QUEENS PARK RANGERS supporters headed to Loftus Road yesterday to show their support for one club legend and left wondering if they had witnessed the start of the career of another.
The Championship match against Rotherham was an opportunity for the home fans to show their support for Stan Bowles, their 66-year-old former striker who is battling Alzheimer’s. And Bowles, who made 315 appearances for Rangers, would surely have appreciated the performance of Tjaronn Chery who opened his account for the club with a goal either side of half time. He was discovered by Les Ferdinand, another club talisman, while Charlie Austin, the darling of Loftus Road, signed off what could be his last in a QPR shirt with two second-half strikes. It was certainly a day for strikers past and present.
“Stan Bowles put QPR on the map, let’s make no mistake,” said Rangers’ head coach Chris Ramsey. “He’s a legend here. Legend is an overused word in football these days, but Stan is a 100% legend.”
Chery has a long, long way to go before he is even talked about in the same breath but the summer £2.25m buy from Groningen looks a shrewd piece of business.
“I was very pleased with Chery, he’s got more to offer,” said Ramsey. “To be honest, he hasn’t really played as well as we know he can. He’s key to what we’re going to do and he’s starting to get into the to-and-fros of the Championship which is a very tough league.
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“He took his goals fantastically, and what was important about the first goal was that it was a team goal, and we worked on certain things that were produced today.
“Les Ferdinand found him, he sends people out to source players and he did the deal to bring him over. He plays anywhere in the front line, he’s very skilful and bought up on the Dutch style that is very technical. He’s still coming to terms with the English game, but we’re seeing signs of him going up the ladder every day.”
It was actually Rotherham who started the brighter and more progressive of the two sides, and they fashioned the best of the early chances when Matt Derbyshire just failed to connect with a low cross from Jonson Clarke-Harris. It was therefore somewhat unfortunate for Rotherham that they found themselves behind at the interval. Goalkeeper Kelle Roos was beaten three minutes before the break, when Chery curled home after a lay-off from Austin.
Chery effectively put the game out of reach five minutes after the restart, when he was able to slot home from 10 yards out after Massimo Luongo’s pull-back.
Rotherham needed a quick response, and they almost obliged when Clarke-Harris was presented with a header from six yards out. He really should have done better after a cross by Joe Newell. There was no likelihood of a comeback when Austin, the subject of continued transfer speculation and an impassioned plea from the home fans to stay, managed to squirm his effort from the edge of the box under Roos on 63 minutes.
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Rotherham gave the hosts a scare, firstly when Clarke-Harris netted a consolation with a fine 72-minute shot from outside the area, then when Tom Thorpe fired home from a Derbyshire flick-on with two minutes remaining.
However, an Austin spot-kick, a minute later, after Chris Maguire fouled Sebastian Polter, gave the scoreline a more accurate reflection. Steve Evans, the visiting manager, felt the first goal changed the game. “I think for 42 minutes there was one good team out there, and it was us,” he said. “We had a couple of half chances but we didn’t take them. They have some great supporters here at Loftus Road but they were just on the verge of turning, and then they get the goal.”
Star man: Tjaronn Chery (QPR)
QPR: Green 6, Perch 6, Onuoha 6, Hall 5, Konchesky 6, Henry 6, Faurlin 6 (Doherty 77min, 6), Phillips 5, Luongo 6 (Polter 82min, 6), Austin 7, Chery 8 (Kpekawa 90min, 6) Rotherham: Roos 5, Buxton 5, Halford 6, Collins 5, Newell 6, Frecklington 6, Smallwood 5. G Ward 5 (Maguire 78min, 6), Ledesma 5 (White 68min, 5), Derbyshire 6, Clarke-Harris 6