The Queens Park Rangers assistant manager Kevin Bond handed the credit to Doncaster after the promotion favourites stumbled to an unexpected 2-1 defeat.Rangers were the better side in the first half and snatched the lead just before the interval when the home keeper Ross Turnbull allowed a shot from Charlie Austin to slip from his grasp. But Doncaster battled back in fine style in the second half with a 48th-minute equaliser from Theo Robinson before the full-back Paul Quinn snatched the winner in the closing stages.Bond said We werent happy with the way we played in the second half but you cant take anything away from Doncaster. We were satisfied with our position at the end of the first period. Although we hadnt played particularly well, we were in front and in control of the game. We expected a reaction from Rovers after the interval but we thought that if we weathered the storm the game would open up to our advantage. I dont think we did well enough to prevent the equaliser and, in fairness, Doncaster were the better side after that.They had a spring in their step and we were never able to wrestle control of the game away from them. We can be critical of our second-half performance but that would detract from how well the home side played.Rangers have won all but one of their home games but have now gone five without an away win. However, Bond denied their away form was a cause for concern. Weve only lost twice away. A lot is expected of us, and rightly so, but we didnt defend as well as we needed totoday.The Rovers manager Paul Dickov was delighted with his sides display after they had produced a poor performance when losing at Charlton during the week.He said I asked for a reaction and I got it. We let the fans down at Charlton and this performance was for them.Im proud of the way we played considering the injury problems we have at present and that was a terrific display against probably the best team in the division. Tactically I thought we got it right and pressed them when we didnt have the ball. We were a bit aggrieved to go in behind at the interval. It was an uncharacteristic mistake by Ross Turnbull but I told him he didnt have to apologise because hes dug us out of the mire a number of times this season.It was a chance for the players to dig in for him and they did that. It was a massive effort from everyone. We seem to raise our game against the better sides and that can sometimes be frustrating. Its important that we dont get carried away with this victory because consistency is the key. When we are not quite on our game we can let ourselves down but when we hit this level we can be a match for anyone in the Championship.ChampionshipDoncaster RoversQPRtheguardian © 2013 Guardian News and Media Limited or its affiliated companies. All rights reserved. | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds
Posted on: Sat, 30 Nov 2013 20:45:45 +0000