“IT’S difficult to come to Queens Park Rangers,” said the Leeds manager, Kevin Blackwell. “They’ve turned it into a fortress here and, after a particularly poor performance against Sheffield Wednesday, it was a place to come to and see if I could get a solid performance from the players, and I did.”

This despite the fact that the squad has been suffering from a virus which forced the scorer of the solitary goal, Rob Hulse, off the field after 70 minutes. And despite the sending-off five minutes before that of his partner in attack, David Healy, for a petulant kick at Marc Bircham, of Rangers, with whom he had previously been exchanging words right under the gaze of the referee.

No Gallen, no goals, you might say about Rangers. Without Kevin Gallen, their veteran scorer, Paul Furlong was largely marooned and Dean Sturridge, no longer the speedster he was in bygone years, only occasionally came to his support. But what really seemed to throw Rangers was the need to substitute their injured Italian left-back, Mauro Milanese, so early in the game, causing them to shuffle the pack in a way that unbalanced them.

There could have been more than just one goal in a first half where both defences wobbled from time to time. In only the second minute, the Leeds keeper, former Scottish international Neil Sullivan, somewhat distractedly kicked the ball against Furlong but got away with it. Five minutes later, a searching cross from the left by the American international, Eddie Lewis, gave Hulse an obvious chance, but he failed to make contact.

Seven minutes more and, when the ball bounced to Furlong in the box, he, too, had a clear opportunity but Sullivan held his left-footed shot with ease.

It was in the 29th minute that Milanese gave way to Ian Evatt and, from that moment, Leeds would seldom be in any trouble, even when reduced to 10 men. A minute later, their centre-back, Sean Gregan, culpably missed a ball but Sturridge’s shot was saved comfortably enough by Sullivan. In the same minute, Healy, recently the hero of Belfast, was clear away on the right but hastily shot over.

The winning goal came in the 41st minute. Gary Kelly took a free kick from the left, a distracted QPR defence failed to deal with it and Hulse scored easily.

“To concede a goal like that,” said QPR’s manager, Ian Holloway, “that does irk my soul, that does go against the grain. I’m like a spoilt brat that’s lost me toys.”

Holloway also thought Rangers should have had a late penalty when Furlong was brought down rather than a free kick.

STAR MAN: Rob Hulse (Leeds)

Player ratings. Queens Park Rangers: Royce 6, Bignot 6, Santos 6, Shittu 6, Milanese 6 (Evatt 29min, 6), Ainsworth 6 (Rowlands 59min), Bircham 6, Lomas 7, Cook 6, Sturridge 6 (Moore 59min, 6), Furlong 7

Leeds: Sullivan 7, Kelly 7, Butler 7, Gregan 6, Crainey 6, Douglas 6, Einarsson, Derry 6, Lewis 6, Healy 5, Hulse 7 (Cresswell 71min, 6)

Scorer: Leeds: Hulse 41

Referee: P Walton

Attendance: 15,523

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