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QPR v PNE: Minute-By-Minute

Posted on: Mon 19 Oct 2009

QPR v PNE
Loftus Road
Coca-Cola Championship
Saturday 17th October, 3pm kick-off

Final Score: QPR 4 PNE 0 (Taarabt 10, Buzsaky 63 (pen), Simpson 74, Routledge 86)

Click here to listen to PNE Player coverage from 2pm.

Email your thoughts to the matchday commentary team via ged.mills@centralradio.fm, phone the studio on 01772 708 000, or send your thoughts via SMS - text CENTRAL then your message to 81803.

1653: So a disappointing first foray into London of the season for Alan Irvine's men. North End simply didn't settle and could not find any rhythm to their game. Credit must go to the home side though who put in a fine display of attacking football and took all their chances well. North End now look to Tuesday night's trip to Sheffield Wednesday where they will be hoping to get back on track against the Owls.

90 +3 min: Chaplow surges down the flank and swings a decent cross towards Neil Mellor, Cerny is forced to come and collect and the QPR keeper does well to save the ball finding Mellor's head. That's the last action of the game this afternoon as the referee blows his whistle for full time.

90 min: Rowan Vine tries an effort at goal and it just clips the top of the crossbar as it arrows towards goal. 'It's Just Like Watching Brazil' sing the home support.

89 min: Preston can't even get a consolation. Jon Parkin and Mellor are two on two with the QPR defence but Parkin opts to take his man on rather than pass to Mellor in space and Parkin is tackled on the edge of the box.

88 min: Final substitution for QPR, goalscorer Wayne Routledge is replaced by Gareth Ainsworth who makes a return from injury and gets a heroes welcome from the home support.

86 min: Goal for QPR!!! It's not going to be a happy trip home for the Preston North End fans or players. Wayne Routledge is given free reign to run at the Preston defence before unleashing an unstoppable effort inside the near post.

79 min: Agyemang starts a move that almost sees the home side making it 4-0. Routledge encouraged to get down the right flank before lifting the ball to back post, Taarabt sends the ball back across goal sharpish and Vine swings a boot at ball, Lonergan does well to save as the ball is deflected towards him.

77 min: Agyemang and Vine are on for QPR. Simpson and Buzsaky taken off to huge applause, the two goalscorers getting a well earned rest.

75 min: Goal for QPR!!! It's all over bar the shouting here at Loftus Road. Jay Simpson pounces on some indecision in the Preston defence to go one-on-one with Lonergan and this time there is nothing that Lonners can do as Simpson slots the ball beyond the keeper, the ball bouncing off the inside of the far post and into the net.

73 min: It's Preston's turn to apply the pressure. They win a couple of corners in quick succession, the first of which is played short to Parry and he clips a great ball towards goal which Collins almost turns home, but a good challenge from Gorkss sends the ball over the bar.

70 min: Twenty minutes to go and Preston really need something soon if they are to salvage anything from this match. At the moment it's QPR who are attacking though, they really look to be full of confidence at the moment, rightly so with a two goal cushion.

68 min: Today's attendance is 12,810.

65 min: Triple substitution from Alan Irvine. Brown, Shumi and Sedge are off and Parkin, Carter and Parry are all on as Preston look to haul themselves back into this match.

63 min: Goal for QPR!!! Akos Buzsaky smashes the ball home from the penalty spot to make it 2-0. Little Lonergan could do about it as the Hungarian hit the ball with power and precision.

62 min: Penalty for QPR! Neil Mellor gets sucked into a challenge on Taarabt just inside the box and the QPR man goes flying.

59 min: Chris Brown with North End's best chance so far. He finds himself goalside of the QPR defence and smashes a low shot at goal, Cerny had to be at his best to turn the ball away for a corner.

58 min: Preston have to be wary of the counterattack and they are nearly undone as Routledge sprints clear. It's three on two for a moment and Hart's vital interception denies Buzsaky a clear run on goal, Simpson follows up with a drive and Lonergan saves well once again.

57 min: It's getting a bit fiesty here at Loftus Road. There's a few late challenges flying in and Ross Wallace seems to be getting under the skin of the QPR players and fans.

