Gary Waddock made enforced changes to his Rangers side for the fixture to face Mark McGhee?s Brighton writes Steve Sayce.
Ian Evatt came in for Matthew Rose who came off at Hillsborough. Paul Furlong failed a late fitness test and was replaced by Marc Nygaard. However there was no place in the sixteen for Scott Donnelly who had performed so well for the reserves in midweek.
Brighton made the brighter start to the first five minutes, and forced a corner in the second minute following a Colin Kazim-Richards effort on goal. The resulting cross in was met with a shot well wide of goal, but this was a sign of a Brighton team with at least some ambitions of challenging for points in the depths of their plight.
Soon after this early spell Rangers began to assert control of possession. This led to the R?s first effort on goal ? Marc Nygaard?s clever knockdown was picked up by Kevin Gallen who swung out a square but well-placed ball to the left for Lee Cook. The winger scampered forward only to power his shot low and wide.
On 8 minutes the QPR pressure was starting to build with a couple of consecutive corners and worried defending from the away team. At this point Rangers seems comfortable pushing forward, with Cook and Gareth Ainsworth driving attacks forward and Lomas bossing things in the middle.
Steve Lomas was at the centre of a lot of what was good about Rangers in the first half, looking for options and in particular regularly finding space for the wingers.
The breakthrough came on 13 minutes. In fact it was Lomas who broke down a Brighton attack and found Cook in space down the left. Cookie then lay on a superb ball for Ainsworth who was advancing unmarked within the 18 yard box. ?Wild Thing? merely needed to get a firm head on it to beat the hapless keeperWayne Henderson. It was a well-deserved reward for the quality of the display that Rangers were putting on show.
Brighton tried to claw back an equaliser immediately with Kazim-Richards playing well off Hart and Frutos and making an opening for Seb Carole on the right ? but his effort was well wide.
Further Brighton efforts on 20 and 26 minutes by Carole could not hide the fact that Rangers were dominating the game by this stage, but were spurning a number of clear cut chances. Brighton?s build-up were by and large laboured and easily read, or were long-ball which were easily mopped up by Danny S**ttu and Ian Evatt.
As the players went in for the break, no doubt was a feeling that Rangers could have been at least one more to the good. Ironically QPR were to rue the poor finishing.
After the restart, the Seagulls came out in a notably combative mood, almost as if McGhee had instructed his men to put their foot in and shake up Waddock?s men a bit.
Manchester United Loanee Paul McShane took this a little too literally by going in on Gallen physically. The R?s captain reacted rashly by throwing an elbow at the number 24, at which the Brighton player threw himself to the ground as if shot by a sniper. Referee Leake immediately flashed the red card at Gallen. Being fair to Gallen, he walked without much complaint (and has since held his hand up for the incident). Irritatingly, McShane got up and continued without censure from the referee, having achieved the dismissal of his assailant.
Of course this totally changed the complexion of the game. McGhee made a couple of changes to shake things up and this put real pressure on the Rangers defence.
Then on 62 minutes Gary Waddock made a fascinating double substitution. Cook and Nygaard made way for Shabazz Baidoo and Sammy Youssef ? Rangers moved to a 4 ? 3 ? 2 formation where attack seemed to be the best form of defence.
The switches seem to make an immediate impact with the game opening up providing space for Youssef to run into with Ainsworth providing support. Baidoo drew a couple of save from Henderson within minutes of coming on.
But 10 minutes from time, just as the Rangers faithful were thinking that they couldn?t see Brighton scoring, an error from Marcus Bignot saw him place a defensive header wide of Paul Jones which nestled in the far corner of the net.
Baidoo missed one further chance where a Youssef knocked down from a Mauro Milanese crossed flashed across the youngster. It seemed as though it would be easy to slip past Henderson, but somehow Baidoo contrived to miss the ball completely.
Rangers weathered late pressure to hold onto to the point but many will look back at today thinking not of what we kept, but of what we threw away.
Line-ups
QPR: Jones, Bignot, S**ttu, Evatt, Milanese, Ainsworth, Bircham, Lomas, Cook (Baidoo 62), Gallen, Nygaard (Youssouf 62).
Subs Not Used: Royce, Santos, Langley.
Sent Off: Gallen (50).
Booked: Baidoo.
Goals: Ainsworth 13
Brighton: Henderson, Hinshelwood, McShane, Butters, El-Abd (Dodd 55), Carole (Gatting 58), Hammond, Carpenter, Frutos (Loft 65), Hart, Kazim-Richards.
Subs Not Used: Martin, Reid.
Booked: El-Abd, Hart.
Goals: Bignot 80 og.
Att: 13,907
Ref: A Leake (Lancashire).
Player Ratings
Paul Jones ? 7
Not heavily tested today despite Brighton pressure. Little chance with the own goal.
Marcus Bignot ? 5
The own goal mix-up aside, Biggie is not looking 100% happy just now. Not up to his usual consistent standard
Ian Evatt ? 6
Has a Steve Morrow-like ability to make the relatively easy look difficult, and so it was in the first half. This isn?t always helped by Evatt?s hang-dog body language (or is it just me?) Compensated by weighing in with vital interceptions after the dismissal.
Danny S**ttu – 7
Patrolled any aerial threat Hart and Kazim-Richards presented calmly and efficiently. Good work.
Mauro Milanese ? 6
Much better showing than at Hillsborough. Buccaneering runs down the left in the first half and some stiff defensive work in the second was only let down by some poor distribution. Actually looked worthy of his place today.
Gareth Ainsworth ? 8
Star Player ? see above
Steve Lomas – 7
Bossed the centre of the park against a poor team. Was everywhere, ready to receive and move on play.
Marc Bircham – 6
Today the Yin to Lomas?s Yang, Bircham?s workrate was very high but without the same impact.
Lee Cook – 7
An energetic first half impressed, but marred by poor finishing. The surprising choice for a substitution on the hour mark.
Kevin Gallen – 4
Oh dear. After a decent first half of passing and linking, our club captain saw the red mist. Even though it was retaliation, it?s inexcusable for a man of his experience and position.
Marc Nygaard – 7
Busy. Caused trouble. The Brighton defence didn?t know how to play him today. You get the feeling he does need a full preseason with the club though since he can?t seem to go beyond an hour.
Manager Rating
Gary Waddock- 6
Got the tactics right even though injuries disrupted his plans.
Rangers dominated the first 45 and in spite of the goal Waddo must have been wondering how his team weren?t two or three up. There was little he could do though regarding his captain?s indiscretion – maybe the only surprise is that the impressive Cook was one of the players to make way for Youssef and Baidoo. However, the substitutions worked and we held on.
Oppo Star Man
Colin Kazim-Richards ? 7
Very tidy and agile player. Good passer of the ball, although I?m not sure if he?s an out and out striker. As the ?Coca-Cola Kid?, ΒΌ million looks quite good value. If as looks likely Brighton do go down, don?t expect him to be playing at the Withdean next season.