Team: Green, Onuoha, Angella, Hall, Konchesky, Henry, Faurlin, Phillips (Chery), Fer (Sandro), Hoilett, Polter
Subs Not Used: Smithies, Hill, Tozser, Luongo, Emmanuel-Thomas
Attendance: 23,615 (including 974 R’s fans)
Luke Chambers’ injury-time header gave Ipswich Town a dramatic victory as Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink suffered his first defeat as QPR manager.
QPR winger Junior Hoilett’s near-post header from a whipped delivery by Leroy Fer had the visitors ahead on the stroke of half-time.
After Daryl Murphy’s initial effort failed to find the net, Jonathan Douglas scrambled home to level. And Town captain Chambers headed home Freddie Sears’ cross to win it.
The victory was Mick McCarthy’s sides’ third in four matches and saw them remain in the final Championship play-off berth, while Hasselbaink’s side are eight points below them in 12th.
The R’s felt aggrieved early on, claiming a penalty when striker Sebastian Polter went down in the box under a challenge from Christophe Berra in a first-half of few chances.
But, after Town right-back Chambers should have at least hit the target with his header from Ainsley Maitland-Niles’ corner, Hoilett nodded in his third goal of the season to put the visitors ahead on the stroke of half-time.
Ipswich improved after the break, and came close to an equaliser when Brett Pitman clipped the outside of the post with a bending strike.
Fer could have doubled QPR’s lead when he rounded goalkeeper Dean Gerken after a jinking run, but Gerken got back to save before Cole Skuse cleared the loose ball off the line. That was the closest QPR came to getting another, as Douglas equalised with an acrobatic third goal of the season before Chambers’ emphatic intervention earned victory.
Ipswich manager Mick McCarthy: “It was a real captain’s performance by Chambo. He came in at the end and said sorry for not having his best game. But no one is ever going to remember that – they are just going to remember who scored the winner.”
“He has bought into playing right-back. Sometimes when people are asked to play in different positions, they do all right for a couple of games before becoming a square peg in a round hole and being left out. But I love the fact that he keeps going and gets into their box in the 92nd minute. He’s stuck at it and done brilliantly.”
QPR boss Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink: “I thought we were very well organised in the first-half and we could not have scored at a better moment. We had a chance to make it 2-0 but at 1-0 you have to be resolute and defend properly until the end.”
“I think our confidence and calmness went a little out the door and we need to improve on that.”
“That is now two games where we have been winning 1-0 and I couldn’t see us getting a draw or losing. We have to be more disciplined and sharp.”
BBC Sport