Queen's Park Rangers 1 Ipswich Town 3: De Vos lifts Ipswich spirit with deserved first victory
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Your support makes all the difference.Bank Holiday weekend in west London with the Notting Hill Carnival only two days' away but Queen's Park Rangers did nothing for the locals' spirits by becoming Ipswich Town's first victims of this new season.
It may have taken the Tractor Boys five games to make a mark on this campaign for the right reasons but it was no less deserved. That the Suffolk side had to go a goal down before they imposed themselvesmade their comeback even more impressive. When QPR took the lead after 59 minutes it was a slight shock.
That they only held it for 10 minutes was testament to Ipswich's powers of recovery and re-found belief in playing a neat, passing game. Kevin Gallen was on hand at the far post to bustle his shot past Lewis Price from Lee Cook's cross.
Yet three minutes later the Suffolk side were level. Damion Stewart was adjudged to have fouled Gavin Williams, harshly in the view of QPR's manager Gary Waddock. Contact appeared minimal at best, and then Simon Walton's penalty sneaked under Paul Jones's arm.
An indication of Ipswich's revived spirit showed through when Alex Bruce, son of Steve, the Birmingham City manager and possessor of a nose most boxers would be proud of, came back on after treatment for his badly bloodied face.
With a full complement of players, Jason De Vos stuck out a leg from a Mark Noble corner for their second before the substitute Dean Bowditch made sure of the points with his header four minutes from time.
Having also hit the frame of the goal twice and moved out of the relegation zone, the Ipswich manager Jim Magilton, who only took over this summer, was naturally a happy man, as he said: "This could be the springboard for our season."
Queen's Park Rangers (4-4-2): P Jones; Rose, Rehman, Stewart, Milanese (Baidoo, 77); Gallen, Lomas (Bircham, 72), Ward, Cook; Blackstock, R Jones Substitutes not used: Cole (gk), Kanyuka, Oliseh.
Ipswich Town (4-4-2): Price; Wilnis, Bruce, De Vos, Harding; Noble, Walton, Williams (Currie, 90), Richards; Lee (Haynes, 88), Clarke (Bowditch, 77). Substitutes not used: Naylor, Sito.
Referee: L Mason (Lancashire).
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