QPR 2 Colchester United 2
December 1
It ended all square at Loftus Road with Kevin Gallen grabbing a second half equaliser after Mickey Stockwell and Joe Keith had overturned Rangers' early lead to go ahead before the interval.
It was Gallen's second goal of the game and his third since returning to the club.
The home side settled the quicker, forcing two early corners, but were unable to create any real openings of note in the initial quarter of an hour. Indeed, the first effort on target came from Colchester's Thomas Pinault, whose tame effort was easily claimed by Fraser Digby after 16 minutes.
But on 21 minutes Rangers broke the deadlock. Just as Colchester appeared to be finding their feet, the home side took the lead through Kevin Gallen. Karl Connolly's slide rule pass split Colchester's defence allowing Gallen to race in on goal and place the ball past Andy Woodman.
Within two minutes Rangers almost doubled their advantage when Marcus Bignot burst from midfield before driving a fierce shot just wide.
Instead of leading by two, Rangers were to see their lead wiped out in the 28th minute courtesy of a scrappy goal bundled home by Micky Stockwell. Scott McLeish's powerful header rebounded off the post and rolled across the goal line only for Stockwell to react the quickest to bring the scores level.
With the wind knocked out of their sails Rangers struggled to regain their composure and very nearly went behind when Joe Keith's mazy run through the Rs midfield ended with a shot that needed a deflection to put it behind for a corner.
But Rangers failed to pay heed to this warning and went behind seven minutes before the interval. Stockwell was involved again, bursting down the right hand side before spearing in a cross which Keith volleyed home.
At half time Ian Holloway brought on Doudou for Christer Warren and within 10 minutes the move had paid off.
Doudou picked up the ball in midfield before laying it off to Gallen just outside the penalty area. The striker then beat one defender before unleashing a blistering drive just inside Woodman's right hand post.
Rangers picked up their game with Gallen, Thomson and Doudou all looking lively up front. But Colchester refused to be rattled and began to press again with Kevin Rapley's header just going wide on the hour mark.
Five minutes later Rangers were grateful to Fraser Digby who pulled off a fantastic save to keep out Karl Duguid's 20-yard free kick.
In a frustrating last 20 minutes, the home side created only one opportunity of note when Terrell Forbes' low cross from the right just evaded Andy Thomson's lunge.
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