Manchester official Chris Kavanagh crosses the Pennines on Saturday to take charge of QPR at Sheffield Wednesday, his second R’s game of the season already.
Referee >>> Chris Kavanagh (Manchester), third full season on the league list, second QPR appointment this season following the win at Wigan in August.
Assistants >>> Billy Smallwood (Cheshire) and Nick Greenhalgh (Lancashire)
Fourth Official >>> David Coote (West Yorkshire)
Wigan 0 QPR 1, Saturday August 27, 2016, Championship
The second half was much better, but it simply had to be. Three minutes after the restart Rangers took the lead with a lovely finish from Onuoha. Our ability to score from open play should have been apparent to Wigan if they’d done any homework, but they gave a needless free kick away and following a poor clearance, our captain smashed in what turned out to be the winner.
Following the goal it seemed like only a matter of time before a second would follow and the points secured. The referee had seen how many penalties we’ve been awarded this season and waved away pretty valid claims after Polter was shoved over by Jake Buxton. The second goal didn’t arrive and as the half progressed the home side came back into the game and we started to back off. Half chances started to arrive for Wigan and from one of these Smithies made a fine save- the only save of the game for both teams. So yet another game where we didn’t test their keeper, bar the goal. Our approach play was often easy on the eye but we simply don’t get enough bodies forward to support the ever hard working Polter.
Wigan: Bogdan N/A; Power 6; Morgan 5; Buxton 5; Warnock 6; Garbutt 6 (Davies 81); Gilbey 5 (Gomez 68); Macdonald (Wildschut 54); Powell 6; Jacobs 5; Grigg 5
Subs not used: Flores, Burke, Burn Jääskeläinen
Bookings: Powell 42 (foul), MacDonald 51 (dissent), Jacobs 66 (foul), Morgan 82 (foul)
QPR: Smithies 7; Perch 6; Hall 8, Onuoha 8, Bidwell 7; Henry 6; Luongo 7, Cousins 5, NGkakato 5; Chery 6 (Borysuik 83, -); Polter 6.
Subs not used: Washington, Ingram, El Khayati, Paul, Kakay, Shodipo
Goals: Onuoha 48 (assisted Bidwell)
Bookings: Cousins 13 (foul), Bidwell 38 (foul), Henry 42 (dissent)
Referee - Chris Kavanagh 7 No issues, hardly noticed him. Thought he managed the game well and tried to play the advantage wherever he could. Seemed consistent with bookings and not allowing dissent to go unpunished. Could have awarded us a penalty but we have had our fair share.
Middlesbrough 1 QPR 0, Friday November 20, 2015, Championship
He may have had a goal too, had he not been wrestled to the ground in the area as he honed in on a corner. There were a couple of incidents like that but once Boro realised referee Chris Kavanagh was going to let it go on, they continued safe in the knowledge no spot kicks would be awarded. If only QPR had realised too, this may have finished 0-0 after all given how the match ended.
For all the defensive improvements in the first period they only had an Ale Faurlin free kick, whipped in from a wide area after a foul on Fer by Leadbitter for which he was booked, that Konstantopoulos nervously fisted away to show for it. Faurlin had struggled during the first half, yards off the pace defensively and lucky to get away with a final warning from referee Chris Kavanagh for a wild lunge after 22 minutes. But with Neil Warnock literally phoning it in, in constant communication with Steve Gallen after a personal problem had prevented him from travelling, Faurlin and QPR began to grow into the game.
Five minutes of added time seemed generous given the lack of injuries and incident in the second half, but Boro only needed two of them to win the game. A simple back post corner, James Perch left Daniel Ayala unmarked, the Spanish defender executed a bicycle kick and Fer thrust out an arm on the goal line to divert it away. Replays suggested Robert Green may have got to it, although the shot carried plenty of power and the keeper looked to be too low to do much about it, but we’ll never know. I’ll castigate Perch for losing his man more than Fer for making a split second decision like that.
A red card, a Grant Leadbitter penalty, another 1-0 loss. QPR have tightened up at the back, but have now stopped scoring completely — from the most goals in the division to five blanks in six outings - and are thirteenth in the league.
Middlesbrough: Konstantopoulos 6; Nsue 6, Ayala 6, Gibson 6, Friend 6; Leadbitter 7, Clayton 7; Adomah 6 (Kike 78, 6), Fabbrini 7 (Stuani 63, 6), Downing 6; Nugent 5
Subs not used: de Pena, Meijas, Stephens, Zuculini, Woodgate
Goals: Leadbitter (penalty, handball Fer, 90)
Bookings: Leabitter (foul)
QPR: Green 6; Perch 5, Onuoha 7, Hall 7, Konchesky 5; Henry 6, Sandro 6 (Emmanuel-Thomas 81, -), Fer 5, Faurlin 6 (Tozser 75, 5), Phillips 6, Yun 6.
Subs not used: Smithies, Angella, Luongo, Petrasso, Blackwood
Red Cards: Fer 90 (deliberate handball preventing a goal)
Booked: Phillips (foul), Faurlin (repetitive fouling), Onuoha (foul)
Referee — Chris Kavanagh (Manchester) 6 I liked how he started this game. Faurlin, Friend and Leadbitter were all let away with a warning for fouls other referees would have booked them for, and by not showing yellows he didn’t create a situation later in the game where he would be under pressure to start showing red cards in a contest that never really called for it. Good game management. The big decision for the handball was correct as well, but QPR had one decent and one stone-wall shout for a penalty of their own when Hall was dragged to the floor as a cross was delivered. You have to be brave enough to give away teams decisions like that if they’re merited.
Leroy Fer’s red card at Middlesbrough was one of three he showed last season across 32 games with 114 yellows thrown into the bargain as well. The eight yellows and a red shown at Brighton’s Championship match with MK Dons was as hectic as it got in a single game. Last season he refereed Sheff Wed’s 1-0 League Cup win at Newcastle, and 1-0 home defeat in the league by Rotherham.
The season before he showed 86 yellows and three reds in 29 appointments, of which eight were in the Championship — all in the second half of the season.
Championship >>> Stuart Attwell at Wolves v Leeds, good luck with that.
League One >>> Trevor Kettle at Shrewsbury v Northampton, likewise.
The Twitter @loftforwords
Pictures — Action Images