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Four years on, with QPR now sadly on the same level as Stoke once again, the result and performance couldn't have been much better — pity that a bunch of Neanderthal Stoke ‘supporters' tried their best to ruin a great day for us after the final whistle.
QPR took to the pitch with the same side that beat Bury, apart from Rose returning in place of the poorly Bonnot. Still no Gallen, but the substitutes bench did look pretty awesome compared to last week.
Stoke controlled the first half without the having the incisive final touch where it mattered most. We defended superbly, both individually and as a unit, but our tactics to hit them on the break weren't exactly looking likely to give us a goal of our own.
Having sussed out what Stoke had to offer, and looking at the quality of our substitutes bench, the second half always promised to bring out the best of QPR as an attacking force — and that's exactly what proved to be the case.
Even before the introduction of Connolly and Thomson though, we had begun to finally exert some pressure of our own with Doudou and Pacquette failing to make the most of decent goalscoring opportunities. With that extra bit of quality up front, the breakthrough always seemed likely.
When Thomson finally took to the pitch just before the hour mark, he received a tremendous reception from the travelling support, which was rewarded with one of Thomson's most effective displays of the season from outside the penalty box. His movement was exceptional, creating space for himself and others. The difference he made was as surprising as much as it was gleefully accepted.
When Connolly joined him on the pitch, there only ever looked to be one winner. Stoke had run out of ideas with QPR applying all the pressure and creating untold problems in the oppositions half. With Rose looking the ultimate midfield maestro with the type of performance you wonder why he cannot produce more regularly, it was only a matter of time before the lead was finally ours.
Thomson so nearly provided it after latching onto Murphy's superb 50-yard through ball, but his lob over the ‘keeper rebounded off a post and to safety. Before you even had time to think "this isn't going to be our day", a goal — and the game — were ours. Peacock played a one-two with Thomson, and after receiving the ball back in acres of space, buried the ball through Cutler's legs to start the most delirious of celebrations from fans and players alike.
Following the goal, it was easy to picture the final ten minutes being all Stoke pressure, but it wasn't. As Stoke fans left the ground in their hundreds, it was us who finished the match on top and should have made the game safe far before the ref finally blew the whistle after four minutes of added time.
Bring on the Bournemouth...
QPR: 4-4-2 – Digby 7 – Forbes 8, Palmer 7, Shittu 8, Murphy 8 – Bignot 7, Rose 9, Peacock 7, Griffiths 7 – Doudou 6 (73mins Connolly 8), Pacquette 7 (55mins Thomson 8). SNU: Evans, Wardley, Langley.