Exeter City 0 QPR 5

Posted On 11/08/2009 at at 20:53 by Alistair Kleebauer  

QPR turned what looked like a difficult Carling Cup away tie at Exeter City into a comfortable passage to the second round, where they will face the glamour draw of Accrington Stanley (who are they?) at home. With all due respect to the Stans, QPR will be quietly confident of progression to the third round where a Premiership scalp could be waiting. At that stage last season, the Hoops saw off Aston Villa only to be knocked out by Man United in the fourth round. To go as far or further this season could be a welcome sign of the club's progression; judging by the team put out on Tuesday night, QPR's new management are taking this competition seriously.

Martin Rowlands sat it out following his ankle injury on the opening day, we still await news on a likely return date for Lee Cook and new signing Alejandro Faurlin was still not match-fit, but apart from that Jim Magilton had a relatively full squad to choose from and he was afforded the luxury of being able to swap a few players around. Peter Ramage, despite providing QPR's only goal against Blackpool, was swapped for Matt Connolly, which was a decent call by Magilton as both players deserve their share of first-team football and the chance to build up their match fitness. Damion Stewart was also brought in instead of Fitz Hall. It may be too soon to call after only two matches, but Magilton seems to be a fan of Kaspars Gorkss, especially after he showed his attacking danger from set-pieces during this game so it will be interesting to see who he believes is his natural partner in future games. Gary Borrowdale completed the four at the back.

In midfield, Mikele Leigertwood returned to take a defensive role, with Akos Buszaky ahead of him and Wayne Routledge and Hogan Ephraim on either wing. Two of the substitutes from the opening day came into the side as well, Magilton deciding to partner Patrick Agyemang and Rowan Vine up front. There was further good news for Hoops supporters as new signing Alessandro Pellicori finally recieved his international clearance to play and so could be included on the bench.

QPR suffered through a nervous first half in which they failed to impose themselves on the opposition, despite the relative gap in talent between the two teams. Routledge did fire off a warning of the night he was to have with some good link-up play with Agyemang, who played in the winger only for him to blast his shot directly at Paul Jones in the Exeter goal. The time and space that Routledge was finding on the right was not properly acknowledged by Exeter and they would suffer for this oversight in the second half.


Magilton described a fairly lively team-talk at half-time which clearly worked wonders on his players. The manager has talked a great deal about the expectations the players should have for themselves, rather than any imposed from above by the Board and he clearly has already set a high marker for the team. There was a definite renewed sense of pride and professionalism about their second-half display which the Hoops will now hope to carry into the league.

Routledge got the scoring under way just eight minutes into the half. Leigertwood chipped a delightful through ball into his path and he was able to take advantage of some poor positional play by Jones to gently lift the ball over the keeper and into the net.

Against lower-league opposition, the first goal can be so vital and QPR could now relax into the game with the impetus on Exeter to provide more attacking threat. Within ten minutes, the match would be completely over as a contest and Routledge would be the main reason.

For the Hoops' second goal, Agyemang turned provider, driving at the Exeter defence before gently playing the ball into the path of Routledge who struck it first-time past Jones. It was an easy chance for the winger and was borne of Agyemang's tenacious build-up play.

The third came from the spot in circumstances which killed any sporting interest Exeter still had in this tie. A long cross to the far-post found Gorkss in a surprisingly advanced position and he powered a header towards goal which defender Scott Golbourne could only keep out with his hand, drawing a red card from the ref. Routledge stepped up to convert the penalty for an eleven-minute hat-trick, his first in professional football. It was a ruthless display from him, with two excellent finishes amongst the goals and as on the opening day, he is now developing into an important attacking threat for QPR, with the bonus of adding some goals to his game.

Much talk has been made of QPR's supposed deficiencies up front and whilst some critics have gone too far, I am still unsure who in their squad will be capable of providing 20 goals a season. Vine had a quiet game in this one and had less chance to get on the scoresheet than in his brief appearance against Blackpool. Agyemang, on the other hand, made a nuisance of himself throughout the game with some powerful runs and showed his value in creating goals as he was the key architect of Routledge's second. Yet, despite the ease with which QPR now controlled the match, neither player could get on the scoresheet.

Neither remained on the pitch for much longer though as Magilton decided to use the comfort of a 3-0 lead to get a look at some of his other options. Routledge came off for Gareth Ainsworth immediately following his third goal and Vine made way for Pellicori to make his debut at the same time, with Agyemang swapped for Gavin Mahon just six minutes later.

QPR could obviously take their foot off the gas somewhat with Exeter unable to muster any late fightback but it took until the dying minutes for the game to become a rout. Most importantly, it was a striker who now got on the scoresheet, though Pellicori is unlikely to get many easier chances in his QPR career, however long that may be. Leigertwood flicked a decent pass over his head by the goal-line and it found Pellicori in the six-yard box to provide the simplest of touches to claim his first goal for the Hoops. For any new striker, the wait for that opening goal can become a real burden, so to kickstart his account so quickly could be a godsend for Pellicori though we don't yet know where Magilton sees him in his hierarchy of strikers.

The best of the night came within only a minute remaining, with Ephraim staking a claim for a first-team berth with a wonderful curling shot from the edge of the area which left Jones with no chance of a save. Ephraim cut in from the wing and with the merest hint of back-lift, stroked the ball up and over Jones and into the net.

The scoreline by now didn't flatter the Hoops. The improvement in their second-half display was massive and demonstrated a real gulf in ability with the League One team who will be pleased to get back to the bread and butter of league football this weekend. QPR on the other hand will surely always prioritise getting out of the Championship, but with a decent size to their squad now and a relatively easy draw in the next round, they must surely be looking to go at least as far as they did last season in this competition.

HIGHS: Routledge finding his scoring boots, Pellicori notching a debut goal and Magilton demonstrating an ability to rally his players at half-time.

LOWS: Sluggish first-half display, unimpressive performance from Akos Buszaky who may not yet be over his injury, no goals yet for Agyemang or Vine.

QPR team - Cerny; Connolly, Stewart, Gorkss, Borrowdale; Leigertwood, Buzsaky, Ephraim, Routledge (Ainsworth 65), Agyemang (Mahon 71), Vine (Pellicori 65).

Subs not used - Putnins (GK), Ramage, Hall, Alberti.

Goals - Routledge (53, 61, 64), Pellicori (85), Ephraim (89).

Bookings - Ephraim (47)

Exeter team - Jones, Duffy, Seaborne, Taylor, Golbourne, Russell (Logan 73), Harley, Cozic, Sercombe, McAllister (Norwood 72), Stewart (Tully 67).

Subs not used - Marriott, Archibald-Henville, Saunders, Burnell.

Red cards - Golbourne (64)

Referee - Mr S Bratt

Attendance - 4614 (813 QPR fans)

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