Scunthorpe United v Queens Park Rangers

Saturday, August 29, 2009

Football League Championship

Scunthorpe United :
Murphy, Williams, Byrne, Mirfin, Spence, Togwell (McCann 61), Sparrow (Thompson 70), Woolford, O'Connor (J.Wright 61), Hayes, Hooper.
Subs not used:
Lillis, Crosby, Morris, Forte.

Queens Park Rangers :
Cerny, Ramage, Hall, Connolly, Borrowdale, Leigertwood, Routledge, Faurlin (Mahon 81), Ephraim, Taarabt (Vine 56), Simpson (Helguson 70).
Subs not used:
Heaton, Stewart, Buzsaky, Pellicori.

SULSESC REPORT

by Andy Skeels at Glanford Park

AFTER the optimism of the win over Derby, grim reality is quickly sinking in.

This is going to be a tough, tough season.

Four defeats out of five, no goals scored in any of the losses, two 4-0 hammerings already - this season has got relegation battle written all over it.

And on this evidence, we'll struggle to win the battle as well.

I didn't think much to QPR, they looked nothing better than a mid-table side at best, and yet they fully deserved to win this scrap against a United team which was never able to recapture the attacking spirit and enterprise shown against Derby a fortnight earlier.

We'd caused the Derby defence all sorts of problems and could easily have scored more than three, but the QPR rearguard never found themselves under anything like similar pressure.

The first 10 or 15 minutes were all Rangers as United struggled to settle, and we were a goal down within five minutes after Adel Taarabt ghosted through the middle with barely a challenge to his progress and poked the ball past Joe Murphy.

It could have been 2-0 shortly afterwards, but for a smart save from Murphy from a powerful Leigertwood shot from close range.

United were limited as an attacking force, although Matt Sparrow should really have scored when he failed to make any connection with a superb ball played in from the left by Martyn Woolford.

After a disappointing first-half, we had to hope United would be able to raise their game sufficiently to salvage something in the second-half. Unfortunately, it wasn't to be.

Although we had the lion's share of the possession, we still struggled to put Rangers under pressure and scoring opportunities were extremely few and far between. I can't really recall QPR 'keeper Cerny having to make a save of any note, apart from one free-kick from McCann which was probably going wide anyway.

So, a second home defeat, three in a row in all, and the only positive to emerge from the game was that somehow we remain out of the bottom three. That will stay the case for the next fortnight thanks to the international break, but most probably not for too much longer after that!