Kevin Nolan’s Match Report: QPR v Charlton (23/11/2013)

QPR 1 (Austin 40) Charlton 0.

Kevin Nolan reports from Loftus Road.

Nouveau riche Queens Park Rangers left it closer than expected before edging past cash-strapped Charlton in this so-called local derby. A superb strike from prolific Charlie Austin proved to be the difference between sides widely separated by finance. Rangers’ banking business would be welcomed by Coutts; the Addicks were probably customers at the Co-op before it fell from grace.

Funny club, QPR. Funny peculiar, that is, although sometimes funny unintentionally as well. To be fair, until recently nobody had an unkind word to say about them, chiefly because nobody had a word of any kind to say about them. For over a century, they flew inoffensively under football’s radar. That changed abruptly when Laurel and Hardy acquired the club in 2007.

Stanley Jefferson Ecclestone is a tiny Englishman with expertise in F-1 motor racing, whose interest in football was piqued by the arrival of all-seater grounds; prior to that seismic event, microscopic Stan struggled to see what was going on.

Oliver Norval Briatore, a portly Italian with more dubious affiliations to the motor racing industry, fondly imagined he was the brains behind Stan. Ollie left F-1 amid allegations of race fixing and not much of him has been seen since.

That’s all motor oil under the bridge now, of course, with Stan and Ollie’s ephemeral legacy two inglorious seasons in the Premier League. The world’s eight-richest man, Lakshmi Mittal, was briefly involved but the torch has now been passed to Tony Fernandes. Though the rank-and-file fans and staff remain average, likeable Joes and Josies, it’s safe to say the owner/operators know the value of a pound at Loftus Road.

Fans and bigshots alike didn’t get much for their money in this monotonous game. Without extending themselves unduly, the Rs claimed three precious promotion points against modest opponents content to limit the potential damage of a crushing defeat. The upshot was a low-key affair which was settled by one flash of inspiration from a player, who has made an irritating habit of victimising Charlton.

Last season for instance, while with Burnley, Austin settled an otherwise scoreless clash at The Valley with a spectacular strike from all of 30 yards. Now earning a more substantial crust in West London, he duplicated the feat in almost identical circumstances. Picking up a routine pass from Joey Barton, he stepped inside Jordan Cousins, took brief aim, then crashed an untouchable drive beyond Ben Hamer into the top right corner. That’s precisely what QPR paid for when they pried him from Burnley and re-located him in the Smoke.

With capable help from Barton, Austin’s 40th minute goal settled Charlton’s hash. Apart from a venomous shot, which Hamer brilliantly saved, he was well policed by Michael Morrison and Dorian Dervite and it was Barton’s more industrious influence in central midfield which kept Rangers ticking – and in front.

As much tortured poet as common-or-garden footballer these days, the one-time enfant terrible is a reformed character (though he did fit in a booking for old time’s sake) and seizes every opportunity to remind us of it. Even so, you’d still back him to bash up any of those poncey French philosophers. Sartre wouldn’t stand a chance. Nor would Piaf.
Not that the hardworking but limited Addicks posed much threat to QPR’s superiority. They mustered only two shots on target, the better of them a stinging effort from Cousins seconds before Austin scored, which Robert Green parried with difficulty. Simon Church provided the other one after picking up Hamer’s hefty clearance, rounding Benoit Assou-Akotto but rolling the tamest of efforts at Green.

Midfielders Dale Stephens and Bradley Pritchard combined to exchange a couple of other chances. Stephens accepted Pritchard’s first half pass but stood embarrassingly on the ball prior to shooting; played momentarily clear by Stephens’ defence-splitting ball early in the second period, Pritchard’s loss of confidence was palpable as he was snuffed out.

By far the busier keeper, Hamer kept the contest nominally alive with a string of fine saves. He followed his sharp stop from Austin by expertly fielding Gary O’Neil’s rebound effort, dived athletically to turn Matt Phillips’ daisycutter aside, then later on beat Barton’s netbound free kick to safety. He deserved the luck he received when substitute Shaun Wright-Phillips’s improvised chip left him helpless but hit the bar.

With this most daunting of fixtures behind them, the Addicks’ priorities will turn to the more promising visits of Doncaster Rovers on Tuesday and Ipswich Town on Saturday. You could almost group them together as twelve-pointers. At least Austin won’t be playing.

QPR: Green, Simpson, Dunne, Hill, Assou-Akotto, Phillips (Johnson 77), Barton, O’Neil, Kranjcar (Wright-Phillips 65), Jenas (Henry 46), Austin. Not used: Murphy, Traore, Onyewu, Young. Booked: Barton.

Referee: Dean Whitestone. Att: 17,397 (1,820 Charlton).