Brentford took the derby honours against QPR on Friday night
Bees end 52 years of hurt in style
AFIRST home loss to Brentford since 1964, fans fighting among themselves and a manager whose days at the club are looking increasingly numbered – QPR appear to have reached crisis point.
The R’s were booed off after Josh Clarke squeezed the ball home and Romaine Sawyers produced an exquisite firsttime finish to increase the pressure on Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink.
In a promotion-or-bust season, QPR find themselves flailing about in mid-table and just two wins in eight Championship games at Loftus Road this term has supporter unrest at an all-time high.
Another lacklustre performance on Friday night saw fans vent their frustration at the team, before turning on each other in the stands, and Hasselbaink claims that sort of irritation is not going to help turn results around.
“Supporters are going to respond how they want to respond,” said Hasselbaink. “But I don’t want to see anybody fighting in the stadium.
“They want us to win more games and we feel that we need to win more, so I do understand their frustration.
“But frustration and pressure is not going to help the players. What we need to look at is why we win more games away than we do at home.
“I’m not using that as an excuse because we weren’t good enough. We made Brentford look a very good side.
“We couldn’t get our game going and they closed us down well and very easily. It’s hard to take.
“We were second best. They put a trap for us and we fell into the trap. They countered us way too many times and that’s our own fault.”
QPR had looked threatening in a high-tempo start to proceedings at Loftus Road as Conor Washington’s shot was blocked by John Egan, but down the other end Alex Smithies was forced to palm away Sawyers’ low shot.
Brentford then began to dominate as top-scorer Scott Hogan curled an effort wide before a last-ditch Nedum Onuoha intervention stopped him converting Maxime Colin’s cross. But they got their reward three minutes before the break as Josh McEachran slipped in Clarke, who twisted his way past Onuoha before sliding the ball under Smithies.
Massimo Luongo stung the hands of Daniel Bentley before Tjaronn Chery curled wide as QPR sought an equaliser, but Hogan could have put the game beyond doubt as Smithies denied him from close-range.
However, with 16 minutes left the Bees guaranteed a first win at Loftus Road in 52 years as Sawyers neatly side-footed Colin’s pass into the top lefthand corner from 12 yards.
And after ending a four-game winless streak, boss Dean Smith saluted Sawyers for bouncing back from adversity.
“I’m really pleased for him,” said Smith. “Last week he got jeered off but I think that was more to do with the scoreline than Romaine. He’s become an instant hit by scoring against our local rivals. You saw from his celebration how much it means to him.
“The first half was as good as we have played this season, it was outstanding both on the ball and off the ball.
“In the second half at times we needed to defend our box and we did that too. It wasn’t just the victory, I’m delighted with the performance.”