54 min: A positive run down the centre of the pitch from Richard Chaplow, he has few options ahead of him so he unleashes an effort which is always rising and finds the Preston fans on the second tier of the stand behind the goal.

50 min: Andy Lonergan at his athletic shot-stopping best once again. Garry Borrowdale had hit an effort from 30-yards out and Lonergan threw himself across goal to make a great one-handed save to turn the ball behind for a corner.

49 min: A good set-piece move from North End and Brown flashes one over the cross-bar as the linesman's flag goes up. The move started with Shumi smashing a free-kick across field to Billy Jones who arrived on the scene late, he nodded the ball across to Mellor and Mells hooked the ball over his shoulder into the path of Brown who smashed it on the volley, well over the bar. The linesman spared Brown's blushes.

48 min: Struggling to see the action here as the prawn sandwich brigade return to their seats unfashionably late for the second half.

1604: We are back underway.

1603: Preston's reds are back out. No changes from either side at first glances.

1602: The QPR players are back out of the dressing rooms. Still no sign of Preston.

1548: So plenty for Alan Irvine to ponder as the two teams wander off down the tunnel. PNE have looked stronger as the game goes on but they have to be on their guard for the pacey QPR threat which has threatened the PNE defence on several occasions.

45+1 min: Good pressure from Alan Irvine's men as the game lumbers towards the break. Billy Jones picks the ball up on the left and rather than dipping a cross into the box he tries a right-footed volley that Cerny has covered at the near post. Thirty seconds later and the referee blows for half-time.

43 min: North End hit QPR on the counter-attack. Wallace, having swapped flanks with Sedgwick, surges down the middle before releasing Hart on the right, Hart's cross is towards Brown but he leaves it for Mellor who smashes a shot at goal, the ball hit the QPR man from close range and Mellor wants a penalty for handball, a few other Preston players make claims but the ref's having none of it.

41 min: Akos Buzsaky is a whisker away from making it 2-0. The ball is pinging around on the right flank and the Hungarian midfielder attempts an opportunists strike from 30-yards out on the angle and the ball beats Lonergan but also beats the crossbar.

38 min: Routledge is denied by Andy Lonergan once again. The pacey wingman sprung the Preston offside trap and he was clean through on goal, one-on-one, he tried to hit it low but Lonergan saved well with his legs.

35 min: Some good football again from North End. Shumi shows no signs of his injury niggle as he surges down the centre of the pitch before releasing Wallace to his left. The Scotsman fancies a strike at goal and he hits an effort that is deceptively close to hitting the target. It gets the Preston fans off their seats at least.

31 min: The ball is pushed into the path of Neil Mellor by Richard Chaplow in the box, it's on Mellor's weaker left foot but he still manages to get a shot on target which Cerny saves quite well. Some encouraging signs from Preston in the last few minutes.

29 min: End to end stuff at Loftus Road. North End win a free-kick midway inside the QPR half and Wallace swings the free-kick into the box where it causes a bit of panic, with several legs having a swing at the ball before Mellor connects with an effort that finds the midrift of a QPR defender. The Rs launch an immediate counter-attack and Michael Hart is in the right place at the right time as a Routledge ball almost intercepts the Preston defence.

28 min: Shumi is back on and seems to be running a bit more freely. The North End bench will be keeping one eye on how he progresses as the game moves along.

25 min: Shumi looks to be struggling with some sort of knee injury. He seems to have twisted it in the turf somehow, he doesn't look to comfortable as he hobbles around the pitch. The physio is on and he walks him off the pitch, hoping to make a decision one whether he can carry on or not.

19 min: Routledge nips inbetween the centre-half and the goalkeeper and pokes the ball away from goal, it's clearly going out for a goal-kick and Routledge dives quite theatrically despite no contact from anyone in a red shirt.

18 min: Good football from Preston ends with a Brown header in the six-yard box. The move started when Mellor ran at the QPR defence, Chaplow poked the ball out wide to Hart and he delivered a great cross, right into the mixer, and Brown towered above former Blackpool man Gorkss to get a downward header at goal.

