.

Bury were fairly neat in attack, but at the back their marking was atrocious and ultimately lost them the game, especially after losing Steve Redmond for a tackle on Doudou that wasn't as bad as it first looked. For such a little fella Doudou shows amazing bravery and never bottles 50-50 balls. He gives as good as he gets — five bookings so far being testament to that. Pity about Redmond's tackle though as Doudou was hardly noticeable for the rest of the match after starting it so well.

The goals were certainly more memorable than the performance. The first from Leroy being his first at home after Pacquette, who should have claimed a hat-trick on the day, had his shot saved by the ‘keeper. At least Pacquette managed to find the net in the second half for his first goal in professional football — a smart shot on the turn from 20 yards that looked a certain goal from the moment the ball was struck.

For the third, I didn't think Bignot meant to score — is he really capable of such brilliant shooting? Obviously so, after watching the goals on TV he meant it alright, a stunning effort to wrap up the game but his overall performance was still mediocre, although as he looks exactly like Gavin Peacock from a distance it's difficult to say who's doing what at times.

Overall, a satisfying win from a weakened team, but it wouldn't have been so easy against most teams in this division. The same side against Stoke next week will struggle to get anything from the match, so here's hoping all the crocks will be fit by then.

QPR: 4-4-2 – Digby 7 – Forbes 7, Shittu 7, Palmer 7, Murphy 6 (63mins Perry 6) – Bignot 6, Peacock 7, Bonnot 8, Griffiths 7 – Doudou 7, Pacquette 7 (73mins Fitzgerald 6). SNU: Evans, Ben Askar, Wardley.