After a 1-0 defeat to second in the league Sheffield United, we hosted QPR under the lights of the MKM Stadium. Last time we faced them – 31st August 2022 – we were thrashed 3-1, therefore we were looking for some revenge. It is also two different sides clashing this time, with Neil Critchley in charge of the Rs and Liam Rosenior bossing The Tigers.
Before the match, we went for a meal with Toby Young – founder of the Free Speech Union and the Editor-in-Chief of The Daily Sceptic – who is a QPR fan, with his three sons and blogs at Pride of West London. They invited us down earlier in the season, paid for our meal and for our tickets so it was only fair if we returned the favour. They are a great family and it was an enjoyable meal.
QPR came into this game drawing three and losing two, whereas we headed into the game with two wins, two losses and one draw. So, we had quite a good chance at giving them a taste of their own medicine.
The line-up for us consisted of: Matt Ingram (in goal); Alfie Jones; Cyrus Christie; Callum Elder; Sean McLoughlin (at the back); Jean Seri; Ozan Tufan; Greg Docherty (as the middle three) Óscar Estupiñán; Regan Slater and Aaron Connolly (as the front three). Two changes from our last game against The Blades, with Callum Elder replacing, injured, Jacob Greaves and Ozan Tufan replacing Lewie Coyle. Jean Seri was also our captain for today.
Wow! What an absolute cracker of a game. We have not won at home since 5th October, when we beat Wigan 2-1 in a scrappy game, and it was great to hear that roar again. The attendance was over 16,000 and the atmosphere was like we had a packed Stadium; however, the stats looked like we lost.
We completed 348 passes compared to their 521, we had 40% of the possession and only one more shot than them. So that just shows that the fewer passes and less possession we have the more goals we score. It is absolutely ridiculous to be honest as in the Sheffield game we completed 485 passes, we had 52% of the possession and 10 shots. Yet we failed to score one!
It was us who opened the scoring when, in the 10th minute, Christie made a run into the box, got past his man, slid the ball to Connolly, where he curled it into the back of the net. Connolly was an amazing signing and he is going to be a massive help for us; especially in attack.
For the rest of the half, I thought that we performed superbly: decent at the back; looked threatening in attack and we were pinging the ball across the field well. It was quite hard for QPR to take the ball off us to be honest and when they did we won it back well. It was like I was watching a different team. However, we are still going backwards a lot and passing back to the goalkeeper. It was not too much of a problem as Ingram was good at clearing it. And, he actually made quite a few passes that led to some good opportunities. We did let the opposition back into the a game a little and they had a few chances of their own. But, we kept our cool and went into halftime leading 1-0.
In the second period, it was more or less the same as the first half; we dominated for the first 25 minutes then we let them back in. Nonetheless, it was us who increased our advantage, in the 62nd minute; Connolly passed the ball to Tufan, who was waiting on the right, where he crossed it to Oscar; however, before it reached him, Rob Dickie put it in his own net. Some poor defending to be honest and he is meant to be quite good. But it was not done yet.
Two minutes after, we got our third of the afternoon. Jean Seri played the ball over the top to Connolly, who easily put the ball into the bottom right corner of the net. I was just getting over the second goal and we put another one in. Also, it was Connolly’s second goal of the match, and in a Hull City shirt. And, it is his birthday too. I have to say that I am a huge fan of this new signing.
For the rest of the half, it was back and forth; they had some great chances of their own and so did we. At times we let them into the box too easily and if it was not for Ingram’s great saves, then we would not have kept the clean sheet. Nonetheless, both teams failed to score any more goals and it meant that we got our first win at home since 5th October – brilliant!
So that makes it three wins and two losses in our last five league matches. It is a great start for Rosenior and he is turning things around. His tactics are working and the players and responding well to his style of play. We are now looking like a team that could potentially get into the top six, if we can keep up that level of play for the rest of the season. Our next match is Cardiff, at home, and hopefully we are able to get those three points.
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