16 min: Routledge causing all manner of problems with his pace. He takes the ball easily past Mawene on the left flank and cuts inside, his cross is diverted straight back into his path and it takes a smart block from Collins to deny another strike at goal.

14 min: It's almost two as Michael Hart attempts to knee a back-pass towards Lonergan, Routledge is onto it and Lonergan is forced to save low down with his legs to deny Rangers another.

10 min: Goal for QPR!!! Adel Taarabt with an effort that will be a contender for QPR goal of the season. The left-winger danced through a couple of challenges before hitting a curling effort from something like 30-yards out, Lonergan could do nothing about it as it flew into the top corner to open the scoring here.

8 min: There's a good atmosphere inside the ground today. I'd say there are about 800 or so North End fans perched on the second tier to my right and there is plenty of noise from them, plenty of noise to from the home support.

7min: First shot of the afteroon is from the North End reds. Chaplow winning the ball in the middle of the park and poking the ball through to Chris Brown who has a touch before unleashing a volley over the crossbar.

6 min: They might have millions and great facilities but the view here is truly awful. Even if I lean forward over my desk I can't see the nearside touchline.

2 min: A brisk start by both teams. First thing to note is that Billy Jones is the one charged with the duty of filling the left-back spot, Michael Hart getting a rare league start at right-back. We also have the full quota on the bench this afternoon, something of a rarity.

1500: We are underway here, bang on time!!!

1458: Luxurious surroundings for the press. Huge plasma tvs hang in front of us, very nice desks and almost too much leg room. Due to me being vertically challenged if I sit back in my seat I can't see the pitch, this will literally be an edge of the seat affair for my good self.

1455: The Star Wars march theme is blasting out at Loftus Road! No sign of any stormtroopers but today I am casting Neil Mellor in the role of Luke Skywalker, Chris Brown is Han Solo, Youl Mawene is Chewbacca and Flavio Briatore can line up as Darth Vadar.

1451: There may be a few technical issues for PNE Player listeners. If you are having trouble listening to the commentary you can listen to the QPR commentary in the meantime.

1443: The early game in the Premiership this afternoon is at Villa Park and QPR's West London neighbours Chelsea are heading for a 2-1 defeat by the looks of things.

1438: Bumped into a strange character picking our tickets up outside the ground. He looked like a slightly better looking version of Iain Dowie and proceeded to tell us that 'we never got anything off of you guys... for Palace I mean'. Turns out it's Dowie's brother Bob, who worked with Iain at Palace.

1436: The two teams are out on the pitch going through their usual pre-match warm-ups and rituals. North End will be wearing their red kit for the first time this season, it's their proper away kit, even though they have worn a yellow strip away at Doncaster this season.

1434: Bit of a late start for the PNE media team this afternoon. We had a little trouble negotiating our way down the Northern Line and then got our heads turned by the local delights of a stupendous food court. So we are well fed and took what the locals called 'the dangerous route' to get to the ground this afternoon. The dangerous route meant taking a treacherous trek through a local council estate, not a soul to be seen, bit like the old wild west when the local sheriff and the bad guy meet at dawn.

1432: Two former North End players on the bench for QPR. Both Patrick Agyemang and Gareth Ainsworth played for the reserves on Wednesday and both have previous goalscoring form against the Lilywhites in recent years - let's hope they remain on the bench today.

1430: So Preston North End boss Alan Irvine makes a couple of changes from the side which drew 0-0 with West Brom a fortnight ago, in come Michael Hart and Veliche Shumulikoski and out go Eddie Nolan and Darren Carter.

QPR: Cerny, Ramage, Stewart, Mahon, Routledge, Buzsaky, Gorkss, Faurlin, Simpson, Borrowdale, Taarabt. Subs: Heaton, Hall, Vine, Agyemang, Alberti, Ainsworth, Harris.
PNE: Lonergan, Hart, Chaplow, Mawene, Collins, Sedgwick, Shumulikoski, Brown, Jones, Wallace, Mellor. Subs: Henderson, Carter, Chilvers, Parry, Parkin, Nolan, Elliott.