BLOWN AWAY BY THE ROOFE
KeMar roofe hopes Leeds united have found the recipe for promotion to the premier League after picking up the latest accessory for his kitchen.
That’s where the 24-year- old forward displays his hat-trick matchballs — and he was proudly showing off the third one of his senior career after sinking Queens park rangers on saturday.
all his Leeds colleagues had scribbled their signatures on it but roofe was undoubtedly the star as his treble at Loftus road lifted the Yorkshire side to within four points of the championship play-offs.
‘I get them boxed off so I can display them at my house,’ he said. ‘I keep them downstairs so that when I am cooking in the kitchen — I am in there every day — I can see them.
‘ This is my third one and hopefully I can get some more. They are nice memories and I had all the boys sign on here so I can look back and see who was involved.’
roofe’s other two hat-tricks came from an efL cup tie against Newport county earlier this season and a match for his old club oxford united against Dagenham and redbridge in March 2015.
He has been in and out of Thomas christiansen’s team this season but certainly showed his class after moving into a more central position following an injury to striker caleb ekuban before half-time.
His first goal was a wellplaced header which rescued the game from the doldrums just after the hour mark and the second a close-range finish from pawel cibicki’s cross. Leeds goalkeeper felix Wiedwald made a horrendous error to allow pawel Wszolek’s speculative ball to bounce over him and give Qpr late hope, but roofe rounded off a sweeping counterattack to kill the contest in stoppage time. ‘It was a very good away performance, we had a game plan and we executed it and got the result,’ added roofe. ‘It’s massive going into the christmas period where you have so many games back to back. It doesn’t matter who you are playing, top or bottom, there are no guaranteed wins. ‘We will keep working hard on the training field and hopefully we can get the wins every game. Whatever was said at the start of the season, nothing has changed.’ Leeds face four sides in the bottom half of the table in Norwich, Hull, Burton and Birmingham before the New Year as they chase down Yorkshire rivals sheffield united in sixth.
roofe consigned Ian Holloway’s Qpr to a fifth defeat in six as they slipped to 19th and they face a six-pointer at Birmingham on saturday.
rangers haven’t won on the road since february 18 though, encouragingly, that was a 4-1 win at st andrew’s.
They were marginally the better side against Leeds but failed to convert any of their first-half chances before roofe blew them away.
a downbeat Holloway said: ‘The lads have got to fight and fight hard. In life you have to just keep fighting because you should get the right result in the end.
‘We have to get on with the next game and see where we’re going, we have got to get rid of the away hoodoo because we have Birmingham away next. ‘We’re being punished horrendously and you end up with the wrong score. It looks like the players are getting down a little bit but we live to fight another day.’