With too much to do
way they ought to have from the first kick off. Akpom was immediately in the thick of things and he played his part as Boro got a deserved early second goal in the half. The centre-forward dropped deep, received the ball to feet before turning to his right and sliding Crooks into the penalty area from a wide area.
With QPR opened up, Crooks was able to thread the ball across the face of goal, allowing Forss to run in and score on his full debut in a rare positive from the afternoon. There were more opportunities for Boro to get that equaliser too.
Akpom continued to threaten and saw one header saved well by the R’s goalkeeper Seny Dieng, while Howson could have been but a whisper away from putting his head on one inside the six-yard box from a trademark Giles delivery.
Mcnair was moved up into midfield on the 68th minute mark as Wilder introduced Tommy Smith for his debut at the expense of Forss. It was a frustrating sub to have to make as Crooks went up front and it would ultimately kill Boro’s momentum for that leveller somewhat.
With minimal summer training and game-time though, Forss’ race had been run by that point.
The one chance Boro had after that saw Mcnair put the ball in the net at the back post, only for the offside flag to go up for an earlier pass in the attacking phase.
As the clock ticked away, so too did Boro’s chances of overturning the threegoal deficit.
They were caught once or twice on the break, with Boro favourite Albert Adomah going close for the hosts, before a disappointing day was compounded in stoppage time when Darragh Lenihan received a straight red card having fouled Macauley Bonne after being turned on the halfway line with no Boro team-mates covering behind him.
Boro were very close to making a spirited comeback at Loftus Road, but in a disappointing afternoon the reality is it would have been very harsh on the home side, whose first half dominance made them worthy winners.