Neil doesn’t have a Paal in ref Matt after penalty no-no
ALEX NEIL could not believe what he was seeing when Stoke appeals for a last-second penalty were waved away.
Even QPR boss Mick Beale admitted it was a heart in the mouth ending when Ben Wilmot appeared to have been bundled over by Kenneth Paal.
It ended up being a head in hands in disbelief moment for Potters boss Neil, who had seen his side finish strongly after being outplayed for much of the second half.
He said: “The game shouldn’t be remembered for one incident because I thought we were good first half and they were better in the second half but it is a clear penalty.
“I have watched it back. I don’t know what the referee has seen.
“It was clear as day. “The kid just runs across his path and puts his hands out and hits him.
“It is not one where there is a little bit of contact.
“He hits him and Ben goes over because there was that much contact on his back leg.”
Beale quipped that Neil must be sick of the final minute of games against the Hoops this season after keeper Seny Dieng scored a last-gasp equaliser in one of his final games as Sunderland boss.
Neil would have had his keeper Joe Bursik to thank if Stoke had given him some revenge by snatching a last-second winner.
The away side bossed large spells of the first half and had the ball in the net inside two minutes but Dwight Gayle was flagged offside as he turned in Wilmot’s cross.
The former Newcastle striker then hit the top of the bar with a 20-yard free-kick and hooked another shot narrowly wide before Bursik palmed out Stefan Johansen’s 44th-minute left-foot strike from the edge of the box.
That was the prelude to three top-class second-half blocks.
First he scrambled across his line to keep out the unmarked Paal from a 48th-minute corner.
Then he pulled out a star jump to somehow catch Jimmy Dunne’s point-blank header with the majority of the crowd waiting for the net to ripple.
Bursik saved the best for last, as he kept out Ethan Laird’s fierce drive at the near post.
That paved the way for Aden Flint and Tyrese Campbell to almost snatch a late winner.
The former saw his header tipped over by Dieng with sub Campbell pushing his snapshot agonisingly wide of the goal.
A level-headed Beale said: “We really pushed in the second half and couldn’t find the goal, and if we can’t find it then I am pleased with the clean sheet.
“It was a game neither side was in control of.
“It would have been a glorious win if we had got the goal and a devastating defeat.”
QPR: Dieng 6; Laird 7, Balogun 6, Dunne 6, Paal 6; Dozzell 6 (Dykes (46) 6), Field 7, Johansen 7 (Iroegbunam (78) 6); Chair 7, Roberts 6 (Adomah (78) 6), Willock 7
STOKE: Bursik 9; Taylor 7, Flint 8, Fox 7; Wilmot 7, L Baker 6, Smallbone 6, Thompson 7 (Laurent (75) 6); Delap 6 (Powell (67) 6), Gayle 6 (Campbell (67) 6), Fosu 7
STAR MAN: Joe Bursik – three huge second-half saves for the Potters to win his side a point.
REF: Matt Donohue 7